Creating modular walls with thickness - how to handle corners and alignment?
I'm really struggling to figure out how to create a nice and modular asset kit for a very large and complex environment. Here's an example:
I'm gonna make the assets have actual geometry on each brick, like this for example:
But that decision has come with many challenges. Namely, how to handle modular wall pieces and corners in a way that keeps everything aligned. I'd like to be able to create any complex layout and at least be able to guarantee it lines up.
Should I build it sort of like this? (corners that take the walls thickness into account, but requires these blocks in between the modular pieces, so there’ll always be padding between them, which seems limiting)
Like this? (walls are touching one another directly, no padding, but the walls need to overlap at the corners)
Or something else? They all seem to have their problems and inconsistencies at certain corners…
There are too many things that need to connect and line up.
I'd love to see an example with walls that have thickness and actual brick geometry, but I can't find anything. All I see are exterior-only, very simple houses, flat walls, etc. I've spent HOURS trying to figure out the perfect solution, to no avail. Do you guys have any recommendations here?
Thanks a lot in advance, cheers.
I'm gonna make the assets have actual geometry on each brick, like this for example:
But that decision has come with many challenges. Namely, how to handle modular wall pieces and corners in a way that keeps everything aligned. I'd like to be able to create any complex layout and at least be able to guarantee it lines up.
Should I build it sort of like this? (corners that take the walls thickness into account, but requires these blocks in between the modular pieces, so there’ll always be padding between them, which seems limiting)
Like this? (walls are touching one another directly, no padding, but the walls need to overlap at the corners)
Or something else? They all seem to have their problems and inconsistencies at certain corners…
There are too many things that need to connect and line up.
I'd love to see an example with walls that have thickness and actual brick geometry, but I can't find anything. All I see are exterior-only, very simple houses, flat walls, etc. I've spent HOURS trying to figure out the perfect solution, to no avail. Do you guys have any recommendations here?
Thanks a lot in advance, cheers.
Replies
Make a corner piece or several to cover different angles. Maybe pieces for intersections too: 3 and 4 way wall connections.
Sadly though that's usually Impractical and as a result you need to cover walls being on both sides of the grid line.
Put your pivot at a corner, set the grid to a single wall component size, make some awkward shapes (s shapes are a good test) and then start chopping the modules up and identifying the unique parts you need.
There'll be quite a lot of parts
I'm curious, why is it impractical to use the center line of the wall along the grid? It was what I was hoping to do haha. Thanks!
If you don't do this already, I think it's good to have a blockout in engine early to check if it works with the camera and player (assuming this is game art). The blockout can be gradually refined and replaced with assets during the process. If working blindly, things might not turn out as planned.
Note on the stone wall example: The stones look pretty rough, like from a ruin. I imagine walls in a well preserved cathedral would be smoother with less pronounced gaps. Not sure having individual stones is worth it with a relatively smooth surface.
Usually because it's a pain in the arse when it comes to metrics - your wall always eats into the size of your room.
eg. if you're working on a 1m grid and you need a 4m space between walls you need to not work on that grid anymore.
You can easily make that not be a problem by deciding you don't care, I just haven't encountered a situation where I could get away with it.