Category:EnvironmentModularity

2014-10-02T19:37:07Z

Aidyburrows: /* Modular Design & Workflow */

Topics about making modular environment art for games.

Modular means pieces are made to fit together according to a common pattern, so just a few pieces can be reused multiple times to create a bunch of variety.

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== Modular Design & Workflow ==
How to plan out the development of modular environment pieces, and the workflow for creating them. The design of modular pieces is closely linked to game design; see [[Category:GameDesign]] for more.

* [http://eat3d.com/udk_modular UDK Modular Masterclass - Efficiently Creating and Entire Scene with Tor Frick] - ($) an Eat3D tutorial by ''[http://www.torfrick.com/ Tor 'snefer' Frick]''< >Abandoned warehouse modular workflow in UDK, using Modo and Photoshop.
* [http://www.helderpinto.com/post-apoc-scene-breakdown/ Post apoc scene Breakdown] - by ''[[http://www.helderpinto.com/|Helder '[HP]' Pinto]]''< >Details about the creation of a modular abandoned warehouse.
* [https://www.3dmotive.com/f101001 Modular Building Workflow] - ($) a 3dmotive tutorial by ''[http://www.tylerwanlass.com/ Tyler Wanlass]''< >Covers planning and workflow for modular buildings using Photoshop, 3ds Max, and UDK.
* [http://blog.joelburgess.com/2013/04/skyrims-modular-level-design-gdc-2013.html Skyrim’s Modular Approach to Level Design] - Transcript from GDC 2013 talk on Skyrim's Modular Level Design < >An excellent in-depth article on Bethesda's environment art system.
* [http://www.kevinjohnstone.com/Help/Modular%20Environment%20Design.rar Modular Environment Design.rar] - by ''[http://www.kevinjohnstone.com/ Kevin Johnstone]''< > East Coast Game Conference 2011 slides of the talk "Modular Environment Design, Or how I learned to stop worrying and love the grid".
* [[attachment:Investigation_into_modular_design_within_computer_games_v1.0.pdf|Investigation into Modular Design within Computer Games]] (8.6MB PDF) - by ''[http://www.polycount.com/forum/member.php?u=37149 Scott Jones]''< >Research paper on modular workflow. Definition, benefits, history of modularity, usage, methods, case studies, UDK and 3ds Max. See the Polycount forum thread [http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=78444 Modular design within games].
* [http://udn.epicgames.com/Two/WorkflowAndModularity.html Workflow techniques and modularity with Unreal game technology] - by ''[http://www.epicgames.com Epic Games]''< >A guide to setting up your art-to-level-design pipeline and designing modularly.
* [http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=116526 Modular Environment Art applied from plaster tabletop sets] - by ''[http://www.polycount.com/forum/member.php?u=14498 'Makkon']''< >Polycount forum thread with great visual breakdowns of modular tabeltop models.
* [http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=39&t=444791&page=7&pp=15#post4855106 Environment workflow from an artist working on a Crysis mod] - by ''[http://stefan-morrell.cgsociety.org/gallery/ Stefan Morrell]''< >A modular city building and its texture sheet.
* [http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?t=54178 Mod Facade Challenge] - by ''[http://www.linkedin.com/in/earthquake Joe 'EarthQuake' Wilson]''< >Breaking up a building into modular pieces and designing the texture sheet.
* [http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?t=52743 Adam Bromell's sketchbook thread] - by ''[http://www.adambromell.com Adam 'adamBrome' Bromell]''< >Breaking an environment down into modular pieces.
* [http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?t=52565 Chris' sketchbook thread] - by ''[http://chrisholden.net/ Chris 'cholden' Holden]''< >Environment design & modular workflow.
* [http://www.chrisalbeluhn.com/Building_Layout_Guideline_Tutorial.html Visually Appealing Building Guide] - by ''[http://www.chrisalbeluhn.com Christopher Albeluhn]''< >An excellent breakdown of how to create visual interest with game buildings. [http://www.chrisalbeluhn.com/3D_Tutorials.html Additional tutorials here].
* [http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=98461 Modular Building Design Workflow?] - a [http://boards.polycount.net/ Polycount] thread < >Discussion about creating modular buildings, with interiors and exteriors.
* [http://www.thiagoklafke.com/modularenvironments.html Modular Environments in UDK] - a tutorial by ''[http://www.thiagoklafke.com/index.html/ Thiago 'Minotaur0' Klafke]''< >Covers the techniques used to make [http://www.thiagoklafke.com/zestfoundation.html Zest Foundation.]
* [http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?p=678052#post678052 Environment workflow @ EpicGames] - by ''[http://www.kevinjohnstone.com/ Kevin Johnstone]''< >A summary of the modular workflow used at Epic on Unreal Tournament 3.
* [http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?p=924231#post924231 Gears of War 2 modular modeling (Polycount Forum)] and [http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?69232-Gears2-Environment-Art-%28step-by-step-page-5%29 Gears2 Environment Art Step by Step (ZBrush Central)] - by ''[http://wiki.polycount.net/Rorshach Kevin Johnstone]'' < >Tips and screenshots of using the grid for modular work, as well as a ton of useful insight into the Environment worflow at Epic. A highly recommended read!
* [[ModularMountAndBlade|Modular Mount & Blade]] - by ''[http://wypierpapier.blogspot.com/ 'gutekfiutek']'' < >Modular workflow for the mod "Polished Buildings" for the game Mount & Blade.
* [http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?p=1101338#post1101338 Modular brick wall tiling] - by ''[http://iamglynnsmith.com/ Glynn Smith]''< >Tips and screenshots for sculpting modular brick walls.
* [http://www.brameulaers.com/tutorials/generic_wall_tutorial/generic_wall_tutorial.html Generic wall tutorial] - by ''[http://www.brameulaers.com Bram 'Peris' Eulaers]''< >Using 3ds Max and Mudbox to sculpt tilable modular sections for a stone wall.
* [http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?t=50160 Rock modeling approaches] - a [http://boards.polycount.net/ Polycount] thread < >A variety of approaches for sculpting individual rocks and tilable cliffs.
* [http://osart3d.wordpress.com/home-page/tutorial-creating-perfectly-tiling-meshes-in-zbrush-for-use-in-videogame-environments/ Creating Perfectly Tiling Meshes in Zbrush for use in Videogame Environments] - by ''[http://osart3d.wordpress.com/ Owen 'SHEPEIRO' Shepherd]''< >Using ZBrush's 2.5D canvas to tile stamped meshes, then using Maya to model tilable geometry.
* [http://www.philipk.net/tutorials/modular_sets/modular_sets.html Working with Modular Sets] - by ''[http://www.philipk.net Philip 'PhilipK' Klevestav]''< >How to design and texture modular sci-fi wall panels.
* [http://www.philipk.net/tutorials/modular_rocks/modular_rocks.html Working with Modular Rocks] - by ''[http://www.philipk.net Philip 'PhilipK' Klevestav]''< >How to design, model, and texture modular rock assets, using Crazy Bump, Photoshop, and 3ds Max.
* [http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=76476 Modular Floor Tiles - Outlined in Shadow] - a Polycount thread < >How to work around UDK modular problems.
* [http://www.cgmasters.net/free-tutorials/gamedev-4-modularity-odd-angles-on-blenders-grid/ Modular Building With More Natural Angles] - by ''[http://www.cgmasters.net/cg-masters-artist-galleries/aidy-burrows/ Aidy Burrows @ CG Masters]'' < >Getting more natural looking angles in the modular kit.

== Units and Scale ==
The units and scale you use is very important. Modular meshes should be built to snap to a unit-based grid, and physics calculations depend on certain scales. Fortunately, game editors usually have a scale setting you can use on import to convert from 3d modeler scale into proper game engine scale.

* [http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UnrealUnits.html UDN: Unreal Units] - what units and scale to use for scenes in Unreal Engine. (Gears of War: 2 units = 1 inch, Unreal Tournament: 1 unit = 2 cm)
* [http://freesdk.crydev.net/display/SDKDOC3/Measurement+Reference CryENGINE SDK: Measurement Reference] - what units and scale to use for scenes in [[CryEngine]]. (Crysis: 1 unit = 1 meter)
* [http://docs.unity3d.com/Documentation/Components/FBXImporter-Model.html Unity: Import Settings for Meshes] - what units and scale to use for scenes in Unity. (Unity physics: 1 unit = 1 meter)

== More Information ==
* [[:Category:ConceptEnvironment]]
* [[:Category:EnvironmentModeling]]
* [[:Category:EnvironmentTexturing]]
* [[:Category:GameDesign]]

[[Category:Environment]] [[Category:EnvironmentModeling]]

polycount - User contributions [en]

Category:EnvironmentModularity