Hey guys. Looking for some advice in regards to asset production/generation. I've been developing a game in my spare time - www.kanshicity.com - which is themed around finding characters in a Tokyo inspired city (not really pure cyberpunk, just inspired by the city as it is today). I've been developing it myself and I'm primarily a programmer. I've been using Blender to create fairly simple buildings which when placed together with lighting and some blurring suggest more detail than there is which is a nice effect.

My problem is that it just takes so long to fill a level out which really eats at my motivation. Say a level needs 100 buildings, depending on the complexity I spend 1-2 hours per buildings so that's 100 levels but I can only work on my game 1-2 hours a night.

I'm looking for suggestions I could look at for producing my content more quickly? I'm not in the position to hire someone. I'm thinking perhaps some kind of procedural generator might help but I've never tried that before.

Thanks

Do you need all buildings to be unique?  If so, how unique do they have to be?  Can you take a building, move some parts around, and call it a new building?  Can you build a "kit" of pieces which can be recombined into lots of different buildings?  Can you reuse a model and just change the texture, or the other way around?  Can you recolor your textures to create new textures with minimal effort?  Can you simplify your art style to increase the speed at which your buildings are created?

Lots of potential options that might or might not work for you.

Not all, I reuse some buildings but try to not overuse so the level doesn't look too replicated. I've also avoided using textures and only using base material colours so I don't need to create textures. The game has a bit of a minimal detail style.

I definitely like the idea of building a building kit as you suggested. I've never really produced 3D models before so just trying to learn what options there might be. I've seen some people generate buildings or cities procedural but unsure how difficult or complex this may be. Thanks for your suggestion!

+1 for using templates, some kind of generic base building that you can make variations from from more quickly.

Blender is extremely scriptable, you use Python. You can procedurally generate geometry, materials etc.

I may have just the tools you're looking for. I've worked on building production for a few years now. With Voxyc you can quickly build buildings out of voxels. It generates efficient low-poly meshes which can be exported as OBJ's. I have the editor for Android but let me know your specific requirements and I'll try to accommodate. 

Voxyc in Play Store

On 11/9/2018 at 11:21 PM, Anri said:

Love the work so far and also second kitbashing,  which combined with your modelling experience thus far will save you time.

Keep going!

Thanks for your comment Anri! I think the approach of creating a modular kit is something I am going to explore.

On 11/9/2018 at 10:34 PM, fleabay said:

https://kitbash3d.com/products/tokyo

This looks really great thanks. I'm trying to avoid buying a kit so my game looks more unique and it would mean there would be conflicting art styles in the game. But it definitely gives me some inspiration.

On 11/10/2018 at 1:59 AM, Kryzon said:

+1 for using templates, some kind of generic base building that you can make variations from from more quickly.

 

Blender is extremely scriptable, you use Python. You can procedurally generate geometry, materials etc.

Yeah Kryzon I'm going to try this, thanks. I wouldn't even think of trying to do it in Blender itself I would have imported all the parts and tried to generate them in UE4. I imagine I would just create a bunch of different doors, windows, misc decorations and combine it with lots of parameters like ground space of the building, height and so on and try to fit parts onto the generated mesh, right?

Hi. You should use whatever you're more comfortable and will make your work faster.
Try searching for "modular environment" resources.

- https://api.unrealengine.com/udk/Three/ModularEnvironmentCreation.html
- https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/130885/creating_modular_game_art_for_fast_.php
- https://80.lv/articles/city-environment-building-tips-and-tricks/
- http://blog.joelburgess.com/2013/04/skyrims-modular-level-design-gdc-2013.html

Good luck.

Really useful looking resources there I'll be sure to take a read. Thanks for sharing!