SoW - From Concept to Game Asset
by Gareth Fouche · 05/26/2009 (2:33 pm) · 11 comments
I wrote up a post about the process of creating a game ready model for T3D on my blog. It is more an interest piece for non-developers than something technical, but some people here might enjoy it, if only for the pictures.
I'm too lazy to setup all the image tags again. :P Find it here : scarsofwargame.com/DevBlog/?p=316, where I run through the basic steps to go from this :
to this :
One of the things I don't mention in that blog post (because it would mean little to the non-devs reading it) is how the live asset updating thing in T3D is pretty awesome. Makes it so much easier to tweak models as you go.
Also, I'm feeling so liberated with my modelling. Convex hulls? We don't need no stinking convex hulls. Polysoup and collada for everything, and don't stint on the polygons!
I'm too lazy to setup all the image tags again. :P Find it here : scarsofwargame.com/DevBlog/?p=316, where I run through the basic steps to go from this :
to this :
One of the things I don't mention in that blog post (because it would mean little to the non-devs reading it) is how the live asset updating thing in T3D is pretty awesome. Makes it so much easier to tweak models as you go.
Also, I'm feeling so liberated with my modelling. Convex hulls? We don't need no stinking convex hulls. Polysoup and collada for everything, and don't stint on the polygons!
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#2
05/26/2009 (4:17 pm)
Sweet, nice polished look. great dev blog! and yes welcome to the polysoup era! 
#3
I once visited a place called the Maiden's Smile, obstensibly a pub, but what went on upstairs can't be discussed in polite company ;) what happened at the Maiden stays at the Maiden...
And yes more polygons! Keep pushing those triangles to the screen and make puny casual gamers buy a new computer if they want to play.
Oh, and if you press '0' before taking a screenshot you'll have a slightly "cleaner" screen to show off -- I've been thinking it would be worthwhile to expand on that for hudless screenshots for people who want to show off their artwork.
05/26/2009 (5:20 pm)
Looking good! I once visited a place called the Maiden's Smile, obstensibly a pub, but what went on upstairs can't be discussed in polite company ;) what happened at the Maiden stays at the Maiden...
And yes more polygons! Keep pushing those triangles to the screen and make puny casual gamers buy a new computer if they want to play.
Oh, and if you press '0' before taking a screenshot you'll have a slightly "cleaner" screen to show off -- I've been thinking it would be worthwhile to expand on that for hudless screenshots for people who want to show off their artwork.
#4
What does '0' do, tell all the bad stuff to act right the nexts shots a golden egg!
05/26/2009 (5:26 pm)
lol the Maiden's Voyage huh?What does '0' do, tell all the bad stuff to act right the nexts shots a golden egg!
#5
Hey if it's good enough for CoD it's good enough for us!
Am I right in thinking that there's no normal mapping? Looks great anyhow! edit: Bump maps = normals, yes? I got confused with detail maps then
Tris counts don't seem as problematic as they have done in the past, just a bit of decent LODing to help ease into the distance will help.
I've also found that the "live asset updating" is flippin' awesome. After first seeing it in video I wasn't much interested but have since realised just how useful it is.
I've been modeling a character head in-game, having 2 different sizes sat next to each other (one normal human size [tiny] and one huge for detailing), tweaking the shape and freehand drawing the texture, hitting save and watching how things go, hitting undo in programs and changing it. It's really great to see everything change instantly in it's end environment.
Press '0' to get a better screenshot?
05/26/2009 (5:37 pm)
Nice house! Good old CGtextures for the roof, eh?! ;)Hey if it's good enough for CoD it's good enough for us!
Am I right in thinking that there's no normal mapping? Looks great anyhow! edit: Bump maps = normals, yes? I got confused with detail maps then
Tris counts don't seem as problematic as they have done in the past, just a bit of decent LODing to help ease into the distance will help.
I've also found that the "live asset updating" is flippin' awesome. After first seeing it in video I wasn't much interested but have since realised just how useful it is.
I've been modeling a character head in-game, having 2 different sizes sat next to each other (one normal human size [tiny] and one huge for detailing), tweaking the shape and freehand drawing the texture, hitting save and watching how things go, hitting undo in programs and changing it. It's really great to see everything change instantly in it's end environment.
Press '0' to get a better screenshot?
#6
And to not get too far off track, I meant to say it before, but yeah: live asset updating is brilliant!
05/26/2009 (8:38 pm)
Pressing 0 (the number) simply unmounts the weapon which gets rid of the reticle and the ammo/weapon HUD. How much I hate that solid-color rocketlauncher indicator graphic (and I've changed it 3 times -- ever noticed it is inconsistent with the other 6 indicators? Check out weaponslot.xcf if you're curious.) isn't fit for discussion ;) But I have been thinking about a way to take hud-less screenshots, and constantly seeing that white indicator in the screenshots people are putting up is what is motivating my intentions for that..And to not get too far off track, I meant to say it before, but yeah: live asset updating is brilliant!
#7
05/26/2009 (9:20 pm)
looks great 
#8
05/26/2009 (9:21 pm)
Nice! Thanks for the write-up, too!
#9
@Todd : The plan is to build foundation blocks as separate objects for mixing and matching, along with various means of access (ramps, stairs etc).
Texture count ended up being about about 9 textures spread over the different parts, the base building object only uses 5 but the door, windows and chimney's have other textures. Poly count was about 1.2k and about 100-200 per detail. Scale of the model I cannot remember offhand.
@ Steve : There are normal maps, yes. More noticeable when you're moving or in this shot : http://scarsofwargame.com/DevBlog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/8.jpg
"Tris counts don't seem as problematic as they have done in the past, just a bit of decent LODing to help ease into the distance will help."
Yep. But I will worry about that once I have a scene with many more objects in it, premature optimization is the root of all evil, according to a saying I once read. ;)
05/27/2009 (4:32 am)
Thanks all :)@Todd : The plan is to build foundation blocks as separate objects for mixing and matching, along with various means of access (ramps, stairs etc).
Texture count ended up being about about 9 textures spread over the different parts, the base building object only uses 5 but the door, windows and chimney's have other textures. Poly count was about 1.2k and about 100-200 per detail. Scale of the model I cannot remember offhand.
@ Steve : There are normal maps, yes. More noticeable when you're moving or in this shot : http://scarsofwargame.com/DevBlog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/8.jpg
"Tris counts don't seem as problematic as they have done in the past, just a bit of decent LODing to help ease into the distance will help."
Yep. But I will worry about that once I have a scene with many more objects in it, premature optimization is the root of all evil, according to a saying I once read. ;)
#10
Any specific reason though why you haven't just UV unwrapped the entire mesh into a single texture instead of having 9 separate ones?
You're pretty safe to have separate textures per material definition, but you might as well optimise your textures for polys that can share the same material.
In my experience, switching render states is the root of all evil ;)
05/27/2009 (10:12 am)
Nice Gareth :)Any specific reason though why you haven't just UV unwrapped the entire mesh into a single texture instead of having 9 separate ones?
You're pretty safe to have separate textures per material definition, but you might as well optimise your textures for polys that can share the same material.
In my experience, switching render states is the root of all evil ;)
#11
By the way, in your blog I find interesting the post about the "module" feature of SoW..
What about a blog here to illustrate a bit the concept? (or what about trasforming it in a starter kit for T3D??? ehehe I'd like that...) :-)
01/19/2010 (2:12 pm)
Gareth, very nice creation :-)By the way, in your blog I find interesting the post about the "module" feature of SoW..
What about a blog here to illustrate a bit the concept? (or what about trasforming it in a starter kit for T3D??? ehehe I'd like that...) :-)
Torque 3D Owner Todd Pickens
You should give it a foundation, it would really help ground it in the environment. What sort of texture count and scale did you end up with?