Foliage research

 In this section of research I will be collecting numerous different images of plant life, tree's and any foliage that will fit in well with my work in the model. I hope to collect different types of tree's and research specific ones that drape or hang on buildings or ruins, along with that i will also gather examples of plant life growing around buildings or tree's growing through them. I wish to look into games as well just to see how they have portrayed any of their levels that have plants overgrowing constructions and collect some example images to show what i wish to achieve in my final piece.

In the image to the left it shows a large tree growing and draping it roots around an old ruin, it has managed to grow all the way down to the bottom covering the entrance to what looks like some kind of tomb or underground building. This picture portrays the same kind of effect I would like to create in my game, In my model of the Colosseum or my interpretation of it I would like to have one large tree that stands out from the rest coiling round most of the Colosseum, blocking some entrances and exits, almost making it look like it is part of it. This will achieve a more interesting path, instead of just venturing around you can inspect where the trees roots has grown, maybe creating a different path or for example an arch way made from the roots of the tree.

This picture to the right has the same structure as the last and has the same kind of idea, it has wrapped around the buildings features giving it a brilliant and ancient look, this is exactly what i hope to achieve. Instead of blocking entrances like the last photo this trees roots have grown around it, this is a good feature and i will most probably use this a lot in my design as it gives a nice effect.


Where there are no trees or large amounts of foliage I still want it to have some kind of growth on plain walls, obviously I want a lot of the Colosseum's construction visible but the textures on the walls can be changed, in this case, the picture to the bottom left is a image of an old wall with vines and plants growing through the windows and a green type of moss covering a lot of the wall making it look older and more overrun by vegetation. Also, paying attention to small details, in parts of my model where cracks will be visible due to how old it is, i will hopefully have moss or small foliage coming out of the cracks showing how overrun it is. To the bottom right is the Sorrento ruins, a small castle like structure completely overgrown by plantation, it is covered in so much foliage that only small parts of the walls are visible as you can see. I think this would be a bit much to cover my model completely in this type of growth, I want it to be overgrown but not so much that you can hardly see the ruin itself, but one thing I do like in this model is how the plantation is mostly growing on flat surfaces, not up the walls, I may use this a lot on the top of my model.

             







The screenshot below shows a clip from assassins creed brotherhood where you can see from an angle most of the Colosseum, it is have been overgrown slightly as you can see all the grass and foliage covering the walls and floor, especially where all the characters are sat. My interpretation of the Colosseum will look very similar to this, alot of moss and foliage covering the ruins but not completely and also the few trees I will model and insert into it. Paying alot of attention to all the different types of overgrowth, i will hope to have alot of vines and various hanging foliage hanging and draping off ledges and around door frames and maybe just wrapping around other trees meshing together.
 

There are various games that show brilliant interpretations of ruins that have been overrun by vegetation, e.g tomb raider, hunted the demons forge and turok. All games based on roaming through a jungle or abandoned buildings that have been overgrown.

Tomb Raider

The eighth chapter of the world known game, the 2007 anniversary sets lara in a vast world of various ruins and jungles, in the pictures i have researched and gathered below it shows various levels of the game where you have to explore vast ruins covered in foliage to get to your objective.

The image to the left shows one of the levels from tomb raider underworld, she is scaling a wall in a large kind of temple, the statue seen in this photo has the same effect i wish to achieve on my model, making it believably old and abandoned. It has moss or some kind of mold growing around it, also showing its white stone material, this is going to be quite similar to my project hopefully as it was made from a similar colored white stone. One more feature about this level is that is a large group of plants or bushes scattered behind the statue, this way it is bringing the statue out more and making it stand out, making its features more impressive and more interesting, in my model i will use this technique to create atmospheres inside the Colosseum as outside there will be a lot of foliage and trees due to rain and sunlight giving it a lighter look and causing nice effects of the sun reflecting off it surfaces. On the other hand when you enter the lower levels it is going to be dark and sunlight will vaguely pass through small holes in the structure, other than that it will have a very dark, gloomy atmosphere which will be very fitting as that is where the gladiators and animals were kept before they were sent up to fight and most probably die.

This is a perfect example of what I wish to achieve with my final piece, from a distance you can see all growth and gives a good effect. Also, scattered around the ruins randomly are small plants that sprout from the cracks of the ruin, this is the type of plants that I want to be spread out through my model.





 Turok

Released in 2008, after Turok evolution, it is a first person shooter where you play as a corporal Joseph Turok roaming through vast jungles and enemy bases and running into reptilian enemies a lot of the time. This game displays a vast amount of vegetation that may be useful for my final project.

The screenshot to the left is an image taken from the game play of Turok, the moss and plants growing on the the rocks in this picture is what I hope to have in my final model. In the game it is unknown island overran by jungle and dinosaurs, the only normal life is the enemy group of military forces, this would be good for my game as it has a similar principle because the games level and my model are made to look abandoned and overrun by vegetation. Also in this image it has a type of vine in front making a sort of arc, I have mentioned that I would like to have something like this in my game, maybe as just a vine curving making an archway or simply curving around one of the many arcs in the Colosseum.

In my research in foliage and different types of ruins or buildings overran by plantation I have collected various images which portrays old, decayed buildings that over the years have been overgrown by plants of all kinds. I gathered real life types of ruins but I also looked into gaming and all of the environments players are given to roam around in, assassins creed brotherhood being a very useful source of information of what I want my final piece to look like. overall I have a good understanding of how the buildings may look depending on how long a structure has been abandoned. Also, one of the main features of the plants that wrap around the Colosseum are the roots, I have found various examples, in game and real life of how the roots form and grow around ruins, helping me get the effect I'd like to achieve in the final piece. I think I have collected a good standard of information on this aspect of my project and I have found what I was looking for.