Continuing our series of "How we do stuff" (or, more technically, the modeling and texturing process we go through here at CRS in creating some of the building models you see in game), I'll be going over the modeling of the loading docks that will be featured in an upcoming release. The process is nearly identical to my previous article on the Farmhouse Ruins.

The original loading docks currently found in-game are functional but pretty bland.  The remodel features much more realistic texturing and some small artistic details to enhance the sense of immersion.  After I'm assigned a ticket from our Producer on what needs to be built I hit my reference books, looking for inspiration. I always sketch out a few ideas before I start the actual modelling process. Once again, I have to remain within the footprint of the original model. For this loading dock, I had 2000 triangle limit for the high resolution model.

 
Working off the reference images of the destroyed buildings and loading docks I’ve collected, I try and recreate that in my scene with as few triangles as possible.  While modeling, I also need to keep game play in mind, people will be using this building for cover, I need to add prop objects so players can use them for cover as well as monitor the height for LMG positions.   
 
Once I’ve finished modeling the high detail model, I then move on to texturing. Since I want to have this loading dock fit seamlessly into the current game world, I am reusing textures that are already in game. I did create two new 512x512 textures for the loading dock that can now be used elsewhere in the game world, one is for the debris lying around, and the other was for the windows and broken glass.  Below is the image I created for the debris on the ground.

Once the textures are applied, I'm finished modeling the high level of detail or (LOD1) model for the object. Our building models will usually have 6 states of LOD’s. They have three LOD’s for each state, three for an undestroyed state and three for the destroyed state. Those three LOD’s consist of the high resolution model (LOD1), the low resolution model (LOD2) and a third resolution called a collider state (LOD3).  I have the high detail undamaged state LOD1 modeled, now I need to model out the other five LOD models.

The low resolution model (LOD1) for the loading dock is going to be seen from a distance about 75 meters out to 1200 meters. For the low resolution LOD2, I can go in and remove much of geometry I created earlier on the model, for LOD2 we usually reduce the triangle count of the model to about half of what we have for the high poly LOD1, so in this case we will try to get it around 1000 triangles. 

Now that we have two of our LODs done it’s time to build our collider model LOD3. The collider model is what your player comes into contact within the game world. Due to game engine and PC requirements, we will need to break up our collider state into chunks of 500 triangles or less and also break them up into separate sections. We do this so when you are walking on the left side building, you aren’t colliding against the objects on the far right hand side of the model and only colliding against those objects close to your character. The collider LOD3 is an invisible copy of the model broken down in sections with fewer triangles then the high resolution model, but still possibly more then the low poly model, just due to what ever is needed in the model to collide correctly with the player.  Sometimes we have to also add extra geometry to keep players from clipping into certain areas of the model this geometry is added to the collider. 

Once we get all this completed, we can then check it out our work in game. Here is a screenshot of the model in game: 

The current remodel I'm working on is the Windmill. All of the old 2D alpha plane buildings need to be replaced and we're chipping away at the list as quickly as we can so that WWIIOL:BE gets the facelift it deserves.