Best Game Art Asset Entries

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Add your entries to the Best Game Art Asset Category to this thread before the contest deadline.
Robert Magee
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Hey!

Here's my first entry!

This tool generates clusters of pipes based on input meshes, basic cubes or cube-grid meshes works best.
By pathing between start and end points (ends can manually be placed by extruding very small sections with cube-grid) inside the volume, the HDA creates an arrangement of lines/points. Then instances the porper pipe module (based on connections to other points) on the points to build somewhat chaotic pipe clusters.

The modules use Nanite and are instanced in Unreal (so no visual representation in Houdini sadly), it uses per instance data to set the colors of the pipes.



Short demo video


UE5 (5.0) project files, Google Drive Download [drive.google.com]
Edited by LukasRH - Dec. 1, 2022 13:12:34

Attachments:
PipesScreenshot.png (2.3 MB)
sop_lukas.dev.PipeTool.1.0.hdalc (89.6 KB)

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Hello everyone,

For this challenge I made something we all need... A Bath Tub Generator

It takes polygon curves as input and converts them into a bathtub (and faucet) with 3 style options(each style with their own parameters). The output assigns vertex colors based on curvature that can then be used for masking in the material in Unreal (hence why everything is green and red in the Houdini view).

Now you might be wondering... why? Well, I discovered this competition a bit late and had to come up with a unique idea. I have in fact found a use for this HDA. In a game jam earlier this year, I made a game called "Bath Time". In the game I just hand modeled one basic tub and called it good. But for this tech art challenge I decided to challenge my procedural modelling skills and made a Bath Tub Generator. I did my best to cover each edge case and was quite happy with how it turned out. And of course, this could always be used for some Arch-viz. If you're interested in the game-jam game, it's linked at the bottom.

Some key features/parameters:
  • Polygon curve to create tub shape
  • 3 Style options, each with their own parameters
  • Dynamic faucet position based on desired tub shape
  • Edge specific beveling (for wall-insert tub style)
  • Curvature, bend, tapering of tub shape

Below is a detailed video of me going through the parameters and my thought processes (sorry if there are any audio issues, didn't have time to edit much). Thanks!



Inspired by my game jam game:
"Bath Time" [benjamm22.itch.io]
Edited by benjamm922 - Dec. 1, 2022 18:57:02

Attachments:
tub.hiplc (950.9 KB)
sop_benjamm_TubGenerator.1.0.hdalc (96.6 KB)

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Here's my personal entry for the Tech Art Challenge 2022 (Game Art variation).

The basic idea of the HDA is to have a simple all-in-one tool to efficiently create Skate Bowls to help artists do the level design of their RADICAL skate game in Unreal.

It can be used without any input meshes BUT the tool shines when you grab some meshes, jumble em' up together and use the result as a basic outline of the skate bowl.

The tool also supports:

  • Custom grounds with groovy inclines and different slopes!
  • Chill Topology optimization parameters!
  • Gnarly UV's!
  • Help documentation!

The related video goes over the general functionality of the tool in Houdini followed by examples of how it works in Unreal. Enjoy!

Edited by Reigneau - Nov. 30, 2022 23:43:59

Attachments:
Reign_SkateBowl_Render.png (9.4 MB)
Reign_SkateBowl_Scene.hiplc (632.9 KB)
Reign.main.SkateBowl_Generator.1.0.hdalc (49.8 KB)

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Hi everyone!

This is my first entry to the SideFx Tech Art Challenge.


This HDA generates a fully procedural Sea Shack platform/tower. Although the final product could be use as a playable level/area, the main idea is to use it as a prop for environment design. This is because my main goal for this project was to develop a tool as close to 100% procedural as possible, meaning there is not much room for the user to manually change the Sea Shack design. There are only a few main parameters the user can tweak:

  • Number of floors of the Sea Shack platform
  • Seed value to change the design of the Sea Shack platform
  • Seed value to change the design of the rock base
  • The percentage of floors that will be of the type 'Terrace'
  • Seed value to change the Terrace floors location

That being said, the user can enable the 'Visualize House Footprint' mode to access some parameters that will provide more control to the user over the Sea Platform design:

  • Deck Grid size: Defines the overall size of the floor area.
  • Deck Grid subdivisions: More or less resolution, which creates more or less break-ups in the deck area.
  • House footprint selection: The user can manually define the area where the house will be built.

SPECIFICS ABOUT THE SEA SHACK GENERATOR
The whole system is a grid-based system, this means all the props (the house walls, main post stair, terrace floor props, and stairs) could be substituted for production-ready assets, as long as they have the corresponding scale/proportions. This functionality is not available at this stage, since my main focus for this project was to develop a functional system with basic props as placeholders to highlight the main features of the Sea Shack Generator.

The floors/deck area is randomly generated for each floor. The stairs generated in between floors are oriented along the X and Z axis and can be extended up to the (invisible) "seafloor" There are 2 stairs styles available.

The floors can be of the type 'room' or 'terrace'. The type 'terrace' will be an open floor with space for a terrace prop, such as a cloth hanger (other examples could be a hammock or a beach chair to watch the sunset!). This floor style has a fence on its perimeter. The floors of the type 'room 'will have a 4-wall house. This HDA is able to create up to 12 different styles for the house walls:

  • Shrine
  • Storage
  • Basic Door Style A
  • Basic Door with shade
  • Basic Door with entry step
  • Basic Door Style B
  • Lift
  • Window with hanging clothes
  • Wall with life buoy
  • Window with shade
  • Window with plant pot
  • Empty Wall

The assigned style will depend on a number of factors:
  • Having floor area in front
  • Having a stair in front
  • Having the next floor as 'celing'
  • Having direct access to a stair


Building the walls based on these rules allows the system to have an 'architectonic quality' meaning the house/rooms follow some sort of logic. For example, in order for a Shrine to exist, it must have direct access to a stair (so it can be visited). In order for a Lift to exist, it must not have stairs in front, so they wont' collide. In order for a door or window to have shade, it must not have a 'ceiling', and so on.


Thanks a lot for checking out my work. I hope you enjoy this short Houdini scene demo!

Your text to link here... [vimeo.com]

Attachments:
sa__sea_shack_gen__1_0.hdalc (1.6 MB)
SA_Sea_shack.hiplc (13.8 MB)
01.jpg (356.2 KB)
04.jpg (562.9 KB)
02.jpg (299.5 KB)
07.jpg (592.4 KB)

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Hi everyone,

here is my first entry to the Tech Art Challenge 2022.

This HDA procedurally places bollards and chains. It instances Unreal assets and can be used with any bollards and chain links, e.g. self-made or Megascans assets, and adjusted accordingly. The chains can be made of any number of different chain links for more variety. For fast iteration, the catenary of the chains can easily be adjusted.

For a more complex set dressing, the tool utilizes Houdinis Vellum Simulation, so chain collision with other assets can be simulated directly in Unreal. For collision with Nanite assets, it is necessary to first enable the simulation and then check the box to use Nanite assets before inputting them. They need to have simplified collision, as this is used for the simulation.

For more information watch the video below and check the tooltips in the HDA.



UE5 Project Files [drive.google.com]
Edited by MoiraNight - Dec. 1, 2022 19:27:42

Attachments:
bollard_chain.hdalc (566.8 KB)
BollardsAndChains.png (2.7 MB)

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Hey again!

Since multiple entries was allowed, I thought I'd be fun to submit another HDA
This one is a bit more fitting the start of December!

This HDA creates snow sheets on input meshes. It has options for melting snow around points and can place icicles.
It scatters points on top of all inputs common bounding box and rays them downwards, then uses a VDB smooth to give it a snowy look.
Due to this the tool gets heavier depending on the total area of the inputs, so total bounds with over ~100 m^2 area can start getting heavy. This isn't intended for large landscapes or areas, but for example house roofs, catwalks, streetlights, trees, etc.

I made this since I usually think that snow made with only materials in games usually lack the volume and cozy silhouette untouched snow adds.

The follow LABS nodes are used:
Random_Select
Delete_Small_Parts
AutoUV
Texel_Density



Edited by LukasRH - Dec. 1, 2022 13:48:21

Attachments:
sop_lukas.dev.snowcover.1.0.hdalc (60.3 KB)
SnowTestScene.hiplc (761.6 KB)
SnowScreenshot.png (1.8 MB)

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Howdy all!

My entry to the contest is a WFC Whitebox Level Generator. Using the Wave Function Collapse (WFC) Algorithm, this tool creates proxy levels for Unreal Engine. The maps created are designed to be used for shooter-style games, with games like Overwatch or Call of Duty in mind. This system was built in mind that it would give the user a result that would be further iterated upon. This tool is designed to help generate ideas quickly, rather than create fully finished levels.

Features:
  • Generate a full environment in seconds!
  • Generates spawn points for a player, enemies, and props using unreal references.
  • For further art control, input bounding geometry with color references (if using in Houdini) or material references (if using in Unreal) can be used to manually set areas to be a certain type. If using material references, the current system may only work with the provided Unreal Project.


Had a ton of fun working on this! Good luck to everyone.





Example Files and Documentation [drive.google.com]

Attachments:
WFC_Whitebox_Level_Generator.hdalc (288.2 KB)
WFCArenaS6.png (212 bytes)

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