Mini Cooper S 1965

pedrOadan

Hello I have never really posted on here before.
Any way just thought I would show everyone my latest pet project, the modeling of the classic Morris mini cooper S rally version.
I am looking to model this car as a high end games model, which I have never done.
Feedback would be very welcome.
From friends and info on here I have set a triangle count of 80,000 to 120,000, as this would be a main car in a car game.
Texture size I'm a little less clear, from similar posts on here I'm guessing 1024 x 1024!?
Any way as I continue to model it I will post more on the development, and finish look.

Brendan

Textures for a game with that kind of poly count would definitely be 2048 for diffuse, if you can get away with it try and go for 1024 normal and 1024 spec. Spec should have all RGB colours, and a glossyness in the A channel.

Some of the mods for RaceOn and GTR Evo, etc (basically all GMotor2) have three x 1024 maps (diffuse, normal, spec+gloss), total 9 maps, or for some reason a 2048x1024 diffuse, normal, spec+gloss, total 3 maps.

Most important things for models like that are poly distribution - like sculpting, you want to keep them as equal-size as possible, but don't be afraid to make it much more dense where it has to be. It's the reflections that sell the car paint, and it's the paint that sells the model.

pedrOadan

Hey Thanks Brendan, thats defo very useful information on map sizes.

pedrOadan

Ok Sry any one who is following this thread, I have been a bit busy at work, and with other stuff.
So I just thought I would post and update of where I am at with the car. Ofcourse all crits more than welcome

The main Body is done I am now just going to model the peripherals such as wing mirrors front lights straps roof rack etc. Will start posting more frequently especially when I start to texture it.

CandyStripes05

i would agree with Brendan, if your not going to be shy with your polycount i wouldn't be shy with the texture size

car looks good so far... i think. Can you post some of the refs you used so we can compare them better for accuracy? im noticing some differences between your model and a few images i have googled, like the bottom of the front grill and the cut out of the trunk and license plates etc.

felipefrango

I have no experience in vehicle modeling, do cars really use this many polys? Sounds like a lot. What's the budget on car models for games like Gran Turismo or Forza?

CandyStripes05

"Forza 4′s cars will boast a polygon count of over 1 million compared to 400,000 in Forza 3"

"The high poly count makes sense given that you can open every body panel via Kinect, though how this translates in-game remains to be seen."

"GT5 has 200 premium models with 500,00 polygons along with a further 800 cars downgraded to 100,000 polygons. Forza Motorsport 4′s entire roster of over 500 cars will potentially have twice the amount detail of GT5′s Premium models at over a million polygons."

article

- so my thoughts are if you are going to dare go that highpoly, you better knock it out of the park and have interior, maybe even engine etc for showroom purposes, im not sure what count the in game models are

Snader

I'm gonna guess that that 1 million figure only applies to a garage setting or something, not to actual races. The xBox can only generate 500 million triangles per second, which comes down to 8-ish million at a solid framerate. And that's 8 million 'simple' lit triangles, I think. With shaders and textures that number will decrease.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

pedrOadan

Hey guys thanks for comments, My final aim is 80K to 100K poly count, I'm told this is the normal count for a main car in a racing game. Including the interior. I have never done a computer game car so thats why I'm posting up on here to get general game feed back. ( CandyStripes05 ) I probably wont bother doing the engine though. The poly count is based on info from some of my friends and a couple of other similar posts.
Here are some links to the 1965 Morris Mini Cooper S Monti Carlo Edition.
There are lots of diffrent variations mine will include the roof rack for exampl.
- http://www.legacydiecast.com/product_images/ky08102b.jpg
- http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/1964_Morris_Mini_Cooper_S_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1581128.jpg

felipefrango

Hm, nice. With this polycount, you plan on doing normal maps? How are textures handled for racing games cars?

pedrOadan

Hey Felipe yeah defo normal and a difuse with the AO baked into it, also a spec map and though I have never done a gloss map before I will do one of those. have done the wheels now so will post an update tonight. Sry not sure what you mean by how textures handled for racing games.
I have never built or worked on any computer games. the modeling I do is for Sim engines which is simmilar but a bit diffrent. Much much much lower poly count. Which is why I'm intrested in doing a higher spec poly and texture model.

felipefrango

Thanks man! I meant to ask things like are normal maps needed, are cars uniquely unwrapped or do they use tiling textures for, say, the car paint and add decals separately, etc.

pedrOadan

Hey Every one sry a bit poo at keeping this thing updated. Basically I have finished modeling the exterior and am now modeling the interior.
So not much to do on the inside wither but with Christmas around the corner plus other commitments, might be a while before its finsished.
Any way will do a wire and try count image soon. Again any crit welcome :-)