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I really enjoyed designing the driving experience and the visual aspects of the taxi in RUBBER.

Rubber is my game idea I developed with 8 students during the last year at the ESMA. I was in charge of the entire car creation process, including programming, 3D design, rigging, destruction, and feedback.

I will explain the process of how I reached this exact result : 

VEHICULE ARTIST

Programming

FEELING

The intention was to have a car that is very sturdy, yet also quite nimble, so that it can be driven by anyone with a strong arcade feeling 

I started with the sports car provided within Unreal's vehicle template.

With the Chaos Wheeled Vehicle, it was pretty simple to replicate the physics of a real car, including traction, torque, wheel friction, grip, springs and more.

However, I wanted an arcade feeling and the car from Unreal was too realistic. So, I had to iterate a lot and get familiar with the Chaos Wheeled Vehicle system to achieve the arcade feeling I was looking for.

The main variables I had to use to achieve the arcade feeling were the mass, wheel friction, cornering stiffness, torque, torque curve, RPM, and springs.

 

However, the Chaos Wheeled Vehicle system is a very complete tool !

Comparison of the two cars

Another major challenge was to create a custom rig for the 6-wheeled version of the vehicle.

In order to get the wheels to react accurately to the environment, I needed a custom rig that would allow all 6 wheels to behave precisely. Since I had no experience with rigging, I used a Blender plugin that assisted me in creating a rig for use in Unreal .

The other big challenge was that the game map was drastically changed several times during the project, so I had to adapt the driving each time. It was time-consuming, but in the end, it helped me to become more and more comfortable with the Chaos Wheeled Vehicle tool.

RIG

These 6 wheels are inspired by Cyberpunk 2077. After studying their behavior, I noticed some flaws which I took into account in order to correct them in my creation. As a result, the 6 wheels behave realistically in relation to their environment.

The rig also helped the springs that gave the car a bouncing effect.

I didn't expect it, but I really enjoyed developing the car. As it is the main character of the game, it had to be very polished and finished. Considering my programming level, I didn't expect to achieve such a successful result. In the end, I am very proud of the work accomplished within the given time frame.

3D Modelling

Modelling

I also made the 3D model of the car with 3dsMax. Due to the use of Nanite with Unreal 5, I was able to save time and only create the high-definition model of the car.

For the car destruction, I used the Morpher tool provided with 3dsmax. Thanks to this, I was able to create a fast and credible destruction with each part detached (bumper, hood, lights, etc.), so that they could fall off during driving.

2D Concept Art not by me

3D Model by me

I based my 3D modelling on this Concept Art

FeedBacks

The feedbacks were definitely the most satisfying part of the process. Thanks to the playtest, I was able to identify the most confusing parts of driving and add multiple feedbacks. As a result, the car is now more easily understandable and very satisfying to drive around.

Speed Effects
Crashes
And more . . .

Thanks to this project, I have developed a strong interest in designing cars as well as driving experiences.

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