Category Environment Modularity

Topics about making modular environment art for games.

Modular means pieces are made to fit together according to a common pattern, so just a few pieces can be reused multiple times to create a bunch of variety.

Pages in This Category

Modular Design

How to plan out the development of modular environment pieces. The design of modular pieces is closely linked to game design; see for more.

• Workflow techniques and modularity with Unreal game technology - by Epic Games<
  >A guide to setting up your art-to-level-design pipeline and designing modularly.
• Environment workflow from an artist working on a Crysis mod - by Stefan Morrell<
  >A modular city building and its texture sheet.
• Mod Facade Challenge - by Joe 'EarthQuake' Wilson<
  >Breaking up a building into modular pieces and designing the texture sheet.
• Adam Bromell's sketchbook thread - by Adam 'adamBrome' Bromell<
  >Breaking an environment down into modular pieces.
• Chris' sketchbook thread - by Chris 'cholden' Holden<
  >Environment design & modular workflow.
• Visually Appealing Building Guide - by Christopher Albeluhn<
  >An excellent breakdown of how to create visual interest with game buildings. Additional tutorials here.
• Modular design within games - a Polycount thread <
  > Research about modular methods.
• Modular Building Workflow - ($) a 3dmotive tutorial by Tyler Wanlass that covers planning and workflow for modular buildings using Photoshop, 3ds Max, and UDK.

Modular Workflow

How to create modular environment pieces.

• Environment workflow @ EpicGames - by Kevin Johnstone<
  >A summary of the modular workflow used at Epic on Unreal Tournament 3.
• Gears of War 2 modular modeling - by Kevin Johnstone <
  >Tips and screenshots of using the grid for modular work, as well as a ton of useful insight into the Environment worflow at Epic. A highly recommended read!
• Modular brick wall tiling - by Glynn Smith<
  >Tips and screenshots for sculpting modular brick walls.
• Generic wall tutorial - by Bram 'Peris' Eulaers<
  >Using 3ds Max and Mudbox to sculpt tilable modular sections for a stone wall.
• Rock modeling approaches - a Polycount thread <
  >A variety of approaches for sculpting individual rocks and tilable cliffs.
• Creating Perfectly Tiling Meshes in Zbrush for use in Videogame Environments - by Owen 'SHEPEIRO' Shepherd<
  >Using ZBrush's 2.5D canvas to tile stamped meshes, then using Maya to model tilable geometry.
• Working with Modular Sets - by Philip 'PhilipK' Klevestav<
  >How to design and texture modular sci-fi wall panels.
• Working with Modular Rocks - by Philip 'PhilipK' Klevestav<
  >How to design, model, and texture modular rock assets, using Crazy Bump, Photoshop, and 3ds Max.
• Modular Floor Tiles - Outlined in Shadow - a Polycount thread <
  >How to work around UDK modular problems.
• Modular Building Workflow - ($) a 3dmotive tutorial by Tyler Wanlass that covers planning and workflow for modular buildings using Photoshop, 3ds Max, and UDK.

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