When we read about it our common reaction was: “what do you think, we can do it, right?”:)

At that time Gökhan was working on landscapes and level design both at work and home. I was working on architecture things, mostly medieval. So without any argument we split the project: I was responsible for architecture, Gökhan was responsible for landscape and scene management.

We checked different vineyards and architecture styles. Our main inspiration was eco green architecture. We wanted to blend nature and building together. Also we wanted to make building as open as possible to use natural light. We used glass panels a lot, even between floors and hotel rooms. At sides of the buildings that covered with grass we added windows to take natural light into lower levels such as winery, corridors, tunnels or garage of the hotel. Also we wanted to make visitors feel inside the nature. That’s why we added interior gardens and grass roofs.

On the landscape side we wanted to have open areas (Kite Demo was very inspiring about that) so we can see big vineyard area and enjoy the vista. Gökhan was experienced on landscapes on UE4. He went to his hometown to take references both about landscape and nature.

We completed the prototype at middle of July and we started to detail it. We actually started to work hard at beginning of August. Modeling was going fine, landscape was fine but when we put them together for lighting tests, problems started. Test after another we started to understand problems and started to solve them. Last week was very exhaustive. Waiting for lightmaps, changing settings, trying different tricks… At some moment we even thought maybe we use dynamic lighting, at least we can finish it on time. But we are happy to have lightmaps, nice GI and finished project.

It was a huge experience for us. Both learning UE4 and trying to finish this big project on time. We would like to thank you for this challenge and we hope you like our vineyard.