[Question] How do I model an entire medieval city?

BeepBoop

Hello,

I have to model a medieval city for a mobile game.  I'm using 3ds Max, and I'll have to set it up in Unity.  
I've made modular assets before, but the buildings their selves were created with some customized tool for whatever engine we were working with.   
For this project, there is absolutely nothing set up yet.  

The company told me to tell them what I need to get started and I'm honestly quite lost... 

I found a city generator for Unity that lets you customize building facades which sounds great, but it's very buggy so I don't think I can use it.  

I'd appreciate any advice!  

Eric Chadwick

Depends on the size of the city, and what kind of interaction the player is going to have in it. Ask them to define what they need, playability wise.

Is it first-person, or third person? Does the player only navigate the streets, or do they climb buildings, or do they fly? Do they enter buildings, or stay outside? Do buildings need to be destructible in some way, like breaking signs off, or bursting walls, or whatever?

Do you work with a game designer who wants a specific "flow" for gameplay? Is there a narrative? Does the player have quests? How do they interact with the city? Multiplayer shooters for example often require specific layout rules to make them "fun".

If it's small enough, say a few blocks, you could just make modular pieces and assemble manually in Unity. But if it's larger, you may want to invest in a procedural city generator, there are a bunch in the asset store. Read reviews, and ask them questions about their kits. It's probably worth spending a bit of money to get a decent tool, and their support.

BeepBoop

First of all thank you soooo much for responding.  I already see some light as I panic through this!  

The city is about 50 sq miles, and the player will be flying on a hovering vehicle in first person and can fly close, and high above the buildings.
They won't be entering the buildings, and the buildings do not need to be destructable.  

Besides the gameplay, the game designer doesn't have much to say in regards to how the environment should look as long as they're the right height.  There is no quest, and the specific layouts won't be available until later so I need to just fill it up randomly for now.  

I was about to say I can't find a city generator that allows custom models, but I didn't notice "Fantastic City Generator" which looks quite close to what I want!  I hope I can convince the team to buy it.  I'll update!