Cargo Truck Cab, Diabotical Rogue
This is a mid-poly prop I made early in Diabotical Rogue's production. It was to be part of a larger modular kit of truck and vehicle parts but our art pipeline and game went through a lot of changes at this time and I pivoted to other tasks. I really wanted to include this in my portfolio though as I enjoyed working on it with Yoann.
It was a large prop in game, it's height is three times taller than the Scout class. It would have been placed along roads towing cargo and parked in loading bays of different bases.
We really wanted to have the cab feel visually unbalanced with the front hanging out far past where you would think the center of gravity was, with the idea that the engine on the back of the cab was incredibly heavy and also any trailer modules that were attached or towed by this unit would stabilize it further.
Production drawings and paint-overs are by GD Studio Art Director Yoann Ernoult.
Here is the initial drawing and early blockout stages, exploring the shapes and ideas. The truck was supposed to be autonomous but a Weeble could climb inside and pilot it as well.
After seeing the blockout Yoann did some very quick back-and-forth with me with a new direction for the shape of the truck and some direction for the cab's details.
I started experimenting with modularity and a smaller utility truck design. I spaced and designed the wheels from early on with the idea that there'd alternate drive systems for different terrain.
In the end we decided to simplify the cab front.
I made different versions of the truck cab including two versions with an integrated truck bed and two different length trailers. I also unified this approach with the small utility truck as everything would use the same assets and materials.
Underside view showing all of the wheel assembly units. These were modelled with the future possibility of animations and potential driving, so they are modelled with a central suspension and steering for the wheels.
I modelled a highpoly for the trim atlas in Blender, leaving empty spaces for future details that would be used for other vehicles, cargo, and attachments.
Baking and materials made in Substance Painter. The mesh was then UV unwrapped to the material.