Creating a Custom Tileset in Blender (WIP)
Texturing Your Tile
WIP
Creating Corners, Floors, and Halls
Creating corner pieces, floor pieces (those parts of the floor not connected to a wall piece), and halls is more or less the same as creating a basic wall piece. The only real difference lies in which polygons you delete and which ones you keep.
Creating Doorframes and Windows
Now that you have your basic pieces laid out, you need some way to connect these pieces to the external world. Doorframes and windows are not much more complicated than standard wall pieces, but they do require a little more thought and creativity.
Creating Stairs and Slopes
It is highly unlikely that your environment is going to be exclusively horizontal. In order to get between spaces at different elevations you are going to need some stairs and/or slopes.
Pits and Balconies
Now that you are able to move up and down in your virtual environment, you will probably want to provide some visual variety by creating pieces that allow for a dramatic rise or drop in elevation. In standard Oblivion, these usually take the form of pits and balconies.
Columns, Thrones, and Other Embellishments
A tileset is generally not restricted to the bare walls and floors that make up the majority of its surface. Most also provide embellishments of various sorts, like freestanding columns, thrones, alters, vases, tombs, and statues. These kinds of embellishments generally require a little more artistic skill and modeling know-how in order to pull off, but make a great contribution to the immersiveness of an environment.
Afterthoughts: Planning Your Tileset
It may seem strange to talk about planning your tileset at the end of the tutorial, but when you are just learning how to do something, you're not really in any position to plan anyways. Now that you have a good grasp of the fundamentals, I thought it would be appropriate to make a few comments about where you are going.
There are a couple of points you should keep in mind when planning your tileset:
- How important is the location represented by the tileset? If it is a small dungeon of no particular importance (and existing tilesets just won't do the trick for some reason) then don't spend a lot of time making tiles that you won't use. Make the tiles you need and move on to your next project. Often, you can accomplish a lot with a small number of tiles.
- How large is the location represented by the tileset? Large dungeon areas generally require more tiles than smaller ones. A small dungeon could be created with tiles that only allow for narrow halls and single doors. Larger dungeons will generally double the number of tiles you need (if not more than double) because you have to allow for both large and small rooms and halls, single and double door arches, and transitional pieces to connect large areas to small areas.
- Does your location allow for vertical space? Are there going to be balconies or pits, arched walkways or narrow bridges? Vertical space, while adding immensely to the immersion of a dungeon, requires a substantial increase in the number of tiles and more careful planning. In particular, you need to decide on a standard height for your tiles. You will need to create tiles that allow you to ascend and descend balconies and pits and stairs that are capable of traversing the entire height of large, open chambers. Your tiles have to line up exactly in all three dimensions.
- How many actors can the player expect to encounter in this location? You have to keep memory usage and fps in mind when designing your tileset meshes. In a dungeon populated by numerous, weak opponents, or a public area inhabited by many NPCs, you will want to keep your tiles simpler to conserve memory. In a remote area, like a ruined temple inhabited by only a couple powerful creatures, you can probably create a more ornate tileset with built-in columns, decorated railings, and complex geometry. Memory usage may not be a large issue when creating tilesets, but it should always be kept in mind.
- Is the location natural or man-made or some combination of the two? You should consider how these types of environments differ and how these differences will dictate the types of tiles that you need to construct. Man-made environments tend to have simpler geometry, but require more fidelity because they are environments that players are already intimately familiar with. Natural environments tend to have more complex geometry, but allow for more creativity. It is generally a good idea to begin collecting reference material for your tileset during the initial planning stages.
- Do you have all the textures you need? Don't assume you'll be able to find the texture you require in the stock textures provided by Bethesda. Spend some time thinking about the way the walls, floors, and ceilings should look. Do you need any special textures for things like borders, murals, frescoes, and similar embellishements? If you're not comfortable with your own texturing skills, think about trying to recruit someone from the forums. Just be prepared with detailed requirements and a good stock of reference material for them to work with.
Back: Adding Collision
