I have recently been working on what I expect to become a sci-fi themed tycoon-fps crossover, or something similar. I am looking for second opinions on my current progress because there may be important improvements or adjustments that have been overlooked.
I have reached a point in the game’s development where I think that it is time to look everything over that I have so far and critique before moving on with development. Let me know what you think and where you think I can improve.
I have also greyboxed many new buildings within the local city sector. I am making the buildings in a separate game, and they will be gradually added and updated.
Your builds look amazing! They (imo) are completely flawless except I don’t see much of a sci-fi related build. When I look at it, it gives me either an abandoned creepy wasteland feeling or a secluded military bunker feeling. You should try to implement more sci-fi into your build.
This looks really good, the buildings look very nice.
Although a couple of things that may improve your overall build.
Music
When I joined the game, there was no music in the background whatsoever. So I suggest adding some music to the background to not make the environment feel so eventful.
Emptiness?
Don’t know how to really explain this certain part. But in these pictures for example:
I feel like you could possibly add some more stuff to not make everything look bland, maybe add a little more design to the buildings as well as extra buildings.
For this, you could maybe shade the red parts to a darker red colour, so it can better suit the build.
But besides all of those points, this really does look amazing. (Sorry if it looked like I spent around 30 minutes trying to reply to this, I had to do things in between sending a message.
Thank you for your reply! In what ways do you think I could add more of a sci-fi feeling?
I am aiming to develop a city whose architectural goal appears to have been mostly sci-fi’ish, but, due to external factors, an unkempt and distraught afterimage is the result.
Do you have any music (or genre) suggestions that may fit the theme (or what may become of it) of the game? I have looked in several online locations but I have yet to find the right match for what I am after.
The bland buildings are just temporary placeholders so that I can get a feel for the layout of the map. I am debating on different styles for these buildings but could very well use some insight into what the best choice may be. The walls be more of a brutalist theme and will have giant gates that can be traversed by the player for different events in other sectors.
As for the long red parts… I use those to frame the buildings. It gives me a standard for sidewalk width.
I applaud the consistency in design and the color scheme, reminds me of an early Starcraft cinematic. It does feel Sci-Fi but I think the entirety of the map would better fit your vision if you implemented:
Facade City to fill in the skyline
A brighter lighting theme with maybe a blue tint to give a partly more utopian city.
I’ll definitely take into consideration your Facade City suggestion. I have already begun designing some of what the skyline will look like (not yet implemented).
I definitely agree with you on the lighting. I have adjusted the lighting like you said, and added a lighter fog to hide distant parts of the map (something that will likely be removed as it hides what would be the city skyline).
I have yet to settle on a specific set of styles for the buildings, and thus I have not added significant detail. I’ll be sure to take a look at the concepts you gave me to see if they can be reflected in my buildings. Diversification is definitely going to be one of my priorities when creating the buildings.
Possibly some Modern Sci-Fi music, similar to Futuristic or Space music. I can definitely understand trying to find some music that fits the genre Sci-Fi, I suggest probably listening to some Modern Futuristic Mixes to try and wrap your head the form of the music.
Or if that doesn’t seem to work out, you could try and hire a composer to help with sfx/music.
My bad for not realizing that the bland buildings could just be temporary placeholders
for the styles of the buildings, most games would probably stick with one style (usually Low Poly or Realistic), but maybe the best choice may be to just use the same style you used to make the “Armory” and “Guns 'n more” buildings.
But yeah, that’s really all the points I have to say. This is a really good project, and I’m excited to see where this will be in the near future.
Thank you and don’t worry about replying late, I am often too busy to reply quick anyways
I appreciate the link to the music. I have already taken a list of some of the songs that I’m considering using, and will very soon be adding it in. I also haven’t really considered hiring anyone because I feel that I work better independently.
At first I was considering making the game to look low-poly but it just didn’t seem right in my vision for the game.
Thank you for the suggestions! I’ll be putting these new ideas in motion as soon as I can.
While your builds look stunning, as others may have said, it doesn’t look too much like Sci-Fi.
Some Things To Improve the Sci-Fi Look
Add more neon. Some huge part of futuristic looking builds is for sure neon as it shows how modern the city/ location is. Please don’t overuse it though! Doing this might hurt the aesthetic of it.
Add bill boards advertising something you wouldn’t see in the normal world!
Add some floor designs; this is something I have just loved to see in other futuristic/ Sci-Fi builds. Putting the design you have on the building in the second picture on the floor with a line next to it would look pretty nice as the floor is a little plain.
Some smaller things you could add is futuristic trash cans and such. Maybe even add some cars?
Tell me what you think! Please if you have any questions just reply! Good luck as it is looking great so far!
I appreciate the suggestion! I’ll definitely be using neon for billboards both in the local sector and on the surrounding skyscrapers. At would point might one consider neon overused?
I completely agree with you about adding some floor designs. I’m going to add some road markings as well. I’ve already added in some construction cones but I think I may upgrade them to something more futuristic.
I think that adding futuristic trash cans is an awesome idea. I’ll start working on a pack of assets (trash cans, crates, benches, billboards, etc.) that I can use. I figured I would wait to add cars later because it will take me more time to complete.
What I mean by it being too much neon is where it’s hard to see. It’s really based on your opinion though. Keep in touch if you finish and wonder if it’s too much or too little.
Love your builds! I’d just recommend adding some more material, and rather having that “Armory” text all the way to the right of that wall, I’d center it. Same with the Guns store text. Other than that, I think your builds look extremely gorgeous! The lights add a very beautiful touch. Good luck!
Your build looks amazing and I really like your use of neon mixed with the other colours.From what I see I don’t think there’d be much to improve on except some areas looking a bit empty but I can’t really see everything from these images.The only thing I think it would need now is small things like NPC’s and ambience (if you don’t already have ambience) ect. Keep up the great work.It looks great.
Thank you for your reply! I have actually updated the game and I just added some pictures to the original post (should have been updating it… my bad ) which may address your suggestion. I decided to assign specific characters to each store (hence the larger names above) and keep the left-side alignment of the store name in order to offset the larger text above.
I appreciate the suggestion! I’m currently building some various assets to scatter around to fill up the emptiness and NPC’s are definitely going to be on my list of things to do. I’ll also be adding some more images to the original post to help out. Thank you!
I use those to frame the buildings. It gives me a standard for sidewalk width.
