Last minute issues

I'm so close to finishing the modelling process now and I have been checking over the models for their scales and I have found a small issue that will need addressing now before I go onto the unwrapping and testing stage. I have tried to keep all objects within a 256x256 pixel block so they are functional modular pieces. However I have just noticed that the wall pieces are not flat on the factor of 16 grid plane. A small print screen here shows this.

Here I have highlighted the issue with the walls each grid space is 16 units and is the scale I've used for the whole model space. The red line shows the centre point of the current wall piece, and the blue line is where the centre point should be for this to work.

The solution for this could be that the wall piece's pivot point be put on a factor of 16 which can be seen below. The green cross marks a suitable location for the pivot, this should hopefully also work when the wall is then rotated back around 180 degrees.

Nearing completion of modelling process

The modelling process is nearing completion and i'm nearing the unwrapping section. I am feeling that the process is going well, although I don't have much time left to complete the whole dissertation, the models and their structures are as modular as I can make them.

The rule that I have had to keep by is that each objects parameters must be a factor of 16 or at least the centre of the vertices must end on a multiple of 16. This has come in handy as I set the scale factor in UDK to 16 so that the pieces literally snap together. From this I have also found issues with certain elements.

Here you can see an error with the building connector element.

This is a small screenshot from UDK. Here you can see that there was an error in the model calculations. However when I checked the model dimensions the maths was correct and also the models vertices were each on the perfect spot. This took a few hours to figure out, but in fact it was just a 3dsMax glitch and after re importing the model from a separate file, the error disappeared.

Here is the corner piece in UDK still showing the error

Now, the piece is corrected and all the walls join seamlessly. The corner piece of the wall is also finished after an extensive amount of maths. I must admit that during this whole dissertation, I have found that the extensive and handy use of post-it notes during modelling something so complex in maths a big help. Here is a small note on the maths for the corner piece on it's own.

On the left is a few notes on the construction of the corner piece and to the right a list of factors of 16

As an outcome, here is a print-screen of the final corner piece in a position it could be in during the level editing phase.

In this picture you can also see the scale of the 3 piece building compared to the original mock up model (in red). If anyone could remember from the first mock up, the size of the building was so small that it felt too cramped to walk around as a game character.

Here a print screen of the whole models in the kit so far, there are some models which are there for reference and will be remove before the end. At the top it says there over 41k polygons in the scene, although this total is getting close to the  maximum of 45k polygons, the mock model itself is 12k polys and will be removed soon thus would bring my total down a lot more.

Modelling update

Hello there! Just a quick modelling update on what I've been doing. I know I should have completed the modelling stage by now, but I simply haven't yet due to the complexity of how each individual model must sit right and be accurate in terms of scale., but I'll update everyone on my current progress.

Right now I'm working on making modular pieces of wall. These pieces are to fit with every opportunity that the level designer needs and so needed a lot of work, but the whole modelling process is nearing completion.

Here is the workings out of the production of a corner wall piece as well as the variety of walls I've already created. They do look very similar, but each individual one has slight variations to counter for different scenarios.

I've also been working on a system of small blocks that will raise up the whole building in a very similar fashion to how the residential are constructed.

Here you can also see a set of steps that I've produced to help the player up the incline. This will have a sloped gradient custom collision box to give the player a smooth transition when moving between gradients and heights.

Roofing and general modelling update

Hey everyone, upon designing and making the roof for my models I have discovered something incredible, some genius on the internet has designed and made custom Lego pieces of ancient Chinese roof tiles and are selling them online. It uses very simple pieces which allows a Lego master builder to make any Chinese building roof style they want. The blog post can be found here:

http://thebrickblogger.com/2012/06/custom-lego-roof-tiles-by-bricktw/

This just goes to show how a complex roof system can be split down into small significant chunks, to become even modular of course.

Although this proves that the roof system can be made simply modular, the amount of pieces it would create for the people using my model kit could be quite large in the number of items needed, but it's definitely an option. I also have to point out that the roof style is that of a religious building or even a building of importance, not that of a residential dwelling.

There is also pieces that can be used to make large pagoda like rooftops, these are all well and good and effectively can create a modular system for the Lego building play set, but they don't seem to take into account the complex building structure beneath it, the Dou Gong that I am interested in replicating.

And to finish off, I want to show you my progress towards my own models. Here I have completed the segments of roofing that are required for the large building.

I based the roof structure off of my latest blog post and quick mock up I made in photoshop, he is a small comparison so you can see it quickly: 

Model structure

Model design

Another object I've been working on but forgot to show in my previous blog posts was the walls I've designed for the structures of this size. Here you can see 2 sets of door frames which can go between the middle of two extender sections or in the middle of an extension and an end cap section. There are also basic wall sections for the same sizes and for one other instance of two small sections. I would like to hopefully work on these wall pieces with normal maps as their basic flat texture will look very odd as the player would be running past them all the time.

 Here is a small image of the sort of building I want to be able to achieve at the end of the dissertation with all the different pieces, I hope.

My timeline and why it needs rearrangement

My timeline has become so back dated that it's desperately in need of rearrangement so I plan to now do this as it will help me over the next coming 2 months of this dissertation. It has become so out of date and I've gotten so far behind due to other modules that it is slowing my progress with irrelevant dates and progress milestones. Here below is my current timeline: 

Current Timeline

                                                                                                                                  
17^th February – Continue modelling if needed and start UVW unwrapping on each asset ready for texturing. (May take longer as not as experienced in UVW unwrapping, although research into quicker uvw mapping will be undertaken over the course of the project.)

10^th March – Experiment with Mudbox/Zbrush and the NvidiaNormal filter in Photoshop in texturing the assets with diffuse specular and Normals.

                                                                                                                                  

24^th March – Import and construct the Village within UDK with textures and assets.

7^th April – touch up and add more details to models where needed or where some models issue are found. If no issues are found or are ironed out and total polygon count allows (45k polygons). Create a couple more assets to add a more realistic atmosphere to the scene such as trees, pots and tiles.

 7^th April - 15^th May – Work on finalising dissertation

 17^th May – 16^th May to be the absolute deadline of handing in dissertation.

I'm currently just over 4 weeks behind on my personal milestones, which isn't good on my half. The yellow line is where I should be at this current point and the green line is where I currently am. I'm still in the process of creating my 3D assets. One one set of buildings are done, i'm hoping I should easily be able to replicate these models and just adjust them to create the rest of the other models on the asset list. But because the timeline is so out of date i'm going to propose a new timeline for myself to keep to as due to the other modules and workload of the 3rd year, I just simply couldn't cope with it all and so it needs to be changed to help manage my time left effectively. This new timeline will be the date in which the object must be completed before.

New Timeline

20th March - Finish all of the models needed for the construction of the buildings.

3rd April - UVW unwrap all models that have been created and get them prepared for diffuse mapping.

17th April - Create and supply all textures with a diffuse texture, Normal maps will need to be made for the roof and if time is spare start creation of Normal maps on the woodwork and walls.

1st May - Import and construct the Village within UDK with textures and assets. Test and arrange houses similar to some of the previous designs.

1st-15th May - I will be keeping this time for any overhanging production for models and objectives. I will also leave this time for myself to create more blog posts as to describe how the dissertation is going and also to organise my models and the final environment, adding in some environment effects and even organise my level pack in a organise manner ready to be shown to people.

Although I am many weeks behind, I still have made a lot of progress overall. Other modules have been getting on top of me especially my Design masterclass, Our group has even volunteered to help my other colleague with Dare to be Digital to help him with his grades although we wont be getting marked on it. I know this is only small amounts of work, but it all seems to add up pretty quickly as I've recently seen.

But as a general catch up to my 3D modelling work state, the first main building is nearing completion, all that is needed to be constructed is the roof and the corner strut to create the corner. When this is complete I can take this structure and simply copy how it's created and apply the same principles to the other models.

Making progress

It's been a while since i've been blog posting, but I have made some progress on a personal scale. I've been confused with the way in which I can model the walls of my structures whilst still keeping the structure architecture fully visible and not covered up by the external walls. I've also been trying to figure out how to keep the models modular whilst minimising or getting rid of all mesh clipping. This is when two planes of a model are on or are very close to the same position and the shader has a hard time choosing which face to render and instead it renders both polys and shows an odd jaggered texture. This isn't good when modelling, especially on a part of the model that can be seen by the player, I needed to avoid this at all costs to have a decent looking final product. Here is an example of mesh clipping.

So for the last few days i've been working on wall that will fit in with the columns, the walls need to be of a variety of size length ways to counter for nearly every situation that the level designer needs to offer. Here you can see different size of wall being used to make up the modular components. It also shows off the structural composition which is a big goal of this dissertation. 

I have also begun work on the end caps for the structure to aid me with my wall construction, they are not at their final stage yet but i'm debating whether to cut them up into separate segments to aid more so with the modularity of the kit.

So this is what i'm currently working on and should be finished with it soon, once these are complete the hard task of UV unwrapping each piece begins, a hard an grueling task, but a task that I look forward to starting so that I can be one step closer to completion of this modular kit and experimenting can then begin.

Breaking the habit

I'm back again to continue the working on my dissertation, but I've had reason as to why I've had so much time off. Over the course of the last 2 months a couple of other projects did arise on my part and have been a burden of work and it has held me back massively. One of the projects is of dare to be digital, which doesn't require that much time however there is another project that I've become a part of that has taken a lot of my time up and that is Design Masterclass. I've been asked to work on an up and coming iOS/Android game and this position is taking up a lot of my spare time to get to my producers requirements. However I do plan to now hit the dissertation hard by the fact my first wave of milestones on the design masterclass are complete. I need to quickly get up to speed with my modelling that I already started in January and finish the modelling process. The reason being for my delay is that I discovered that the blog is actually our dissertation as a whole and I do not have to write a separate one to go along side my assets/artifact, this gives me much more freedom as I did in fact leave time at the end of the dissertation milestone to write my dissertation out which I now realise I no longer have to do.

I will be starting where I left off, at creating the large buildings walls and test if these work, if these do, then the rest of the modelling process will be quick and simple as they are in theory just smaller versions of the larger models.

So thats just my catch up plan, you will see more from me soon.