Wraith
Ground Assault Vehicle — Open World Game
- CATEGORY
- Games
- CLIENT
- UNDISCLOSED STUDIO
- ROLE
- Vehicle Concept Designer, Concept-to-3D
- DURATION
- 8 WEEKS
Wraith is a mid-weight ground assault vehicle designed for an open-world game's player fleet. The brief specified a silhouette recognizable at 200m game-camera distance, a modular weapon-mount system allowing 6 loadout configurations, and a design language consistent with the in-universe faction aesthetic.
Every structural decision has a mechanical origin. The sloped front hull derives from ballistic deflection geometry. The independent torsion bar suspension is visible through the chassis gaps — not decoration, but a readable engineering logic that signals authenticity to players who notice it.
The model was delivered as a hero LOD with complete LOD chain, fully unwrapped UV sets, and a materials guide for the studio's shader artists. Hard-point anchor positions were documented in a separate spec sheet.
- POLYGON COUNT
- ~186,000 tris (hero LOD)
- LOD LEVELS
- 4 (hero to 2,400 tris)
- TEXTURE SETS
- 3 (hull, chassis, interior)
- TEXTURE RES
- 4096x4096 px per set
- HARD-POINTS
- 6 modular weapon mounts
- CREW CAPACITY
- 3 (driver, gunner, commander)
- DRIVE SYSTEM
- Tracked, independent torsion
- SCALE REF
- 7.4m x 3.1m x 2.6m
Analyzed 30+ real and fictional armored vehicle designs to map the boundary between readable game asset and over-detailed prop. Identified 6 silhouette rules the design must satisfy at game-camera distance.
Worked exclusively in 2D black silhouette for the first two weeks. Locked primary volumes, turret relationship, and track geometry before any surface work. Validated readability at 1/10 scale on-screen.
Detailed surface model built in Blender, secondary surface sculpt in ZBrush for panel damage, weld seams, and casting texture. Full mechanical interior roughed in for crew animation reference.
Manual retopology from hero mesh through 4 LOD levels. UV layout optimized for 4K texel density on high-visibility surfaces. Delivered with pivot documentation and socket spec for weapon-mount integration.