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3d model of a city

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by mkchouhan, Jan 28, 2020.

  1. mkchouhan

    mkchouhan

    Joined:
    Jul 30, 2019
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    2
    Hello Guys We are creating 3d model of a city that contain roads, footpaths, street lights, traffic signals, residential buildings, commercial buildings etc. after modeling we will take this model to Unity and create car driving simulator. I would like to ask that do i have to create whole city area with all roads, buildings etc in Maya and export as fbx to use in unity, or i can export a piece of road and other stuffs as separate fbx and setup in unity. will there be any difference in unity performance? Please suggest best way to create 3D model and setup in unity.. Thanks in advance...
     
  2. mgear

    mgear

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    Aug 3, 2010
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    9,350
    i'd import in pieces and then build in unity.. to make use of prefabs.

    as, if you have burning barrel model,
    you would need to add particle systems for each one of them separately (if you imported whole city as a single model),
    but with separate models, used as a prefab, you can clone that around the level. (and edit single prefab to change all)
     
    angrypenguin and mkchouhan like this.
  3. mkchouhan

    mkchouhan

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    Jul 30, 2019
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    Hello mgear, Thanks for quick reply.
     
  4. BIGTIMEMASTER

    BIGTIMEMASTER

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    5,181
    Google "modular environment design".

    There is no one perfect answer. But modular design is going to introduce you to the principles you need to develop your best solution. A good overview with links to further reading is provided on the wiki at polycount.

    Develop and test your workflow thoroughly before spending time making detailed assets. Create a test-run version of everything only to validate the workflow. Three weeks spent developing a smart workflow could save many months in production.
     
    Billy4184, Ryiah and angrypenguin like this.
  5. neginfinity

    neginfinity

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    This is a good read:
    http://blog.joelburgess.com/2013/04/skyrims-modular-level-design-gdc-2013.html

    Long story short, there's no "the best way", and you can both create the whole thing in maya, or split it into pieces and make a building kit.
     
    Ryiah likes this.
  6. Lex4art

    Lex4art

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    Nov 17, 2012
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    445
  7. CityGen3D

    CityGen3D

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2012
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    681
    CityGen3D is a Unity asset being developed that generates terrains, roads and buildings automatically from OpenStreetMap and NASA SRTM data.

    It works via an interface within Unity so you can create your desired location with limited effort.
    The screenshot below was created with no coding or modelling, just from using CityGen3D defaults.
    This makes it a great protyping tool, even if your final workflow is different.

    Although unfinished, it already has a lot of features and is available to purchase from the website ahead of a Unity Asset Store release later this year (hopefully!).

    Features in development include procedural generation of buildings from OSM data (at the moment it only spawns prefabs).

    I'd be happy to answer any questions on the asset in the Work-In-Progress thread.

    screenshot0.png
     
  8. neginfinity

    neginfinity

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    In addition to the link I posted earlier, Bethesda had another talk about modular design, this time related to fallout 4.
     
    Ryiah likes this.
  9. angrypenguin

    angrypenguin

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    15,614
    Sounds neat!

    What's the licensing for data from OSM and STRM like? Can it be used commercially without additional agreements with other parties?
     
    CityGen3D likes this.
  10. neginfinity

    neginfinity

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    OpenStreetMap is CC-BY-SA.

    Meaning Attributeion and share-alike.
    https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright

    I'm not quite sure how to wrangle this into commercial-compatible game format. However there are games using OSM.
    https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Games
    Related:
    https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki...omputer_game_together_with_other_data_sources
    https://help.openstreetmap.org/questions/17855/use-of-osm-in-closed-commercial-software
    https://help.openstreetmap.org/questions/29839/is-it-legal-to-use-openstreetmap-in-a-pc-game
     
  11. CityGen3D

    CityGen3D

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    Nov 23, 2012
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    Hi,

    Thanks for your interest in CityGen3D.

    The OpenStreetMap database is released under ODbL, which is a very unrestrictive license. So it's perfectly possible to release closed source commercial games using OSM data without further agreements, within the terms of this license.

    NASA SRTM is optionally used in CityGen3D for terrain heightmaps and is Public Domain and widely redistributed. Usage in CityGen3D requires you to register your email with NASA to download the data.