Midwich Alley (Scrapped Custom Re-Volt track)
This is going to be a lengthy one. Midwich Alley is planned to be my biggest Re-Volt project which is inspired by an official cancelled track that was planned for Re-Volt known as Council Estate. What's shown is an extensive process I documented from March 16th, 2019 to May 5th.
So question: Why did I cancel the project?
Answer: Normally I don't have one, but it's a couple reasons. One is the artstyle, it's a mismatched mess. It was supposed to be a bit more of a cartoon aesthetic, but mixing that with realistic textures ends up looking incoherent. The second is the performance - The framerate for potato PC's (like my old Acer laptop used for the project) could dip lower if there's too much detail (mainly the excessive polycount on the telephone poles). At one point, the total polycount for the track (not the instances & objects) is a whopping 120,000+ tris, which is unnecessarily big. I haven't made the buildings across the street, and that would take it's toll, too. Sure, I would cheap out and make them bigger than the main buildings so I wouldn't model the rooftops, but I wanted some of that realism.
We start with some primitives: A narrow bridge, BMW, and a jump to the building. The interior isn't modeled yet.
Some rough AI, stairs, an alternate path inside the building, and a hallway.
The stairs would be a problem, so I added some wood to go down smoothly. Added some skylights.
The rooftops would be boring without obstacles, so here's one of the track's tricky sections. Also, you can see through the skylights to show the later part of the track.
Some more modelling. The part with the Trolley here is that I need to adjust the angle of the ramps so it's possible that the heaviest & slowest vehicle in the game could make it in the top floor. Also, next to it is an early elevator gap.
A couple WIP screenshots and early textures & plans for the Estate building.
A "What If?" scenario where the in-game measurements are accurate to the real world. Plus, AI problems shown on the bottom right corner.
A WIP on the Estate building, including primitive rails. At this point, the course is pieced together.
The lobby guard rails was thinner, until collision problems reared it's head, so you get the thick ones instead.
Cafe WIPS, a quilt made of the level's floor textures, and the entrance to the Estate.
Some shots of the track with the early textures.
More, ft. the dumpster.
Ramps, fixing an AI issue, Wedge Jr, and oil spill.
The Red Spade Cafe building. Still empty looking.
A WIP of the cafe floors, some updates, and a controller with an RC as a scaled reference.
A WIP of the skybox, more textures, and other things.
Vivi's apartment, ft. her room, living room, and her shoes to bump around.
Exposing another AI problem, Ralsei plush, particle fx, and a table which is the last thing I screencapped before cancelation.
Extra: The Red Spade Cafe with the booths made.
Also, some lights.
The starting area which is supposed to be a rooftop garden.
Another Extra: This is from Inkscapetober 2020, where Midwich Alley is the main backdrop for a relatively quick art piece.