It seems like I come back to my old GameMaker examples and update one of them about once a year. I try to do better than that, and probably do, but that's how it feels sometimes!
Anyway, today I updated my example of a textured vertex path in GameMaker: Studio. I've spent some time removing a lot of the code that didn't need to be there, renaming some variables and assets so that they make a little more sense, and adding comments all around.
Here's another update to my lighting test scene I've been playing around with in Blender.
I tore out the entire original scene, save for the trees, and re-worked the pieces so they'd fit together better. I might do more work like this in the future, so I can make "islands" of any shape, but for now I'm pretty happy with how things look.
I've included a bonus render first-person perspective, just for fun. Since I haven't filled the whole scene much yet, there isn't a ton to see, but it will (hopefully) get wilder as I continue to work on the scene!
Here's a small update to my lighting test scene in Blender.
I'm also using this post to test the social media publishing functions on my blog, so if you came here from Facebook, Twitter, or Google+, then I guess it worked!
I'm not sure how or why a lot of the links in my Xbox One themes post got broken, but I've updated that page, and all of the links should be working properly again. Additionally, I added a bunch more backgrounds to the list, and I will continue adding more as I make them.
2015 has been quite a busy year for me so far, and I'm glad I have a place to share all the cool things that I've been working on here. Be sure to keep checking the home/work page for updates, as well as my Blender Sketchbook, which seem to be one of my most frequently updated spots these days. Thanks for reading!
I created this image as kind of a test to see if I could replicate the lighting and atmospheric look of some of the levels on Mario Kart 8 - which I don't own and have never played, but which I nevertheless find to be utterly beautiful. I think it's pretty close, but I'd probably have to make some really fantastical landscapes to see how it really compares. Perhaps a future update?
After reading through a post by a fellow Blender artist, I decided I'd try my hand at making some abstract landscapes in a similar style. I used similar texture images sourced from Bing's image search for cauliflower, cauliflower fractal, and pomegranates. These images weren't terribly difficult to make, but it was enjoyable and educational, nonetheless. I'll be making more of these in the future, I think. It's fun to see what sorts of alien landscapes images can create when you use them to generate particles and geometry displacement.
Maybe someone out there might like to use them for their desktop wallpaper!
A friend of mine wanted a background for his new phone, and after way too much time spent thinking about what I wanted to make for him, I had a revelation while working on a similar project for an Xbox One theme. This image was created in blender using a basic cube and a bunch of modifiers to add geometry, displace it, and make it explode.
After seeing some renders by Oscar Leif via BlenderNation, I decided I'd try my hand at some of the techniques on display there: environment lighting, some simple node materials, and using texture nodes to create a checkerboard effect. After playing around a bit, this is what I came up with - a lineup of rooks using different materials and then rendered with environment lighting from an HDR
I've made quite a few geometric changes to my "Parks" Blender scene since the last update, but unfortunately, most of those are not visible in the render camera that I've been using to post project updates. I've made other changes that are very noticeable however, as you can see here.
In this version of the scene, I've replaced the old single-source sun lamp with an HDR environment lighting setup. The result is a much softer look to the light, but also a more realistic color. I've greatly reduced the saturation of the background color here as well.
I'm not sure if I'm ready to say this is how the lighting will look from this point forward, as I kind of liked the garish look of the bright blue, and the hard sunlight from before. Still, I think this was an interesting experiment, and may lead to a better lighting setup for this project in the future.
The image data I used to create the HDR lighting can be found at the HDRLabs HDRI archive. I used the one called "Bryant Park". They've got a wonderful collection of HDRI images there, all graciously provided for free. If you're interested in this sort of thing, I highly recommend it.
