dh38 - The Coming of the Ice

[dh38]

Just found out about this project, what a great theme! I'm new to 3d total... can anyone join the challenge? Hope so... anyway I'm just going ahead with it, here's my concept:

On this ice planet, energy is scarce as the closest star is very distant. An outpost is established as a harvesting site for geothermal energy; this is accomplished through a network of huge pit mines, resembling craters, that mark the landscape at the base a mountain range. Within these subterranean pits, large thermal rings melt the ice into water and regulate the temperature of these artificial lakes. Connecting the craters are long infrastructural lines and clusters of support settlements.

Now onto the coloring step for mood and atmosphere...

[dh38]

Here is a quick color paint.

[Akim]

brilliant!

[costa]

Impressive work

[dh38]

here's the latest. i took it into 3d and started to multiply the craters, and decided to rough out the landscape in 3d as well. hopefully the painting process will bring it all together.

[Wanderer]

cool

[dh38]

here is another update, at around the 50% mark. thanks guys for the comments, and good luck to all towards the finish.

[Rievilo]

Just wow !

[dh38]

Here is my final entry. The story is more or less the same as before, with some tweaks:

A distant ice planet has become an outpost for a human colony seeking a fresh water supply, which has grown scarce elsewhere. Despite the rugged, harsh arctic landscape, the planet has the advantage of having an abundant supply of water, which only needs to be melted from the ice and maintained from refreezing. Large pit mines are dug into the frozen terrain, where geo-thermal energy from the planet's core is drawn up within the layered walls of the enormous man-made retaining structures in each pit, which melt ice into water and act as reservoirs. A network of these water holes are set up across the landscape, each supplying resources to the colony as well as more distant locations via underground transport.

Good luck to all in the final!

[Wanderer]

If nobody will do better - then you're a winner:)

[dh38]

Hey Wanderer, thanks for the kind words. Just saw the final entries, they look really great... this was a fun event!