help on modeling and texturing large scale objects

BI0H0G

So im working on making a general cargo boat for a fps game where the player will walk on the deck but i need help. how do i go about modeling, do i make a high poly or do a model the mesh to look smooth? do i make the props of the ship like doors and stairs a separated texture? the engine that i will use is the unreal engine 4

this is the type of ship im making

Spiralface

How involved will the player be on the deck?

Will it just be a "platform like" object that you will only play on for a few seconds before jumping off? Or will it be an entire game play level unto itself?

If the former, then yes, model, optimize and build out what you need on a case by case basis.

If its an entire level, then in all honesty, I wouldn't start with modeling, but start by using your game play editor to flesh out the playable space and block out a rough list of what you will need from that.

If its an entire level, its going to be a huge undertaking and the "best practices" way of doing it is going to be to build out a list of all the individual props you need based off of a greybox mock-up and just start knocking them out one by one based on priority. Fleshing out the level first should help get you what you need. (who cares about the outside hull if the player character is never going to see it?)

That should allow you to streamline and prioritize the individual tasks if its a full level.

BI0H0G

the ship will be for decoration for harbor level, the player will only walk the outside of the ship not the inside so the ship will be fully visible

Deathrey

I'm also quite interested in how things like this are approached.

Speaking about modelling, i would probably use one large mesh for hull and accommodation, separate meshes for hatch covers, and working my way down the scale from large props to small ones. There should be plenty repetition to allow for use of models. Frames, portholes, modular pipe sections, hydrants, fire hose boxes, stairways, ladders, doors and other stuff can be modeled and textured only once and re-used all over the place.


I think the key here is to re-use texture space as efficient as possible. I would probably make one metal master material with tiling texture and detail maps and use vertex painting with some masks to variate its color, add rust and dirt. Looking at the picture, it should cover at least half of texturing needs. Maybe even two materials. One for outside surfaces and the other one for decks, because the paint used for hull is way different from the one used for decks.

Eric Chadwick

If you haven't seen these already
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/MultiTexture

BI0H0G

ok so for the hull do i make a high poly and bake it or just model it to look more smooth?

Joost

I'd model a "mid poly" with chamfers for the main shape of the ship. There wouldn't be enough resolution if you use a normal map.

Millenia

Straight up geo, no normals aside from generic reused details on a secondary UV channel. Heavily tiled materials with decals to break up repetition.

We use this kind of an approach to do massive spaceships on Fractured Space, the entire ship is just a couple of 1k textures. It holds up pretty well even close, though if you want to walk on the deck in FPS you'll want to use higher resolution textures than that.

Example wireframe



Ingame:

peanut™

Amazing work man, look spectacular.

WaYWO

thanks to ask for this thing, cause i'm quite interest by that type of models too

BI0H0G

thanks for the info i'l keep posting if i found any problems