Retopology and Texturing
All hard-surface assets were modeled directly in Maya, where I tried to keep them game-ready from the beginning, so most of them did not require a separate retopology pass. For organic assets created in ZBrush, I mostly relied on Decimation Master to generate optimized geometry before bringing them into the game pipeline.
For UV unwrapping, I used RizomUV. Since the project contains a large number of unique assets, RizomUV significantly sped up the UV workflow and made packing much more efficient. I used standard UV layouts. Most of the textures use 2K resolution, which provides enough detail while keeping the project manageable.
Texturing was primarily done in Substance 3D Painter. For repetitive decorative elements such as floral ornaments, I used trim sheets to reduce the need for unique texture sets. I also created a procedural wood material in Substance 3D Designer that could easily be adjusted for different assets. By blending several variations, I added more color variation and wear, especially on the wooden pillars.
Also, I used vertex painting on the roof to blend different roof textures and break up repetition. I created RGB mask materials for assets such as the lanterns and the ice cream machine, allowing me to add localized wear, dirt, and color variation without creating additional texture sets. Many of the signs use a material that allows me to change the text directly through the UV layout, making them easy to reuse.
There are many lanterns throughout the scene, so I created an emissive shader to create a warm nighttime glow. For decals, I used generic grayscale grunge masks, as well as custom black-and-white masks exported from Substance 3D Designer, to create different wear and dirt effects.
For the glass, I used the Advanced Material Pack from UB, which provided a convincing physically based glass shader. Throughout the project, I relied on reusable materials whenever possible while keeping unique textures for hero assets that viewers would see up close.
