Author Archives: Steve Sayer

Happy New Year! To start off 2022, I’ve started adding some storage items to the longhouse model. To begin with, I’m just using some colourful primitives as stand-in geometry. Eventually this will be replaced by models of storage items–like dried plants–that other artists have created. First I added a couple of overhead storage poles inContinue reading “New Year, New Storage”

Now that the longhouse model is getting incorporated into the game environment, it’s time to start adding a few more details. I started with a supply of small logs under the bunks. I haven’t checked the reference material, but I assume this is firewood storage: Next, I added the flat interior walls that separate theContinue reading “Longhouse Details”

After a hiatus to get the fall term started, I finally had a chance to revisit the longhouse asset. I wasn’t happy with the previous approach to the bark skin. The sheets were placed too haphazardly, due to random point placement in the digital asset. Looking at photos of reconstructions, it seemed to me thatContinue reading “Bark Skin Redux”

With some parts of the main structure finished, I’ve started to look at creating the exterior ‘skin’ of the longhouse, which is made of overlapping sheets of bark. The approach here is to scatter small planes all over the surface of the structure, each one representing a single bark sheet. Here’s a first pass withContinue reading “Longhouse Bark ‘Skin’”

As promised, here’s an update which now includes the main parts of the longhouse’s internal structure. Long poles are lashed together to make a frame, to which are attached separate supports for hanging items and for supporting low platforms for storage or sleeping. As shown before, Houdini’s proceduralism allows me to define the layout ofContinue reading “Internal Structure of Longhouse”

Leaving the palisade aside for the moment, I’ve turned my attention to the longhouse itself. We will need several of these, and there will need to be some variation between the structures. The research shows that they tend to follow a common plan, with some variation–especially the number of ‘sections’ within one structure, allowing differentContinue reading “Procedural Longhouse”

I’ve added some more details to the palisade asset. First, I added some UV’s to allow for texturing. Here’s a view with some stand-in textures; for the final product, of course, it will need the same stylized, painterly textures that are being used for the other assets. But this at least provides a sense ofContinue reading “Palisade Details”