First-person shooter games are still at the top of the charts since, in the early 2000s, Gamasutra named this genre one of the biggest and fastest growing in terms of revenue for publishers. At least a couple of FPS titles are constantly present in any ranking of the most popular games.  First-person shooter is concentrated around a weapon and its use. The punch line of it all is the ability of the player to really feel all actions through the first person. That’s why it’s so crucial for triple-A FPS projects to ensure the superior and incredibly accurate key assets of weapons.

In this article, we are going to share some useful tips for FPS weapon creation, based on the expertise of what Room 8 Studio's 3D weapon team and their lead artist – Kirill Udodov, gained in projects like Overwatch, Call of Duty Infinite Warfare, Moderns Warfare Remastered, WW II, Black Ops. We will elaborate on the pipeline that we use in our work to reach the impressive results that make gamers delighted. In addition, we share some useful insights on what to consider when involving external artists to a AAA project.

FPS Weapon Creation: Pipeline overview

The Colt Walker from the American Civil War, that is very similar to those weapons you see in the Call of Duty WWII, is a perfect example to illustrate the pipeline for this type of high-density key assets creation.

References 

Weapons in first-person shooters may vary widely depending on the historical time frame the game refers to. So, it can be a precise 3D model of the really existing historical gun as well as some sci-fi fictional prototype. In the first case searching for references is crucial, because the creation of a 3D model of historical weapon requires deep understanding of how it was made in the real world, which technology was used and what damage and deformations may appear during its usage. References should illustrate: the process of creation, wear marks after use in various conditions and the disassembling and assembling processes.

Google pictures, YouTube and online auctions of rare vintage weapons, are the best tools to find historical photos and other materials for references. For example, photos that you can find at auction-sites usually are in the highest possible quality and can be used as references even at the texturing stage. The videos, however, are the best way to see the disassembling and assembling of a weapon, understand the details of its design and catch how the light moves on the shape. In addition, we also search for references that help compare the weapon in pristine condition and after some period of usage to see the processing of the materials of which it was made.

Room 8 Studio artists use PUREREF for organizing all found references, zooming the most interesting of them, and leaving the less interesting ones smaller. Having all your references well organized in one place is extremely important working with partners when each person on a project should be on the same page. Here at Room 8 Studio we also use online brainstorm creative boards like MIRO (RealtimeBoard) and MURAL for sharing references and our ideas and getting feedback in real time.

Block Out 

Blocking is one of the most important and no less interesting stages of creating a weapon. At this step, there is no need to worry about any kind of technical limitation. We concentrate on the main silhouettes and how the parts of it fit together. An experienced artist always trusts their eyes when evaluating the object created, in terms of the balance of silhouette as well as if everything looks solid and consistent.

After we finished with the silhouette and all forms are well thought out and easily viewed, it’s time to think of the functionality of each part. This particular model we can divide into the stock and grip, barrel and cylinder. A good artist should focus on each area to define its functionality, as well as the relation with other components of this weapon. It really helps later, when adding details to make your design more compelling.

High Poly

Room 8 Studio artists usually use software like Fusion 360 and ZBrush to model all the details of the weapon since their tools offer the best functionality and quality. The main goal of this stage is creating the most accurate render of the shape and geometry of the object being modeled. At this stage, we are focusing on the maximum realism and authenticity in the 3D model of the weapon, which later can be seen in one of the AAA FPS titles.

Low Poly

Having completed the work on the high poly model, we proceed to its optimization, because it’s extremely unreasonable to use in a game the model in the current condition. The main point is to reduce the number of polygons to the optimal level (that often means a reasonable minimum) and build the correct topology suitable for animation. Thus, Room 8 Studio artists get the “light” model which can be used in large scenes with a bunch of objects as well as in close-ups.

To make a perfect low poly model we usually go one stage back (to Block Out) where we have everything needed for a good start. This approach also saves time since we do not pay attention to the medium level of detail that is already there in HighPoly. For this purpose, I do the same export as for the previous stage with some special settings and choose the right angle to minimize the number of sections and meet the technical limitations of polygons per mesh.

UV Mapping

This stage can be considered as one of the most boring on the whole weapon creation pipeline, but each experienced artist knows how important it is to unwrap and layout the UV’s correctly to avoid some troubles later. To fulfill the UV stage Room 8 Studio artists use both approaches – handmade and autoPACK, depending on the requirements that we have from the client. If there are no specific requirements for multilayer normal or painting with some kind of camouflage, normally, we use autoPACK – this is easier and faster and gives the same result as packing by hand.

The main tip that we can share and which very often became a deadly mistake and huge headache of the less experienced artists, – is always keep things on straight lines. Straight lines are absolutely necessary for efficient UV-packing.

Shading

The standard requirement for AAA projects is avoiding any gradients on the normal. To prevent this Room 8 Studio skillful artists frequently use manually set custom normals, that helps avoid any distortion in shading after the optimization step. It’s a crucial thing in creating a weapon because it’s rare that your model goes to the game in 100% version, often weapon polycount reduced to 80% of what an artist has done. That’s why we use custom normals in a shading stage – to keep clean shading and avoid any kind of compensations or gradients on normal maps if anything has to be removed from the model. Our artists do it in 3ds Max or Maya, the tools are almost similar.

Baking

We highly recommend using Marmoset Toolbag for baking assets, because it’s the fastest possible way. In projects like Call of Duty, the artist should manage the process of baking a gun that consists of 30 or even 50 materials. And all this needs to be baked and checked at a time. An alternative software, for example, Maya, shows no less quality than Marmoset but requires much more time. In addition, each small change or rework of the 3D model prolongs the process and makes it impossible to apply and see all your changes at once.

One of the greatest things about Marmoset is that when you assign correct names to the materials and properly import them, the soft will automatically pull your content into appropriate groups along with their names. Then you can just push the ‘bake’ button and all is done.

Texturing

For many artists creating weapons for FPS titles, texturing is one of the most beloved stages of the process. To get 3D assets that fit the triple-A project, we approach the process of texturing with the max attentiveness and consistency, using Quixel materials and Substance generators. To enhance the realism of the model Room 8 Studio artists normally divide the texturing stage into separate passes and fulfill them in series. The first pass is basic work with raw materials, like pure metal, brass, iron, wood, etc. Then, at the surface treatment pass, the artists add details that show the processing of the material and help to better understand how the weapon was created – with a hammer, or, for example, a cutter. At the same pass, all sorts of patterns and inscriptions are also added. The third pass aims to show different traces of damage to the surface, for example, how oxides are erased on metal and drops of color from dark blue to yellow are formed.

The last pass is polishing during which the artist adds some micro details that complement the final look of the object. For 90% of FPS games, these special details are not necessary and 3D models of weapons are approved by the client and delivered to the game without this very final pass. But Room 8 Studio artists prefer to add to the models even some barely noticeable touches like fingerprints, stains from the rain, cracks on the lacquer covering of a wooden handle. It gives an opportunity to exceed our partners’ expectation in delivering AAA standards and to grow as professionals with each new project.

Conclusion: What to consider when involving external artists to your project

Creating high-quality weapon assets for first-person shooter AAA titles is more than just a serious mission, it’s a vital component of the success of the game. Involving top 3D artists to your FPS project will ensure not only skillful execution of the task but also brings proven expertise and full synchronization with the project DNA. Being a separate discipline of games art, weapon creation requires solid industry background and ability to create 3D models that 100% match the style and existing environment of the title. External art team with a particular weapon creating expertise can be the extension of your core team and bring valuable experience gained on other AAA projects.

Have a project in mind? Please, contact us to see how we can leverage our experience to create the game of your dreams.