Battlezone - Eagle's Nest 1

3dmodelling videogames unreal battlezone unrealengine

Something a little different this time. I built a new gaming rig recently but have been so busy with work (music stuff) that I hadn't had a chance to put it through it's paces or do anything arty. I wanted to try something in Unreal and get my feet wet with Niagra.

Eagle's Nest 1 - Dark side

Here's a little experiment over the weekend building a Battlezone-based scene with raytracing in Unreal Engine. I couldn't decide which aesthetic I preferred. When I think of the moon, I always think of NASA's on-the-brink-of-over-exposed shots from the Apollo era. The lighting looks really nice with a slightly darker scene, though. I included both.

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The assets are a mixture of things: The moon surface is a landscape with some Substance Source texture-work and material trickery. The Battlezone ships and buildings were originally from the Redux version of the game but have since been reworked in even higher detail (I've been 3D printing them) and had the textures grimed up and PBR'd in Substance Painter. The explosions and smoke are experiments with Niagra in Unreal Engine. Here's a look at some of the assets:

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It was fun to do and I want to do more when I get the chance (maybe with some other games).

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Who I am

I'm Blake and I like to tinker with things and make stuff. When I'm not programming or developing random systems, I'm playing with electronics, doodling bits of art, 3D modelling or sculpting and painting things or nerding out watching sci-fi or horror TV.

From 2001 I worked in the games industry, eventually specialising in tools to aid in the development of video games and their engines. In 2011 I left the industry and teamed up with a few other talented composers to utilise my knowledge to help build the company 'Spitfire Audio'.

I also periodically compose soundtracks for video-games and have worked on titles such as The Stanley Parable, Portal Knights, Lost in Random as well as a few random projects such as trailer for Terraria and Minecraft and the like. You've probably also heard my music in random TV commercials at some point.

What I'm using to create

I use various bits and bobs to craft my shiz.

  • Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra, Mars 5 Ultra, Mars 4 Ultra,
  • 3x Mars 3 Pro backup printers for speed,
  • Elegoo ABS-like Resin 3.0,
  • Sunla Water-washable grey,
  • Elegoo Resin Space Grey 8k,
  • Phrozen Luna curing station,
  • Vallejo Model Color, Game Air, various sets,
  • Iwata Eclipse HP-CS & Studio Smart Jet Pro Compressor,
  • Random cheapo airbrushes for base coats,
  • 3D Studio Max, ZBrush and Chitubox Pro.