[S-Unreal-005] Static Meshes Standardization

In this article:

Overview

In the intricate realm of game development, where an array of talents—artists, programmers, game designers, producers, and more—collaborate to construct interactive worlds, the standardization of static meshes stands as a cornerstone for efficient and visually coherent gaming experiences. These standards encompass guidelines for level of detail (LOD) configurations, UV mapping without overlaps, and modular construction rules. By adhering to consistent static mesh standards, development teams can optimize rendering performance, reduce memory usage, and simplify the creation and integration of 3D assets. These standards also promote a shared language among creators, fostering a unified visual style and enabling the seamless interchange of assets. In the ever-evolving landscape of game development, static mesh standardization empowers teams to produce visually stunning, efficient, and engaging games, ensuring both creators and players embark on an immersive and exhilarating journey.

Scope

This standardization cover the Unreal Style Guideline about how to work in Unreal. This standard applies to all person in in team that work using Unreal Engine.

Technical Director and Art Director was the parties whose in charge in these guidelines. While all of the team member should follow these guidelines, they can ask about the guidelines to the directors or can propose some new guidelines here and there.

Static Meshes Standardization

This section will focus on Static Mesh assets and their internals.

[S-Unreal-005.1] Static Mesh UVs

If Linter is reporting bad UVs and you can't seem to track it down, open the resulting .log file in your project's Saved/Logs folder for exact details as to why it's failing. I am hoping to include these messages in the Lint report in the future.

[S-Unreal-005.1.1] All Meshes Must Have UVs

Pretty simple. All meshes, regardless how they are to be used, should not be missing UVs.

[S-Unreal-005.1.2] All Meshes Must Not Have Overlapping UVs for Lightmaps

Pretty simple. All meshes, regardless how they are to be used, should have valid non-overlapping UVs.

[S-Unreal-005.2] LODs Should Be Set Up Correctly

This is a subjective check on a per-project basis, but as a general rule any mesh that can be seen at varying distances should have proper LODs.

[S-Unreal-005.3] Modular Socket-less Assets Should Snap To The Grid Cleanly

This is a subjective check on a per-asset basis, however any modular socket-less assets should snap together cleanly based on the project's grid settings.

It is up to the project whether to snap based on a power of 2 grid or on a base 10 grid. However if you are authoring modular socket-less assets for the marketplace, Epic's requirement is that they snap cleanly when the grid is set to 10 units or bigger.

[S-Unreal-005.4] All Meshes Must Have Collision

Regardless of whether an asset is going to be used for collision in a level, all meshes should have proper collision defined. This helps the engine with things such as bounds calculations, occlusion, and lighting. Collision should also be well-formed to the asset.

[S-Unreal-005.5] All Meshes Should Be Scaled Correctly

This is a subjective check on a per-project basis, however all assets should be scaled correctly to their project. Level designers or blueprint authors should not have to tweak the scale of meshes to get them to confirm in the editor. Scaling meshes in the engine should be treated as a scale override, not a scale correction.