Mesh Scaling comes to Crayta!
You heard right; THAT feature! It’s real, and it’s coming to Cursed Galleons!
One of our most requested features by the community and by our own team alike has been for mesh scaling and we are so pleased to announce that it is finally HERE.
In early January, to ease us back into the working year, the team held a week-long Hackathon. Between them, they bashed out and wedged in features they’d personally like to see in Crayta to see what worked, what didn’t, and just how hard it would be to implement them properly. One of the clear favourite results of this week of creativity and brainstorming was prop mesh scaling. It was so effective and made such a difference to building in Crayta that we begged for it to be fully implemented, immediately.
How the scaling works in the editor
There’s no real mystery to scaling, if you’ve used any sort of 3D package before you will know that there are two variations on it: uniform and non-uniform scaling.
Uniform scaling is every axis of the mesh scaling at the same rate e.g. a cube to a bigger cube. Non-uniform scaling is scaling on any axis independently e.g. make the cube into a cuboid by scaling up one axis. NB — not all Crayta meshes can be non-uniformly scaled due to collision restrictions.
In Crayta there are two ways to scale:
Using the gizmo — hit F3 or click the X button and you can scale uniformly and non-uniformly by dragging the arms of the gizmo. NB — If you have a prop parented to this mesh then it will take on the scale as well.
Using the editor input — here you can type your scale requirements precisely into the box and use the unlock padlock icon for non-uniform scaling. NB — Parented scale does not take effect with this method so any other meshes in the hierarchy will need scaling separately.
How big can I go?
Scaling has parameter limits of 0.01 to 100. Nice.
You can also scale in the negative which gives you the ability to flip meshes and this works beautifully for doors.
Artistic impact
There are some huge artistic wins to be had with the new scaling option. Nature abhors a straight line and so now you can add variation to trees and other organic objects for a more natural-looking landscape.
No scaling:
With scaling:
Scaling will make a single prop’s usability go a lot further. Check out this one rock challenge by Tak (our Art Outsourcing Manager), and the end result that creates a whole varied landscape with just a few meshes.
There’s also a lot of fun to be had with scaling that plays with reality in an interesting way — as can be seen in this tasty diner obstacle course.
Some things to look out for…
Snapping
When we create prop meshes in Crayta we take great care to make sure they all snap to the 25cm grid and, where necessary, each other. Scaling props will most likely throw that out. You might notice odd effects when, for example, trying to neatly snap scaled railings together or windows into a voxel mesh.
Animation
Whilst interactive animations are fairly limited currently in Crayta we have created prop assets that will automatically work with future animations e.g. chairs are a certain height for sitting on. Scaling an item like this has the potential for unwanted effects.
Texturing
We don’t do anything to upgrade texture resolution with scaling so keep an eye out for this if it might affect your game too. However, all props are made in a certain way that will keep the edges of materials crisp and looking good.
Overall this is a change that has huge potential for world-building and game design in Crayta and we can’t wait to see what you all do with it.
What will you scale first? Let us know on Discord and Twitter!
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Crayta is FREE to play and create on Stadia and Epic Games Store!
