"Flock is a multiplayer co-op game where players take on the role of flying shepherds, each tending to their own unique herd of adorable flying creatures."
I worked as the principle 3D artist with Hollow Ponds on Flock, making the majority of 3D assets in the game. On this project I made strides in bulk asset production, and also learned a lot about Unreal's tech art tools, such as shaders, terrain, LODs, imposters and procedural foliage. I also took on art direction for some areas of the game.
Screenshots
My credit for Flock. I made quite a lot for this game, so buckle up!
Grass and Foliage
I made the vast majority of bushes, flowers and grass to populate The Uplands. Foliage needed to behave like a 3D object, but feel similar to a stylised 2D drawing. Often this was accomplished with billboard meshes with the occasional 3D mesh for very close LODs.
Flock was my first encounter with Unreal's foliage & grass systems, which I came to absolutely love for their flexibility and usefulness. Being able to set parameters such as age, spread, seed density and slope for plant species and watching them just appear was fantastic, and it is a feature I sorely miss in other game engines. And while much some of the fancier foliage is hand-placed, having these procedural systems in the background to fill out the world was such a timesaver.
Trees
I had a great time making trees - great little landscape details and obstacles to fly around.
A sort of "halftone dissolve at the edges" effect was done by brute force of quads in the leafy canopy. We made good use of Unreal's built-in LOD system, as well as imposter billboards at far distances to ensure good performance.
Concrete and Manmade
Scattered around The Uplands are many many crumbling and abandoned concrete structures.
Working from the sketches & concept art by lead artist Dick Hogg, I made many many manmade structures - from bridges and huts, to hoon rings, entire plazas, and everything in between!
Early on, we were not 100% sure on how to approach the manmade objects. Eventually it was settled on concrete. Concrete everywhere. Having everything made of a single material made them incredibly cohesive, and we could have more fun with shape and silhouette to distinguish different structures. I did a fair bit of primary research, going to dams and old buildings to get reference and study how the material behaves.
The Campsite is the first, and most repeated place the player will visit. Concrete umbrellas, pipes and three giant watertowers give the area a unique visual language.
A great bit of large scenery to work on - I was given a really lovely bit of concept art to work from, and spent a while really sinking my teeth into it. I'm very happy with how it turned out - all the cracks and chips catch the light in lovely ways.
Buried deep in the moss forest, the concrete here is overgrown with, well, moss. I made a few bespoke moss coverings for the concrete here. The giant "mushrooms" are also manmade, with their function being a total mystery!
Far out the outer edge of The Uplands are some strange concrete structures. These were one of the first big props, and I used them as a good way to test out the different types of wear and tear to give the concrete. The big cracks are done by booleaning out big chunks, then moving the remaining pieces to give the impression they have subsided over time. The pockmarks become a staple of large, flat areas too. Probably eroded by the rain.
The Bridge is the biggest single thing in the game. I've never made anything this big before, and so it proved to be a technical challenge. Like other large concrete structures, I spent a lot of time adding cracks and chip detail. A long task, but it paid off!
While the larger objects were given bespoke textures or UV attention, smaller concrete props were mostly unwrapped using Cube Projection or DreamUV. This allowed models to be made extremely quickly and with great texel consistency.
For variety, most concrete props had multiple variants with increasing states of ruin. This was a fun task - taking a pristine prop then cutting, breaking and chipping it down into rubble.
Rocks and Terrain
As Flock is set on a mountaintop, we needed a few rocks.
I created several types of cliff meshes, which were well used as bluffs and outcrops all over the level. Each area of the map has its own feel of rock.
The main hilltop needed a memorable silhouette. Inspired by the Rock of Gibraltar, I made bespoke cliff meshes with sharp edges to catch the light at all times of the day.
I got the chance to take some ownership of the art direction here. I visited places like Cow Green Reservoir and Arthur's Seat for reference of cliffs, crags, and cascades.
I provided additional help with the terrain shader, giving the material layers a stylised edge, rather than the default Unreal soft blend. It is a effect similar as the Threshold filter in Photoshop, and fits the bold artstyle of Flock.
I also assisted with some level decoration - painting landscape layers and foliage, and placing some decorative props in the world.
Characters
Working from concepts, I modelled and textured the Player Character, and their customizations/outfits.
Characters were rigged and animated by Alex Morgan
Creatures
I helped with modelling, texturing and animating some of the creatures in the game. As with the characters, we aimed for a smooth but low-poly style.
With one more sprug to design, I threw my hat into the ring and worked on a Pied Sprug. I love piebald coloured animals, and rarely see that colouration in invented creatures. In a reversal of roles, I designed the Pied Sprug and our Lead Artist modelled it.
Winnows were cute little finned things somewhere between fish and tadpoles. Baffins are a mix of mollusc-like creatures, which as a fan of molluscs, was great. The large burbot was similar to stingray or skate. I also modelled the whistles!
Doodles
And finally, some silly doodles I made while working on the game.
Honestly I had such a great time working on this game - getting so much creative input and working from really lovely concepts. I'm really proud that we've managed to make such a beautiful game.
Thanks to Richard Whitelock for landscape & material tech art, Mike Robinson for creature tech, Sam Wong for placing my props down in the world, and the rest of the Flock team for making such a lovely thing!
