Things to come – Improved Characters | Dev Blog #1
Today I wanted to talk a little bit about what’s been going on behind the scenes at Unicube.
Full notes
Full Sheltered 2 update
Read the full published notes in a cleaner layout. The original post stays linked below.
What changed
0 fixes3 additions2 changes0 removals
Gameplay
Maps
Store
addedAs the artist on the team, other than small tweaks and changes I make myself, I’m not a programmer so it leaves me with time to work on things we’ll be adding in the future. One of these things is improved characters. Though we’ve had plenty of feedback about them being “Okay,” I know myself as the artist they’re not. Given the time constraints of the project, I had to come up with a way to introduce customisable characters with a workflow that was quick, and inevitably it lead to a lot of cut corners. The characters were never really given the attention they required. One particular aspect to the current characters I’m not happy with is they don’t have a lot of customisation options, generally have poor face presets (something we’re hoping to change with adjustable sliders,) and most importantly don’t really have a ‘lived in’ vibe about them. This is supposed to be an apocalypse, and for the most part except for some blurry and lacklustre muddied clothing, they don’t really feel like they’re part of the world they inhabit.
addedFirstly, a look at the old model compared with the new model in-engine:
changedThe first step was to sculpt the character. For this I use Zbrush. I’d been stuck in this method of modelling everything in blender for a while, and eventually branched out to sculpting in Zbrush for anything organic. For hard surface work I still prefer to use Blender. Sculpting allows me to bake the high poly details down to the low poly later on. In the current character models, there isn’t even a normal map. It’s a texture and a toon shader – that’s it.
changedThe first step is to create the basic shape of the skull and face. I keep the subdivisions as low as possible during this stage, as all I’m trying to do is get a basic outline of the proportions I’m after without getting bogged down in detail. Good reference material is absolutely key here, and up until about 6 months ago, I’d have google open with a copious amount of tabs using Google images to get my reference material. That’s until I found PureRef, which is probably my favourite piece of software ever. Seriously, I can’t recommend it enough.
addedOnce I’m done with the basic shapes, I add some simple spheres to the eye sockets and I subdivide until I’ve got enough quads to start adding detail. At this stage I probably went too far with the detailing, especially when the majority of the time the camera distance in the shelter isn’t anywhere near enough to reveal these details. Though it does compliment the characters on the customisation screen as they’re shown fairly close up. Later I realised adding a lot of the skin detail
Sheltered 2 changes
addedAs the artist on the team, other than small tweaks and changes I make myself, I’m not a programmer so it leaves me with time to work on things we’ll be adding in the future. One of these things is improved characters. Though we’ve had plenty of feedback about them being “Okay,” I know myself as the artist they’re not. Given the time constraints of the project, I had to come up with a way to introduce customisable characters with a workflow that was quick, and inevitably it lead to a lot of cut corners. The characters were never really given the attention they required. One particular aspect to the current characters I’m not happy with is they don’t have a lot of customisation options, generally have poor face presets (something we’re hoping to change with adjustable sliders,) and most importantly don’t really have a ‘lived in’ vibe about them. This is supposed to be an apocalypse, and for the most part except for some blurry and lacklustre muddied clothing, they don’t really feel like they’re part of the world they inhabit.
addedFirstly, a look at the old model compared with the new model in-engine:
changedThe first step was to sculpt the character. For this I use Zbrush. I’d been stuck in this method of modelling everything in blender for a while, and eventually branched out to sculpting in Zbrush for anything organic. For hard surface work I still prefer to use Blender. Sculpting allows me to bake the high poly details down to the low poly later on. In the current character models, there isn’t even a normal map. It’s a texture and a toon shader – that’s it.
changedThe first step is to create the basic shape of the skull and face. I keep the subdivisions as low as possible during this stage, as all I’m trying to do is get a basic outline of the proportions I’m after without getting bogged down in detail. Good reference material is absolutely key here, and up until about 6 months ago, I’d have google open with a copious amount of tabs using Google images to get my reference material. That’s until I found PureRef, which is probably my favourite piece of software ever. Seriously, I can’t recommend it enough.
addedOnce I’m done with the basic shapes, I add some simple spheres to the eye sockets and I subdivide until I’ve got enough quads to start adding detail. At this stage I probably went too far with the detailing, especially when the majority of the time the camera distance in the shelter isn’t anywhere near enough to reveal these details. Though it does compliment the characters on the customisation screen as they’re shown fairly close up. Later I realised adding a lot of the skin detail
Today I wanted to talk a little bit about what’s been going on behind the scenes at Unicube. Obviously we’re still hard at work fixing bugs and balancing – and we’ll continue to do so until we think the game is in a good enough state to continue forward with content.
As the artist on the team, other than small tweaks and changes I make myself, I’m not a programmer so it leaves me with time to work on things we’ll be adding in the future. One of these things is improved characters. Though we’ve had plenty of feedback about them being “Okay,” I know myself as the artist they’re not. Given the time constraints of the project, I had to come up with a way to introduce customisable characters with a workflow that was quick, and inevitably it lead to a lot of cut corners. The characters were never really given the attention they required. One particular aspect to the current characters I’m not happy with is they don’t have a lot of customisation options, generally have poor face presets (something we’re hoping to change with adjustable sliders,) and most importantly don’t really have a ‘lived in’ vibe about them. This is supposed to be an apocalypse, and for the most part except for some blurry and lacklustre muddied clothing, they don’t really feel like they’re part of the world they inhabit.
So I’m rebuilding the characters from the ground up. It’s a huge undertaking, and I can’t promise they’ll be making it into the game anytime soon – most likely before the middle of next year. However, whilst I’m doing this I thought I’d expose a little bit of the workflow of what’s involved. A lot of it has been trial and error, but I’m happy with the increase in quality, and I’m excited to share the progress with everyone.
Firstly, a look at the old model compared with the new model in-engine:
The first step was to sculpt the character. For this I use Zbrush. I’d been stuck in this method of modelling everything in blender for a while, and eventually branched out to sculpting in Zbrush for anything organic. For hard surface work I still prefer to use Blender. Sculpting allows me to bake the high poly details down to the low poly later on. In the current character models, there isn’t even a normal map. It’s a texture and a toon shader – that’s it.
The first step is to create the basic shape of the skull and face. I keep the subdivisions as low as possible during this stage, as all I’m trying to do is get a basic outline of the proportions I’m after without getting bogged down in detail. Good reference material is absolutely key here, and up until about 6 months ago, I’d have google open with a copious amount of tabs using Google images to get my reference material. That’s until I found PureRef, which is probably my favourite piece of software ever. Seriously, I can’t recommend it enough.
Once I’m done with the basic shapes, I add some simple spheres to the eye sockets and I subdivide until I’ve got enough quads to start adding detail. At this stage I probably went too far with the detailing, especially when the majority of the time the camera distance in the shelter isn’t anywhere near enough to reveal these details. Though it does compliment the characters on the customisation screen as they’re shown fairly close up. Later I realised adding a lot of the skin detail
