Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Unwrapping and UV Mapping of a 3D model can be a labor intensive operation, de-
pending on the complexity of the 3D model. It takes time, but still it is a required skill
for any 3D modeler. If you want to be a 3D artist, you'd better learn to do it well.
More about the technical aspects of UV Mapping can be found on the Internet at
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More on textures
Textures do not always need to be simple flat images. To get the final touch for your
3D models in addition to using bump and normal maps, the texture of an important
game object, such as the main character of your game, can be "painted" by a 2D
artist to represent things, such as the folds and shading of their vest or its pieces of
armor. By painting the texture of a 3D model, it is possible to generate a lot of detail
for that model which would not be possible to achieve by conventional lighting meth-
ods.
In the end, the final decision about which specific techniques to use for detailing 3D
models for a game depend on the artistic direction of the project. To recreate realist-
ic objects, such as guns and rifles for a First Person Shooter, you will need several
maps for each game asset to get full detailed objects, while for a more cartoon-look-
ing style you can sacrifice details in favor of colors. The producer and game design-
er, together with the leading artist of your game, are in charge of such matters.
An important aspect that we haven't mentioned yet is that textures must always have
dimensions which are a power of two and conform to regular dimensions. There are
