At some point scope creep got me and I had to make a decision: do I make a ‘complete’ asset pack or do I narrow down a scope and release sooner. I decided to go for the first option and create a thing that I would be wanting to get when I was just starting out in gamedev. After a few months of work I realized though, that I have more than enough things to publish independent asset pack, and I did (https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/low-poly-nature-lush-and-diverse-environments).
I’m at 1793 models and I will add around 200 more before submitting it for publishing. Here are latest renders from UE:
I made both base models, broken models and “piles” (collection of already placed models). The first two types are for fine control, the last ones are for ease of use (you just place the whole thing in your level). Here are base models:
Stuck mostly to quads because of easier time with UVs (I just could have nice strips of quads). Even if UE5 went “all in” on lumen and dynamic lighting, it seems that quite a few people are still using static lighting (I asked on reddit^^).
Those fences took a while. But now the pack will have 2 sets of modular stone fences (and one wooden that I did already for the nature pack). I had to revisit the one set of fencing I already made and fix a few issues there. Here’s the result:
Both set are to the same scale so they can be mixed and matched. Also I am keeping the modular pieces in so other combinations can be made. Also quite a few other combinations can made from those pieces like that one:
Update time. Cobwebs, barrels and buckets. Cobwebs in low poly style were surprisingly hard to get right. I think in the end I got it mostly right, but I might revisit it in the future:
Spent quite a bit of time on benches now. They weren’t that difficult to model, but I took a detour to better understand uv lightmapping. There’s not much information out there how to do them correctly though… On one hand I guess there will be someone that appreciates carefully made UV lightmaps. But on the other hand I doubt many people will notice any change (I checked quite a few asset packs from the Marketplace - all of them had those generated by Unreal). So moving forward I will do ‘best effort’ approach to it (esp. that now when I know a bit more it’s hard to ignore completely).
Btw. I prepared a 3 sets of benches in ‘pieces’ so they will be able to be broken down in game easily or assembled into different ‘piles’ for more variations.
Not a typical prop associated with graveyards, but you have to somehow bring in stuff there like building materials, fertilizers, etc. Fairly easy to model too, so I added them. Wires:
This time though I thought I will do a bit more to showcase those models (and others in the pack). First two ones are campfire shots… I couldn’t decide between day or evening lighting, so I made 2.
The lighting and vibrancy of the color choices are done so polished and professional. Low poly is always so pretty - even with a cemetery apparently. So genuinely well done
6 models in two states: damaged and clean (example below). Don’t seem like much given I made way more variants for other object types, but individually those are way more complex and time consuming to make. Especially doing them carefully - e.g., not simply scaling UVs to 0, doing light map UVs, taking care of topology (not going crazy for full quad based topo, but keeping it fairly clean - by adding a few supporting edges those clean variants would be even subdivisble).
And last but not least - I took one of them and put them in context of other models and particles (still from Marketplace. I haven’t decided if I will keep this pack to only models, or will I add some).
Ok, finally finished the tools. I stopped myself at half of what I planned though - will probably add a few of those (like wheelbarrow) in future update. Also experimenting with how to showcase them - not fully satisfied from that still. Here are all the tools - 6 types, clean, damaged and broken variants (24 models in total).
I am absolutely in love with this pack of yours. Low poly designs hold a special place in my heart so I’m excited to see another fun take on what you’re showcasing! Cemeteries and nature go hand in hand a lot more than people think so with you creating a megapack that showcase both of these I can’t wait for the next update.
I’ve been interested in making low poly models myself and was curious if you had any tips for capturing the simplistic style.
Thank you for your kind words! It really means a lot
As always it comes down to practice. A lot of practice. Low poly style seems simple, but it’s not (at least not in general). I do both low and high poly stuff (see more here). You can learn to create low poly models that are of OKish quality quite fast (I can recommend Grant Abbitt, Imphenzia for getting basics on YT), but then it comes down to a lot of practice. A few generic tips:
pay special attention to fundamentals, especially to form and color.
study what and how others do things (grab low poly models that look great, paid and free, and study those, try to recreate similar things)
don’t take shortcuts (you’ll see it in some tutorials): do proper UV unrawps, proper lightmap UVs, proper collisions.
use references (you can search for low poly stuff, but keep also realistic stuff on your ref board), try capturing “the essence” of what makes a given thing.
Hope that helps! If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask
and I had to make a decision: do I make a ‘complete’ asset pack or do I narrow down a scope and release sooner. I decided to go for the first option and create a thing that I would be wanting to get when I was just starting out in gamedev. After a few months of work I realized though, that I have more than enough things to publish independent asset pack, and I did (https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/low-poly-nature-lush-and-diverse-environments).
So well done.
So genuinely well done 
