Bridge
Arches
Main Arches
I used the exact same approach for the arches as I did for the walls and towers. I modelled them in Maya, this time by extruding along a curve. I then brought them into ZBrush where I added wear and tear, using the Trim Dynamic, Planar, Pinch and Orbs Cracks brushes. Finally I textured them in Substance Painter, using the same smart material I had previously created, and finally assembled them in Unreal Engine.
Secondary Arches
There are a number of smaller arches along the bridge. I modelled and textured these arches in the same way, and assembled them in the scene.
Sub-Arches
I continued a similar procedure for the sub-arches below the bridge. These arches were not very visible in the scene, so I decided not to allocate too much time to them. Similar to the walls, both sides of the arch will not be visible at the same time, so I decided to model only half and mirror it to the other side later on.
What I Would Change
The main and secondary arches came out quite well, but I had a bit of difficulty with the sub arches.
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The main issue I faced with regards the sub arches was the subtle discontinuity between the two pieces of concept artwork.
As you can see from the artwork above, the image on the left suggests that the sub-arches are made of one solid piece, while the arches on the right are clearly made of the same brick as the walls and towers.
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When recreating these arches, I attempted to resolve the issue by creating a sub arch that primarily consisted of the stone walls, with just one solid piece on the inside (that mimicked the aesthetic of the previous arches), as visible below.
Style of the existing walls
Style of the existing arch
In retrospect, this approach probably does not match either concept drawing very well, and given more time I would love to approach it in a different way.
Walls
Bridge Walls
The next aspect of the bridge worth discussing is the walls of the bridge. Freddy was in charge of the wooden elements of the bridge, while I tackled the stone elements as they were so similar to the other elements I had already completed. The stone walls on either side of the bridge were almost identical in style to the other walls and towers I had already created, so I assembled them in the same way. I started with mortar, into which I placed the pre-sculpted stones in an irregular pattern. I then dynameshed the entire thing to reduce any unseen faces, and decimated it. I baked and textured in Substance Painter, and brought them into the Unreal project.
What I Would Change
The first major concern I have with the bridge walls, is that they are not very efficient. Given more time I would approach them in the same way I did the flat walls, and mirror the stone pattern on both sides.
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Secondly, I feel the connection between my stone bridge and Freddy's wooden bridge needs a bit of work. I brought the wooden bridge into ZBrush when I was sculpting the walls, but for some reason neglected to pay much attention to their junction. Given the chance I would love to surround the wooden posts with rocks, like in the sketch below, and make the connection between the bridges a bit more believable.
Floor
Modelling the Floor
The next aspect of the bridge worth discussing is the stone floor itself. To continue the aesthetic consistent, I modelled the floor in exactly the same way as the main floor, by scattering a variety of different pre-sculpted bricks and setting them in mortar in ZBrush.
Similar to the main floor, the stones in this floor were deliberately placed to avoid intersecting with the surrounding walls. The primary difference between this piece of flooring and the main floor is the edges and underside of the bridge.
What I Would Change
Due to timing issues, the floor of the bridge was assembled quite quickly. This resulted in far less than optimum UVs, as well as an abundance of geometry and a number of sculpting errors like the one seen below due to the clay buildup and clay tubes brushes. If I was to continue this project I would resculpt and tidy up the areas where such errors occur, and attempt to optimise the UVs a bit more.
