I was initially drawn to Unity as a beginner due to two big reasons: the Terrain system was so freaking fun and intuitive, and the post processing ("Image Effects") made any crappy game I made immediately look polished. It was easy to get lost creating cinematic worlds that way, and those features still contribute a lot with Unity's current release, 2019.3. Now the Terrain system and Post Processing stack have received much needed upgrades, and it's never been more fun to create gorgeous environments to explore.
Ever since my game second game The First Tree took off, I've been asked several times how to make simple, beautifully-lit environments, so I wanted to try my hand recreating one of my favorite photographs by the talented Kyle Quackenbush. At my first big job at a VR game studio, I finally got to meet all these pro artists who had worked at places like EA and Ubisoft, and I learned that they always had some kind of photo reference on their screen while working. I wanted to emulate that with this tutorial, so here's the reference:
Photo by Kyle Quackenbush (used with permission)
You can see how the soft haze creates a bloomed, diffused feel to the sunlight. I wanted to use the volumetric light plugin Aura 2 to recreate the morning fog behind the barn, and to speed things up, I also wanted to use a few random elements from the HQ Abandoned School pack. Check out the video below for the full tutorial!
I had to sum up the things I learned making this tutorial it would be this:
It's amazing how much an angled directional light and a beautiful skybox can accomplish.
To create atmospheric environments, you usually need... atmosphere! Aura 2 adds so much life and depth to even the simplest environments.
If your PC (and your player's PCs) can handle it, thick grass painted via the Terrain Editor makes the world feel alive and serene.
Post processing effects like bloom can be "cheat codes" when it comes to creating beautiful environments.
When I was finishing The First Tree, I had so many Unity experts tell me how using the Terrain Editor was a mistake, and that it would never work well on consoles. While I did have to optimize it a bit (especially for Nintendo Switch), I'm happy to say I never had serious problems with it, and the terrain system has only gotten better with 2019.3. The terrains were truly the heart of my game back then, and I'm planning to keep using it to create beautiful places worth exploring.
The finished scene. It's not perfect (the path and trees could be improved), but the mood is there.
I hope you liked the tutorial! Thanks for reading... now go make a world to explore!