The beta 2 update took a while longer to arrive than anticipated, but I’m in-process porting now. In the mean time, a small interest piece to tide you over until more substantial updates.

I did a bit of work on a model recently as I need to create upgraded art that takes advantage of T3Ds snazzy features. I took some screenshots of the various stages for anyone who is curious as to how “the process” goes.

First, a concept with some colour/texture guidlines. The Maiden’s Smile Inn in Korrinport, as envisaged by Zach (who has been fairly sick recently, let’s all hope he gets well soon) :

So where do we start? We start with a box. Basically, we open up whatever modelling app we’re using and lay out some basic primatives using the creation tools available. We then begin modifying those basic shapes, modling them and adding detail as a sculptor would shape clay. No textures or anything yet, just shapes.

I didn’t take a screenshot of the box, but I did take one shortly later, where I’d begun to shape the roof. Notice the little box standing in front of the building? That is for reference, it’s sized to be roughly the same dimensions as the player would be, in-game. Important for figuring out how wide doors and things should be.

Now I break the shape up a bit more. Although I haven’t yet added textures, I use the concept piece Zach did as reference for where I will need to place different textures on the model. I am basically breaking it up to make texture mapping as simple as possible. I also begin to add detail meshes. The procedure is the same, lay out some basic shapes like cylinders and then add detail, shape them using the existing tools so they look like chimney stacks or whatever.

Now it’s time to add textures. I’ve built up a fairly good library of textures over time but even with a decent library you need to spend time making sure the colour palettes match, fixing textures to tile properly or merging textures into a single composite. If you don’t have a texture that fits, you may need to make it, either from scratch or using the magic of photoshop to create it from other textures and applied filters.

Actually applying the texture to the model is one of the fiddliest parts. I unfortunately forgot to take a screen of how exactly that works but it’s a time consuming process. Luckily it’s pretty simple, just grunt work. Automatic tools can help in the mapping if your shapes are simple primatives like cubes and cylinders but they aren’t good enough for things like buildings and people So you mostly just have to spend the time tweaking it to perfection by hand.

Midway through I decided to make the “details” into separate meshes so that I can mix and match parts in the engine to create a number of variations of the same model with little overhead. Windows, chimney, door, roof window, those were separated out into their own models, leaving us with a simple base :

The door, before removal :

As your model nears completion you’ll want to check it in the engine. It’s best to do this as early as possible to pick up any isses. The modelling program and game engine are completely separate renderers, it’s totally possible for something to look fine in Max but screwy in the game.

Luckily it looks fine in the T3D demo level. You can see it here with a little bit more added detail to the wooden supports (decided I could afford to spend some more polys) as well as the window detail props :

Bump maps looking nice thanks to ShaderMap Pro :

T3D’s material editor is neat, it makes playing with material properties and seeing the effects instantaneous. I alter the window materials to be emissive, meaing they aren’t affected by the stage lighting. Which isn’t that noticeable during the day…

But the effect comes into it’s own as the sun sets…

Things are looking great for dynamic day-night cycles in SoW.

I add in a few more detail props, the chimneys and roof window. 

Still need to create the inn sign. But that can wait, Zach will do a better job of painting the maiden anyway. From there I can create variations of this building in much less time than it took to create the original. I will get a half dozen building bases out of this and a number of props, a good start along the path to revamping Korrinport for T3D. Some models will only need to be updated, some will need to be rebuilt from scratch as above. Once Zach is back I will also be handing the models over to him to add in any artistic touches or modifications he feels would enhance them.

Hope this post was a vaguelly interesting read for someone. We’ll be returning to more meaty and regular updates now that I’m mostly “back in the saddle”. The faithful shall be rewarded for their patience.