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Introduction
Hi! I'm Ahmed Albaqlawa from Bahrain. I've been passionate about video games since I was a child, always fascinated by the environments and levels within them. Although I completed a degree in programming, I quickly realized it wasn’t the right path for me. That's when I decided to pursue my passion for game development and 3D art, which was a huge step closer, so I joined the Think Tank Training Center. Soon after, I started loving 3D art more by the day. Most of my 3D skills come from my time at Think Tank. Before that, I only had limited experience creating two small Unity projects for the university by programming and using premade assets.
During my first term at Think Tank, I knew I wanted to work in games, but I was torn between environments and characters. Playing Stray ultimately solidified my decision to focus on environment and prop art, as its immersive world-building and intricate details showcase the power of environmental storytelling, it truly captivated me. I haven’t yet had a job in 3D art, but I’ve contributed to numerous term projects during my time at Think Tank, many of which I’ve shared on my ArtStation, and I’m still working on new projects during my free time.
Ship Engineer's Apartment
The Ship Engineer’s Apartment project was a significant part of my mentorship term at Think Tank. Finding the right concept art was a challenge, as I initially wasn’t sure what I was looking for. But when I came across Roberto Spadaro's “Kingdom of the Isles: Mark’s Apartment,” I instantly connected with it. The concept reminded me of Dishonored, Arcane, and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. It had this beautiful mix of Victorian and steampunk elements, with a very dramatic story and lived-in atmosphere.
For references, I relied heavily on real-world photography and the concept art itself. For elements that didn’t exist in real life, I modeled them based on the concept art, drawing on real-life textures for accuracy.
My approach to asset creation was to focus on high-quality details and art rather than immediate optimization, as I felt that could be addressed later. The scene was split into architecture and props, which I further categorized into large, medium, and small props. For example, the drafting table and ceiling machine were large props, while items like chairs were medium, and small props included tea cups and books.
I started with a 200x200 cm floor piece and built the modular architecture pieces from there. I also created 2 pipe kits for this project, and by the end, I had this modular kit to work with.
I used Maya for modeling, Marvelous Designer for cloth simulations, and ZBrush for sculpting details like ceiling damage. Texturing was done primarily in Substance 3D Painter, except for some custom materials I created in Substance 3D Designer. For tiling textures like the ceiling, I used Substance 3D Painter for efficiency.
My favorite prop to work on was the giraffe toy, which I replicated from a Megascans reference. I also enjoyed adding small details like crayons and books to make the scene feel more alive. The biggest challenge I faced was getting the stained glass to look right, especially to achieve translucent colored shadows without relying on path tracing. I experimented with several methods, like using light functions or a blueprint with a scene capture that projects an emissive decal but couldn’t get a perfect result within the given time frame. I ended up settling on a translucent material with subsurface scattering for the window glass. But here’s a highlight of that blueprint experiment:
Thanks to Alex, who made this video:
Texturing
To save time, I grouped multiple objects together to texture them in one go, and I had to scale down the project scope a bit, closing off the bathroom with a door and making the room a little bit smaller, which actually enhanced the storytelling by making the space feel more cramped. Here’s a fun one, a screenshot of all the props of the scene together.
Most of the project didn’t require extensive retopologizing since I used a mid/low poly workflow. However, I did need to group smaller props into a single texture set, like when I created 20 books from just two book meshes to keep a cohesive texel density for the whole scene. For UV unwrapping, I used Maya to unwrap everything, which worked well for this project.
For the tileable materials, I used Substance 3D Designer for the floor, walls, and curtains, while others, like the ceiling and wood for the props, were made in Substance 3D Painter. Working from concept art, I focused on ensuring the space felt warm and inviting, adjusting roughness maps and lighting to create that atmosphere.
I did most of the texturing in Substance 3D Painter, starting with a tileable wood material for the furniture and adding hand-painted details like damage and wear. For the walls and ceiling, I added subtle dirt, scuffs, and roughness variations to make them feel more realistic and lived-in. I also incorporated decals and wear on props, like the drafting table, to emphasize use over time. Here are some renders of the tiling materials I created:
Lighting & Rendering
The final scene assembly was largely based on the concept art, but I made several changes to enhance the story and atmosphere. I adjusted the lighting to create a warmer tone, added additional props like crayons and books, and even added a third cup to emphasize the sense of life in the scene.
Because the space had many windows, I relied on directional light (the sun) for most of the illumination. I supplemented this with spotlights and rectangle lights for bounce lighting. For rendering, I used Unreal Engine 5.5 and focused on using cinematic quality settings, disabling texture streaming, and optimizing anti-aliasing settings. In post-production, I made minimal adjustments, only adding a slight vignette and transitions for the video.
Conclusion
The project took four months to complete. Along the way, I faced challenges like stained glass and lighting, as well as battling imposter syndrome toward the end. Despite these hurdles, I really enjoyed the texturing and set dressing, as it gave me a chance to breathe life into the scene.
I can’t point to one specific tutorial, but I highly recommend YouTube channels like William Faucher, Unreal Sensei, and others. Additionally, I had a lot of help from my friend Daniel Langhjelm with lighting and post-processing, and I’m thankful for the support I received throughout the process.
Lastly, I hope everyone enjoyed this project, and I look forward to sharing the next one once it’s done. Thanks for reading!