Hey all! So I've been working on and off on various TNG recreations for game engines for a few years. I started on the Source Engine before moving onto CryEngine and now finally settling for Unreal Engine 4 (did you know it went free on March 2nd? Awesome!) It's a very powerful but ultimately forgiving engine as I know I don't follow the correct conventions or do things right but it pats me on the back and goes 'there there, I'll accept it'. So I've resurrected a project I've been working on for quite a while, using assets previously created and getting it all working in Unreal Engine 4. The first stage of this will be the Bridge from TNG, nothing like jumping in at the deep end! Some very early screenshots below. At the moment there's very little texture work done and I'm just working on getting all the assets in place. But regardless of the insanely early stage I'm at, any comments and criticisms would be appreciated! When I'm happy with this, I'll release it as a standalone file with Oculus Rift and (assuming performance is up to par) GearVR support as UE4 supports these out of the box and I can test with both.
Hah! The lens flares and various effects give me a good idea of how everything is lit at the moment. Obviously everything will be made much more subtle as I continue. Plus I'm a sucker for lens flares!
Just a quick update on what I got done this evening. I've fully textured up Data and Wesleys stations at the front of the bridge and made this quick (terrible frame rate) video of everything so far. Youtube link!
Cheers. i think the biggest issues are gonna be screen-accurate lighting and colours. It's really hard to get the correct tone of something using the non Blu-Ray versions of the show. I might have to pop out and grab some of the Blu-Rays and use those as reference.
Remember too that TrekCore has the screenshots available from the Blu-rays; they're up through season 5 by now, I think.
Ooh very good point. I should be able to grab some hi-res screens from there then. Cheers for the heads-up!
Just thought of this too: seasons 1, 3 and 5 are probably the best choices for ship shots, as they were done by CBS Digital and so the effects are improved over season 4 (and vastly improved, at least in terms of screenshots, over season 2).
A bit of an update to where I am with this. Running into all sorts of quirks with UE4 but so far I'm amazed by its capabilities. Texturing is by far the most time consuming part of all this (I already had most of the models ready to go) but here's a few pics of how things are looking right now.
Hah now you've made me question it! I'm sure I recall them turning in the chairs whilst talking. I'm positive that happened... I'll see if I can find any proof of it. If not I can just disable the spin!
Three things: 1. Your 3d modelling skills are amazing! The bridge looks shaped just like I remember it! I definitely can't wait to see more! 2. The lens flares are distracting and make the images look fogged up in some instances 3. The support for tactical, I'm not sure it was rounded on the front like that. Please keep up the great work. I tried 3d a long time ago, and found I have little skill in it, so you have my admiration at your much much better skills in it. Keep going, and maybe even take it to some other rooms in the ship!
http://slightlywarped.com/crapfactory/curiosities/2010/images/rare_s104.jpg I have a recollection of the chairs swiveling as well. So far, I'm only able to come up with this picture, in which you can see Riker's chair turned toward the center seat quite a bit.
Thanks! I'm pretty happy geometry-wise, it's the texturing and lighting that will make all the difference here. Plus I want to get some interaction going which will no doubt take time, but it'll be worth it. Yeah I really should tone down the lens flare, it's needless post-processing that takes away from what's actually there. Interestingly, the support isn't rounded, it's a flat surface> Something strange is happening with the lighting on that surface. Plus I need to add in the details that are on the support form season 3 onwards.
This is one of the few times where the chair really swivels: http://tng.trekcore.com/hd/albums/2x08/amatterofhonor_hd_224.jpg And again, it's Riker's chair; presumably Troi's chair would have the same range of motion, but Picard's chair is likely limited by the tactical console behind it.
Thanks for that. So it looks like both the side chairs do have full swivel motion then! I had actually pulled Picards chair forward slightly so it could do a full 360, but I'll push it back to the original position. There's literally no reason the chair would face backward anyway, that'd just be weird!
Thanks man! There's some real talent on this forum and it's exciting to see what everyone's up to! I'm just bumbling around figuring out things as I go, but I'm pretty happy with the progress I'm making so far.