This week I have been doing some more modelling; specifically with the parallax decals and the computer units for around the level. Since the presentation last week, I have managed to fully parameterise the parallax occlusion mapping (POM) decal material, which will allow me to assign custom maps to the decal. The ultimate goal however will be to have all of the decals on one texture that will be read from using a flipbook node to control the UVs, as this means less textures will need to be loaded when running.
I have also been modelling hard surface decals for use around the level, and texturing them in Substance Designer. I sought reference from the modules aboard the ISS as I felt they would look really cool in my environment, and I modelled them in Blender 2.79. I chose to use Blender as it is very intuitive and efficient at modelling hard-surfaces, plus it has a baking tool which allows me to quickly export maps for texturing. Here is a screenshot of one of the final modelled decals, with the vertex colours set to act as a mask for bare metallic surfaces. When I baked the heightmaps, I also baked the vertex colours and the normals.
I have also modelled another decal which I chose to serve as a cryogenic hatch. I followed the same process as above and textured it inside Substance Designer. As my POM decal material in UE4 is fully parameterised, I could simply add the newly generated maps into a material instance and adjust it in real-time.
One issue I found with the decal material is that it can't access the pixel depth offset of the material, which means shadows and ambient occlusion can't be calculated. Instead I decided to include the AO maps and multiply the base colour with it, to create a pseudo-AO effect. While this is not entirely physically accurate, it does help to give a bit more artistic effect to the decal material. Here is the decal working in engine:
Here is the other decal in engine:
I have also been modelling and texturing the computer and the tape deck in 3DSMax and Substance Painter. for the keyboard, I created a parallax keyboard material in Substance Designer and simply painted it on the model in Painter. I baked the round edge normals in Blender 2.79 and used those as a base to paint on. I added some hard surface details using normal stamps in as well some emissive details. Here are the computers in Substance Painter and in UE4.
Next week I will be creating a blueprint for the tape spools and texturing the throttle quadrant, as well as modelling and texturing the docking hatch, docking tube, throttle quadrant and the periscope.
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