Quick Question about modular environment modelling and unreal

jmchar

Hi, just a quick question here i've been wondering about and that is when you create an environment in modular pieces, should these be welded together again in max and then imported into unreal as a whole mesh. Or is it better to keep them as seperate modules import them seperately into unreal and then rebuild the building again in the editor by lining them all up using the grid?

Tumerboy

you shouldn't have to weld them together at all, but assembly is up to you. Whichever is easier I guess.

Never done anything in UE, but in our engine we can instance the same object over and over again, drawing it more cheaply than if each were unique objects. So we export pieces and do a large amount of assembly in game.

renderhjs

if the verts are on the exact positions of the other verts it shouldn`t really matter if they are welded. It might differ though from engine to engine.
It might be thus a wise decission to snap all values to internal values (e.g 8 unit grid) where they snap or should connect to other building elements.

I have a script collection that places the selected verts in 3dsmax to a internal grid snap and not the metric one - I could put it into a macroscript this weekend if you need it - I use it for a project where I wrote the engine and we work with internal units and no unit conversion (just like any other game engine).

jmchar

Hey Thanks for the replies I am using the grid snap in max to snap pieces together and so far when testing it in unreal they piece together correctly, I just wasn't sure about the assembly part, whether to assemble it in max and export or assemble it in unreal, but I think its better to assemble it in unreal as it allows me to reuse the various parts of the buildings to create new buildings in the editor.

Mark Dygert

It kind of depends on if you want to move the pieces around after you import. If you don't see a need to have a bazillion little pieces, might as well stick them all together. The point of modular design is to have a library of pieces that can be mixed and matched easily to make something look new and unique, but really is just rearranged while minimizing the number of assets.

So for example you're making a big brick building and you find that you've used the same brick tile 50 times without altering it. It would probably be a waste to weld it all together and import it as one giant unique object. Instead import that one piece and copy and arrange it in the editor 50 times.

Depending on the engine, there are costs and benefits to instancing geometry. Often there is a point that it becomes easier on the engine to import larger chunks. The general info that I remember is that it mostly saves on texture memory space first, and actual 3D data second but with some kind of weird cut off point. But that's a discussion for programmers and game designers, I just roll my face around on the keyboard until something pretty pops up...


Small library of parts makes a huge city.
Large library of parts makes a tiny but very unique city block.
Or a mix of the two...
It all depends on what you're trying to do, the scope of the game, and the engine. Even in the same game you'll often find a mish-mash of techniques, so there isn't one right way to do it, just a best possible scenario for area being created at the time.

[soapbox]
So many questions need to be answered before you sit down and decide, I'm going to do things this way. I really think the key to success is thoughtful, methodical planning. I once read that if you have 5 days to do a project, you should spend 3 days thinking about what you're going to do, and spend 2 days getting it done, and possibly work the weekend because there actually is 4 days worth of work to be done, ha! That doesn't mean jack around and surf for porn that means lock yourself in a room with nothing but your thoughts of the project on your mind. This isn't waiting for inspiration its creating a battle plan for the 2 day war you're going to wage. [/soapbox]

Good luck! Post progress as you go!

Peris

If you made them modular, you can can make them instanced, which is great for performance, so it's best to keep them as separate reusable pieces! It's also easier to work with, if you want to make adjustments you only have to adjust your pieces, and not an entire mesh.

jmchar

Cheers for the replies guys, yeah so far I have kept them as seperate reusable pieces I just wanted a bit of clarity whether it was the right way to go about it.