My game asset creation learnings
So I'm completely new to game asset creation and my startup is trying to get into some game development here in India. So I, being the lead on the art side of the company, am facing a lot of problems on as we dive more into it. So I thought that instead of listing all my doubts here and there, I should list out all of it in one thread for better organization. I hope I'll find some good helping hands here and hope that some time down the line it proves to be a great resource for myself and others as well.
So if you guys would like to check out my work, head over to my work blog - http://bharatnag.tumblr.com
Here is a link to a recent thread I posted where I was facing some troubles with baking - http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124843
So if you guys would like to check out my work, head over to my work blog - http://bharatnag.tumblr.com
Here is a link to a recent thread I posted where I was facing some troubles with baking - http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124843
Replies
we talk of "LOW POLY" models for game but really how much??? I mean what should be the poly count? what factors determine it?
To the best of my understanding it depends upon the end platform. As in console, pc or an IPad. Presently we are working on games for IPad and the limit we decided was near about 3k polys for the below posted character. But really how exactly should I decide how to go about this aspect as I need to give instructions to all my team mates in the art department.
Just Kidding. There is no simple answer to your question. You need to think about the whole level or scene. How many triangles, textures, draw calls, etc can you have going on at once for your target platform and still run at your desired frame rate. That should give you a rough idea on the total budget. Then you divide up your budget from there. Depending what else you want in the scene the number can go way up or down.
But you probably shouldn't listen to me. I am not a real expert
and is there any way to bake out matcaps from zbrush to externally retopologised mesh??
Pilot - 2760 polys
Helmet - 923 polys
http://bharatnag.tumblr.com/
Get a sample game running in your target engine and look at the stats. That should be a good starting point. UDK comes with samples on those platforms, so does Unity Pro not sure about others.
"Baking Inside of Blender". - Not the best option in my opinion. Try Xnormal it is free and it is awesome.
Topogun - Not the best option in my opinion. Try Zremesher it comes with 4r6 [ame="
I don't think using the lowest subdivision is the best route. Again try zRemesher. it comes with 4r6
Different people here will have different opinions about this. If he is a main character, I would budget at least a month from concept to having a game ready skinned rigged character with a few props and ready for animation. For enemies and NPC's I would allow 1 to 2 weeks minimum.
Hey thanks for the replies dear. Ya I kinda found myself a workaround with retopo and baking too. I tried Zremesher, Qremesher, all sorts of automatic retopology but It didn't work out for me. To the best of my understanding and what works best for me is to manually do the retopo for things that are to animated or infact rigged but use auto retopo for props and all other non-animated assets.
Thanks for that time constraint input. I really need to do some research on this.
For the normal maps, I found a work around too but still I have some doubts. I'll make a fresh post below these relating the same.
Again thanks a lot mate, I really appreciate it when you guys are so ready to help!!
OK so firstly I tried loading the 3D viewer with both high poly and a low poly mesh, but the viewer refused to open up showing an error that the mesh has too many triangles that exceed the limit that Xnormal can handle.
So in order to resolve this issue I exported out a slightly low res mesh from Zbrush and the viewer loaded this time. I built the cage and saved the meshes (.sbm files). So what exactly are these sbm files??
Also then I replaced the "slightly low res mesh" in the high poly mesh section of Xnormal with the original High poly mesh and it didn't bake out good normals. They were crap actually.
So to resolve this now, I used the low poly .sbm file as an external cage for the low poly mesh and it worked. I had perfect bakes.
But I don't know exactly why did that work out. Is the lowPoly.sbm file actually the cage mesh file??? I hope you are getting what I'm trying to explain!!
http://bharatnag.tumblr.com
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Tech chat is not aimed at the final modeling product, more the tools, scripts, materials, issues, shortcuts and overcoming technical challenges associated with modeling. For the model in situ, then go to pimp and previews and they'll give you crits and feedback.
ya sure ill do that
Thought it would be a piece of cake but it took me long to just place the joints properly. Im still working on weight painting and stuff.
Modular game assets for the airfield in the game - Blender, Photoshop.
So tried sculpting and painting a generic terrain but Im still not sure so as how to go about not making it repeat when seen from a distance. Sure it looks fine from this close but Im sure its gonna cause trouble. Also, have no idea how would we go about stitching the edge vertices if we are to make it repeat infinitely.
Some more progress on the asset development for the game. Plane Hanger modular parts - Blender, Photoshop.
http://bharatnag.tumblr.com
And can any one (moderator) please move this thread of mine to a relevant forum???
http://wiki.polycount.net/CategoryGameIndustry#Time_Estimates
Hey! thanks for that info mate.
Generic Buildings modular parts for the game, later to be assembled in Unity.
Blender, Photoshop
http://bharatnag.tumblr.com
http://bharatnag.tumblr.com
Some more progress on the game assets.
http://bharatnag.tumblr.com
Also the boards going up the stair walls look a bit odd. It looks like the texture is just skewed, but this is very unnatural. The boards would almost never be cut this way. The player will sense the oddity of this, and it ends up looking like the level artist was lazy.
Same with the concrete tops on the bunker walls. Those black seams wouldn't continue across the tops of the walls.
Hope this helps.
Ya I'm starting to realize what you mean Eric. Thats when the concept art comes in handy right? All these decisions have to made prior to actual asset development. Rt now Im working solely based on some online references.. But I should really get into concepting first. And can you please tell me what all creative decisions do a level designer make as far as building assets and assembling in concerned?
Depends on the size of the team.
Usually the level designer is not an artist. Instead they are a game designer, so they usually are building a whitebox environment. Whitebox = the whole level is made with white or untextured primitives, nothing pretty. It's all about the playability of the level. When the designer is done, level artists come in and fill the layout with pretty art.
Sometimes the level designer is both a designer and an artist, so they do it all.
Sometimes the level designer works hand in hand with an artist, so the designer gets "lego" style modular pieces to build their levels with.
Usually though, the designer figures out the overall layout, and the artists figure out the architecture details, fx, lighting, etc.
Quick low poly Gypsy models that would serve as secondary assets for populating the environment. I’m thinking of sculpting cloth folds for the soft cover of the one in the bottom right. Still to be textured.
Also I want some help with the windows of the jeep. I mean I have no idea how to texture them. will an alpha channel do the trick or will I have assign a new transparent material to the glass panes. What If I want to include all the texture information using 2k maps?? What is the work around.
Often all the alpha blended parts would use a separate material from the non-alpha parts. This is to improve performance, because alpha blending is often expensive to render.
The alpha channel can be expensive to use because at 2k resolution that adds a lot of memory overhead. You could store it in a smaller RGB texture, or you could pack it into one of the R or G or B channels.
Thought it would be easy to unwrap low poly hard surfaces but it took me the whole day. Gonna wrap up the textures too by morning.
ok help me guys. I started assembling the assets for the first mission of the game inside unity and got some strange outcomes. When I applied the normal maps (bumped diffuse), I don't know why it turned as if it was some shiny metal. And I guess Ill have to redo the terrain cause the texture size upclose is too pixelated foe an fps. So how do we do it when we are working on a real scale environment? I applied a 4 k texture to the terrain but no use.
In Unity, you can use the free Strumpy shader editor to make your own shaders, it is similar to UDK's Material Editor, so you can get similar results to what's in that link.
The "Shininess" just looks like a large soft normal map.
Some more terrain techniques here
http://wiki.polycount.net/CategoryEnvironmentTerrain
thanks Eric for those links.. I really appreciate ur help every time I fsll somewhere. And how to correct those softness should s\i sharpen them up or what?
1.sculpted a terrain mesh,
2.decimated it to create a low poly mesh,
3.baked out a normal map,
4.tried out the 4 layered shader in unity that takes in 4 tillable textures and a splat map for texturing the terrain,
q1 - where do I put my baked normal map?
q2 - where do i put the 4 normal maps corresponding to the textures?
the solution I'm finding should have the independence to mix different shders so that each individual shader goes like this -
shader1 - plugs in the large normal map
shader 2 - plugs in the color, normal maps for 4 textures and a splat map (also a specular map).
shader 3 - adds both shader 1 and 2.
Eric Chadwick suggested some very nice thing for this but its udk specific. I tried using the stumpy shader editor but its way too advanced for me, I mean its just been like 2 to 3 months that I got into gaming. The above solution that I suggested can very easily be done in 3d packages using nodes and I know the workaround but only if it could be done in unity somehow then only it would solve my problem.
Please guys help me.... thanks
Nosslak mentioned Toms Terrain Tools in your other thread (http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1909083&postcount=7) but when I looked at the manual, it seems that doesn't support normal maps.
I could make a Unity shader for you, as a freelance job. Send me a PM if you're interested.
So started set dressing today. just assembled the runway and some hangers out of the modular pieces. Any tips on lighting and making it come too life any effects or something? I mean I have to start with lighting and post effects so how to go about it when you are dealing with large terrains and sunlight?
http://wiki.unity3d.com/index.php?title=Terrain_tutorial
For the roads, take a look at how they did these.
How was the paint on the roads in this pack done?
They used Strumpy of course.
BTW, someone set up this custom Google search engine for Unity docs. Very helpful.
https://www.google.com/cse/home?cx=001712401338047450041:csfhqk-trfa
Thanks again Eric. Your concern as as always much appreciated.
I don't know why the two panels show a difference in diffuse color(one is darker than the other) and also the gloss values even when both of the panels are sharing a common texture space. take a look at the bright metal at the bottom right.
Had a log day assembling the assets for the airbase in the game. Still to work on the terrain texture and lighting. Follow along for more updates.
Operation Morning Glory - 8th October, 13
http://bharatnag.tumblr.com
What software did you use to make the meshes, and the maps? And what format are you using to import them into Unity?
Also check that the Texture Type on your normal map is set to Normal Map.
http://docs.unity3d.com/Documentation/Manual/Textures.html
Thanks Eric.
1. yes they are different modular pieces snapped together in unity.
2. I made these meshes in blender.
3. Used Photoshop and NDo to make textures and Normal Maps.
4. I'm importing them as .png files inside unity.