Building Alliances: Fibre Model

Model Creation: Fibre
Continuing on from the prior models I have created, I went about creating more 3D models based off the orthographics my team had created. This was following the decided weekly goal of continuing asset production.

I started with the Fibre Microplastic enemy design, and - with its more slowing, slender and tube-like shapes - found that a different technique would be necessary in its creation. As such, in Blender, I used the "Skin" modifier to create long tubes in the shape of the model. To create this effect, I first used the extrude functionality to draw out a long line of vertices. Selecting all of these, I could activate the "Skin" modifier to create a cuboid covering around this row of vertices in a manner that followed their direction. The subdivide modifier then added more geometry to this shape, creating a more cylindrical form. 

I used this to block out half of the form of the fibre unit, then used the mirror modifier to create a duplicate of it that completed the silhouette.
I then used the bridge edge loop and fill functionalities to join the two halves together, subdividing it last to create the desired cylindrical shape.

I then UV unwrapped the form of the Fibre using a similar process to that of the prior models I created, marking seams across the model to illustrate where specific areas of the unwrap should lay. I then re-oriented the unwrapped sections to get a more cohesive flow between them. As shown below, the left and right images show how the UV unwrap sat atop a checkered grid. The left is how Blender unwrapped the seams I had drawn, with the right being how they ultimately looked upon reorganisation. This cleaner, more symmetrical flow, shown through the straight pattern of the checkers, demonstrates how the textures I could then paint over the UV unwrap would sit on the model, the clean and organised unwrap allowing for these textures to be displayed more accurately.

Shown below is the UV unwrap I made for the model, alongside the textures I then created atop it. These textures are basic and cel-shaded, this being the art style we had discussed previously and of which all concept art had been created in accordance.

Following this, in personal work time I created a variety of other models, including another varient for the Fibre - which bore a slimmer overall silhouette, longer arms and longer legs, as well as models for the pellet and spore tower. These were all UV unwrapped and textured in the same manner, with the models being based on previously made orthographic images and textured in a simplistic, cel-shaded style entirely comprised of one flat colour.

Shown below are the textures I produced for the Spore Tower, Pellet and Fibre models respectively. I based the colour palettes of the former two directly off of concept art created by Seb and based the palette of the latter off of concept art for the Fibre enemy I had created.
The Pellet enemy was by far the most simplistic of the bunch, being a cube subdivided into a sphere shape and then pulled out into a tapering form. Though a simple sphere in the design that Seb put forth as the final rendition of the Pellet, in modelling I shaped it with more harsh angles. Again, this is due to considerations in scaling and optimization: though perhaps a little too conservative in terms of optimization, I wanted to keep the model simplistic and as low-poly as I could, as in the final game many Pellets would be on screen and rendered at once. As the most numerous of the Microplastic enemies, being the simplest of soldiers, many Pellets would be shown at once. With our aim set towards machines with a comparatively lower power, I did not want this to result in issues in loading or displaying the game.

The topology of the fibre model contains numerous edge loops across the limbs. This increases its polygon count drastically, especially when compared to other models such as the Fragment Slasher and Pellets, which are simple forms. I believe that this comparatively higher topology is necessary, as in animation these limbs would move as the enemy walks across the level. As this animation is considerably more complex than the animations of the Pellet or Fragment Slasher enemies, the higher topology is necessary to allow the mesh of the model to deform. This would create a smoother animation and allow for a greater freedom of movement, which would assist in making the model believably move in the scene.

Similar to the Fragment Slasher enemies I previously created, these models are low-quality renditions of the designs that would be shown in the distance of the game scene, which the player would not be able to see up close. The display of these models would save on processing power, as our game is aimed towards lower-end machines, with the overall simplicity of the shapes and designs more appealing to our younger target audience.