As you can see in the following screenshots my Christmas showcase is very empty with assets and full of flat terrain, so I need some ideas on what I could add or change to make it more immersive/ interesting. Thanks.
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If you’re going to go for a Christmas theme… maybe add some Christmas lights to lighten up the build… For the empty space, you can maybe add snow forts or maybe add a frozen robloxian in the snow for some comedic value xp
Environmental design isn’t my profession or primary skill, but I’d still like to give my own input if that’s okay!
Personally, from the games I’ve helped develop, some contract in terrain would be really helpful in creating a sort of depth into the environment. Some things like repainting some of the ground dirt patches (maybe areas that would obviously be walked over around a lot, or somewhere where snow would have to be cleared), or try painting the terrain touching the river rock/dirt (gives the water a more realistic presence, by showing that the water washes off the snow on the side to reveal what would be underneath the snow.)
Personally, I would say a bit of touching up on the house could go a long way too. From the images, it’s pretty hard to tell how much detail is in the buildings, but there could be room for more!
Regarding overall detail, some props would be nice too. The house seems to be isolated, and putting stereotypes into play, a place where someone could chop logs, along with a log pile and some other props related could do wonders. The trees themselves look a little out of place, as the texturing is really choppy. I don’t mess around with textures too often, but I would suggest a less washed texture to create a more consistent design.
It looks like it’s still a work-in-progress, and considering how flat everything feels, there’s definitely room for improvement! I’m sure it’ll look good in due time.
Hello! Environmental Artist / Designer here.
I believe that the two people above have given some great tips on how you could improve the scene and just wanted to add my own input on what I would personally do.
First off, I think the house should definitely be moved to a different location. The house being located on the edge of the map makes it look incomplete and there’s nothing behind it or around it to balance it out, so it ends up feeling very overwhelming. I think having it more inwards of the land would be a great improvement.
Another improvement that could be made to the house is giving it much more depth, especially on the outside. The overall shape of it is very basic and there’s no real detail popping out of it. I would recommend mixing up the shape of the house and how long the roof sticks out for a start. Then adding in smaller details like small supports along the edge of the house or having some logs stick out at the end of the cabin walls. Having some snow hanging over the edge could also help add some overall depth to the cabin.
The main thing I wanted to cover was just the house as I think the other two people above mentioned filling up the landscape. However I’d recommend adding some variation to the landscapes height and feel. Very subtly add some small slopes as the land looks fairly flat right now apart from the one river. Another thing is adding more trees or just adding more tree variation.
Lastly, always look at some references from actual pictures from other artists to see how the built their environments. You can check some out here! If you need help or want my advice on any further progress just let me know!
Thanks for the responses. I will try to follow the advice as much as I can.