Updates:
Modified the skybox based on suggestions. I still have to do the top panel. No clue how I'm going to blend that yet, so I keep procrastinating.
For comparision, old one is
here. After the contest, I'll release all four variants plus whatever light_environment settings I work out for them.
Continued progress on prop creation, too! Actually I had a lot of these finished last week, but didn't do an ingame test until I'd tweaked all the collision models:
Roots are between 200-800 polys (except the twisted one near the columns, which is at 1200 and probably won't see much use). Comparable to the existing TF2 pipes and chimneys. No LODs. Top half of the image represents interior vines/roots whereas the bottom half are exterior (thicker) ones.
Two skins on all the roots. All use the exact same texture, which is both good and bad. On one hand, it means only one texture to load so it's resource friendly. On the other hand, it limits what I can do about visible seams. They're acceptable enough for background methinks.
The pillars are 250ish. No LODs. 128u with inset, broken version, and 192u version with no inset. Four skins to match the textures (skinned just like the stone faces).
A better shot of the columns:
Kep