Panzerbombe & Flugbombe design archive

Daniel Rolph

Setting
Warbreakers is a squad-based R.T.S. game set in an alternative world, at the time of the First World War Players control Brittanic forces, battling the Teutonic empire for control of Europa, and the future of the world. The war has been a stalemate for the last 3 years, but with the development of new secret weapons by both sides, this situation will not last for long

The Opposing Forces

Britannic Infantryman

Teutonic Infantryman

The Teutonic Secret Weapons

Following a recent breakthrough, the Teutonic army has completed the development of a practical radio-control apparatus, small enough to be carried by a single man. Using this technology, they plan to use an army of unmanned weapons to break through the Brittanic defensive lines and push through to victory. This design archive charts the development of two of these unmanned weapons the Terrestrial Torpedo known as a Panzerbombe, and its aerial cousin, the Flugbombe.

Concept Thumbnails
Initial design work focused on the flying bomb concept, in an attempt to create an aesthetic that could be applied to subsequent designs. These early sketches were attempts to modify real World War 1 aircraft into remote-controlled versions. However, in most cases it was not obvious that the vehicle was a weapon.

Exploration
In an attempt to emphasis the weapon aspect of the vehicle, work turned to designs based on the idea of bolting parts onto a bomb to make it fly, rather than removing the pilot from a plane and replacing them with a bomb. This approach proved more fruitful, and produced the Heath-Robinson aesthetic that could then be applied to subsequent designs.

Using the flying bomb sketches for inspiration, work now began on a landbased counterpart, intended for use in crossing no-mans-land and disabling enemy pillboxes and tanks. Most of the concepts were equipped with caterpillar tracks, in a nod to tanks, but versions with oversized wheels were also considered.

Final Concept Sketches

Panzerbombe
(remote-controlled bomb on tracks)

Flugbombe
(remote-controlled flying bomb)

Block-out Models

As part of the development process, basic low-resolution models were made from the concept sketches, to act as bases to work over.

Worked-into renders

These pictures show the first step in developing the design using the low-res model as a base, details are drawn over the top and a basic shading applied to give an indication of depth.

Colour Experiments

Digital Paintings

Digital paintings to explore smaller details; the design of the Panzerbombe engine has been changed to use the same cylinders as the Flugbombe engine.

Finished Models
Flugbombe

As a games model, it is important to keep the number of polygons in the model as low as possible, in order to reduce render times. The Flugbombe model has a total of 2,307 polygons.

Panzerbombe

The Panzerbombe is rather more complicated, as a result of the multiple wheels, and has a total of 4,201 polygons.

Normal Mapping
In order to save on geometry, game models use normal maps to fake detail that would otherwise be incorporated into the model. In the case of the Flugbombe and Panzerbombe, this is responsible for details such as the cooling fins on engine cylinders, the tread on the tracks, etc.

Flugbombe

Panzerbombe

Normal Maps

Flugbombe Normal Map

Panzerbombe Normal Map

Texturing
Game models have different texturing requirements to other models; in order to make the most efficient use of disk space, it is essential that the amount of unused space on the texture map is minimised. The other major difference is that the Ambient occlusion is included in the texture, which saves processing time; this is vital for a model that has to be rendered in real time. Both the Flugbombe and Panzerbombe make use of a singe 2048x2048 pixel texture file each.

Flugbombe

Panzerbombe

Texture Maps

Flugbombe Normal Map

Panzerbombe Normal Map

Glow Mapping
In order to make the valves glow, a map had to be placed in the glow channel of the texture. These maps are very simple black and white files, with the white defining the part of the model that glows.

Flugbombe Glow Map

Panzerbombe Glow Map

Shading Network
Both models use the same shading network, albeit with different normal, texture and glow maps. The basic material is a Lambert, with an ambient occlusion shader providing some of the lighting.

Final Renders

The End

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