Hi Everyone,
I am back with a new project - from the video game named Gris, I will do the tower scene with a few modifications. You can see my blocking down below in Unreal Engine. Also, I will share with you my references and asset inventory. Most probably I’ll solve many things with modular systems so I don’t need to model all assets one by one because that would take me forever. 
I have already started experimenting with the textures to see if I am able to create this water color painting look. I am, so I will be texturing in Substance Painter. 
Next week I will start with some of the assets, haven’t decided with which ones exactly. I need to create the modular systems as well, make them easy to understand and clear so I don’t get lost in my head.
I am open for any help, idea, opinion on this.
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Hi Everyone,
It is the 2nd week of the project Gris - The Tower.
I modeled the stairs, some column parts and put them together in a Blueprint so I can easier move them. Also, I modeled 4 different type of trees for the background and placed them one by one. Played with the Exponential Height Fog too so I could get a foggy look just like in the game. First, I was trying to create the fog by creating planes and drag a material onto them that I draw in Photoshop. It didn’t look so good so I switched my method and rather deleted them.
If you look close enough, on the stairs there is an outline that I created with a material to look more like in the game.
I haven’t done much this past week because I am traveling so hopefully in the next weeks I will be more productive.
Next week I am planning to finish more column parts to have more variety and options to play with and put them together in Blueprints. I want to have all columns done by the end of next week. Also, I would like to start with the place holding areas and the floors that my character will walk on.
Also, now on the images you will see only parts of my environment because when I hit play in Unreal, this is how much I see. I don’t want to get you confused by the proportions and the idea of my scene.
The place holders next to the stairs are weird a bit because the stairs I put there first in the blocking are different size than the one I modeled. So, I will fix that during the 3rd week too by creating the place holders in Maya.
If you have any recommendations, I am happy to read them! Thanks!
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Hey there @dorinaanna !
I’ve not heard of the game Gris before, so I wanted to firstly thank you for showing me something so artistically beautiful! I can see why this game inspired you to make a scene, and I cannot wait to see how it progresses. Keep up the amazing work!
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Hi Everyone,
Since I was traveling I still haven’t progressed much unfortunately but I will do my best to catch up with the timeline that is in my head.
I created the column parts and put them together in Blueprints but I encountered that I need much more pillar parts with more variety and parts that are damaged because in the original game many broken or damaged assets are visible and so far mines are a bit too nice looking.
I also played with the fog and added those deleted planes nevertheless, although now with different textures so they look better. I added more trees to the background and foreground and created some high mountains for the background to show the height of the tower. (I haven’t done the place holders unfortunately.)
I would like to catch up so next week probably is going to be a tough week. I plan to create those place holders, the damaged column parts and start working on the amphoras. Also, to make the textures and materials more like in the game, I need to add shaders, outlines, brush strokes, damages to the textures and to the decals that I will create.
See you in a week!
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I absolutely love this Tower Project. This is definitely one of a kind, I love the theme and concept, the artwork is very unique – I love this so much! <3
Keep up the amazing work and keep the forums posted! 
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Thank you so much!!! <3 I will try my best to create an artwork and environment worthy for your and my expectations, too!
Hi Everyone,
I am sorry for the delay, here is my week 4 recap:
I textured properly the trees of the background and foreground in Substance Painter.
I created the first place holder, textured it and placed it into my Unreal scene.
I made some stain decals that I applied onto the surface of the place holder.
I did finish all thin column parts, including the damaged ones. I still need to do the pillars (the bigger columns).
I didn’t like the fog being pink so I made it more white shaded.
I finished fully the first ramp kind of asset that the character interacts with. You can see its showcase down below among the images.
I don’t even try to write what my plan is for the next week because I feel like I can’t keep up to it unfortunately, although I try my best. So, if you are still around, I truly appreciate it!
Hi Everyone,
This is week 5 and only a few days passed since my last post. In this short time I made all the blueprints for the thin pillars and replaced their blockings. I created two more plceholders as well. You can see their showcases down below.
I still have tremendous amount of work to do so I’d better speed things up. After finishing all of the pillars and placeholders I would like to tackle the main tree and I think I will leave the smaller details (such amphoras, plants, etc.) towards the end of this project.
If have anything to add, any ideas or suggestions, I am happy to read them!
Hi Everyone,
I would like to share my progress since last week. So here is week 6 recap:
I worked on the main tree mostly, I modeled the trunk in Maya and then textured it in Substance Painter. I did two branches that I textured a bit differently in order to vary and used them alternately in my scene. I also did two connection for the branches. One of them is only a cube, the other piece is a rounded cube so the long and wavy branches have some kind of smoothness.
I finished the foliage cubes and their textures. I think I have used 4 or 5 different texture variations.
I turned down the lighting a bit so my meshes has more vivid colors just like in the original game and pushed the starting point of the fog further away so the foreground is more visible.
For next week, I am planning to do all the placeholders and hopefully start working on the smaller assets. Also, I still need to tackle my hero asset which is the forest friend from the videogame Gris.
Hi Everyone,
I feel like I did a lot so let’s hope you can see the differences as well.
WEEK 7 RECAP:
- I redid all of the placeholders’ materials since the texel density wasn’t right. I created a tileable texture which you will be able to see among the images below. I had to do new UVs for the assets and align the UVs to the tileable texture in Maya so when I imported them into Unreal Engine, they looked correct and nice.
- I worked on the watercolor stain decals and cracks too, basically I redid all of them too. I still need to place much more into the scene because I only put there a few.
- I did a big placeholder at the upper part of the tower as well.
- I placed more fog stains into the scene using a plane and dragging a material instance onto that plane that contains an RGBA texture which has opacity channel so it can be translucent.
- I modeled my Hero Asset which is the Forest Friend from the game Gris. The little guy who follows the protagonist around. (I will attach some pics of my model and some of the references too.)
It may not seem a lot lot but I hope you will appreciate my progress.
Plans for week 8:
- Finish all of the placeholders and texture them.
- Start creating smaller assets such as amphoras, plants.
- Finalize the watercolor stains and place them into the scene along with the crack decals.
- Texture Forest Friend.
If you have any suggestions, I am happy to read them!
Hi Everyone,
The 8th week has ended so here is my progress on the final environment based on the videogame Gris.
I had finsihed my hero asset - called Forest Friend in the game - I changed a bit on last week’s model and textured it fully. I think it turned out nicely.
I added outlines to the trees both in the foreground and background because they were lacking that.
I created more placeholders and added them to my scene.
Also added more fog to the environment using a plane and some transparent textures.
I started creating small plants too. You cannot see much of them unfortunately on these screenshots but I will add some close ups as well.
Plans for next week:
Finish all the bigger assets, elements of the game such as placeholders, columns.
Start modeling the amphoras, and more smaller but important assets to represent the game better.
Hope you like my work!
Hi Everyone,
Week 9 is over so here is my progress of this week.
I replaced every gray box that was part of the blocking. I did all the placeholders and big elements.
I modeled one amphora so far and added it to the scene. I plan to model more for variety.
I added more plants but I still need to create more.
Now, with all the big assets being done, I am turning my focus to the small things to have my scene look more like the game and fill up the gaps.
I still need to make sure that I have outlines on every asset and that my textures are unified and consistent.
