My final project proposal is a set of 3D models that can be tiled to create a stone castle/dungeon environment. Derived from my practice intention, I’ll use NURBS modeling functions in Maya to create the 3D assets, then I’ll texture them and import them into a Unity project. Then I will create a script to procedurally generate random maps using the tiles.
I have quite a bit of experience generating procedural environments, and much of the work for this project will be reusable. The floor, for example, could be the same for each tile. Only 5 tiles will need to be created, as they can be rotated to fit any orientation necessary. Additionally, I’d like to include some elements beyond just these tiles, such as pillars or lanterns that can be placed around the scene during generation.
My plan for completing this project is as follows:
– Week 1: Create 3D tiles
– Week 2: Write generation script to place tiles and orient them properly in the environment
– Week 3: Create additional elements, including a pillar and a wall-lantern, and include them in the generation script
If time permits, I would also like to put a basic character controller into the scene, so that I can walk around the created environment. Otherwise, I’ll implement a camera system I made in the past to pan around and provide a nice view of the scene.
Some questions I have for this project include:
– Will tiling a 3D shape be difficult? I plan to use the birail tool, which should provide the same shape at the seams of each tile. Do you foresee any issues or problems with that?
– If I plan on making the tile and walls look like stone, what’s the best way to go about that? Would it be better to incorporate that into the model itself, or take care of it in texturing?
– Would a different context for these tiles be more interesting? Perhaps a wooden house with furniture, or a dense maze-like forest?
Josiah,
I loved how detailed you were with your project plan! This should be cool when you finish for sure!
I think tiling these stones will be hard but with the birail tool it should be a bit easier! I do not know much about that tool, but I am excited to see how it comes out in the end.
You say this is for your practice intention as well. What exactly was your practice intention again? Sorry, it has been a while since all those posts and I have forgotten!
-Tim
Hi Tim,
Thanks for the feedback! My practice intention was to create 3D models. Originally I had been thinking about a more traditional workflow with sculpting, but I found that difficult. I ended up discovering NURBS Modeling, which has all these tools where you can basically just draw 2D curves, and then the tools turn those into 3D shapes. So my practice intention switched a little bit to be 3D modeling with NURBS tools.
-Josiah
Josiah,
The idea looks perfect! I believe it can be an awesome tool to help create the game scenes.
For your questions:
– The birial tool will definitely make the 3d tiles looks much more seamless. Will you stack the tiles layer by layer? If yes how will you deal with the connection between layers?
– I think incorporating into models may be better.
Look forward to your complete project!
I’m inclined to say keep the geometry as simple as possible, and use a PBR material to create the stone effect. If you wanted to make it generative as well, you could implement a Perlin noise effect that is tileable and use it on the height map and roughness/smoothness channel to get something stonish-looking.
Josiah,
this is really cool to see, I like the idea of having a play controller but even a dynamic camera animation that can flow through the space could be even better as that could allow us to see it from a game like view but also a behind the scenes look or aerial top down angle as a way to expose the mechanic of how the project works.
I am unsure about how to address the texturing issue but I think a dense forest would be really fun, but also is there a way to mix a few of the concepts together so at one moment you think its generating a dense forest but its actually fluctuating between a few different ideas, I guess this would depend on how long the user is suppose to interact with the work, because I do not think the flicker effect is the goal.
I agree with Josh. I think the stone effect could totally be created with the textures. I do not know what birail is so I cannot speak to that point of your project. I also appreciate the blueprinty nature of your concept art. You communicate clearly what your plans are and that enables me to envision what you are going to accomplish. I look forward to seeing your final result.