koobas.hobune.stream
Unity and Maya....make map?
Hi everyone! I'm hoping to start a project soon, and it'll be my first. Top-down 3d game, check out Pocket RPG screenshots for an example.
So, I'm using Maya....to make a map like a dungeon, do I do the whole thing in Maya, or do I make, say, a wall in Maya and assemble in Unity? How about texturing....do it in Maya or do a material type thing in Unity?
Thanks!
-Sichas-
Oh man, you're in some serious stuff! ;]
Anyways, this is all depending on your preference.
What I like to do is create the base(ground) using the terrain tool that's already in Unity because of how flexible the height painting and the texture painting is compared to using a mesh for the ground. Then start building assets and loading them into the game. The reason why I did this is because I had a team who created my last project which we had a person who was creating the level. By doing this, We got a modeler that just needs to model assets that can be brought into the world and give them to the level designer who can just "drag and drop" them into the world.
Overall, Like I said, it is really up to you and also depends if you are working with a team.
Also, Make sure you be careful about draw calls though, they can be a real pain in the future if you don't pay attention to it.
http://answers.unity3d.com/questions/14578/whats-the-best-way-to-reduce-draw-calls.html
Now, for texturing, You can create the UVs in maya and let multiple assets share the same texture. This would reduce the draw calls I was talking about earlier. But just make sure you plan this out before you start spamming out assets. ;]
Good luck! and hopefully this helps you out.
I find if you do the whole 'segements which are then assembled' thing, your draw calls can go through the roof pretty quickly. It seems like a good idea on paper, but you need some pretty good technology to make it work properly. You can use Static Batching in Unity Pro to take the load off a bit, but make sure you're thinking about the problem throughout the design process so it doesn't catch you by surprise.
Agreed with Syclamoth. Like I said, just make sure you plan out how you are going to set this up ins$$anonymous$$d of just pumping out those assets ;]
I'm speaking from experience here- in my most recent completed project, I had a level designer working on building segments for all sorts of beautiful architecture. In the planning phase, I told him to do it that way because I thought it would be more efficient than assembling each individual building in the entire city. After 3 months of modelling and texturing, we finally got them into Unity- and all of a sudden we shot down to under 15 FPS, just from about 5 of them.
Basically, in the end we changed our entire visual style (for various reasons), but the lovingly detailed level segments ended up useless, and have been collecting dust in his hard drive ever since.
Thank you both for the answers! I am a solo "developer" and this is my first game I've ever made. Still learning the ropes but I just want to figure out the best way to design it so I don't have to go back and redo a lot! Thanks much guys :)
I am also looking to learn Unity and create my first solo project. Can I just piggy back on this question and quickly ask a question about level design/creation using Maya.
I am looking to create a FPS, and wondering do I build the level 'lay-out' in terms of structure (building, walls and internal rooms) as one model and import it to Unity? Or do I build each room separately and import and as separate entities and build the building like Lego?
I know that I would have to create separate models/mesh's for tables for example and load them to place them around the level.
I'm just looking how to confirm that I create the entire skeleton of the building and then import.
Thank you for your time on this, and I hope the question made some kind of sense ^^
Chris
