Game Art - Project 2 & Final Project

    22/9/2025 - 8/1/2025 Week 1 - Week 14

Komugi Uchibori / 0363900

Game Art / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media



TABLE OF CONTENTS
  1. MBI
  2. Project 2 - Retopology & UV mapping
  3. Final project - Texturing & Rendering
  4. Final submission
  5. Reflection

MBI


Project 2

  • Introduction

In this stage, students will continue developing the character from Project 1 by preparing it for use in a real-time game engine. This process involves creating a clean retopologized low-poly model, generating optimized UV maps, and producing baked texture maps from the high-poly sculpt. These steps are essential in the game art pipeline to ensure that the character maintains high visual fidelity while being optimized for performance in real-time rendering.

  • Retopology

This stage was the most challenging part of the Game Art class. We were required to perform retopology following the anatomical flow of a 3D body. I made the facial topology too dense and complicated, but I received feedback to focus less on small details, and following the correct edge flow by referring to examples.

Fig. 1 first retopology

Even after redoing the topology, I had issues during UV mapping with the foot and shoe areas due to topological errors. So I spent a significant amount of time refining these areas.

Fig. 2 Retopology before & after

  • UV mapping
As mentioned previously, I encountered several issues during the UV mapping process, specifically with the arms and feet. The topology of the foot area was particularly problematic, which led me to seek advice from the teacher. I discovered that the underlying topology was the cause of the mapping errors. So, I redid the topology to ensure the edge flow was correct.

Fig.3 the parts with topological errors

 For the outfits and props, I simplified the workflow by generating the UV maps in ZBrush and importing them into Maya. This turned to be a much more efficient approach for me.

Fig.4 UV mapping for outfit & props

Fig. 5 Final UV mapping

Final project

  • Introduction 

This Final Project is a continuation of the previous assessments, where students have completed retopology and UV mapping for a game-ready 3D asset. In this stage, students are required to finalize their asset by completing texture baking, texturing, rendering, and professional presentation using industry-standard real-time tools. The project emphasizes game art production standards, visual quality, and clear presentation suitable for a game portfolio. 


  • Baking Texturing
During the baking process, I initially could not find the Bake button because the software window was not in full-screen. Once I maximized the window, the issue was resolved. In addition to this, a challenge arose because my low-poly model was slightly smaller than the high-poly version, causing baking errors. This resulted in black artifacts where the high-poly details were not being captured. Following the teacher, I manually adjusted the low-poly mesh by pulling out the mesh to properly encompass the high-poly surface. After these adjustments, the black artifacts vanished, and the high-poly details reflected on the model.

For the texturing process, I used a 'fabric cotton jersey' material for the main body of the character. Since my entire model including the face, clothes, and accessories was assigned to a single Lambert 1 material, I focused on masking. This allowed me to apply different materials to each specific part of the model within the texturing software.

Fig. 6 Texturing


After doing basic texturing, I explored some details like rust, dust and so on with brush to enhance the quality.

Fig.7 Texturing exploration

  • Rendering
Fig.8 Rendering exploration

The rendering process was very enjoyable, as it allowed me to experiment with lighting, shadows, and backgrounds. Initially, I encountered a color issue where the render did not accurately reflect the original colors from my textures. I was able to resolve this by going into the Color Management settings and switching the Tone Mapper to 'ACES.' This adjustment ensured the colors appeared exactly as intended. Finally, final project was done.

Final submission

  • Project 2
Fig. 9  Project 2 submission in PDF

Fig. 10  colored character turntable

  • Final project
Fig. 11  Final project submission in PDF

Fig. 12 Final compilation turntable


Reflection
    Overall, this project was the most demanding one for me yet. It required many processes, and I encountered various technical challenges at every stage. I dedicated a significant amount of time to retopology, focusing on achieving the correct edge flow necessary for clean baking and efficient UV mapping.

    Through this experience, I realized the importance of UV mapping and its significant impact on all subsequent stages. While the design might have looked simple at first glance, the execution was incredibly challenging. This project taught me the importance of a solid foundation to troubleshoot complex 3D workflows.

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