I’ve been building for almost 3 years now and I still haven’t felt like I’m at the fullest potential.
I always see other people’s builds that are way better, and they’ve had less time in building than me.
Here’s one of my build’s I’ve done recently:
What I’m truly trying to ask is, how do I get that push in building?
Is it… practice? A certain training routine? More practice?
Tell me what you think! :3
(btw tell me if this is in the wrong topic)
I’m not at that level as yet, but I think you should challenge yourself. Move outside your comfort zone. Build something you dont really see also collaborating on a game or make a full game.
your building is very cool already 
try diffrent building style
Adding tiny part and detail with different color should help, i don’t recommend using only one texture and color to one building.
My advice is to take a look at pictures of everyday items that you are building. Everything isn’t perfectly square, or clean, or new looking. Throw in a few more details like signs, fire hydrants, dumpsters etc.
Also think about the scale of the buildings and the alley in your picture.
Have you ever seen an alley that wide and why isn’t the curb lower for access by vehicles?
Why are the streetlights only as high as the bottom of the second story windows and why do they take up half the width of the sidewalk?
The windows are just holes in the walls, including the holes right at street level. Look at pictures of real life windows, with windowsills and fine details.
Another thing is how often do you see 2 separate buildings that have identical architecture?
Just some ideas… Take from it what you will.
My tip is try incorporating more details into your build (copying from a reference picture really helps and i would try to copy every medium-large or even some small details on the picture) I think the reason why your builds aren’t very great for how long you’ve been building is because you’re not trying to challenge yourself
Also try to have consistent details instead of having little medium-large details and a lot of small details balance them out since it really helps with making it look good
Also just from personal experience, I’ve really never had to have a routine the really only advice I would give is just to at least make 1-3 models/builds a week, even if it’s small
Another thing is, i would focus on building/modeling first and then try adding color since you can really focus on making your builds look better
Hey @Gucci_Dabs222!
The Short
Here’s a decent utilization of the DevForum:
Thorough and Harsh Critics Needed
Parting Notes
If you want to push yourself: pick up blender and get good with it.
If you want to consistently get better, you have to love what you’re doing even if your work sucks initially.
Goodluck!
Reference Pictures. Reference Pictures. Reference Pictures.
I used to hate building things, and I was bad at it.
I one day randomly tried building exactly a Traverse County Sheriff Office, and it went great, purely from reference pictures.
Then I used that design further in builds without reference pictures.
Try looking up a city building, and compare it to yours, see how the city building is different, and you will realise what can be improved.
In my opinion, the main thing with the builds above is that the windows aren’t highlighted enough, some small details like the shape as well. There is no ground moulding, so the building almost looks incomplete at the bottom, as if it continues down out of site.
Your building is good though, it just needs some improvements.
“I always see other people’s builds that are way better, and they’ve had less time in building than me.” They probably look at your build, and think the same.
It’s all about what YOU think looks good for your game. It’s good to look to others for ideas though.
tysm for the feedback! and yeah I just started using more reference pictures right before u said that.
They work great because it’s like a tutorial for how to make it realistic, and also be physically possible in terms of shapes and stuff.
I have been building for about3 years as well and of course, it did take quite the practice especially with using plugins. Now I’m able to build pretty much anything and i achieved that just by mainly needing a reference… I know you do need imagination a lot normally when being a developer of any category but i guess some people have different styles. I found it much much easier by having references provided to me, get it down to the last detail.
Also could help to learn hotkeys in the studio, it can save time. Always use everything the studio provides building wise meaning not just rotations, movement, and scale. Make sure you change the studs setting and angle setting all the time, that would allow you to be much more accurate with your builds especially smaller parts. I see in your build you don’t have many of them, it does look a bit bulky but it also looks good in its own way. Details like drains, pipes may be, air vents… even bolts.
Keep practicing, use references and kick off ultra-realistic builds with small builds like a cart or a shack maybe.
Keep going, don’t give up!
