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Problems I'm having with 3D modeling assets for my game

A topic by chez_dev created Jan 07, 2021 Views: 625 Replies: 13

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So, I've posted to the itch.io forums a lot and I never know where I'm really supposed to post this. If I posted this in the wrong thread, I'm sure mods can just move it.

I recently started working on my first 3D game, and one of the things I've never done in a game is 3D model. I don't know how to use blender and I'm not looking into spending money on tutorials or different 3D modeling programs. I also don't know if I want to hire someone because the last time I worked with someone on an idea we both had, our ideas clashed and we had different views on what the game should be. I have these questions for devs who have been in the same boat as me when it comes to learning how/what to 3D modeling.

What did you do if you knew you wanted to model something, but didn't know how to make it or just make it look good?
Was learning how to 3D model things yourself hard/worth it?
This goes along with question 1, how did you gain inspiration, or know what you wanted to 3D model?

I know that most of these depend on how creative you are, or how easy one can learn how to do something new, but if you guys have any advice, please share it! I'd love to hear anything from anyone!

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Afloof.devModerator moved this topic to General Discussion 3 years ago

Afloof.devModerator3 years ago(+2)

So, I’ve posted to the itch.io forums a lot and I never know where I’m really supposed to post this. If I posted this in the wrong thread, I’m sure mods can just move it.

I moved this thread to “General Discussion” as I think it fits there more, plus it will possibly attract more people. Usually “Questions & Support” is about people having issues with Itch.io, and not game development in general.

I also don’t know if I want to hire someone because the last time I worked with someone on an idea we both had, our ideas clashed and we had different views on what the game should be.

I can’t really advice on hiring someone or not. No matter what, you will always find people you disagree with, that’s why before agreeing on anything it’s good to have a conversation with that person, to see where you both stand. It’s not bulletproof, but might nudge the chances to your favor.

What did you do if you knew you wanted to model something, but didn’t know how to make it or just make it look good?

I was in this position recently. I started making 3D games, and had only very basic knowledge of Blender, enough to know how to handle a 3D model that someone else gave me. I decided to start 3D modeling myself, even if it didn’t look good in the beginning, I was sure I’d improve over time, and still do.

It’s up to you if you want to follow a similar path, but keep in mind that when you start, don’t aim for something amazing, as that will demotivate you. Start with a simple UI and start modeling the buttons. If you manage to make a button look like an arrow, that’s a success. If you manage to model the “Play” button be a nice triangle, that’s also a success. Later on, as you get more comfortable, you can re-visit your old creations and update them to look even better.

Was learning how to 3D model things yourself hard/worth it?

For me it was worth it. I’m still learning, but I enjoy the process a lot. This might not be the same for everyone though. It’s a slow process that will have low quality results for some time, until you become better.

This goes along with question 1, how did you gain inspiration, or know what you wanted to 3D model?

This depends on the game. Does it have a theme? Maybe a specific concept? Or a wild idea that you are trying to express? Try to combine that with your current skill level. I you think something is too complicated to model now, then simplify it. We are all indies here, everybody starts simple.

Hope this helps. This is all my opinion based on my experience.

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chez_dev3 years ago

Thank you so much. This helped a lot!

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firecat3 years ago(+1)

blender always has this problem with their UI, its not your fault, the people who make blender do not want to fix the UI. Instead i recommend the same software but the UI is fixed. https://www.bforartists.de/ is blender but makes things easier to understand, it also has an easy to read document of how stuff works: https://www.bforartists.de/tutorials/

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TheFriendlySealStudio3 years ago(+1)

i think the ui of blender is fantastic if you take 10 minutes to learn it like every program ever

-6 years blender user

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firecat3 years ago

the UI is always the problem, the deveopers design it to be working not to make it look easy on the eye like Autodesk. We also have to understand that this is not just a learning problem but the fact that it relays too much on keyboard than mouse like a normal program.

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TheFriendlySealStudio3 years ago

its a 3d software the point isnt suposted to be pretty this isnt a game this is a tool

the ui is very well optimized and simple to use and has good rules on where are certain funcions placed

its your fault for not learning the software for 5 minutes

also keyboard shortcuts are the best thing ever, its the only reason i can work on such a lighing speed

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firecat3 years ago

actually blender can be used for games, it has its own engine, no the UI is not best everyone and everyone always have complains on it, even expert blender users as well as long veterans hate blender's UI in some context.

Again as for learning is still not the fault of the user its blender, what you think of blender is easy can also be said about Maya or 3dmax. Since you do not know how these software work (i know because it cost too much) you cant just say "it's easy, the ui is good, nothing wrong" because the fact that Maya and 3dmax requires years of studying.

I learn how to use it by many books and watching tutorials, your blender learning will not help you. Autodesk softwares require more technical understanding. The job market to understanding Autodesk software is more favorable than making 3d art, people who are hiring want you to know how Autodesk software works not 3d art. When it comes to 3d art, you should already know it, they do not ask such things.

If you familiar with the anime 'New Game" the main character faces many technical problems, this is one example of such error:

The main character spent hours, days, weeks learning Maya but never understood technical problems. This also happens in games a lot when a 3d model isnt "fix" it looks and works but programming wise it isnt. Blender also has this problem, many users dont even know such problems existed in blender, i bet you dont even know. So what i'm saying is, its blender fault not the end user who only learn from youtube videos or other people.

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The GDG Bot3 years ago (1 edit) (+1)

I'm not a 3D Modeller but I've tried before, doing some really simple things for a few of my games, I'll still give you my personal input if it helps:

1. "What did you do if you knew you wanted to model something, but didn't know how to make it or just make it look good?"

- I pull through if it's a simplet thing, otherwise I'll go find a free legal version on the web or ask a friend. If I can't find it, then I usually give up.

2- "Was learning how to 3D model things yourself hard/worth it?"

- Yes to both, but to me specifically what felt worth it was the fact that now I understood how UVs work. I am however traumatized by Blender's UI (jk), although I hope I don't have to do this again, at least too often?

3 - "This goes along with question 1, how did you gain inspiration, or know what you wanted to 3D model?"

- Planning the game comes before making the model, but what really inspired me to do it was that I really wanted to finish that game.

Having that said, I recommend you purchase models from a store or hire someone through commission, however if you're really into learning 3D modelling it should be worth it a lot more in the long run because that's a massively useful skill in indie game dev.

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TheFriendlySealStudio3 years ago

ive been a 3d artist for like 6 years now and i was pretty good at 3d after 6 months of youtube tutorials, all you need is to just have a decent workflow you know like know what is proper topology for hard surface and organic surface, how to uv map and texture, blender is amazing at texturing btw, also try to find an easy and simple artsyle for your game that is very pretty and works well with your gameplay.

also here is proof that i know 3d very well https://www.artstation.com/gloriatheanimator

i even work as a full time freelancer nowadays taking commisions for animating modelling and recenly even got into 2d concepting

you just gotta keep at it and dont give up

there are so many free tutorials and supportive people in the blender community that you can easily learn the program to a really nice deegre within 6 months and it is SUPER SUPER WORTH IT cause you can always use this skill for other projects and ofc maybe even find a some work related to it if you are ever low on money

i woulnt call my self a creative person i just kinda copy what already exist but in my own unique way

cause its really hard to make a pixel perfect copy

everything is an interpotation

-ps sorry for my bad spelling i am working on that

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40wattstudio3 years ago(+1)

What did you do if you knew you wanted to model something, but didn't know how to make it or just make it look good?

If you're trying to make an accurate model, good reference material will be a big help. Try and find front, top, side and 3D views. If you try to create something just from your imagination or a picture your end result might not be proportioned correctly. Even if you're making something original, try and find something similar and use that for the basic shape.

Also, stick with low-polygon counts to begin with. It will probably help game performance and you can always add details later. Use textures for the finer details -- a 3D artist wouldn't model each individual bump on a basketball, a texture with some texture mapping techniques will do the trick.

Was learning how to 3D model things yourself hard/worth it?

I've still got a lot to learn, but even so, absolutely! Keep in mind you can use 3D modeling for more than just games -- you could make logos, short animations, 3D printing creations, etc.

There are other free 3D modeling programs (like Rocket3F), but the problem with a lot of these is this: While they may be "easier", their communities are usually much smaller too. So if you run into a really obscure bug or issue or don't know how to do something, you may have a hard time getting help. And if you are never able to solve your problem, that could cause you to abandon your project altogether!

Blender sometimes feels like learning a foreign language, but you slowly get used to it. And to use the same analogy, you don't need to be "fluent" in either to accomplish things. If all you have is a firm grasp of the basics that is usually enough to get you started. You don't need 5 years of German to order a pizza. You don't need to become Andrew Price to make a simple donut. And the biggest bonus to using Blender is that so many people use it to some degree that almost any question you can think of has already been answered or could be answered quickly. I get a lot of motivation and inspiration just from seeing all the other cool things people have done with it.

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chez_dev3 years ago(+1)

Great, thank you so much! I'll keep those processes in mind.

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Kssa3 years ago(+1)

"What did you do if you knew you wanted to model something, but didn't know how to make it or just make it look good?"

Like we, devs, do with everything else related to our games... model another thing to replace it or model something similar and give it another context (considering that you just can't do it).
We almost never can fully do the game we first imagined, we have to sacrifice stuff and change stuff to fit what we best imagined into reality. Triple A masterpieces from the past and today also "suffered" and took advantage from this, taking advantages from limitation.

"Was learning how to 3D model things yourself hard/worth it?"

Worth it I think it always is... I like to think that knowledge is never enough, it raises the set of skills you have.

Like knowing a foreign language, even if it is a language that is really not popular, knowing it will always be one of your unique skills (considerating how hard it is to learn those stuff that takes years of practice).

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M0ldRice3 years ago (1 edit) (+1)

I am not that much of a 3D guy myself but watching modelling sessions for advanced models and seeing which tools they use is a good practice for making shapes. To me imagining art is always diffrent. For most of my life ive been drawing random pictures, it got easy to imagine them and draw the. But when i transeffred to pixelart and wanted to make an example image in my head it was hard. It takes time for your brain to adjust to a new art type, at the beggining i was unnaturally bending pixels in my head and would be dissapointed to see the out comes but overtime i learnt to make an image for pixelart in my head. For now id reccomend getting comftroble with the program and exercising imagining a weird drawing in 3 dimensions. Id also reccomend practicing before you start working on the game so you do not waste hours of redoing the place holder assets (Speaking from experience). But yeah practicing the convert from the brain to the program is probably the way to go for you right now.

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