Nice, try to keep it as close as possible to the original car, it might be frustrating in the beginning but it is all positive experience for future projects, with time and practice you will become more comfortable with your topology planning, I think it's the hardest part in the learning process since any badly placed N-gon (which I don't recommend to use) or tris will become instantly visible in the end result (shiny surfaces doesn't help either).
You can definitely use subdivision in game modeling, but since LFS tris budget isn't very high it will take you some time to optimize your model directly from a higher resolution mesh. For future reference, what I recommend is to use the shrinkwrap modifier in combination with the snap to surface tool on a non detailed guide that only retain the general shapes :
It's a little bit advanced for a beginner, but it is something worth knowing if you want to have the best result.
Thank you! I will keep this in mind, but seeing this high poly body - is it better to have the full body shape like this and then start adding (cutting) parts like windows, doors etc.?
Also, I was thinking about making it somewhat good looking without subdivision and then just add level 1, but I'm not so sure anymore.
Yes you can still do that of course, the whole shrinkwrap workflow is especially useful when the mesh density increases (which is inevitable when you want to reach a certain level of details), what you want when you model a car is to not mess up the surface flow when adding details, which is harder to achieve without any guide, the more vertices you have the more harder for you to manually keep every surfaces as clean as possible, for eg :
I just added a bunch of details on a surface
but now I'm struggling to keep them follow the car shape, because simply there is too many vertices and it will take forever to position them perfectly
as you might noticed the surface doesn't have a proper flow, but if I had a guide and used the shrinkwrap modifier it wouldn't be an issue at all
This is the result when I apply the modifier
This is what you should aim for for the time being.
For SubD modeling, try to avoid using triangles outside flat area, its algorithm doesn't handle it well especially near edges or holes, it's not an absolute rule but for good result this is what is considered good practice for organic surfaces (cars, planes, animals, human etc..).
Not to be a hater or anything but the tutorial you linked in your first post is pretty bad. His toppo is rough and the panels do not line up. I would recommend someone like this guy instead https://www.youtube.com/c/TheNaturalArtFreak
ClasK_03, no, it's fine, I also noticed some things I do not like, so I've been searching for some other tutorials, thanks, will check this one and the topologyguides.com
This first tutorial got me into a dead end... I do not like how it goes / bad alignment. I will start again, but following The Natural Art Freak tutorial, which is more precise. I need to think through this whole "thinking with quads" thing.
Also maybe it's a good idea to make some low poly models to practice a bit.
EDIT: I decided to finish the model the way I started (will not have perfectly aligned panels, a bit Tesla ), but for the next model I will do a better job.
First step is to find a workflow that you are confortable with, even if it's flawed at first but with time you will include various other or even your own techniques, and always keep an eye for additional informations (tutorials, documentations).
Just finish something damn it .
Edit : sometimes triangles are inevitable , just try to use as much quads as possible.
As I see workflow:
1 make shape (no mouldings and gaps)
2 make sure general shape is ok
3 apply subdivision
4 make gaps and mouldings by offset edge slide
Gaps and mouldings in low-poly mesh are:
5 hindrance to shape correction
6 enemy of smooth shape transition (not visible on your screenshots because there is no matcap)
Am I wrong?
Wanted different rims (the last attached picture), but I've managed to make these by myself... so I edited them a little (not 100% the same as from the tutorial). Maybe after I release the mod I will try again to model the rims I want, but using different approach.
I think I can imagine already this night ride cruising on South City (when they finish that LFS update) and smell the Mercedes perfume ( like the lion in their commercial).
Seriously now, thumps up from me and keep going.
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