#unit69

[moonmurph-gamedev]

Evaluation

I enjoyed this unit as I learnt about High to Low poly baking and its usefulness in modelling assets. I’ll be taking the skills I learnt in this Unit into all the other assets I’ll create and see an improvement in their quality.

I found whilst modelling the gas pumps for example it was easy to reach the limit and create overly complex and demanding shapes. I was adding edge loops that were simply not needed but going back over and deleting them I was able to reduce the count.

Whilst modelling in the future I’ll make sure each edge loop has a purpose and is not cluttering my model. I’ll also make sure to get into the habit of ensuring each UV is done so I can move straight onto baking instead of getting halfway and realising the process is not going to work because I forgot to do the UVs of a certain section of my model. It just saves time having a process personal to me rather than doing it at random.

I’ll have a more consistent workflow and hopefully be able to produce higher quality models quicker with practice.

If I was to do this Unit again I’d focus on experimenting with more interesting textures for the model rather than spending so much time on the pre-production process. I can however keep working on what I’ve created to use in my game next year.

[moonmurph-gamedev]

High/Low Poly Bake (Normal Map)

This is an experiment with the bake tool. The model on the left is the low poly and the model on the left is the high poly. It’s been smoothed and divided up to 5 which allows for greater detail but at a much more demanding cost on the computer. The stamps were placed on the model, normal maps were created then the bake was placed onto the low poly model.

There’s almost no difference between the two. The low poly model has the illusion of depth without being too demanding on the engine. This is a great tool for creating really detailed models and whilst keeping optimisation in mind.

I decided to use this knowledge to the roof for the shop appear worn down. This is for the shop is it’s placed in a run down part of the city. This is a good way of using the same model but adding different details to create more variety. The model is the same so player can easily identify it as the ingame shop however the one in the richer parts of the city will be well mainted and have no grime or graffiti. 

Once again after doing the UVs for the roof. I duplicated it and smoothed out the second model. I put it’s division to 5 as it allows for greater detail. 

I added moss and rust to make it appear unclean and some leaves crawling up the centre.

Here after the bake is finished we have the high and low poly models. You can barely tell the difference as the lighting details have been transfered over. It’s only when looking at it sideways you can see the illusion of depth compared to actual depth of the high poly model.

The left model has a count of 608

The right model has a count of 622592

Here you can see how the low model is actually flat compared to the high model. It’s all just smoke and mirrors really. We want to make the player feel immersed by creating detailed models whilst also keeping the engines requirements in mind. By using this technique the games industry is able to create amazing looking models without needing to use such high demanding poly counts.

It’s important to know what angle the player character will be looking at these models is. As by placing the model or the players camera in certain places you can enhance this illusion or break it.

An example of this being used in the industry is in side scrollers. Side scroller games know the player will be seeing the majority of the game from a certain angle so they build with this in mind. Here’s “Final Exam” 2013 from Mighty Rocket Studio.

You can see the depth of the brick walls. The gap between each brick makes the enviroment seem so much more detailed but actually we know it’s a flat model and by using the bake tool and then textures, colour and shading we are able to create this illusion. The developers are able to create these colourful detailed enviroments with it being able to run on the console.

Here’s the trailer for “Final Exam” where you can see more examples of the players forced perspective being used to the favor of the developers creating detailed models.

The issue I feel is the more freedom the player has with their camera the higher chance they will find unflattering angles in your game. Whether it’s first person or third person the player is usually able to rotate their camera with the mouse or analog so this is something developers need to keep in mind. Depending on how close the player will be getting to the model is also important.

Is the model going to be in the distance unreachable or will the player be getting right up to it? This will determine how much detail is put into it.

[moonmurph-gamedev]

3D Modelling

I started with a simple block and began shaping it to the basic shape of my shop. I also placed edge loops around the corners of the window so it maintains its shape when smoothed. 

I created the roof and a small placeholder sign in the shape of the battery (the logo of the shop). I’ll be adding animated textures to the model on the outside walls.

I’m using side on images of petrol pumps to create the shapes for the handles. These will be placed underneath the counter to add detail and also show how the shop is a “recharging” station for human and robot characters in my game.

I’ve placed the pumps on the wall next to the counter I’ll create a panel for them to slot into so they’re not just hanging on the wall. I’ll also extrude them and add separate tubes connecting them to the building. 

Here’s a comparison of two pumps. The left one has had edge loops added to maintain some sharpness on the corners of the handle. The other has not been edited. I like how defined and smoother the left one looks. I’ll duplicate these pump and change the shape of the wires so they’re not completely identical. 

My pixel style sign on top of the shop is too high count for my low poly bake so I’ve cut it in half and basically turned it into panes instead of blocks.

[moonmurph-gamedev]

Substance Painter 2

Substance Painter is a 3D painting software that allows you to create textures for 3D models. 

A lot of people describe Substance Painter as user friendly and although I personally found there to be a learning curve (like with all tools we use in games development) I do agree that Substance Painter is a lot less daunting to use than other programs. 

A great way to learn is to simply experiment with painting assets you’ve exported from Maya. I also found really great guides on Youtube explaining the basics of Substance. 

Here you can see a gun model brought into Substance and given colour and details. The little scratches and faded paint that makes the gun looks more realistic is actually a tool that substance can do automatically for you. There’s loads that you can achieve for example you can have your models look cartoonish with high saturated block colours or you could make something as detailed and complex as a characters skin. It’s completely up to your what quality you want in your textures. You just have to put the time in to learn the application and all its features. 

You can watch the crash course video here:

Before bringing your models into Substance you need the UVs and material selection done. You also have to your image maps done too. For example the normal maps for your model.

Here you can see someone texturing a model alongside their UVs are being displayed so they can easily break down the model and all the different parts.

[moonmurph-gamedev]

Maya: Topology

When you place a 3D Model in a game engine it triangulates the model. This means it finds every quad and splits it into triangles. When however a model has triangles or 5-sided quads it is unable to triangulate properly and either deletes the quad or deforms. This creates holes in your model or flickering black glitches.

It’s also important to keep good topology as when you use tessellation to add more edge loops to your model you need to keep the model as even as possible. 

Here’s an example of how four quads would use tessellation to add more edge loops. However if from the beginning you’ve not used even topology then you’ll find issues which will progressively get worse the more detailed your model becomes. 

This is uneven and simply wouldn’t work. It’s best to ensure you’re using good topology from the very beginning as this makes your life so much easier as you model and eventually paint your model in substance.

Here’s a model that’s been triangulated correctly. The game engine will easily be able to render this as each 4 sided quad could be split into triangles. Models can also be exported directly from the engine as another way to view all the triangles of a model.

[moonmurph-gamedev]

Maya Quad Draw

Before we begun modelling we changed the grid size to the same as unreal. This allows us to create with uniform scale and helps with modular based building. 

An example of modular building is Lego. You have pieces which fit together but can be used to create almost anything. An example of this in the industry is in Elder Scrolls Series. Lots of the underground areas reuse the same few corridors, rooms and traps but created in different layouts. These modular assets allows the developers to create areas quickly without having to reinvent the wheel each time they want to add a new crypt or dungeon.

A way to create smoother more detailed models is by;

Press 3> Modify> Convert> Smooth Mesh to Polygons

I created a cube, pressed 3 and then smoothed the mesh to add more vertices. I then began experimenting with the sculpt tool to create a thinner shape similar to a human head. 

An issue I came across was whilst sculpting my symmetry was bugging out and not working. This is a current issue with Maya that hopefully will be fixed in the future to create cleaner models. The mirror tool however can always be used after creating half a shape. This is good for models which are symmetrical such as faces or other assets.

We then begun using the Quad Draw tool. I made the object slightly transparent to clearly see the quads and also made the surface live so it stuck to it. It’s important to give more detail to areas such as the eyes. This can be done by holding CTRL and adding more quads.  

Here I began using the quad draw tool. By left clicking you place the vertices of the shape. SHIFT places the face and if you need to cut a quad you can hold CTRL to cut a line through it. 

Another way of creating quads is holding tab and extending an already existing face. This snaps to nearby quads too so it’s a great way of directly seeing how big the quad will be!

Here’s my progress so far. I’m going to practice at home by blocking out with large quads different shapes. It’s good to do this because you can forget the poly count of the mesh underneath as the top mesh is what we’re going to be using. If however I feel skilled enough I could use the first under mesh as the high poly bake. That’ll mean however I’ll have to put just as much care in both meshes.

[moonmurph-gamedev]

MoodBoard

Here’s my moodboard for my Unit 69 Asset. I’ve decided to create the checkpoint station for the level. This will work as the re-spawn for the player character when they die. They’ll be small booths located in the level that heal the player and save their progress. 

This will work similar to the respawn system in Borderlands where the player character is cloned.

These little “Medi-Booths” will be high tech walk through healing stations that the player character can use for free as they’re a member of the police. 

This also fits into the world as it’s a Utopian city where for a small price common illness and injury can be fixed by technology.

After some discussion with my peers I realised a lot more detail would be needed on my feature piece as it’d be too simple on it’s own. I then decided to take inspiration from some of the shop booths around town and create a small automated shop counter for the player to interact with. It’d still provide them with healing and a place to re spawn but also where they can purchase weapon mods with the currency they’ve collected in game. 

I went out into town and took some of my own photos of a small shop that has interesting patterns and textures.

These interesting shapes cut out make the walls of the shop a lot more aesthetically pleasing and futuristic rather than just a solid plain wall.

[moonmurph-gamedev]

Introduction to Unit 69

In this Unit I am producing a game asset to industry standards. This will be a unique asset for my game that can also be used as a portfolio piece. This piece will be based on my own concept art.

I should aim for:

High poly model mesh

Low poly model mesh (8,000 triangles)

Well set out UVs

Second set of UVs for light mapping

Diffuse, Specular, Normal and Ambient Occlusion texture maps