Vegetation, foliage, plants, trees, saplings, flowers, ferns!
I’ve spent the last few months creating a variety of vegetation for my game, which will form the basis of “Foliage” - the feature in UE4-5 responsible for in-game flora. I’ve also included the following in this Foliage: mushrooms, small pebbles, tiny twigs, individual fallen leaves, and - strange as it may seem - butts. All of this will be scattered in abundance across various locations, mostly outdoors: the city, the suburbs, the forest, a tourist camp, a swamp, and more. Of course, I could have bought a pack of ready-made plants from the EGS market or downloaded the necessary models and materials for free, and then added them to my game project. But any fool can do that, and I wanted not only to delve into all the secrets of creating flora, but also to make something unique and one-of-a-kind, something no one else has! Especially since some plants are quest items and require a special approach to their creation. Let’s take a look at what I’ve prepared!
The screenshots were taken in Blender, so the plants may look different in Blender than they do in the game engine itself. Differences in the renders, and so on. Also, a model of a fully grown dryad was added for scale.
Silver willows (3+ types)
Willows were created specifically for the swamp location and will hang over deep marshes that players cannot enter. It has a fully rendered trunk, but it will be hidden by fog.
Tilia's branches (3+ types)
Linden and oak branches will be abundant in many outdoor locations, appearing in a wide variety of combinations and proportions.
Oak's branches (3+ types)
Spruces (3 types)
I decided not to limit myself to just individual branches and to create a few full-sized trees, whose maximum height will not exceed that of the tallest objects on the map.
Young tilia (3 types)
Adult tilia
Tree saplings (4 types)
Saplings will also appear in more civilized areas, such as the suburbs, where they’ll grow in special enclosures along the roadsides.
Tree saplings (6 types)
Rose hips (2 types)
Bushes are important element of the forest’s multi-tiered landscape. They’re very handy for scattering here and there, thereby creating lush Foliage throughout the locations.
Swamp bushes (2 types)
Forest bushes (3 types)
Houseplants (7+ types)
These plants will grow exclusively in pots in certain locations, such as the sisters' house or the library-museum. They include monstera, fern, agave, geranium, aglaonema, and others.
Burdocks (5 types)
Dandelions (5 types)
Even though the game takes place in mid-June, I decided to leave a few yellow dandelions. Let's just say they're long-lived dandelions!
Northern lilies (3 types)
This lily is based on a real species of lily, but it has been adapted to the more northern latitudes where the game is set.
Ribworts (5 types)
Ribworts comes in two varieties: whole and half.
Thistles (4 types)
Swamp flowers (6 types)
Swamp flowers (2 types)
Violas (4 types)
Specially formulated for lawns and meadows.
Pink pepper (3 types)
It's very pungent and grows exclusively in marshes.
St. John's Worts (4 types)
Swamp lily
Cattails (9 types)
Cattail is designed for swamp and lake locations.
Bunch grass (7 types)
Several types of grass bundles, ranging from green to dry and withered.
Short grass (4 types)
Several types of short grass.
Tall grass (3 types)
Several types of tall grass with ears.
Ferns (6 types)
Ferns are true veterans: they were around even back when giant insects were crawling and flying across the Earth. Well, in my game, several species of ferns will carpet the ground in the forest locations!
Ferns (4 types)
Clovers (2 types)
The clover comes in whole colonies for easy planting in the ground.
Ivy (7 types)
It comes in two versions: a horizontal version for ground cover and a vertical version for walls and tree trunks.