#Grey box model 3d modeling series#

Those small gains add up, and they matter. There are many ways we do this and there are always trade-offs like having to sacrifice visual quality to get a small performance gain. Performance is super important in tactical shooters, and we spend a lot of time working with engineers when we finish a map to clean it up and have it running as smoothly as possible. This is due to either having to adhere to the greybox layout, or because of performance constraints. We may start with ambitious concepts, but at some point we have to reasonably limit how creative we can get. Our main goal on the maps team is to not only provide the player with a beautiful looking map, but to provide one that also runs well. Two good examples of this can be seen in the Icebox blockout phases of 'kitchen' and 'mid,' where changes were made to give some spaces more breathing room.: OUT OF BOUNDS Since concepts and layouts can shift, it's better to work with simple shapes during the blockout phase to avoid having to re-do work. This often happens during the art blockout and early stages of building the maps. The level designers can make changes to the spaces as we're modeling them, and we have to pivot to those changes when necessary. Our maps are completely built using Unreal Engine 4, and the majority of the team uses Maya for 3D modeling (though a few of us use 3ds Max).Īs we start to model the maps, we try to playtest them on a weekly basis to get a feel for the spaces, check for bugs, make sure there is accurate collision, and to spot areas that are too noisy or compete visually with our Agents. Our map production pipeline can be broken down into several phases: greybox, art blockout, and art production. At this stage, the concept artists try to get as much coverage on the map before the 3D artists jump in and begin modeling the basic shapes of the architecture. At this stage there's a lot of back and forth between the artist and project leadership to make sure the map follows the VALORANT narrative, is marked by visual variety, and most importantly, is something the team is really excited to be working on.Īfter a high-level direction has been locked down, concept artists begin to tackle specific locations and call-outs on the map based on the greybox layout.

#Grey box model 3d modeling series#

AFTER LEVEL DESIGNīefore 3D artists can touch a map, our Art Lead and Creative Director work very high level with the concept artists to iterate on finding an iconic look for our maps using a series of blue-sky concepts. If you want a closer look at how we approach level design, check out this story on the creation of Split. I hope to give you some insight into the challenges, successes, and misconceptions of crafting map environments. That's me, the person who works on models, textures, sculpts, paint, shaders, and building the overall visual world. Today you're going to hear from the 3D artist perspective. When it comes to maps, level design normally grabs most of the attention, and rightfully so, as designers spend months working on the greybox-playtesting and tweaking them until they are ready to hand off to the artists. It's a real collaborative feat getting a map from greybox (the earliest playable version of a map) to a version that's ready for you, the player.

The VALORANT maps team is fairly small, and consists of level designers, 3D, concept, lighting, and QA. With the release of Icebox, I thought it was the right time to bring you in from the cold and discuss how we bring our maps to life, from the inside out. Hey everyone! I'm Lydia Zanotti, a 3D environment artist on VALORANT.