Object decay - Swapping models

[ayrton_orio]

Hello,

This is probably trivial but I'm a beginner:
I modeled and textured this wooden plank walls:

note: these are different models, so it's not only a texture change)

I would like to make a wooden plank asset that will deteriorate over time, to do that I would like to be able to replace my mesh with another one depending on time since spawned, I would also like to be able to make my texture evolve in time as well.

I don't know what my approach should be? Should I treat texture and model separately? should I create one blueprint for each asset with all meshes&material?

Thank you for any feedback,

[Shirk]

Basically all you need to do is setup a single blueprint actor, create several variables of type static mesh, assign each variance of your model to the variables, and either plug them into an array and over time (delta time I believe) you would set the current visible mesh to the next mesh in the list. Or you could just set up a bunch of "Set Static Mesh" and delay nodes like so, where the duration is the time in seconds before the next model is switched in.

Personally I would do it with the delay nodes as its pretty easy to control and simple for a beginner. The only issue is that the meshes will just switch out instantly, there wont be any sort of fading and such.

[ZoltanJr]

For making the texture decay you can do this with your material and some masks, or you could go with Substance painter and it's very good with handling that kind of work.

[ayrton_orio]

Hello!
Thanks it helps a lot, I'm happy with having no transition actually so that's perfect.
@ZoltanJr actually I want to combine a change in texture and in model over delta time, so I would definitely use material changes as well. Not sure yet of the approach, my goal is to have a pretty detailed render (for fancy top down view) while optimizing assets as much as possible.

[ayrton_orio]

errr... actually... How would you do it you had to make a transition? Like a crossfade?

[Futzy]

For fortnite, Epic used a system of moving mesh elements by vertex animations for their player construction. It may be of interest for technique but it does not detail implementation http://twvideo01.ubm-us.net/o1/vault...20Workings.pdf

Perhaps a simpler method would be to use a destructible mesh. I'm not sure how that would work or the degree of control you would have over aesthetics.