New to modular...

Zoltar_Speaks

I started an environment scene last night, having never attempted one (most of my modelling is all props)
I wanted to model this scene from Space Quest 6



, and started THIS blockin.



But after starting i remembered most games are designed using modular technique. NOW i'm totally confused. Im trying to re-create what I made in the form of a modular setup but the scaling and distance isn't matching up to the reference image.



Sorry if i don't make much sense in what im asking, BUT how would i go about creating this as a modular set? are there good references/tutorials which will help make sense of it. I tried google but couldn't find anything that helped.
If i where to model this up freely without worrying about it being made modular for game engine id be fine

BTW Merry Christmas all!

BARDLER

The wiki has a bunch of info for modular building. The most important thing though is to build on the grid.

leleuxart

I don't think you really picked a good image to work from to practice modularity. That image is almost entirely unique assets. You could probably do a modular texture sheet and re-use a lot of it, but for modular assets, you're only looking at a few models.

AlexLeighton

leleuxart wrote: »

I don't think you really picked a good image to work from to practice modularity. That image is almost entirely unique assets. You could probably do a modular texture sheet and re-use a lot of it, but for modular assets, you're only looking at a few models.

2nd this, if you want to practice modular environments, try something like a city block, or ancient temple, something with lots of repeated elements.

Modularity is great if it makes sense for the environment you're working on, but it's not something that has to be done 100% of the time.

Now, lets say you were making a whole interior of a building in the style of your reference. That would be a situation where it would make sense to have a modular set, since most rooms and corridors would have similar looking features. If that's the case, you're on the right track with your bottom image, build each wall section to be 256x256 and have a 256 long door bottom and door, a 256x256 window piece and probably a 256x256 or 256x128 blank wall piece. Plus floor and ceiling pieces and whatever else the room needs that is outside of your concept image. The pieces don't have to fit exactly into 256x256, as long as they have another piece they can snap up against.

Zoltar_Speaks

Thanks for the replies guys. I checked out some info on philip Ks website and 3D motive. i think im starting to understand the idea of modular design. I agree prob not the best image, i'll check out some Deus Ex levels for a further understanding.
Cheers.

iniside

Zoltar_Speaks wrote: »

But after starting i remembered most games are designed using modular technique. NOW i'm totally confused. Im trying to re-create what I made in the form of a modular setup but the scaling and distance isn't matching up to the reference image.

They are not.IF modules doesn't fit what are you doing, just don't use them.Don't try to force something that won't work.
I can tell for 100% there is nothing modular about scene you posted. It's just one unique wall (triangle), with simple straight wall on other side and bunch of props.

If you want modularity try doing modern building or sci-fi scene.
Cottage and medieval buildings are also usually bad fit for small modules (although you can split them on level base if you really want).

passerby

your trying to force something that dosnt work, when it comes to modular, your better off with much larger buildings.

here is a exemple of how i start off a project with modular assets.



or more or less do that till i got all the repeating elements planned out, than i will once again do the same thign with my texture sheets, and figure out which tileing textures and trims i can share between multiple assets.

also notice my units are all power of 2 numbers, which i do to make sure everything fits to the grid nicely in maya and udk once i start building the assets.

Zoltar_Speaks

iniside - your post is a massive relief. I was under the impression that everything MUST make use of modular design.

passerby - I see you mention everything in your blockout is to power of 2. Maybe i dont understand what 'power of 2' means, but i assumed that meant all shapes could only be sizes of 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 124, 256, 512, etc, etc. (??)

So I decided to go back to my original block in, and re-organised everything so that all the props are correctly scaled so that they snap to the grid as well as eachother. I've started concepting out the scene in photoshop (not sticking entirely to the Space Qust scene) and working out which parts will be repeated objects and shared UV space.

CordellC

Minos has a really great modular article on his site: http://www.thiagoklafke.com/modularenvironments.html

Talks about reusing textures, planning modular piece sizes, etc. Probably helped me the most out of any modular article.

Pola

How important is it that pieces snap to the grid in the game engine if you do the layout in your 3D app? Besides snapping is there any other benefits to making modular pieces fit to the grid? I would layout my pieces in maya(snapping but not in respect to a grid) and then use a python script to send that over to UDK.

Mistry10

Snapping to the grid just makes working with your assets a 1000x times easier. I've made so many misses in the past by not making modular assets, especially when you start making large scale environment sets

Ace-Angel

Snapping is important because in most engines which you reuse assets, you need the models to be in the 0,0,0 of the world and with a centered pivot.

That's the entire point of modular, you model one piece, put in the middle and reset all coordinate systems on it, then plan them in your engine manually. As snapping will ease you on the grid when making copies of your asset in the scene in the correct position they need to be.

Exporting a scene as is, while viable, is almost never done, unless you're using 100% unique pieces, which is rarely the case.

passerby

ya what ace said, you will also find people that still work with or have had to work with old bsp based engines like idtech and goldsrc are pretty diehard when it comes to the grid. since in those engines it is next to impossible to optomize and your map might not even build if things aren't on the grid, and airtight to the void.

Pola

I didn't communicate what I was doing properly, sorry bout that! The python script goes over the assets that I've laid out in maya and it recognizes by the assets object name what modular piece it is, it then grabs all the transform values and creates an instance of that asset in a udk scene applying the transforms to it. The assets themselves are exported at origin with a centered pivot.

I just found it easier to do layout and snapping within my 3D app, I had more control and options I could use, so if there are no other benefits for having assets designed around snapping to a grid than there is no performance or other unforeseen issues as a result right?

passerby

Pola wrote: »

I didn't communicate what I was doing properly, sorry bout that! The python script goes over the assets that I've laid out in maya and it recognizes by the assets object name what modular piece it is, it then grabs all the transform values and creates an instance of that asset in a udk scene applying the transforms to it. The assets themselves are exported at origin with a centered pivot.

I just found it easier to do layout and snapping within my 3D app, I had more control and options I could use, so if there are no other benefits for having assets designed around snapping to a grid than there is no performance or other unforeseen issues as a result right?

ya i have built my own scripts to do the same, but still find it good practice to stay on the grid since it, makes making changes easier, makes it easier for teams of people to work on 1 environment, and also isnt possible in all engines, like say you were making the environment for source engin?

in general there just isn't that many downsides to making things play nice with the grid, but it can help out in a lot of circumstances.

Pola

Alright thanks fair point on using different engines too.