Реалистичный 3D-фургон для постапокалиптической обстановки

Introduction

We're a 3D team at RocketBrush Studio, working on mobile and AAA-level titles for companies like Paradox Interactive, Tripledot Studios, and Romero Games. In most cases, our work leaned toward stylized art directions. For the New York project, we wanted to apply the same production mindset to a realistic setting with grounded materials, convincing aging, and a strong post-apocalyptic atmosphere.

As for our team, we have different paths into 3D. Our Team Lead is self-taught and started with YouTube tutorials. Our Architecture Artist moved into 3D from an office job and grew through courses and mentoring into full-cycle work. Another artist has an art and architecture foundation and built their 3D game art skills by learning from experienced artists.

New York: 3D Van Model

The van started as part of a bigger goal: we wanted to create a strong, atmospheric post-apocalyptic location and build a small story through environment details. Post-apocalyptic settings are especially good for this because they naturally combine recognizable everyday objects with damage, time, and traces of human events.

In our concepts, the van was planned as a central story prop. It had to do several things at once: set the mood, hint at what happened, show how much time has passed since the apocalypse, and communicate a small narrative. For example, someone fought over the van and smashed the hood, the vehicle picked up more damage on the road, and eventually it was abandoned by its owner. To support that narrative, we first established a solid high-poly base in Blender that we could later push with dents, wear, and break-up.

For references, we focused on real-world materials and believable damage behavior. We specifically looked for high-quality references of hood dents and metal deformation, which were surprisingly hard to find, as well as glass cracking patterns and realistic aging. References also helped us keep organic growth, like moss, physically plausible, rather than simply adding it everywhere.

Modeling

Most assets in this scene are hard-surface objects. We worked in Blender, and tools like bevel, edge creasing, and a few modifiers helped us simplify and speed up the process. This way, we didn't have to add lots of extra support edges and loops, and in some cases, we could avoid mesh subdivision, which kept the model lightweight.

Once the high-poly was ready, we duplicated it, disabled the modifiers, then cleaned up and optimized the mesh and UVs, which gave us a low-poly version ready for baking.

A clean hard-surface model wasn't enough for this setting, so we used ZBrush to add the right post-apocalyptic character, like dents, worn surfaces, and impact damage. We paid special attention to the damaged hood, because metal deformation is one of the details that instantly sells realism, and it's easy to ruin it if the metal starts reading too soft.

Glass was another critical element: cracks and surface breakup carry a lot of the story, and without convincing glass, the narrative falls apart. We also avoided a common post-apocalyptic trap: early on, we pushed moss too far, including places where it couldn't realistically appear, then pulled it back to keep the prop believable and readable.

Even though this project is a visual case study, we deliberately approached it like a real production, not as a one-off render-only asset. That's why all assets in this scene are built to be game-ready. The van has a clean topology without unnecessary density, but with smooth shapes. UVs were made to support clean texturing and clear material read, with minimal seams in important, highly visible areas.

Texturing

Texturing was one of the most important stages for this asset. The goal was to create believable aging that helps the viewer read time and history without drowning the prop in grime or moss.

Our Substance 3D workflow followed this logic:

• Start with physically correct base materials;
• Gradually layer up grime and dirt over time;
• Add wear where usage and damage would naturally occur.

For artistic reasons, we kept the van and other vehicles slightly cleaner and newer than they would be in a strictly realistic scenario. We also had to balance dirt and damage carefully: push the grime too far, and the van can quickly start to look plastic.

Lighting & Rendering

We assembled and presented the final asset in Unreal Engine. One of our key goals was to achieve a realistic look through lighting, not through heavy post-processing or stylized tricks. So we aimed for a natural image without a complex lighting setup, using a simple scheme: an HDRI plus a directional light with only a few post-processing tweaks.

We kept Post Process Volume changes minimal, mainly locking exposure and adding a subtle exposure compensation.

Composition was also set up to support the story: the van needed to feel like a strong point of interest, but still remain part of the wider street scene, so the rest of the environment stayed engaging and readable.

Conclusion

For realistic props, the key is discipline, consistency, and respect for material physics. It's easy to overdo dirt and damage, but if you lose the core material, the prop quickly starts looking soapy or plastic. That's why references matter a lot, not just any reference, but the right reference that shows how materials behave under damage, aging, and different conditions.

And one practical tip for beginners: choose simple, common shapes. Even though real life has all kinds of quirky forms, in realistic scenes, unusual shapes can easily break believability and make the asset feel out of place. Every day, boring shapes help you build realism faster, and they're much easier to integrate into a coherent scene. So if you're a beginner, sticking to simple forms will help!

RocketBrush Studio, Game Art Outsourcing Studio