#modular assets

Modular Assets: Design & Development Guide Modular assets are increasingly vital in modern game development, offering a streamlined approach to creating complex environments and reducing production time. This guide explores the importance of vertex counts and outlines strategies for optimization, drawing on insights shared by /u/gastrobott. What’s the Deal with Vertex Counts in Modular…

Modular creation.

I recently realized that I hadn't written a blog about how I go about making modular assets/my method of habit in creating modular assets, so this is what the theme of this next blog will be. (I will explain my process right down to the basic details just for the sake of being thorough. I'm using a wall I recently modelled in 3ds Max as a reminder/example of the process I use).

Basic Shape:

Before I start modelling, I create a box and only allow myself to add one segment in length, one in width and one in height. Then I convert to editable poly and try to use the edge loops I have to form as much of the objects shape as I possibly can (Usually using a model sheet). When I can't do anything more with what I have, then I start adding some extra edge loops by going into edge mode, selecting an edge that would run through the new edge loop once its created, and then click on the 'Insert Loop' button. (Can be found under the ribbon bar, under Modelling > Loops). I also regularly use 'Extrude' (In Modify Tab), and the 'Cut' tool (Ribbon bar > Modelling > Edit) if I want to re-route any edge loops during the early stages.

When I create a model that I know will be used as a repeated building block, I keep in mind to pay extra attention to the orthographic viewports in order to make sure vertices line up perfectly with one another where they should. In an orthographic viewport, I zoom in quite closely on a section of the model's vertices, and if I find any of the vertices are off, I select both/all of them and use the scale gizmo to pull the vertices that should overlap in that view together one axis at a time. I then select them both/all and drag them into place if needed.

Low Poly Clean Up:

Once I have constructed the low poly model, I look for extra details about the model's condition.

First I allow the poly count to be shown in the viewport. To do this, I click the '+' on the top left of any viewport > Configure Viewports > Statistics, and then make sure 'Polygon Count' is ticked, and that 'Total + Selection'* is ticked also. I then tick 'Show Statistics in Active View' and apply the new settings. This encourages me to search/double-check for unneeded edge loops and vertices in order to delete them if the poly count seems a little more than it may need to be.

[*Choosing 'Total + Selection' allow the user to see both the poly count of a selected object, as well as the poly count of the whole scene. So having both shown means one can see how much the model contributes to the poly count within the scene (If there are multiple objects within the scene)].

I then check for overlapping vertices (within the perspective viewport, where there shouldn't be any). To do this I go to Menu Bar > Views > XView > 'Overlapping Vertices'. It will appear at the bottom of the viewport and will tell you point blank if there is any. If there are any it will highlight them on the model. If the vertices are directly over one another, I would select them both by dragging a small lasso over them and clicking 'Weld' (Modify Tab > Edit Vertices').

[I check each time for accidental selections before using 'Weld'].

There are other problems that XView checks for, like 'Faces Orientation'. If the face normals of a model are facing the wrong direction, this will make it obvious. (To fix this, select them in face mode within the 'Modify Tab', and scroll down to 'Edit Polygons' and click 'Flip').

[One can also check by turning on 'Backface Cull' (Display Tab > Display Properties). The faces that are the wrong way round will become see-through].

And finally, I delete faces of a model that I know will never be seen by the player in order to lessen the poly count further (E.g.: the faces at the bottom or the wall pieces and the sides of the wall pieces- where they will connect to other duplicate wall pieces).

Design/Method for Modular Assets:

With the wall pieces I have been making, I intentionally leave an edge loop across the top of the model so I can use the 'Snap Toggle' to snap the Pivot point onto the top, middle, end vertex. This allows me to snap the model to others of its kind so that they are perfectly aligned each time (vertex to vertex). I also use 'Angle Snap Toggle' while placing the wall pieces within the previs so they are rotated exactly to 90 degrees, 180 degrees etc.

[I could have snapped the pivot point to the bottom of the model, moved it slightly higher than the bottom so the model could be placed properly into the ground, and could have snapped them to the grid instead, but it didn't feel like I had as much control so I didn't go with this method].

I also use temporary edge loops not only to help position the pivot point (which determines where the symmetry line appears) but to plan which axis I'm going to have the symmetry on when I apply the 'Symmetry' modifier. (It also allows me to delete the faces on the side that hasn't been corrected so that that side can be recreated as a perfect mirror of the other). Adjusting the pivot point to exactly the right place means that once the symmetry has been applied, one doesn't have to wield any vertices together as symmetry automatically does that for the user if the vertices as close together.

I haven't started the UVs or texturing of the models yet, nor have I decided in detail how I'm going to go about it, so I will leave that to a later blog. This blog sums up my current modelling process and how that relates to how we're currently building the previs.

Finished the doorway scene - in fact, I finished it two days ago and then I fiddled with it - and broke something. Then spent half a day fixing it, then broke something else.  Now I don’t want to look at it for a while.

Next project is going to be a high poly, realistic building.  This is a gorgeous building with a great history - the Feathers Hotel in Ludlow, UK.  It is believed to be one of the most haunted places in the UK. I watched a few documentaries on the place recently, and as much as I love ghost stories I will not be spending the night here.