Interview With Broken Vector: Modeling Your Way To Game Development

Broken Vector is a small and young team of ambitious artists who are creating 3D assets to fund their game development dreams!

Tell us a little about your team/studio.

Broken Vector is a small team of independent game developers. We started working together about a year ago. Since then we made the Winter Quest game and quite a few assets, Unity plugins and 3D models. We also recently launched our website, which contains all the information about the great people working here and the projects that we created.

How did your team/studio start with 3D modeling?

Well, you can't really create a 3D game without 3D models, right? The creation of 3D models was always a natural choice for us and we decided really early on that we would like to sell those to make some money for tools and other assets we needed for creating more games. That way we can publish our games for lower prices or even for free, which is really a great advantage for a small team like us.

What kind of research do you do before you start modeling?

Our research uses a lot of different sources. Of course, we use images from the internet to do some basic research, but generally traditional media offers more precise information. To give you some examples: I just borrowed around 30 kilos of architectural books from my grandmother, to see if I could learn something from reading them. For our Low Poly Tree Pack I went to the library and made quick pencil sketches of some trees from a nature book. It is the variety of sources about the real object that helps to create a good stylized representation.

How do you market your products? Can you share some tips & tricks?

First of all, you should be clear about what product you are selling. What is its philosophy? And then just tell everyone out there through every possible channel that you have this great thing they might want to buy. We really rely on social media, but marketplaces like CGTrader will support you if you have a nice product. We also started to pay for advertisements, which got us more revenue than what we had spent on them. Just try all the options and see what fits you best. And one more thing: choosing the right Twitter hashtags for your tweets is very important.

What do you enjoy the most about working in the industry?

I really like that you are always forced to learn something new. I recently had to create a chimpanzee, so I researched its body features and I realized how weird their feet look like. But after doing some more research I started to understand how that shape helps them climb. I guess understanding those type of systems helps you to create good models.

Do you have a favorite moment from working in the industry to share with us?

Not really. But I don't think it is about the big moments, but the small ones. Every time you get nice feedback, finish some tasks or talk to people that are as excited about game development as you are, you remember why this job is so valuable to you.

What’s the hardest thing about being a game development team/studio?

It is probably the sum of all the tasks you don't think about. Managing taxes, advertisements, marketing, version control, editing videos... All those things need to be done, but luckily we have michidk, who takes care of many of those tasks in our team. So thank you for that Michi! Actual scripting, modelling and other game related tasks might be challenging, but they are almost always fun to do.

What software do you use?

We use Unity for creating the games and Blender for creating the 3D models for them. Both are great and free programs. I am really grateful for all those people who decided to create those tools with a free license option, because they are the people who made this industry so innovative and accessible for smaller teams like us.

What is your team/studio working on next?

We are just about to publish Vox VR, which is a really nice tool for creating voxel models in Virtual Reality using the HTC Vive. Virtual reality is astonishing and fun to work with and creating a tool for creative people really seemed like a good project for us. You can find more information on it on https://voxvr.brokenvector.net .

What is your team’s/studio’s magnum opus, so far?

Considering only the assets, it is probably the Low Poly Tree Pack. But after the release of Vox VR that will be the most noticeable project we created so far. Because we put a lot of work into it and it is not only a fun game,but also a handy tool for artists.

What is the most impressive 3D model/asset you have ever seen?

I don't think there is one single 3D model that would make you cry because it looks so much better than all the other ones. But if you‘re looking for great models, especially Low Poly ones, you should check out Timothy Reynolds and Jona Dinges. Both are probably creating the best artwork of that type out there.

Do you have a dream or an idea that you hope to model one day?

Honestly? I always wanted to model photorealistic grass. I tried it several times, but I am not quite there yet. I don't know why I am driven by such a mundane object, but it is really a hard challenge that I would like to complete.

What do you think about the rise of virtual reality in relation to your work?

I love this development. On one hand we will be able to show our art in a more appealing medium that will free us from that nasty 2D plane that we need to stare at and on the other hand I can’t wait to finally work somewhere else than in a chair in front of a desktop. I think it is more natural and way healthier to walk around your model and change it directly than what we are doing right now.

Please finish the following sentences (be as honest as you can.. : )

Our greatest inspiration is the world around us, with all its variety and beauty.

We abandon some of my works because sometimes an idea just doesn't turn out to be as great as you thought.

When we catch ourselves procrastinating, we try to motivate each other, because teamwork is a great source of motivation.

We‘re most productive when a deadline suddenly appears right in front of us.

We take a break from our work when we disagree about some concept, so that we have time to reevaluate our plan.