CAGD 373
Game Scene 373 Eportfolio
Sonic Colors: Ultimate
Game Scene Final Project Post
The final goal of our team was to recreate Asteroid Coaster Act 1 from Sonic Colors Ultimate. There were a variety of games we discussed choosing but they would either be too time consuming for the time we had or we just did not have enough knowledge about them. Our lead owns Sonic Colors Ultimate and we thought Asteroid Coaster looked pretty cool. The level itself is quite big so we had to take the main elements and make a smaller version of the level that would have the same vibes as the original. It is meant to be cartoony and a little spooky with the green glow everywhere.
I was the 3d modeler and texture artist for this project. The lead provided a helpful ALR list that divided up models into different UV groups. This helped me group the models together when making them so the texture artist could then work on the complete UV set. I mostly worked on the props that were in the level as well as a few environment pieces. I spent 4 out of the 5 sprints finishing up the modeling that was required. I ended up modeling 22 different things for this project.
The modeling process took only a little time for some objects but a lot more for others. For example, the rings were easy to make and UV. The park token on the other hand was one of the models that took me the longest. I kept making ngons and triangles when trying to make the details on the token. I had to restart multiple times until I was able to make it look the way I wanted while having all quads.
During sprint 5, I moved on to texturing. I was responsible for 5 of the UV sets. I noticed that UV shells were overlapping on many of the models which I fixed in Maya. This took quite a bit of time to fix since I also added overlap to many of the objects that were the same to save time when texturing. I also ran into an issue where some parts of a model required alpha blending or it needed to be glass. This meant I had to make a separate material for those and those parts of the mesh had to be imported separately in Unreal. I used PNGs of spikes to add detail to the models and make them the same as the game. Due to the UV cuts I had to do it on one shell and then repeat for the others which took a really long time.
Overall I learned a lot from this project. If I were to do it again, I would try to make the modeling faster so texturing could also be done quicker. The late texturing lead to the textures not looking exactly right in the actual scene. I also wish I had not added emission to some objects since it hid the textures underneath that I spent time on. Still I am proud of what I was able to accomplish myself and with my team.
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Sprint 4
During sprint 4, I completed a total of 14 points. Seven for modeling and 7 for UVing. I started this sprint by making a hanging energy capsule. These appear all across the level with slight color variations. It is made of glass and is see through so it is 2 sided. The shape was pretty simple but I am happy with how it looks and the topology. The UV are done as well and I cut along the sides to prevent stretching. The UVs are cut but the final position and scaling will be done later when all the models are done so they can be put into a UV group.
After ths, I moved onto the demolished wheel. This is where some of the energy capsules hang onto. I used the capsules to get the scale of the wheel right. The wheel itself is pretty simple but details are added using spikes which cover the outsides of it. The main wheel UV is split into quarters. The spikes will all be the same so they will probably be stacked in the final UV layout to save room.
After that, I did the rail of the roller coaster. It will be modular and used in a spline to create the track. I used the model of the roller coaster a team mate made as size reference. The rail is one model on the bottom and then another at the top where the coaster will sit on. The spikes are also different models. The UVs for this model split sections up where they will be easier to texture. Again they will need a final layout later.
After this I made the model for the red sign. This is a variation of the yellow sign I made in an earlier sprint but with a different base for the sign. The model is very simple with some extrusions made on a cylinder. The top sign is from the previous model so I won't go over it again. The UV shells are big and I made cuts as little as possible without stretching.
After this I moved into the environment. First I made the volcano. It is a 30x30 plane that I moved vertices around on using soft selection. I really like how the shape turned out. I was not too worried about making it look super close to the game but just get a good shape. The lava flow is faces I took from the model, duplicated, and then shaped to look more natural. The UVs for this gave me some errors but I was able to fix this but exporting the object out and reimporting it.
Then I made a lava waterfall. This started with the rock that the lava comes out of and is just an adjusted and reshaped torus. The waterfall is made using a square that I added a lot of edge loops to and used soft select to give it a more natural shape. The UVs were also pretty simple for this.
Finally I worked on the asteroid that the roller coaster starts the level coming out of. I used a cube and then subdivided it to give me a good starting shape. I scaled it up and added more divisions where necessary. Using the photo from the game as a reference I made it as similar as possible using soft selection to make it smoother. The UVs are meant to be pretty simple since the texture is not too complicated on this model. It will have the yellow glowy parts added on during texturing.
Next sprint I think we will be focusing on more texturing and implementation into Unreal.
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Sprint 3
During sprint 3, I was able to complete 10 points of works. To start I made the model for the spiked fence. I went into the no clip website and took a few screenshots facing it head on so I could figure out the size. Making the legs gave me so trouble with ngons but I was able to get through with trial and error. Also, the curve from the legs into the top gave me trouble because I am not great at making angles with circular shapes. The fence itself is something I made in illustrator which will be baked onto a plane to reduce the poly count. The UVs for this object kept giving me non-manifold geometry errors which took me a long time to fix because I could not figure out where the problem was. The cleanup mesh and selections tools did not help either. I had geometry extruded on the inside of a cylinder which I deleted and it fixed the issue.
Next I did the small spiked fence. This was a pretty simple shape and not too hard to model. The angled legs were the only thing I had to worry about but the front view with the image in Maya helped me get the right shape. The UVs for this were also simple and I like how this came out.
Next up I made the alien light. This was similia to something I made before so it was not too difficult to make. The main thing I had to worry about was getting the height correct. I also modeled in the leaves so the texture artist would have an easier time. For the UVs, they are pretty simple but again I cut out the leaf shape so it can be textured easily later.
Then I did the blue energy capsule. The base shape was just a cylinder with some bevels. I am happy with the topology I used to make the extruded trapezoid shape. The sides have a spiked spine thing. I modeled this to look as close to the original as possible but of course there are differences. This will be baked on to reduce the poly count.
Finally, I made a set piece for the level which is the entrance. This was a very complex shape to figure out and make so it took me many hours. I started out just getting the hexagonal shape right and the size. Then I slowly started adding the different spikes on the hexagon. Some of them are the same object duplicated but there are 4 different types of spikes. The wires took me a while too. I tried using the sweep mesh on a curve but it was just easier to make them manually using extrusions. The bases for the wires were a cool shape to make and they look nice. Overall I am very happy with this.
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Sprint 2
I think I was able to do a decent amount of work during sprint 2. Starting off I did the single spring model and UVs. It was a bit difficult to get the scale of the spring right and I had to look at a few different references so I could figure it out. I am pretty happy with it.
Next up I did this giant goal ring. It was also pretty simple to make this. I figured it would be better to try and texture the middle star than to model it on its own.
I also did the park token which is a collectible in the game. Originally, I was going to make a high poly version and just have that baked onto a simple coin shape but I had enough of a poly count to just make it. Modeling this was a bit difficult and I had to restart a couple of time. I kept getting triangles and ngons which I would fix to just make more of them. However, I eventually did it and I think it looks greats.
These are the rainbow rings dash rings. They are pretty simple but the outer wing shape took me a second to figure out. It's simple but looks really nice.
Finally, I did 2 platforms that Sonic stands and jumps on. There will be emission added to them later but for now they are boxes with a few bevels and extrusions. The main thing was just making them to the correct size in the game.
Next sprint I am working on completing even more props and finishing up a couple of UV sets so more texturing can be done.
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Sprint 1
My name is Kiran and I am the modeler/flex for this team. The game that we are trying to recreate is Sonic Colors Ultimate, specifically Asteroid Coaster Act 1. This is my first introduction to the game so I watched someone play the level to get an idea of what it is like. The team lead, Andrew, also did a great job recording himself playing the level and providing reference photos for the models. Due to being sick I was not in class for the sprint kickoff. However, I did the kickoff on Discord after class with Andrew and got started.
The first model I made was a basic gold ring. I could tell from the video that the ring was just a tiny bit smaller than Sonic who is 1 meter tall. Using that size guide I added a torus and adjusted it to make the model. I messed around with different numbers of subdivisions until I reached the required goal of tris.
The second model that I made this sprint is the Red Star ring. It is almost the same as the gold ring but slightly smaller and has a star in the middle. I duplicated the gold ring, reduced the poly count, and then used that as the red ring. The star in the middle has to spin so I made that a seperate object. To make the star I used a cylinder with 10 sides, selected every other outer vertex, and scaled it inward to make the star shape. Then I added more bevels to make it keep its shape.
Finally, I made the triple spring. I was confused on where to start at first but I took a rectangle and beveled the sides to make them circular. Then I just extruded and beveled to get the shape I wanted. The 3 circles are seperate objects because it was easier and required less poly count. I am really happy with the way it looks.
Next sprint I plan to continue the modeling. There are many props that still need to be made like springs, platforms, and signs. This sprint was more planning so I did not have much time to work but next sprint there should be more work done.
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Pre Production
My name is Kiran and I am a member of group 6. My team members are Keomi, Andrew, Xavier, and Mikel. The game we are doing is Sonic Colors and we are recreating the level Asteroid Coaster. I am the 3d modeler and texture artist for the group.
The producer for the group is Andrew and he is going to be working on the backlog and gathering references since he owns the game. I looked online to see if I could find a model of Sonic from the game that I could use in my Maya scene as size reference for all of my models. I managed to find one on Sketchfab.
Using that model and the references I was given, I started my planning for modeling in Maya. I tried to figure out how big the platforms that Sonic was running on were using the videos of the game. I scaled a plane to that size and slightly modified it until I was happy with the size.
I also used the NoClip website as a reference for myself. It allowed me to fly through the level and see objects up close so I could see the details. I took screenshots from different angles so I could use them when modeling things later. It will also be very useful when it is time to texture the models later. I am excited to work on this and will jump into modeling as soon as I am assigned the cards. My goal is to do as many models as possible while sticking with the style of the game.
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