When we started working on our low-poly Megacity, the first step was preparation and planning. We needed to carefully consider how to create a large, beautiful city: how many buildings to include, which types, how the roads should look… There were many questions to address.

We began by searching for reference images of cities we liked. We used both real photos and works from other 3D artists. However, we mostly focused on real-life images to ensure we didn’t miss important details. The works of other 3D artists were more of a reference for style: deciding whether our city should be more realistic or if we would use exaggerated proportions, specific colors, and details.

After gathering references, we categorized the objects we needed to create:

1. Buildings (which can be divided into categories):
   • Commercial buildings:
     • Office centers
     • Shopping complexes and stores
     • Hotels and hostels
   • Residential buildings:
     • Apartment buildings (high-rise and low-rise)
     • Private homes (cottages, townhouses, villas)
   • Social and public buildings:
     • Educational institutions (schools, universities)
     • Healthcare institutions (hospitals, clinics)
     • Cultural institutions (museums, theaters)
   • Industrial buildings:
     • Factories and plants
     • Warehouses
2. Roads. Depending on how large the city will be, decide which roads to create: by their purpose, width, and the number of lanes.
3. Transport. If there are roads, there must be transport to drive on them. Transport can also be divided into categories:
   • By vehicle type:
     • Passenger vehicles
     • Cargo vehicles
     • Public transport
     • Special vehicles
   • By movement method:
     • Ground transport
     • Underground transport
     • Air transport
     • Water transport
4. Green spaces. These can include: city parks, squares, forest parks, botanical gardens, embankments, boulevards, and alleys.
5. Landscape. These are the land areas where buildings, structures, waterways, mountains, and hills will be located. It can either be a flat surface or terrain with interesting elements. The second option may look more appealing but adds additional complexity in creation.
6. Props. Props include all the small objects in the city: infrastructure elements, signs and indicators, technical equipment, natural and environmental elements, construction and repair objects, etc. Here are some examples: phone booths, trash bins and dumpsters, traffic lights, streetlights and lighting, benches, bicycle racks, fences and railings, street name and address signs, billboards and advertising boards, shop signs, lawns and flower beds, trees, shrubs, and flower gardens, mailboxes.
7. Unique structures that will not be repeated: airport, port, train station, go-kart track, Ferris wheel, water park, zoo, and many more. These objects will make your city more interesting to explore and use.

When we started creating objects, we considered a few important points:

• We decided to exaggerate the sizes: we made small buildings slightly larger and large ones slightly smaller than their real-world counterparts. If we create a skyscraper in real size, it would take up the entire map, forcing us to make it too big. This was part of our stylization.

• We paid special attention to the size of doors and other details so they would match the scale of the characters.

In the process of working on the color scheme, we followed these principles:

1. We used no more than three colors for each building in a 70-30-10 ratio (where 10% is a more contrasting color).
2. We applied various color schemes during the work. Sometimes, we replaced the main color (which occupies the largest area) with a neutral one (white or gray).

3. We used gradients, darkening objects toward the base, altered color shades, and chose beautiful, vibrant hues.

We aimed to make our models interesting and unique. For instance, for the pizzeria, instead of just writing “PIZZA” on the facade, we placed a giant pizza on the roof.

As a result, we created a visually appealing and efficiently working low-poly 3D city that runs well even on less powerful devices. This experience taught us that there are no strict rules in creativity, and we can create anything in any way, using our knowledge as a starting point for building unique projects.

As a result, we created a visually appealing and efficiently working low-poly 3D city that runs well even on less powerful devices. This experience taught us that there are no strict rules in creativity, and we can create anything in any way, using our knowledge as a starting point for building unique projects.