Making environments is a lot of fun, but very time consumig and detail oriented. I started by placing a basic terrain, then adding a water feature to it.
Next, I started populating it with major geographic features.
Next I set the basics:
- Keylighting
- Skybox
- Fog
- Color Correction (LUT)
Next I started fleshing out a "beautiful corner".
Next I started populating detail objects like grass and rocks on the ground.
I still have a lot of trouble doing tree placements. It takes a surprising amount of attention to make them look naturally placed.
Improvements to lighting, particles, and textures. Or, in other words, polish.
There's still quite a long way to go here!