Ahmed B., on Car Construction in TDU

We all know by now that Atari‘s Test Drive Unlimited is all about cars. We’ve seen all the featured cars (unless Atari has an ace up its sleeve) from luxury to muscle cars. But, over here at QJ, who have been equally blinded with all the bling and the rims as you are, we’ve all been distracted on asking the most important question of all – the how. So who better to ask on the how’s of Test Drive Unlimited than one of the guys behind it? Ahmed B., is one of TDU’s producers and in this interview he answers all the hows in the development process and car modelling for one of the most riveting Massively Open Online Racing experience on the road, Test Drive Unlimited.

Here’s TeamXbox’s interview with Ahmed B.

How many people were involved in creating the cars for Test Drive Unlimited? On average, how long did it take to bring a car from the real world to the digital domain?

Ahmed B: One of the most complex tasks was to do a large number of cars, but also the most beautiful cars ever made in video game. To do this, we‘ve had three developers during the last two years to create shaders, tweak the images, and create environments. For the rendering we had six people to integrate the car and approximately (over the years) a total of thirty graphic artists. During the integration process, the artists tweaked all of the materials, textures, environments and geometry to make the cars as realistic as possible.

At the beginning of the production of Test Drive Unlimited, the full process to get a car from the real world to the game took about forty days. Now the car team has so much experience it takes about fifteen to twenty-five days, depending on the complexity of the car.

The full interview awaits after the  jump!

We all know by now that Atari‘s Test Drive Unlimited is all about cars. We’ve seen all the featured cars (unless Atari has an ace up its sleeve) from luxury to muscle cars. But, over here at QJ, who have been equally blinded with all the bling and the rims as you are, we’ve all been distracted on asking the most important question of all – the how. So who better to ask on the how’s of Test Drive Unlimited than one of the guys behind it? Ahmed B., is one of TDU’s producers and in this interview he answers all the hows in the development process and car modelling for one of the most riveting Massively Open Online Racing experience on the road, Test Drive Unlimited.

Here’s TeamXbox’s interview with Ahmed B.

How many people were involved in creating the cars for Test Drive Unlimited? On average, how long did it take to bring a car from the real world to the digital domain?

Ahmed B: One of the most complex tasks was to do a large number of cars, but also the most beautiful cars ever made in video game. To do this, we‘ve had three developers during the last two years to create shaders, tweak the images, and create environments. For the rendering we had six people to integrate the car and approximately (over the years) a total of thirty graphic artists. During the integration process, the artists tweaked all of the materials, textures, environments and geometry to make the cars as realistic as possible.

At the beginning of the production of Test Drive Unlimited, the full process to get a car from the real world to the game took about forty days. Now the car team has so much experience it takes about fifteen to twenty-five days, depending on the complexity of the car.

Can you describe the steps followed to duplicate a car?

Ahmed B: First we use the blueprint or photo of the car to create the 3D Model (inside Max or Maya). From there, we load it inside our proprietary software tool: Twilight 2. We then create the hierarchy of the car, representing all the movable parts and the features associated with that particular vehicle.

Once the physics of the car are complete, we use shaders on the 3D Model to create realistic looking surfacesÂ…then we tweak it, and tweak itÂ…andÂ….tweak it. Did I mention we tweak it?

Once weÂ’re done with that, weÂ’ll add it to the database with the dynamics figures representing the car (the power, acceleration, breaking, weight, etc.) From there itÂ’s time to export it and play it inside the game, where the real fun is!

Did you have to model all the cars, or did any car manufacturer provide the 3D geometry of their cars?

Ahmed B: Sometimes they provide us the blueprint, sometimes the 3D models, and sometimes just some photos.

Each manufacturer has its own way of working and we just simply adapt our tool chain to each car as it comes.

Aside from the exterior and interiors, what other aspects did you have to recreate accurately that users might not see at first?

Ahmed B: The dynamics of the car. All the cars and bikes have realistic representations of the dynamics of the real thing. Each car and each bike is different.

On the rendering side, we worked a lot on the body color Shaders (One year just for this one.) This is the most complicated shader in the game. Spectacular mapping/ Environmental mapping/ normal mapping/Color mapping. Hopefully our hard work and long hours on this particular aspect are obvious when you see the cars!

What new aspect(s) of a car have you been able to recreate with the Xbox 360 that wasnÂ’t possible on previous generation hardware?

Ahmed B: The cars and the realism in which they are represented. With the new rendering technology generation we can create some realistic shaders. It lets us create a wood aspect / a leather aspect / a plastic aspectÂ… Everything is possible now Â… The only limitation is our mind.

Do cars also match their real-life counterpartsÂ’ crash deformations? For example: European cars performing in a crash the same way they do in a Euro NCAP test?

Ahmed B: We will not be showcasing car crashes except for unlicensed cars.

What about car customization? Do accessories, colors, etc. also match the real-life products?

Ahmed B: Absolutely. The physical upgrades depend on each manufacturer. Some brands will have upgrades for rims or various paint styles. Other brands will only have performance upgrades. However, for most brands available for purchase, the colors are the same colors straight out of the manufacturer catalogue.

What about car customization? Do accessories, colors, etc. also match the real-life products?

Ahmed B: Absolutely. The physical upgrades depend on each manufacturer. Some brands will have upgrades for rims or various paint styles. Other brands will only have performance upgrades. However, for most brands available for purchase, the colors are the same colors straight out of the manufacturer catalogue.

What can you tell us about the gameÂ’s motorbikes? Were they created in the same way the cars were created?

Ahmed B: The bike process is exactly as it is for the cars. It takes the same time to create the bikes – The only difference is that we need to create the engine, whereas for cars they were hidden beneath the hood.

How did the “Test Drive Unlimited – Be a Car Designer” contest go? Would you consider incorporating cars from design students in the future?

Ahmed B: We had an incredibly positive response from the community. We want to do more programs like this in the future, because some of these submissions were just plain outstanding. Getting outside communities more involved or aware of our brand and games in general is a good thing.

Via teamxbox