Behind the Scenes: Monopoly Vintage Edition

INTRODUCTION

Hi! My name is Danilo Ferrara, and I’m an Italian 3D Artist based in Rome. I started modeling when I graduated as a generalist in 2013, and since then, I have worked on many personal projects to improve my abilities. In 2019, when I was 30, I decided to resume my studies, conquering, in 2022, a bachelor's degree in game design.

Since then, I have worked as a 3D Artist in the B2B industry, collaborating with some of the most important fashion brands in the world. Currently, I’m also a university professor in a game design course, at the same university I graduated from in 2022.

INSPIRATION

I grew up surrounded by 80s culture, which has shaped my personality and my aesthetic sense. For this reason, I like to give a new digital life to memories of my childhood, trying to evoke the same feelings I felt back then. That’s why I put all my love into my projects. Board Games have defined the 80s, and Monopoly has been a “must-have” for everyone, worldwide.

For this project, I decided to recreate my personal vintage Monopoly from the 70s, which belonged to my mother when she was young. (Below is a mood board with some references from that edition).

PROCESS

Even though I was inspired by the idea of modeling my vintage Monopoly, I was not sure about the final result.

Actually, I was not sure about how many pieces I would have done, maybe just the pawns and dice? What about the game board? And the money? And the box!? At that moment, I figured out I was going to start a journey without a defined goal (and I guess this is the beauty of personal projects).

So, first thing, I decided to open Blender and start with the pawns.

PAWNS, HOUSES, HOTELS & DICE

Referencing

It’s absolutely important to start with a reference.

So, before modeling, I found this image below on the internet that was fundamental for me to determine the right proportions between pieces.

Modeling

Starting modeling, I always try to figure out the level of detail I want to achieve.

In this particular case, there are small objects that will be closely examined to enhance the details applied later through texturing.

So, I have modeled them with a mid-level of detail to ease the work. After modeling, I always keep the Subdivision Surface modifier handy to give that final touch in case it is necessary during a very close look at the model.

This way, I have the advantage of having a smoother object without losing its previous level of detail.

When I’m satisfied with the result, I usually inspect the model with a glossy MatCap material (default in Blender) to identify any imperfections in the shapes.

Dice, houses, and hotels have had the same treatment just described for the pawns.

The final touch has been the UVs, in which I grouped pawns, houses, hotels, and dice, preparing my meshes to be textured.

Texturing

In Substance 3D Painter, I tried to recreate the kind of wear from years of games, falls, scratches, and dust, using references as always, to be as accurate as I can. (Below is a collection of render passes to show you how my material works).

THE GAME BOARD

Modeling

After my pawns were ready, I was so satisfied with the result that I decided to continue, giving my objects a bit of context. So, I started with the game board.

The modeling process was really fast, starting from a planar with the same size as the real game board. After that, I extruded the planar to give thickness to my mesh, and then I created the classic middle fold with some edge loops close to the center. Finally, I applied a general bevel all around the mesh to soften any hard edges. That’s all!

Talking about UVs, I tried to maximize the game board's texel density to optimize the final result as much as I could.

Texturing

Before texturing, I figured out that I needed a base color to start from, so I decided to create it myself in Adobe Illustrator. I recreated every single image and text from the original game in vector format, and then I exported it with an 8K resolution to ensure the best quality possible during camera close-ups in renders. (Below is a collection of render passes to show you how my material works).

And here, is the final material with all the render passes,

BANKNOTES & CARDS

Once I had the pawns, houses, hotels, dice, and game board, I decided to continue and complete my work with every element from the real board game.

To model the banknotes, property cards, community chest, and chance cards, I used some live modifiers that helped me create something quite similar to reality.

Let’s see together!

Modeling

First, I created a planar with the exact banknote size (in millimeters). Then, I added some subdivisions and finally applied the first live modifier Array to make some copies of my object.

The second live modifier I used is Displace. In the image below, you can see how I applied it AFTER the Array to give my copies a unique noise pattern on their surface.

As a final touch, I added a Solidify modifier (with a very small value as you can see), and this made all the difference in the rendering.

After creating a certain number of variations with Displace, I was able to stack different wads of banknotes by hand to simulate a bit of chaos. The same process was used for property cards, community chest, and chance cards, with only different Displace values.

Texturing

Regarding texturing, I used some high-resolution photographs of banknotes as a base color, on which I added wrinkles, dust, and dirt to simulate wear.

For property cards, community chest, and chance cards, I followed a similar approach. First, I recreated everything in Adobe Illustrator, and then I used the images as a base color in Substance Painter to add, just like the banknotes, wrinkles, dust, and dirt to simulate wear.

FINAL RENDERING

I used Cycles for my final renders.

After placing my objects in a neutral context, I decided to use the Tomoco Studio HDRI as a base for lighting up the scene (one of my favorites). Additionally, I used an area light to accentuate some details.

Here are the final renders. I hope you like them!

RENDER - Monopoly Vintage Edition

Thank you for your attention. Don't forget to follow me on my social networks! I wish you great creative success!

About the Artist                       

Danilo Ferrara is a 3D Artist from Italy, currently working as a 3D modeler in the B2B industry and serving as a university professor for the Bachelor's degree in game design.