D_Rogue Game Art Project

A hoy! It's been a while (and then some) since my last blog post. In the fifteen-month gap, a lot has happened in my personal life and behind the scenes with the development of  D_ROGUE. In that time, amongst many things, I've been overhauling several models I worked on in 2019 that I wasn't quite satisfied with or appeared rushed. Below is one such example of the  F/V  Scully's w heelhouse windows I reworked. I placed the before and after screenshots side by side to highlight the striking difference that improved geometry can make. I believe one of the reasons I rushed the original model was that I was preparing an orthographic plan of the  F/V  Scully  towards my portfolio review at the video game expo EGX. In creating the  orthographic renders, a clean  geometry wasn't priority. Having spent several years working on various assets and improving my skills thereafter, returning to the boat's exterior made me realise just how messy the mesh was. C...

B elow are renders of the rope coiler for the deck of the  F/V  Scully fully textured and complete . This was another one of those builds that lacked any  close-up reference of the mechanical parts. These coilers are commonly  seen in the TV show Deadliest Catch, as they are situated right where all the action happens on the main deck. Luckily, I discovered a PDF plan of one online, which helped for all the complex geometry; such as the motor and pivoting arm. I really enjoyed weathering this piece. As it is close to the starboard side near all the spray of the ocean, I created lots of  rusty patches,  dinks from wear and tear, as well as, muddy grime from the rope brought up from the sea floor. One of the main parts I focused on optimising, was the tyre. I knew m odelling all the geometry for the treads of the tyre would be both time consuming and unnecessarily heavy on performance in the game. Instead, I simply replicated the  treads by creating a he...

I t has been over eight hundred and thirty five days since I began modelling the hydraulic crane (amongst many other things in my spare time) and I can finally say I have completed texturing it! This was without a doubt one of the hardest pieces of machinery to construct so far for D_ROGUE. Not only due to the number of parts involved (over one hundred individual pieces) but also the lack of any decent close-up reference. Almost every photo taken of a hydraulic crane, on board the boats seen in the TV show Deadliest Catch and elsewhere online, are either too far away or out of focus. I chose the F/V Saga crane as this was the most 'well-documented'. Eventually, it came down to just hours of staring at blurry images, learning all the major components, as well as a bit of creative licence! Here we have the final renders of the model below. I quite enjoyed weathering parts such as the hatch and lifting hook; adding a story with all the scratches, dinks and rust. I was careful not...

I t has been a substantially long time since I was able to create a personal piece in less than a week. Recently, I had intended to return to modelling the complex machinery for onboard the F/V  Scully  but felt like I could achieve something small, as well as refined, in a short period of time. Which is just what I did. While researching into possible crew possessions from the 70's, I stumbled across this flashlight. The 'Eveready Captain'. Instantly, three things stood out to me. One, I had to add this awesome shiny retro torch into the game. Two, the geometry seemed simple enough to replicate quick in 3D. And three, I mean, it couldn't be more fitting...it's called 'Captain'. Nuff said.  As for references, I was able to find quite a lot of high-quality images online to work from. The main challenges I faced were, replicating the ribbed body without adding too high of a poly count and getting the steel/chrome texture right.    Below are th...

A fter being away from blogging for almost a whole year, it's great to be able to get back into it and share my latest artwork for  D_ROGUE . A Polaroid camera! Onboard the  F/V  Scully will be numerous crew personal possessions. Things from cigarettes to books, to clothing and other miscellaneous items. One of the more interesting items of these in the cabin area, happens to belong to the protagonist. A Polaroid 1500 Land Camera. As an avid photographer and vintage camera collector, I just couldn't resist putting in a camera model in the game! I just had to think of a way to incorporate it into the world. One of the most distinctive cameras of the same decade  D_ROGUE is set in, was the  Polaroid. What made me feel like this would be quite feasible to recreate digitally was that I own a  Polaroid (a 'The Button') that is almost identical in design and form to the  1500 model from 1977. Unlike a lot of previous models where reference material online wa...

A s mentioned in my previous post, I recorded the entire process of my latest 3D model of a double-barreled Kriegsmarine signalling pistol. I actually created two videos from the all footage. The first time-lapse is a short cut of the key stages. The second, is a full extended breakdown showing almost all 32+ hours in 32 minutes (for those curious on the complete modelling process). Hope you enjoy! Watch the short cut  here : Watch the extended cut   here : Thanks for reading :)

H ello! After being away from blogging for almost an entire year (big life changes) I am finally back! Posts might not be regular every month from now on, but  D_ROGUE is still very much alive. Things are just moving a little slower, as well as a bit sideways...like a crab. As the title for this post states, I have created a model of a  double-barreled Kriegsmarine signalling pistol for the game! A couple of years ago, I visited The Royal Navy Submarine Museum. Amongst the fascinating history and artifacts on display, I saw what looked like a firearm. Upon reading the information plaque, it turned out to be a unique and very rare double-barreled flare gun from a  German  submarine.  These big-bad-beefed-up flare guns were used on U-Boats in the Second World War not only for signalling and when in distress, but also for lighting purposes. My interest peaked,  I took  several photos for reference thinking it would be a fun hard-surface model to recreate....