Advanced Guide to Efficient Building - Covers Workflow and Extremely Effective Plugins
This tutorial will be helpful to any builder starting out. The most effective way to reducing burnout is having a framework you can seamlessly work with. I am constantly learning new things when it comes to building and don’t consider myself to have mastered it yet, but I hope this tutorial will be of use to anyone reading it! Now with this case study, you can tell it leans towards a medium to high poly visual style, but it can work just as well to low poly and more cartoony styles as well. This is mainly aimed at bigger, more complex and more interconnected maps. If you know what you are doing, a simple map may not need any frameworks to support it.
If you would like to hire me or see the maps I have produced, please refer to my portfolio.
Workflow [IN ORDER]:
Reference gathering
Good builders demand for detailed references and a rough layout which you can adapt from. ALWAYS steal parts which look the best out of every reference image and try to imitate it the best you can. A calculated mish-mash of the best aspects of every source given is guaranteed for success. Imitating an aspect which is incredibly difficult that pushes you to your limit greatly improves your adaptability skills, because congratulations! You just created an incredibly complex 3D shape from possibly one angle and from a still image. More of this and it gets easier and your skills vastly improve.
Layout
NEEDS clear visual indication to reflect what you’re making and your experience with making maps. Cooperating clients provide one, however DO NOT USE THIS. Only use it as inspiration so when you make your own layout, it contains the most important aspects of the clients vision however you adapt it to make it more visually interesting and make sense in the context of it’s use and what it would potentially look like if it was built in real life.
Sketch
NEEDS to be QUICK, SNAPPY. Easily replace what would be models with literally just boxes. I use grey boxes for main structures (Wall, ceiling, floor) and colour coded boxes for models and important landmarks (in this case the clothing racks. Speed is crucial because this stage is ONLY for reflecting the layout and seeing a visual representation of what it would look like with as if it was complete. If you dive too far deep into detail so early, the massive disparity between extreme detail and rough boxes will demotivate you and hit you with burnout so hard that you will avoid building it again. Learn from my mistake so you don’t do it.
Greybox
By this time you would’ve racked up a truckload of inspiration from your sketch, references and layout. This is where you implement a sketch ontop of your sketch. Please remember do not make the mistake highlighted in the Sketch section and keep focus on your ideas. This is the most important because it’s the last preparation step before your art pass, so make sure you include everything and FILL EVERY INCH OF THE MAP WITH YOUR IDEAS!
Preparing models (from blender)
Another of my mistake to learn from. Force yourself to learn blender. Make terrible models like coffee cups and donuts. Watch every tutorial under the sun with the intention of learning each step it takes to get there concretely. This is important because really once you get the hang of it you really only use a few tools at a high level. It may differ from person to person. Another thing is to never shy away from sculpting. It’s completely different from modelling but produces stunning results.
Continuous Art Pass
@Aotrou who taught me this workflow here said something along the lines that this step can practically span out to infinity depending if it’s a commission (which obviously won’t be because clients eventually want it) and if its your personal project (which could be refined over several years). Another tip is integrating Blender with not only complex models, but far less detailed aspects of the map (such as pillars, supports and wall details).
Final Result
After 7 months of on and off activity, the project was completed.
Building Timelapse
I wanted to make a small speedbuild on a whim from an AI prompt of a concept I really wanted to make. This speedbuild leaves some blanks out (such as reference gathering) as it only recorded the Roblox viewport, but if you want to view a timelapse of my building process, you can view it on YouTube here.
My plugins:
Remove Doubles by OkevinO - removes accidentally duplicated part
Part to Terrain by mkargus - converts selected parts to terrain
Archimedes by Scriptos - enables parts to be duplicated next to a previous part at an angle, allowing for relatively smooth curves
Building Tools by F3X by GigsD4X - the whole package. my main use for this is resizing several parts individually without exploding the entire model in the process (like what it does when resizing several parts in studio)
Mesh Optimization Tools by Maximum_ADHD - handy when you start with blender models. you can view all the maps models and their collision with the player and can edit all of the meshes with the same meshid at the same time (which is a double edged sword)
Model Resize Plugin 2.1 by DaMrNelson - mhm
oozledraw toolbar: draw curve/rope by Oozlebachr - draws curves and ropes. can edit number of segments of the rope and gravity pull (which is mega useful).
Pipes by Fractality - no ui but instructions are in the desc. select 2 spheres and a cylinder will form between them perfectly without parts of the sphere/cylinder sticking out preventing the awkward resizing at a 0.00001 increment.
Model Scope by woot3 - ungroups a selected model and hides every other part. exiting the scope reverses the effect and retains the new changes.
Waterfall generator by woot3 - waterfall generator
Power Selectors by XAXA - selects several parts as if its photoshop. circle mode is my favourite since its more precise.
3DText2 by XAXA - produces 3D text with customisable size, fonts, material, colours and the whole shebang.
Brushtool 2.1 by XAXA - converts a part into a brush style, so you can paint grass, or use the stamp tool for more precise placement.
Part Picker by XAXA - picks parts and segregates theme based on a shared characteristic (eg brick colour, material, any id’s)
Camera Light by sleitnick - places a pointlight on the camera. useful alternative to place a billion light sources everywhere when you aren’t done making everything else yet.
Part Counter by sleitnick - counts the amount of sticks you’ve eaten last month
ResizeAlign by stravant (VERY REALLY RECOMMENDED) - lifesaver. aligns gaps. its like gapfill but way better and cooler.
GapFill & Extrude by stravant (NOT REALLY RECOMMENDED) - fills gaps and extrudes them. its a lazy alternative for those who will do anything else apart from learn blender
Quick Stairs by stravant - makes stairs
Model Reflect by stravant - reflects stairs
Their use is self explanatory judging by the name but they save so much time and effort. Pay attention to the descriptions since plugins like Pipes don’t have UI but have instructions in their description.
Additional Resources
Getting issues with translucent decals (eg leaf textures) overlapping? I created a resource documenting the exact steps to fixing the issues!