Overgrown Crypt [UE5]

Eldritch evil stirs in a forgotten corner of a forbidden cementery. Will you venture forth and vanquish or perish in your attempt?

I am very happy to finally present a project I have been working on over the summer. It began as a small environment inspired by Sephiroth Art's Crypt: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Vd85vR
However, I felt like I was locking myself into a certain artstyle which, while I really like, wasn't allowing me to do all the things I had in mind. At that time I was playing a lot of Diablo 2 and Dishonored 2, both of which inspired the final look.

I also spent a lot of time wondering around graveyards in and around my local area. There is something inherently neferious about the silence of a casket garden. Even though it is a peaceful place, you cannot help but imagine something evil slumbering underneath. It gets the imagination going.

The key area I decided to focus on is foliage. It always felt like a weakpoint and something I actively avoided. What began as a small challenge for myself, ended up being an essential part of the final design. I learned a lot and the final result reflects that. I made a point of using nothing more than Maya and Substance 3D Painter to create the vines and the tree. Hard surface modelling is the other area of interest for me, I consider it the comfort food of game dev. Aside from the tree trunk, everything you see was box modelled.

Enjoy!

The only external resource used in this project are fire particle effects from JeongukChoi, found here: https://www.unrealengine.com/id/logout?redirectUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.unrealengine.com%2Fmarketplace%2Fen-US%2Fproduct%2Fm5-vfx-vol2-fire-and-flames

Big thanks to friends who's suggestions and feedback was invaluable:

Mike https://www.artstation.com/electronicfox
Rob https://www.artstation.com/robpalmer
and everyone from the DiNusty community.

This post will be updated with a post mortem and a video of the scene in the coming weeks.