Destructible Hyper-Modular Vehicles With Dynamic Materials
Yulen“ Jeff” CHEN
Art Creation
Destructible Hyper-Modular Vehicles With Dynamic Materials
My Thesis artifact is a futuristic Formula 1-themed race car and its various forms and material effects. The vehicle can be built into any shape, size and designation with its hyper-modular in-game builder system. It has static wrecks and materials that can be applied in any racing or vehicle-related scenario such as burning high-speed acceleration, acid and rust corrosion added to a destroyed wreck, or said wreck melting into a puddle of liquid metal then regenerating back together. My goals were to make a functional vehicle builder system without relying on vast coding knowledge or software outside of the game engine, to learn more about vehicle creation in 3D games and interactive media, and to explore the technical art side of Unreal Engine such as blueprints, materials and VFX.
This project took me over ten months of development and challenged my understanding in modeling and texturing modular parts because this concept
is usually applied to buildings instead of vehicles. I learned many nuanced approaches to making tiny, individual parts of a vehicle that can be infinitely reused, stacked, attached, easily textured and snapped together seamlessly. My understanding of tools required for game art outside of modeling and texturing software increased by putting together modeled parts real-time, tearing the assembled vehicle down into a convincing wreck, creating materials and effects that are technically impressive and thematically cohesive in Unreal 5.
This project’ s use of modular kit logic outside of architecture and leaning into mechanical elements could all be used in the industry. The destruction and materials presented could be used in racing games with fantastical settings and real-life driving sims— many of which are all about bombastic presentation and imaginative materials and effects.
8 ART CREATION