I wonder how environment artists create uneven terrains and still place assets that seamlessly blend into the world.
For instance, how the roads go downhill and the sidewalks follow perfectly and there’s a rising a violating that just sits there perfectly.
How is this precision attained.
Thanks
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Perhaps you have some examples people could look at?
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General Q&A note
Help us all to help you.
Please give full screenshots with any questions. With the relevant panels open.
This can be done by Blender itself, via the ‘Window’ menu bar top left-hand side.
On that menu dropdown is ‘save screenshot’.
Also, include the lecture time and name/number that is relevant to the problem/issue.
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In Blender modifiers you have an tools called `Shrink wrap’ which places mesh on the side of an other object.
But basically is’t all about math. Every face (triangle of three vertices) does have a normal. The normal stand vertical on the face. This information is used as a base to place elements.
The new Blender tool Geometry node editor is the thing you are looking for. This the face, vertices, egde math tool for procedural modifing Blender data (mesh, objects, etc.)
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When bigger game studios create their open worlds, it’s usually not on a flat surface. There are hills and valleys and that’s the foundation the world is built upon. My question is how they integrate assets to seamlessly fit into those hills and valleys. How do the roads follow the exact curvature of the terrain. How do the buildings also fit in. Overhead bridges and all. How do the environment artists do this.
Thanks
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They may make them in the game engine? Sounds more a question for a game engine community.
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The question isn’t really focused on just games. It’s on world building as a whole. Even in animations, how do the environment artists create those kinds worlds?
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I suppose it is simple you just make them. There will be all sorts of ways to do anything in Blender. You could select the area of a road and duplicate it from the ground, ready made to the ground shape. You could add geometry and shrink wrap modifier it to the ground surface.
Some landscapes will be simplified some complex. Further away it is the less detailed actual modelling is needed.
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Hmm, so I’m guessing that even the buildings are intentionally modelled one at a time to follow the sloping road, right.
Same as how bridges work? Linking higher terrain to lower terrain.
This must be a lot of work. No wonder it takes games a really long time to create their own worlds.
But at the same time, with the release of UE 5. Anyone know how the city for the matrix game demo was created? Because Epic games mentioned it wasn’t modelled manually but rather they made use of procedural tools.
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As I tried to explain earlier, it’s all MATH!
If you know the three vertices of a single face, you can calculate everything you need. Slope, direction (normal), …
With this information, you can influence other objects.
Study:
- Blender Geo nodes (procedural modeling - all math)
- Shape keys.
Have fun.
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