3D Models
Technical Summary:
A core element to the game is the player finding and collecting crafting items that can be used to craft key items. When I originally created these models, I created it inside 3ds Max, a software I am very familiar with and used throughout my first year of college, and then texturing it inside of Adobe Substance Painter.
During the period that the first version of these models were developed, we hadn't really discussed the artistic design that we were going with and how to replicate this, so I stuck to keeping them close to realism, the typical style I'd always gone with. One of the lessons I hadn't learned during Pirate Wizard and Composting Game was the importance of the texture resolution, keeping them at 4096 x 4096 which can be very heavy on the player's hardware, inside of Tactics, Tea and Tentacles I have set the resolution of textures accordingly to how significant they were to the player and the game as a whole.
However, later down the line, I decided to give Blender a try, and remade the models to look more interesting and better fit the sci-fi aesthetic. When developing the textures for these versions, I created my own Smart Material, that would automatically add 4 pre-set layers of Base Colour, Ambient Occlusion, Curvature, and Gradient. I shared this Smart Material with the rest of my team to allow for consistency with our textures. This material helped make the models stand out a great deal in comparison to the original material, which with the cel shader, and an outline it significantly improved the appeal and designs of the models, making them stand out even more.
Technical Summary:
The computer chip was originally based on a CPU, having the pins sticking out of the bottom, as well as the engraving on top of the asset. I used a lot of chamfering on this model to give it a very curves look on the edges, as well as using the weld tool to give the underside pins a point at the ends. Unsure of the art style at this point, I created a more realistic design inside of Substance Painter, taking advantage of the edge ware generator to give it a more weathered look, and exporting the textures at a resolution of 256 * 256 since the model wasn't always a huge presence inside the level.
When I made the transition from 3ds Max to Blender, I recreated the Computer Chip to fit more inline with a motherboard, keeping the engraved CPU, but adding additional elements to make it stand out more and have a more technical feel to it. Similarly to the previous version, I used the bevel tool to add some more style to the edges and make it more detailed rather than being the hard flat corners it originally was. I also took advantage of using some emission on the tall cylinder to help it stand out more. By the time of this redesign, we had our Smart Material figured out, so we could really enhance the design to make it feel very stylised and have the flat colours stick out even more. For this model, we increased the resolution up to 512 * 512 to help keep the engraving more noticeable and have the curvature of the edges stand out more.
Technical Summary:
The electro spike wasn't something I could really base off of another existing component, so I had to create something unique myself. With the name having spike as a part of it, I thought it would make sense for it to be an element ending in a pointed tip. The original design is very flat and basic, and not as interesting as other models I have created, but to achieve the extrusion towards the top, I used the connect tool to create a loop around the model and scaled it outwards, and doing the inverse so far up the spike. When texturing the asset, I wanted to have the end emissive to sell the idea that the spike had an electric tip, and originally settled on yellow as the colour for electricity. My favourite detail with this texture, is that around the edges of the electricity, there is corrosion from the energy, which I achieved by using a position effect to create the subtle effect. Similarly to the Computer Chip, I also exported these at a 256 * 256 resolution since they weren't always visible inside the game.
When I made the transition from 3ds Max to Blender, I recreated the Electro Spike to be more of an interesting design and also keeping in mind that I could reuse this model for the Lockpick. One of the defining characteristics of the original spike was how flat it was, so I wanted to give it some more depth by giving an edge to the actual spike. To create this effect, I used several extrudes and intrudes before finally ending the item with a spike. Another noticeable change is how significantly low poly the new model is, which fits a lot more with getting the curvature edges of the textures to stand out even more. When texturing this asset, I continued to use the new smart material to speed the texturing process up, before similarly creating a new corrosion effect for this model, based around the effect seen on the blasters used by Death Troopers. I also decided that a lighter blue fit more for electricity rather the bright yellow. As well as continuing to be specific with our texture resolution, settling for a 512 * 512 helping to keep some of the finer details with the texture.
Technical Summary:
The iron gear was one of the easier models to create, being based around on a very relevant real world items. When creating the model, I made sure that the cylinder had an equal amount of sides so I could do an alternating extrusion to make a clearly noticeable gear shape. I also inset the top and bottom faces so that I could add the centre hole, which I then bridged the edges to fill all the open areas. Moving into Substance Painter, I continued to create a realistic design for these assets, which did result in a really nice edge ware, but wouldn't fit with the overall aesthetic of the game. Once completed, I exported the texture maps at 512 * 512, double the usual amount of the other older assets. This was because this model played a significant part in the Escaping Phase of the game, meaning the player would more likely see this asset.
When I made the transition from 3ds Max to Blender, I recreated the Electro Spike to be more accurate to a typical gear and make the model seem less flat and more interesting. The new model is clearly more heavy on the polygons, but definitely adds more detail and makes the model a lot better than the older. I followed very similar steps to creating the new model, using insets and bridges to create the hole in the middle, I also selected the ends of the extrusions and scaled them in the Z so that the model looked like it was on a decline towards the ends of the mode. Finally, I selected two of the end edges and bevelled them so that they had a smooth curve. Moving into Substance, I used the smart material to help the model fit with the aesthetic of the game, but decided to add a generator to add some orange/red tint to the model to attempt to add a subtle rust effect to the model. I also kept this model at a 512 * 512 resolution since it was a more significant asset in the level, and made the rusty look more visible in the level.
Technical Summary:
By the time it was necessary for me to create the Lockpick, I had fully transitioned from using 3ds Max to always using Blender. A benefit of this was that I had already created half of this model, I could save a significant amount of time. I created a design for the lockpick inside the Animatic in Pre-Production, so I followed the handle part as closely to that as I could. When it came to texturing the asset, I forgot that since I'd reused the Electro Spike, I didn't need to re-texture that part, but did so anyway. I also used this opportunity to test out how opacity could work with the in-game shader, by making the buttons on the lockpick slightly transparent. Finally, I exported the textures at 512 * 512, which is significantly lower for such a significant item, but this level of detail isn't lost at all, a definite benefit of focusing on a more flat colour design.
Reflection:
The transition from 3ds Max to Blender was a very clear improvement and development of my skills, helping to really enhance the look of the game even further. I think to continue to improve on the new set of skills I've been learning, I should continue to look into Blenders tools to see how I can improve and streamline the development of my 3D assets. An area that can be improved on, for definite, is to check models that I use the bevel tool on so that I don't leave my models with N-Gons and make sure they are either triangles or quads. I also think that I have made the right choices with keeping the textures just below the 1024 * 1024 mark, since they aren't an asset you persistently see throughout the levels.
Holo Tree
Technical Summary:
In the early stages of developing the level, we soon realised that even if we replace all the white boxed assets, the level would still be very barren, so during the holidays, I brainstormed some ideas that I could develop to build up the environment and continue to learn some more Blender skills. The Holo Tree was my first official asset I made in Blender, teaching me the basic keys to extrude/intrude, inset faces, and unwrap models. I also learned a considerable amount about the modifiers inside of Blender, using the mirror modifier the most. The tree was one of the more complex elements of this model, but found that trees could be very easily created by taking a cube and merging all the vertices into one and using extrudes to create the tree trunks and branches. Finally, to make the tree shape, I added the Skin Modifier that turned it back into a four sided model.
Texturing this model was quite the unique experience in terms of other models. Knowing that I wanted to make the tree a hologram, I created the material with a colour gradient from light at the bottom to a darker shade at the top. I decided that I could use a black and white stripe map over the top of the trees textures, with the lines across the tree, I wanted to make the lines a moving part of the model to follow a similar style to see from holograms in Star Wars. Inside the material created in Unreal Engine, I gave the materials a Panner Block which I could change the speed to make the lines move faster. The only downgrade of this is that the tree itself isn't cel shaded like the rest of the model, but still fits in quite well. Another unique detail to this model is that the tree has no collision at all, allowing for the player to jump through the tree, this was achieved by including a version of the model without the tree and assigning that to the static mesh collision.
Reflection:
Being the first model I created in Blender, I'm super happy with how this turned out, and definitely helps enhance the scene, which was its original purpose. I also think this is one of the more unique assets created for the game, benefitting a great deal from the Smart Material and the Panner inside UE. An issue with the actual tree that I didn't notice early enough was the fact that because of how the UVs are, the lines don't move perfectly up the tree. In the future, I should unwrap a model like this better and remember to keep the UV Islands the correct orientation so that the texture correctly moves up the model. I think to really enhance this more, is to use the inset faces to add some posters and advertisements to help build the scene, this could be achieved through decals inside of Unreal Engine so that I don't have to re-texture the model again and create different variations of it.
Crates and Billboards
Technical Summary:
To take a break away from the programming I had been doing for some time, I returned to making some small assets to add to the environment and do some small world building, resulting in some crates and billboards to enhance the world even more.
The crates were never an intentional asset, spawning from me creating the Mars-Ket International Logo for fun. I took the original drawing of the Martian from the group pitch and hue shifted the clothing to be green, I also found a realistic thumbs up image and did the same to change it into the green skin colour of the Martian. I also used the same custom text we'd been using inside the UI to keep a consistent design with the UI. Although this Logo was more intended as a joke, we decided that it would be a waste not to use it inside the game, so I created a very simple crate design with 4 inset faces. At this point, I didn't know that I could directly add an image to the textures, so I created the base materials, and inside of Photoshop I put the logo over all the faces in the right orientation, which worked, but wouldn't be the process I would use from this point forward.
For the alternative design, we had thought of the Pluto Mining Corporation as a personal piece of lore we created for ourselves, but with the creation of the Mars-Ket Crate, this was a perfect opportunity to world build even more. I spent a majority of my time working on the logo for this crate, basing the colours on Pluto as accurately I could to real space images and experimenting with adding text to different shapes. However, this time with the textures, I imported the transparent PNG into Substance so that I could use it as a fill layer. To get the best quality from the image, I gave the image an anchor point and then gave it a black mask and fill layer so that I could extract the Alpha, making it stand out. Finally, to really make the image stand out, I increased the height of the logo so that it wasn't a totally flat image, and with this using the same emission as the original, I could easily change the colour in the Material Instance.
However, for the Billboard, we took inspiration from John Carpenter's They Live, taking inspiration from the alien commands from the film. For the textures of these models, I took advantage of the already existing logos and used the same process as the Pluto Crate and adding height to them to give them an extra layer of depth. I also took advantage of these models to add more world building by introducing the concept of Mars having a monarchy, a subtle piece of information, but helping build immersion further.
Reflection:
I think both of these models add a great level of immersion and detail to the environment, allowing for the world to feel even more alive than before. These are also little assets to add some elements of fun for the player, as well as allowing for people to find some enjoyment through references they may recognise. I think to improve upon these further I could create some more versions to help enhance the level, for example crates for the cantina that delivers drinks or prompts the player to visit the cantina to purchase drinks. An improvement to the unwrap of the crates would also be beneficial since the faces of each inset aren't correctly oriented, so the logo had to be placed in all sorts of different orientations, what would make this easier is having the faces on top of each other so that the logo can be applied once and appear on all sides.
Town Environment
Technical Summary:
Looking into the environment of Mars, it's easy to notice that the environment is a very rocky place, so I developed a simple rock model that could be used in several ways. The rock itself originated as a simple cube, which was given a displace modifier and with the correct noise map, I could change to create a range of different shapes and sizes. Because of the modifier, we can still change the original vertices of the cube as much as we wish to create some very dynamic rocks. The rocks were then textured with the Smart Material, and because I unwrapped the rock quite randomly, it gave some wonderful results with the curvature and ambient occlusion. With the model complete, I used it to add small details throughout the level, adding small rocks around the settlement gates as if they'd been blown into the level as vehicles have come in and out, as well as creating large piles with Pluto Mining Corporation crates to tell some small world building to the player.
Further developing the environment, I experimented with creating the main part of the wired fence. I originally created a plane inside the model's frame and subdividing it several times, using the poke faces option to turn it into several triangular faces and removing all the quads to leave only triangles. Finally, I added a wireframe modifier to create diamond shaped holes throughout the model, but I ultimately decided against this option because it increased the poly count to over 2,000. So to work around this, I left the middle part of the fence as a basic plane and used a black and white map provided inside of Substance Painter as the opacity map to create the same pattern as the previous method, the only change I made further was to change the colour to a grey to fit the rest of the model. This model was originally intended for the night phase, but did find a home inside the Gathering Phase as a fun little puzzle for the player to pick up some extra coins.
Alongside the larger fence, I also created the smaller fence, designed to go with the Martian's homes. As mentioned with the Holo Tree, it was an idea I brainstormed myself by going out for a walk and seeing what some people included around their homes to make them different. My solution to this was to start with a cuboid, use the loop tool at the top, and then merge the top vertices to create a pointed top. To save me from having to make more fence panels, I used the array modifier to create an equal distance between each piece and save time having to unwrap them again and again. I was taking inspiration from a typical picket fence, so to finally re-create this design, I used the screw brush to add some finishing touches to the panels. I also thought it would be interesting to add a slight orange gradient towards the bottom of the panels to show that the sands of Mars had coated the bottom of the fence.
Following the trend of finding local elements that I could use to enhance the environment, and settled on including benches as a place to add NPCs and open seating. When I first began creating the model, I was keeping the futuristic design in mind, but gave the bench legs to sit on the ground, but after thinking about the design, I decided it would be more fitting and interesting to have the bench hover. The Bench was made up of a plank that I duplicated using the array modifier to make the creation of the model easier, then creating a rectangular booster which I mirrored to the other side of the model. When I imported the mesh, I went into the socket manager and created sockets for the boosters so that I could add a particle to the chair to make it seem like it was hovering off the ground.
Finally, to enhance the environment further, I wanted to create a mimic of a real life vehicle to make it seem like the Martians import and export goods across Mars. I based the design of this off the shape of a van, I found an image online and assigned it to a plane so that I could use it to create a basic outline of the front of the vehicle. Because of how symmetrical the model was, I used a lot of mirror modifiers to keep the model consistent in its design, as well as using the array modifier on the back end of the vehicle. Similarly to the bench, I also gave sockets to the boosters so that the model looked like it was floating off the ground. I also wanted to add some variation to the model, so I textured the vehicles in several different colours so that the level wouldn't be stuck with the same boring colour around the level.
Reflection:
These assets do a great deal of enhancements for the scene and use the tools of Blender really well to make some really decent assets. I think the rock that I made works well, but knowing just how dynamic the rocks can be, I could have made some other versions to scatter about the level to add some more variety to the level. The Benches currently have some NPCs sitting at them, but to add a little more variety to them, I should add smaller NPCs to them to act as children to show that they can also be effected by the situation our game is educating about.
Crafting & Key Items
Technical Summary:
To finish off the Sneaking Method, I created the Keycard for the player to pick up from the ticket office and use to enter the Spaceport. When creating this model, I experimented with the different options of extrude available with Blender, using the along Manifold selection to be able to extrude inwards and not create issues when you traditionally extrude faces. I also based the textures off of a floppy disk, going for a cooler pink colour that stands out from the other textures.
The Reflective Material is a very simple model, but the appeal of the design is based on being the glass part of the screen. However, for the texture, I used a simple crack brush to make the screen have some damage to the model which was a very subtle effect, but worked really well with the different height layer.
In level design, it is documented about having a coinbox model based on a Camtono from Star Wars, it was another early model that I created at the start of my Blender Skill Development. After being in the game for several weeks, I had finally grown tired of the model, and decided it was time for a newer model. The new credits bundle was more accurate to what the mechanic actually did, as well as look a million times better and recognisable in comparison to the older model. The creation of the asset was very straight forward, starting with a cube, scaling it into a cuboid, and scaling the top face down to create the prism shape. The texture also worked in line with the different maximum amount of credits you could receive to make the model make even more sense and help the player understand the model more.
For the Breakout Method, we needed a model to represent a battering ram that the Redcoats would have brought with them during the invasion. The model is a very simple cylinder that I added two loops and extruded out to make the model not as flat and simple. The model's texture uses a black and white map that I used with the smart material to add the rings of a tree to the model, but keeping the rest of the item as a basic flat colour.
Reflection:
I think all of these models also take advantage of the smart material quite well, and fit the design of the game very well. As well as having some great uses of different height and map elements to enhance the style of these models. The Reflective Material is the most basic model I've created so far and could probably benefit from a redesign like the coin boxes, maybe following the style of the Screen and Scanning Device, or having a more reflective design to fit with the name. I do also like the Battering Ram texture, but maybe some more wear on the item or even covering one of the sides with blood could add a subtle story to the item, but could potentially cause issues with the PEGI rating we wanted to go with.
All 3D Models
This is a collection of all models I developed and created for this project.