I worked as a 3D modeler mainly, helping out with small bits of character design and level design on occasion. This project was my first experience with Maya, Surface Painter, and Unreal, so there was a fairly high barrier of entry that I hard to breach first.
Production was the phase that I was most interested in when coming to Ulster University to work with their Game Development field. Similar to 2D art, a lot of industry is more interested in practical skills than a degree, so being able to learn an introductory level of these software means that I can have a decent understanding when I go and work on these skills on my own rather than being totally lost.
Organic Models
I began work on Auto-Matons with the organic pieces that would be used to make the game feel overgrown and aged. Mushrooms are often a sign of decay and overgrowth in media, so I thought that having some bright colored mushrooms would be a good prop to begin with, as I knew the scene would be mostly darker metallic shades of brown and silver. It was interesting trying to create both organic but simple shapes, so I decided on this low-poly kind of shape for the moss patches. Their little nubs were eventually removed- I wanted to give them some sort of layering and shape, however it ended up not looking as good as I had hoped. Mushrooms were far easier to design as they were a test piece for the style. My first mushroom iteration was absolutely terrible, as I had never learned how to make good topology before, but I learned quickly.
Inorganic Models
Inorganic models were easier to get a grasp on quickly, as the reductionist style we were going for had big chunky shapes and could easily be translated into man-made objects. The bevel technique was very handy in this step, as it allowed me to add detailed areas of the model and change their shape without having to worry about getting too much topology or objects being too smooth. A lot of the materials came from texturing, due to the very simple shapes. Connor found that applying a Blur slope would give us the painterly feel that the team decided on, and the blocky shading made the textures fit in well against the harsh shapes of the props.
Vertex Painting
While the moss I made turned out well, it was difficult to use all over the map due to its size and the performance requirements of the game. Aside from creating mossy versions of existing textures, which would have simply taken too long, I decided to learn vertex painting instead. It provided the adaptable texture that we needed and brought some much-needed light to the corners and walls of rooms in the game. I wanted to learn about materials in Unreal, so instead of using the moss material in engine, I made my own. This took me far longer than I expected, as creating new materials within UE5 look terrifying to someone who has never touched the system before. Using UE5's existing moss material as a guideline and plenty of videos on the internet, I was able to make something hat the team liked, and that worked with the textures and colors we already had in game. It isn't as detailed as I'd have liked- it doesn't properly fill in cracks or have any noticeable height variation, but it was sufficient for the time frame I had left. I really enjoyed working with materials and want to work on more custom ones in the future.
