The past few weeks have been focused on making a kitbash for the futuristic houses. When designing these assets, I wanted to ensure that we could reuse them throughout the entire project. This meant that I needed to imagine all the possible forms and construct something that would work for in as many situations as possible, no simple feat.
I began to place these objects into the world, and the shape started to take form. However, I learned something about my process that would require me to rebuild everything. The walls/floors were far too thin and did not account for realistic spacing.
After looking at how I could rework this, the only conclusion I came to is that I just needed to pretend I was a construction worker building a real house. You might say "That is a bit overkill" and you certainly wouldn't be wrong. Despite knowing this was overkill I also know myself and how much this would bother me if I didn't find a proper solution. The following is what I came up with:
This method places a 10x30 cm (simulated 2x4) every 50 cm. This means absolutely nothing for the engine, but this creates a realistic shape and size for the walls. My intent is to create a decent shape and that can be used for "whiteboxing" the level and then replace it when we make the first art pass. This method is not without challenges as corners have proven to be difficult. When two objects occupy the same space, the textures begin to flicker in and out. This is called z fighting. The simplest solution to problem is to offset the meshes, but this creates an issue with the rest of the kitbash.
Right now, my thoughts are aimed at making a custom mesh for the corners that the engine will use/replace when the player places them. This is not the most ideal solution, but it is the solution that I have thus far. The end result looks something like this:
Will keep you posted with the next update and provide some information on our progress with the server/client setup. Until next time!