Princess Peach's Storage Room

Behold!

The latest project I've been working on for the last few weeks, and definitely one that has required the most modeling, finished perfectly in time for Mario Day (Mar10) though totally unintentional, I'm pleased with the timing!

Like most of the projects I do, this one came from wanting to learn a new technique, in this case how to make properly colored windows. Most times when I made a render with glass they never worked how I wanted them to, they were close, but they often times didn't turn out how I pictured them in my head, so I started my research. It didn't take me very long admittedly, turns out there was a check box I had missed, and presto, problem solved. Feeling perhaps a little foolish about how easy the fix was, I wanted to expand on what I had learned.

So I wanted to make a new project with my newfound skill, but glass isn't exactly thrilling on its own, I needed a hook, something to make it more engaging, and then it hit me. Have you ever played Super Mario 64? Were you also like me and kind of assumed that the large stained glass portrait of Princess Peach on the front of the castle was also some sort of secret bonus level? I remember constantly using the cannon to launch myself over and over at the portrait trying to unlock something to no avail. But it got me thinking. What's behind that window?

Clearly, it's a room somewhere in the castle, but what might be in that room? So I decided to imagine it kind of as a storage room, where Peach and Mario might store souvenirs or items from their adventures, and that was that, I was off. I decided to mock up this room and tried to cram as many items from the mainline Mario games as I could. (Fun game if you want to try and identify them all!) and it was set, I had the beautiful stained glass window, all the items in the room were looking good, it was coming together, and then, it was missing something.

I was happy with the room, and the layout and everything looked and felt right, but the atmosphere of the room was off, this room was meant to be a storage room, it wouldn't be clean and pristine, and I just spent a day modeling out a huge stain glass window only for it to go unused on the wall. That's when it hit, God rays.

If the stained glass wasn't enough this would surely be the icing on the cake! Back to the research I went, trying to figure out the best way to make environment fog and proper God rays, and well, as you can see, I think I did a pretty bang-up job, and it really helps tie the whole scene together. I'm so pleased with how this one turned out, and now I'm already kind of itching to find another stained glass window scene to make, though perhaps I'll wait to upgrade my computer first. refractions and reflections from the window and environment fog might be more than a 10-year-old computer can take!

So happy Mario Day, and best of luck picking out all the items in the scene!