Dec 26, 2023

Phantom Fury - Dev Blog #6: "Designing the Minigun" by Gustaw Mackay

Phantom Fury - 3DR Vince

Hey there! I'm Gustaw Mackay, a 3D artist working on Phantom Fury. My focus on Phantom Fury is creating weapons and vehicles in the game, I've also had the chance to work on larger environmental elements and smaller props. In this dev blog, I'll take you through the journey of creating the in-game Minigun model, including all the different design iterations it went through. So, let's dive in and explore the exciting process behind bringing this powerful weapon to life!

Step 1: Concept Art

Creating concept art is the first step in developing an important asset like the minigun. In our team, concept artists collaborate with everyone and gather feedback from all team members. They usually sketch multiple ideas, and one is chosen and refined through several iterations before the modeling process starts.

The concept artist created four different variations of the Minigun, and the team discussed and voted on which one they thought was the best. In the end, they decided to combine the barrels from variation A with those from variation C in order to create a big and powerful weapon with a strong visual impact in the first-person perspective.

Minigun sketch variations by Richard

Building upon the feedback provided, the artist then proceeded to refine and enhance the initial concept by incorporating colors and shading, resulting in the finalized concept.

Minigun concept art by Richard

Step 2: Base Mesh Modeling

With this concept in mind, I crafted the base mesh for the minigun using Blender. Starting with a simple silhouette.

While I was working on the model, I noticed a few functional problems with the design that could cause issues for animators later on. The rear handle was positioned too low and too straight, making it difficult for someone to reach if they needed to carry it. Additionally, the ammo box was at a different level than the rest of the gun, so it couldn't lie flat on a surface. Lastly, the front brackets were too small to fit the rotating triangular barrels.

During the modeling phase, it is very common that functional issues pop up which may impact the asset's usability or animation. A lot of strange things can happen in the transition from a 2D image to a 3D model. Something that looks awesome on paper might end up looking a little wonky in 3D. This is not something that is a reflection of the the concept artist’s abilities, it's just part of the back-and-forth process we go through to make things right.

I made some notes to highlight my feedback and discussed them with the concept artist and the team. Eventually, we found a solution to address these issues, moving as well as removing the problematic aspects of the weapon.

As we're going for a low-poly look, I hold off on adding too minor details until I’m in the texturing phase. So, when it comes to the modeling part, my main focus is on nailing down those basic shapes without getting bogged down in the small stuff.

In this phase I really like to think a lot about shape language. I’m a big fan of older games because they have a really strong use of shape language. Games like Crash Bandicoot and the Warcraft series have shapes that are extremely exaggerated in order to produce something that's super memorable and interesting to look at for the eyes. The same goes for classic FPS games – those guns in Duke Nukem are massive! So, for me, it's not about making things super realistic; but rather creating something memorable.

Final model with the design changes.

Step 3: UV Unwrapping

The next step in the process is UV unwrapping (everyone’s least favorite) where you create a 2D canvas for applying textures to your 3D model's surface. When it comes to UV mapping, it's essential to carefully plan how to avoid texture distortion and make the most of the available texture space. This task is extra quite tricky for our project, since when dealing with pixelated textures, as you must ensure that every pixel fits neatly within the boundaries of the UV Islands, which are those cutout sections you see in the image here.

UV Map of the Minigun.

Step 4: Texture Painting

Now comes my favorite part – particularly texture painting. After completing the unwrapping phase, I import my model into 3DCoat, a 3D software that functions much like Photoshop, but with the feature of allowing you to paint directly on the model. It's incredibly convenient.

In games that aim for a more realistic art style, you often work with various texture maps, such as albedo maps, normal maps, and roughness maps, among others. These maps help simulate lighting, define materials, and even create the illusion of lighting on details that might not even exist in the model. But for our game, we're taking the old-school approach, where we bake and paint all the lighting and materials directly into the texture.

Before I start painting, I create an ambient occlusion texture, which adds some basic shadows and saves me time. Then, I start with the base colors, giving each part its own color. When it comes to lighting, I try to imagine it coming from the top right, but I don't stress too much about it. If it feels right and looks good, I'm not overly concerned with the technical details.

After adding base colors I add in the basics of the lighting.

Model with AO map.

In addition to the base colors, I apply basic lighting by shading the angled sides and tops of the weapon. At this stage, it is crucial to consider the values, which refers to the relationship between the dark and light areas. If the values are not correct, the texture will look off, regardless of how well everything else is done.

The relationship between black and white is fundamental in determining the appearance of a material. Shiny metal exhibits a high value contrast, with deep blacks and pure whites. On the other hand, materials like leather or brushed metal tend to have various shades of grey.

Quick and dirty demonstration of light values.
After I'm happy with the overall lighting and shading, I add layers for rust, scratches, and other weathering effects. At this point, I think about how the weapon has been used and which parts would be most likely to get damaged and worn.

One issue I had with the weapon was the rotating barrels. If I painted lighting on them, it would rotate along with barrels, which would look pretty strange. So, I had to make sure that all sides of the barrels had the same brightness, which meant I couldn't add as much detail as I wanted. But luckily there are lights in the game that will handle that for me, so it’s all good.

How rotating barrels would look if they had light.

After painting for a good while, I end up with the final result, and here it is!

Designing the Minigun for Phantom Fury was not an easy task. It went through many changes and design iterations before it made its way into the game. From the game designer to the concept artist, the 3D artist, the animator, the sound designer, the VFX artist, the programmer, everyone had a hand in shaping the final version.

And that concludes our journey through the process of creating the Minigun for Phantom Fury. I hope you found this dev log informative and enjoyed a peek into the world of 3D modeling and texturing. Stay tuned for more updates and behind-the-scenes insights as we continue working on bringing this exciting game to life. Thank you for your support, and we can't wait to see you in action with the Minigun when the game launches!

Dec 26, 2023

Questions and Answers session results!

Gladiators: Survival in Rome - Saturnus

Hello Brave Gladiators!

A few days ago we launched a big Question and Answers session, and here is the most upvoted questions we got from different social platforms with the comments and answers from the developer team.

Q: Can Perusia be more useful?
A: Yes, we have some ideas and plans for revamping the Perusia region, making it more complex in terms of both story and game mechanics. One of the ideas (no promises that it will come to life) is to create a personal Prosperity system for Perusia - with its own Tax Collector and buildings to construct.

Q: I hope there will be advertising where you can earn diamonds
A: There is the Mysterious Chest that can provide some gems for the Ads Watch. We don't plan to add more options for now.

Q: When new story mood coming out. Are there any other locations after the hollowstone mine?
A: For now, the Hollowstone Mine questline involves preparations for marching out to Blightstone Marshes. We are eager to introduce the continuation of the story, featuring new locations to explore, enemies to defeat, resources to gather, equipment to craft, mysteries to solve, and drama to experience. Our plans for the first quarter of 2024 are to introduce the Blightstone Marshes Act into the game.

Q: Add Guild events, buildings, meetups.
A: Guild mechanics are something we really want to explore, although we can't promise to deliver something significant in the first half of the next year.

Q: I hope there is a function that allows character clothes to be shaped like custom clothes.
A: We really love the idea and understand its origin. Many players have a collection of outdated items with a low power score but a unique visual appearance. Although allowing players to choose their visual appearance is a cool idea, it can undermine visual expectations. For example, if you encounter a player who looks like a leather newbie but actually has Combatant Gear underneath, it can be very confusing. Therefore, we can't make promises at this point, but the idea has crossed our minds.

Q: I suggest that you add the option of group play in the league or a challenge that combines one league with another league.
A: Group content, such as dungeons, that genuinely offers multiplayer activities is something we aspire to incorporate into our game in the distant future. However, it will require significant changes in the way players interact with each other—introducing roles, classes, and abilities to make group gameplay truly engaging. While the concept is consistently on our minds, there are no plans to introduce it in 2024.

Q: Will you continue the story across the bridge where you entered the villa?
A: The bridge is the path from which our character came, and who knows, maybe one day we will revisit this area.

Q: The ability to trade with other members of your tribe would be nice.
A: Trading or exchanging goods with guild members is not something we want to see in the game. However, having certain items accessible only to guild members, obtainable through special coins or by participating in guild activities, would be a nice addition.

Q: One thing well two, first the auto harvest feature in the lower left should also allow us to auto craft the number of items we wish to make.
A: Auto-mode improvements are something we want to explore in the near future. Allowing players to disassemble items, collect loot from craft stations, or focus on gathering resources instead of chasing enemies is something we aspire to achieve.

Q: Hey, are u still planning to go on with ur idea “pets” from be4? I would love to see something like that implemented.
A: We still have it on the list of future plans, but there's nothing specific in the first half of the next year. Although we would love to see our Gladiators with mighty bears or lions fighting alongside them in the glorious battles to come.

Q: Will you be including a global chat feature?
A: Interesting Idea, but no plans for that in the closest future.

Q: I would like to see a new equipment storage method where weapons and armor can be put on display instead of in a warehouse.
A: A mannequin or weapon display are indeed interesting ideas. Something we will definitely look into in the future. But first, we need to add more options just to store armor. Perhaps additional equipment storage?

Q: Is there any plan of adding disassembly work table and repair in Ertuscan tombs? Is there any chance of a workshop to merge the existing weapns/armours to higher tiers?
A: The Etruscan Tomb is something we want to change in the near future, and yes, there are ideas for creating safe zones with options to replenish supplies, repair gear, and disassemble items. There is an answer regarding merging in the question below.

Q: Will you add the ability to view the equipment of guild members?
A: The idea of checking the guildmates' gear or even visiting their villa is indeed something great. We have some thoughts about that, but it will not come to life in the first quarter of 2024.

Q: Will you add an option to merge equipment to higher grade (outside events) and to be able to re-roll their stats?
A. No plans for that, sorry. 'Merge' is something experimental that we introduced in the recent events, but it's something we want to keep exclusively in that context.

Q: Will there be things within the guild in the future? (Guild Race with Leaderboard, Guild co-op zone building.
A: We still have plans for those, but not in the near future.

Q: Will there be an option to change the attributes (Critical Chance, Bonus Damage, Block Chance...) of a weapon/armor?
A: Reforging is a highly desirable yet conflicting mechanic. Although it offers options for players to focus on their chosen build as a favorite, in 99% of cases, players tend to select the most powerful attributes and completely ignore the others. While it is something we want to introduce, if it ever comes to fruition, it will likely have some downsides—such as "lower" options than could be obtained through crafting or limited attempts to reforge, and so on.