Mansion

[Gavage]

I've been working on a game (just a little indie adventure by myself) for the last year and eventually decided to go the Sketchup route to build the main setting for it. Thought maybe it'd be interesting to track the progress on here as I build it - any tips or suggestions would be welcome as I'm pretty new to the software!

There are a few sketches of how the rooms looked when I drew them in my sketchbook thread if you fancy seeing the sort of look I'm going for: http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=128162

Some things, like making rooms on a 'grander' scale, are a lot easier with Sketchup but other aspects (like little details, figures, animals etc) are a heck of a lot harder...

Here's some of how it's looking at the moment.

[Arkanjel]

Great work so far. The eye is pretty creepy. I would suggest building the main mansion first and then you can use the warehouse to populate it with all the extras. If you need any help, just holler!

[Gavage]

Thanks for the tip! I've actually got most of the rooms built already (just empty), following a floor plan of it I made what seems like a million years ago. I'm really trying to avoid using the 3D Warehouse and go for making everything 'from scratch' which is proving very tricky so far, but rewarding when something goes right. :)

I've been working on this today - a conservatory, trying to go for a vaguely art deco style. The thing on the right hand side is a giant fountain sculpture. Really hoping to eventually decorate it with a lot of plants that aren't quite dead but look particularly eerie and lifeless (maybe some ivy baskets suspended from the ceiling...) but I'm not quite skilled enough to make plants yet.

[Gavage]

I've got a question for any SU experts reading, thought I might as well tie it into posting a few more bits.

Is there a way to identify where a 'break' is in a cut-out shape? In two of these (the flapper style girl and the 'maison dieu' card) part of the image is basically an empty shape, so I can't colour it (there's just something white very close behind it in these pictures), but I want them to be solid. The shapes are a bit too complex to find where the break is manually. Alternatively, is there a way to fill in the shape without changing how it looks now? Not sure if that makes much sense, hopefully someone knows what I'm talking about!

[rattus]

i think i understand the problem..
you could try manualy pick the lines while holding "shift" down,
when the lines you want are selected you can go "offset" and make a copy
of that shape and its instantly solid (if the shape are closed).

or even better, try use the line-tool and make some random lines over your
empty area, eventually it will close, then just erase the lines you dont want.

[Gavage]

Thanks Rattus, I tried part of what you said - in most cases I closed up the area with a few extra lines set accross it, which I then 'softened' out with erase+ctrl. Fingers crossed, it works perfectly! Cheers.

[kvitalij]

Cool works. I Like the Eye and Stairs. The Walls Are good!
What about the progress on the game?

Regards

Vitalij

[Gavage]

Cool works. I Like the Eye and Stairs. The Walls Are good!
What about the progress on the game?

Regards

Vitalij

Thank you. :)

The game's progress is slow - I'm favouring excessive detail over any urgent completion dates, hehe. Altogether it is probably at about 20% - everything from the plot, characters to the rooms in the house have an outline in my head, it's creating a solid interactive image to go with it all that is the hard part. It will take a disgustingly long time but I have no urge to give up any time soon.

[kvitalij]

Great to hear it! Keep the spirit up. Cool. Will be updating my own works soon for sketch up project!