Need Suggestions, Tips, Opinion on 3D programs for our isometric game


Hello everyone. I’ll make it short

The rough concept I provided is how I see our game, however it’s a bit more detailed then it should be, except for the character and barrel.

Im mainly here from a graphic standpoint, but here are a few notes:

  • The game is isometric with a centered on player only camera, which can move during battles for better view.

  • From a style point of view we are going for a modern pixel form. As an example, take Tiberian Sun, upscale the textures, remix them to have a bit more character to them, but remain the pixel like nature and that’s pretty much what we want.

  • We want to make all characters 3D, including items, vehicles, different entities, like lamp posts, trash bins etc., but are questioning bigger objects like buildings, mountains, terrain, the latter two following into the next note…

  • We don’t want to detail every tiny slope and ditch for the sake of realism, but question how to make a rather smooth transition in case of the following: IF we are going to make sprite based building and such, how to implement complex elevations and heights, not to mention, see from a different angle on objects to not make them look jagged like in Tiberian Sun, after all we are gonna have mountains and subways.
    However, if we are going with 3D buildings then we come to the main part…

I need to know the following:

  1. Which 3D sculpting/modelling program is best suited for sculpting, rigging, importing etc into UE4, i.e. which is better suited for isometric style. Just don’t say Blender. It’s preferable that we have a more creative friendly software.

  2. What texture programs are best suited for our goal of a pixel-esque style, but still retaining a modern look, again, for isometric models. Is there something like that in UE4? Can it be implemented and where/how?

  3. From a practical standpoint, with a semi-complex FOV, a classic black fog of war, the pixel-esque graphics and a simple flat terrain where needed, will it help save FPS and make it easier to optimize the game.
    We are aiming at least for 50-60 FPS on average. Since we will have the ability to zoom all the way out to see as far as the eyes can (the game is going to be realistic after all), we are concerned for the impact on performance on older computers.

Any help will be appreciated, thank you.