Norman Knight Low-poly 3D model

A game-ready, accurate model of a Norman Knight with a spear, sword, scabbard, and shield. Each model has 3 LOD versions.

Triangle and Vertex Counts:

• NormanKnight_LOD0: triangles: 14,394, vertices: 7,303
• NormanKnight_LOD1: triangles: 6,960, vertices: 3,574
• NormanKnight_LOD2: triangles: 4,418, vertices: 2,285
• NormanSword_LOD0: triangles 1,868, vertices: 974
• NormanSword_LOD1: triangles: 556, vertices: 305
• NormanSword_LOD2: triangles: 244, vertices: 137
• NormanSword_Scabbard_LOD0: triangles: 512, vertices: 258
• NormanSword_Scabbard_LOD1: triangles: 192, vertices: 98
• NormanSword_Scabbard_LOD2: triangles: 66, vertices: 35
• WingedSpear_LOD0: triangles: 452, vertices: 232
• WingedSpear_LOD1: triangles: 256, vertices: 134
• WingedSpear_LOD2: triangles: 152, vertices: 82
• KiteShield_LOD0: triangles: 624, vertices: 316
• KiteShield_LOD1: triangles: 324, vertices: 166
• KiteShield_LOD2: triangles: 160, vertices: 84

The character and weapon models come with PBR textures with clean and rusted metal variants. The character textures are in 4K resolution and the weapons and shield are in 2K. Smoothness textures are just the inverse of the roughness, so use whichever one your renderer uses (Unreal and Blender use Roughness, Unity uses Smoothess). The character and shield models come with coloured and blank white texture variants. The blank variants are meant to be used in conjunction with mask textures which use the RGB channels to isolate different parts of the meshes so their colours can be customized individually. There is one mask to isolate skin, eyes, and lips, another mask for eyebrow colour, another mask for clothing colours, and another mask for shield design colours.

The Blender file has materials set up for each model with sliders to switch between the different texture variants. The character and shield shaders have custom node groups with convenient parameters for colour customization. Textures in the blend file are referenced via relative paths, so extract the textures from the Textures.zip folder and place them in the same folder as the blend file to automatically link them.

The character is fully rigged with a deform rig and a control rig. The FBX version has only the deform bones, except for a few controls that had to be retained due to parenting relationships. The control rig has both forward kinamatic and inverse kinematic setups for the arms and legs which can be toggled via sliders accessible under the Item Properties panel when the Ctrl_CenterOfGravity bone is selected in Pose mode. There are also properties there which isolate the rotation of each limb to control whether the limbs keep their current orientation when rotating parts further up the bone chain (ie. torso, hips, etc.).

The model includes a set of shape keys to allow some basic character customization or to add variety if the model is reused to create multiple NPCs. The character was primarily made with strategy games in mind, where many copies of the same unit might be present at once. In such cases, these shape keys could be randomized to add some variety. These have all been tested in Unreal Engine 5, and if the Import Morph Targets toggle is checked when importing, they will import as morph targets.

Customization shape key options include:

• Body Thickness
• Muscle Tone
• Head Width
• Cheeks Width
• Jawline
• Nose Length
• Nose Width

There are also shape keys for basic facial expressions and phenomes, including:

• Blink L
• Blink R
• Sad - Brow
• Frown - Brow
• Raised Brow L
• Raised Brow R
• Smile - Mouth
• Frown - Mouth
• Sneer L
• Sneer R
• Pucker
• M
• A
• F
• B
• O

These expressions and phenomes can be used with the jaw open and closed for different effects. The Ctrl_Jaw bone, when selected in pose mode, also has a MouthOpenClose property which toggles whether the mouth/lips open or remain closed when the jaw is rotated open. This means that each expression/phenome can be used with the jaw closed, the jaw open but lips closed, and both the jaw and lips open, for a wide variety of expressions.

Overall, this model aims to be robust, visually appealing, and flexible, yet simple enough to run efficiently in games where many characters or objects are needed on screen at once.