Using Workflow Techniques and Modularity

Document Link

Even though the documentation is dated back to unreal engine 2 which is now almost 12 years old, the information about modular design, techniques and tips on planning your kits has helped me better understand issues that can occur when creating the assets.

The documentation goes into great detail on how to setup both modelling software and Unreal Engine 2 to the same scaling and grid spacing which allows the users to quickly and efficiently create assets with the knowledge they will be correct when porting them.

Reusing Pieces

There is a quick overview on why using modular assets kits to create large scenes and re using assets multiple times can be beneficial not only for the level designers but also to efficiently use computing memory.

• Re-using pieces doesn't take up any more space in memory, so more RAM can be devoted to higher quality meshes/textures, or costs such as AI.
• Using the same pieces throughout a level or an area can help to unify the look and feel of your game. If used correctly, it can be a great help in tying locations together in space or in function.
• Because you can use the pieces many dozens of times over, you can allocate your time to making higher quality meshes that will see heavy use, instead of many lower quality meshes that will get used and then thrown away.
• Fewer total pieces are needed, because you can reuse them. This results in time and cost savings.

Re-usability

A major concern with making modular pieces is the fear that the player will be able to see the re-use of the chunks. This is a bad situation, not only because it looks sloppy, but because the player may get lost in an area that looks just like every other. Try to make a special effort to differentiate areas visually if they share similar pieces. You can do this in a number of ways. Try using the pieces in different combinations, using lighting in different ways (colored lights, projectors), creating custom geometry to set apart a location, or substituting textures on your modular geometry, to give it a very different look.

Pivots

The documentation goes over some common pivot issues when dealing with corners and stretching of assets when working on the grid

The example they use is some wall assets that have been designed to be modular but the corners pieces do not fit as the diagonal axis is wide that the horizontal which means either you are required to have another assets that fits this size or have the ability to stretch the original meshes to fit.

Summary

although a lot of the information in this documentation has been touched on in other readings I have undertaken its good to get more reference material covering the same aspects and issues involving the design and creation of modular asset kits.

The issues with pivot points and corner pieces was something I ran into during a module last year (Level design in UDK). Having experienced this issue first hand and having to work around it in my own way gave me a lot of experience in this area and I can fully understand and appreciate how important it is to plan the assets out prior to moving into the polish stage.

Reference

Lin, Lentz, Sturgill and Reed 'Using Workflow Techniques and Modularity' DOI http://udn.epicgames.com/Two/WorkflowAndModularity.html. 

Using UE4

Unreal Engine Website

Why Unreal Engine 4?

I've decided to use UE4 as the engine to render my assets & scenes in because of the following reasons.

• UE4 is one of the newer game engines released earlier this year, making it one of the most up-to-date game engines to be using.
• It will be beneficial for me to learn and understand how to use the tools within this engine, giving me valuable experience and opening up possibility when looking for jobs in the industry.
• Its a real time render so I will be showcasing the end result of the assets and scenes as it would be represented in the actual game.
• Its good practice to be showcasing your models and environments from real-time renders as it shows the viewer the actual quality of the image rather than added details that would not be present in the actual finish produce.

Whats Changed?

With the latest release of Unreal Engine (4), there have been several changes to some important factors within the engine. Most of these changes have been done to simplify the user interface and the usability of the engine to new and experienced users alike.

1uu = 1cm

• UE3 unit scale was 1uu = 2cm, this made using there grid system easier but caused issues when scaling assets and creating assets off the grid system. Using a 1:1 ratio and creating the grid to use this ratio will make planning and the implementation of assets into the engine much faster and easier.
• Using centimeters will give designers and artists a much more accurate way to create there scene's and give them a lot more control on how it is built. The example of ft to cm is very accurate and will be used as a guide to scaling, so I will use a rounded up version of the centimeters when using UE4.

Collision Naming : UCX_

• This is the exact same naming convention used for UE3 when importing a custom collision mesh into the engine.

Interface

• The user interface of UE4 is vastly different from is previous version. They've gone to great lengths to simplify and organize the engine to be much more user friendly. The navigation of the engine world space is similar to 3D modelling software which makes it much easier to use when switching between programs.

Tutorials

There's a vast amount of information on the Unreal Engine 4 which was released at the same time as the engine. This information was released by Unreal to serve as the main information hub for all things UE4, this includes their YouTube channel, Wiki & Answer Hub which covers everything from the very basic's of the engine to the most advanced systems and operations.

• Lightmaps & Rendering -
• There is documentation on the Wiki that goes over lighting options and techniques in UE4 and I'll be referring back to this information once I've started to think about putting my assets into the engine.
• Materials - 
•  The Unreal YouTube channel has a collection of tutorials going over material editing and creation which goes over the basic's and more advance techniques used in the industry.

Summary

References 

Epic. (2014). Unreal Engine Tutorials. Available: https://www.youtube.com/user/UnrealDevelopmentKit. Last accessed 4th Nov 2014.

 

Epic. (2014). Unreal Engine 4 Documentation. Available: https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/. Last accessed 4th Nov 2014.