Table of Contents – Vehicle Design – Sarah Clarity Studios

Table of Contents: Vehicle Design

Created by Sarah Choi (prompt writer using ChatGPT)

Vehicle Design for Video Games

Table of Contents

Written for aspiring artists, indie studio artists, and AAA professionals. Each unit is scaffolded with clear projects for Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced / Expert.

Part I — Orientation & Foundations

Unit 1 — The Vehicle Concept Artist

Sub-units: Roles across indie / AAA, deliverables, collaboration map
- Ch.1: What vehicle concept art solves (fantasy fulfillment, gameplay roles)
- Ch.2: Deliverable types (silhouettes, orthos, exploded views, cutaways, callouts, paintovers)
- Ch.3: Reading briefs & asking the right questions (role, terrain/medium, faction, tech level)
- Ch.4: Production constraints 101 (metrics, camera reads, platform limits)

Unit 2 — Design Fundamentals for Vehicles

Sub-units: Proportion, perspective, silhouette
- Ch.1: Proportion systems & stance (wheelbase, track, ride height, CG)
- Ch.2: Perspective & ellipses for vehicles (cylinders, wheels, nacelles)
- Ch.3: Silhouette, negative space & read at speed
- Ch.4: Shape language ↔ function (friendly, aggressive, utilitarian)

Unit 3 — Mechanics & Function 101

Sub-units: Locomotion, structure, packaging
- Ch.1: Power sources (ICE, electric, hybrid, fuel cell; speculative: fusion / anti-grav)
- Ch.2: Drivetrains & transmissions (FWD / RWD / AWD, gearboxes)
- Ch.3: Steering, suspension & brakes (kinematics, contact patches)
- Ch.4: Chassis & packaging (monocoque vs frame; occupants, cargo, hardpoints)

Unit 4 — Reference, Research & Visual Libraries

Sub-units: Fieldwork, blueprints, teardown studies, research ethics
- Ch.1: Building a genre-specific vehicle library (racing, military, sci‑fi, utility)
- Ch.2: Moodboards that direct style, not copy (materials, livery, greebles)
- Ch.3: Photographic & diagram studies (orthographic tracing, note overlays)
- Ch.4: Research packets (taxonomy, specs, sound/motion refs)

Unit 5 — Vehicle Worldbuilding

Sub-units: Era, tech trees, faction identity, environment fit
- Ch.1: Tech level & constraints (energy density, materials)
- Ch.2: Economy & logistics (fueling, maintenance, supply chains)
- Ch.3: Factions & branding (insignia, paint schemes, cultural motifs)
- Ch.4: Biome & climate adaptation (cooling, filtration, dust / snow / waterproofing)

Part II — Platforms & Typologies

Unit 6 — Land Vehicles: Wheeled

Sub-units: Bikes, cars, trucks
- Ch.1: Motorcycle geometry & rider triangle
- Ch.2: Car classes & proportion templates (compact, sedan, coupe, SUV, pickup)
- Ch.3: Heavy vehicles (haulers, fire & rescue, armored cars)
- Ch.4: Stance, tire language & tread for terrain readability

Unit 7 — Land Vehicles: Tracked & Articulated

Sub-units: Combat, utility, construction
- Ch.1: Track geometry & suspensions (bogies, idlers, road wheels)
- Ch.2: Armor, slope & silhouette breakups
- Ch.3: Tools & attachments (blades, cranes, dozer kits)
- Ch.4: Logistics & serviceability (hatches, access panels, tow points)

Unit 8 — Land Vehicles: Hover, Maglev & Speculative Ground

Sub-units: Hovercraft, skimmers, antigrav
- Ch.1: Plausible physics cues (inlets, skirts, thrusters, dust/spray)
- Ch.2: Ground effect & altitude control reads
- Ch.3: Urban vs wilderness navigation cues
- Ch.4: VFX hooks for motion & interaction

Unit 9 — Air Vehicles: Fixed‑Wing

Sub-units: Fighters, transports, gliders
- Ch.1: Wings & planforms (straight, swept, delta) and control surfaces
- Ch.2: Propulsion (prop, turbojet / fan) & intake / exhaust shaping
- Ch.3: Landing gear & ground ops reads
- Ch.4: Stealth, sensors & hardpoints

Unit 10 — Air Vehicles: Rotary & VTOL

Sub-units: Helicopters, tiltrotors, ducted fans
- Ch.1: Rotor systems & anti‑torque solutions
- Ch.2: Lift in tight spaces & urban canyons
- Ch.3: Cabin packaging & doors/hoists
- Ch.4: Readability & hazard zones (rotor arcs, downwash)

Unit 11 — Air Vehicles: Sci‑Fi Flight

Sub-units: Anti‑grav, spaceplanes, hoverjets
- Ch.1: Vectoring & gimbal logic
- Ch.2: Heat management (radiators, tiles) as design language
- Ch.3: Believable greebles & maintenance access
- Ch.4: Cinematic banking vs realism—when to cheat

Unit 12 — Sea Surface & Subsurface

Sub-units: Boats, ships, subs
- Ch.1: Hull forms & stability (keels, chines, displacement vs planing)
- Ch.2: Propulsors (props, waterjets) & wake patterns
- Ch.3: Masts, sails & rigging for stylized worlds
- Ch.4: Submarines: sonar, fairings, sail & control surfaces

Unit 13 — Spacecraft & Orbital Vehicles

Sub-units: Capsules, shuttles, carriers
- Ch.1: Modular hulls & docking standards
- Ch.2: RCS thrusters & translation reads
- Ch.3: Thermal control: radiators, ablatives
- Ch.4: Zero‑G interiors & cargo handling

Part III — Systems & Details

Unit 14 — Propulsion, Power & Energy

Sub-units: Engines, fuel, batteries, reactors
- Ch.1: Visual signifiers (intakes, exhausts, cooling)
- Ch.2: Fuel storage & safety (bladders, tanks, shielding)
- Ch.3: Power routing (bus bars, conduits) & maintenance logic
- Ch.4: Speculative systems (fusion, antimatter, exotic drives)

Unit 15 — Chassis, Structure & Armor

Sub-units: Frames, monocoques, skins
- Ch.1: Structural members & load paths
- Ch.2: Armor types & slope theory; ERA and spaced armor
- Ch.3: Maintenance access & modular panels
- Ch.4: Crash zones & survivability reads

Unit 16 — Suspension, Steering & Locomotion Details

Sub-units: Wheels, tracks, landing gear
- Ch.1: Linkages, control arms & bushings
- Ch.2: Contact patches & terrain interaction
- Ch.3: Landing gear kinematics & door sequencing
- Ch.4: Exotic locomotion (legs, screws, snakebots) for vehicle‑adjacent ideas

Unit 17 — Cockpits, Bridges & UX

Sub-units: Human factors, HUD, diegetic UI
- Ch.1: Seat positions, visibility cones & pillar design
- Ch.2: Controls & affordances (analog vs fly‑by‑wire)
- Ch.3: Diegetic UI & AR overlays; AI/autonomy modes
- Ch.4: Egress, safety gear & accessibility

Unit 18 — Materials & Surface Language

Sub-units: Paints, metals, composites, glass/ceramics
- Ch.1: Coatings (matte / gloss, stealth RAM) & panel tone shifts
- Ch.2: Wear patterns (chips, streaks, mud, heat scorch)
- Ch.3: Decals, stencils & livery design systems
- Ch.4: Conveying mass, temperature & history

Unit 19 — Weaponization & Hardpoints

Sub-units: Mounts, turrets, recoil & stabilization
- Ch.1: Mount geometry & traverse limits
- Ch.2: Ammo routing & feeds; energy conduits
- Ch.3: Sensor suites & targeting language
- Ch.4: Safety arcs & friendly‑fire prevention reads

Unit 20 — Cargo, Utility & Specialized Rigs

Sub-units: Cranes, rescue, survey, mining, agriculture
- Ch.1: Tool ecosystems & power take‑off points
- Ch.2: Modular pods & mission kits
- Ch.3: Deployables (drones, ROVs, UGVs)
- Ch.4: Environmental compliance (filters, containment)

Part IV — Genres & Style Systems

Unit 21 — Style Systems: Stylized ↔ Realistic for Vehicles

Sub-units: Shape, edge, value, palette rules
- Ch.1: Proportion exaggeration & caricature
- Ch.2: Material simplification for readability
- Ch.3: Harmonizing across teams & outsourcing
- Ch.4: Style drift—diagnosis and correction

Unit 22 — Genre Toolkits

Sub-units: Racing, Military, Sci‑Fi (hard/soft), Cyberpunk, Fantasy, Post‑Apocalyptic
- Ch.1: Design logic & references per genre
- Ch.2: Gameplay readability & class silhouettes
- Ch.3: Tech props & world hooks
- Ch.4: Crossing genres without losing coherence

Unit 23 — Faction Identity, Branding & Livery

Sub-units: Icons, insignia, decals, numbering
- Ch.1: Paint schemes & material blockers
- Ch.2: Markings for team / role readability
- Ch.3: Cultural motifs & visual storytelling
- Ch.4: Manufacturing variance & “trim levels”

Part V — Production & Collaboration

Unit 24 — From Brief to Package: The Vehicle Concept Pipeline

Sub-units: Ideation → iteration → finals → handoff
- Ch.1: Thumbnails & silhouette banks
- Ch.2: Proportion passes & A / B / C iteration (30% deltas)
- Ch.3: Orthos, cutaways & callout sheets
- Ch.4: Final packages: what to include and label for 3D / rigging

Unit 25 — 2D / 3D Hybrid Methods for Vehicles

Sub-units: Blockouts, kitbashing, photobash ethics
- Ch.1: Speed‑cage blockouts for stance & light
- Ch.2: Kitbash libraries & CAD pitfalls
- Ch.3: Lighting renders for paintover
- Ch.4: Damage states & variant automation

Unit 26 — Partnering with Gameplay, Physics, Animation, VFX & Audio

Sub-units: Metrics, motion, interaction
- Ch.1: Metrics (hitboxes, clearances, approach/departure angles)
- Ch.2: Rigging for movable parts (suspension, gear, flaps)
- Ch.3: VFX hooks (smoke, dust, flame, contrails, wake)
- Ch.4: Audio cues (engine classes, servo whine, impacts)

Unit 27 — Color, Markings & Readability at Speed

Sub-units: Livery, hazard language, lighting
- Ch.1: 1s / 3s / 5s reads in motion blur
- Ch.2: Team color logic & XOR shapes
- Ch.3: Head/tail/position lights & strobes
- Ch.4: Accessibility considerations (color blindness, contrast)

Unit 28 — Optimization, Modularity & Families

Sub-units: Reuse, trims, variants, LOD thinking
- Ch.1: Modular kits & hardpoint standards
- Ch.2: Variant families (civil / police / military / racing)
- Ch.3: Reuse patterns without visual noise
- Ch.4: Documentation that downstream teams love

Part VI — Advanced Practice & Professional Growth

Unit 29 — Advanced Narrative Vehicle Design

Sub-units: Time layers, culture & “hero” vehicles
- Ch.1: Before / after storytelling (refits, salvage)
- Ch.2: Micro‑clues: patina, maintenance, trophies
- Ch.3: Hero vehicles & setpieces
- Ch.4: Subtext and symbolism without clichés

Unit 30 — Case Studies & Reverse‑Engineering

Sub-units: Shipped games & art tests
- Ch.1: AAA pipeline constraints—what changed the art
- Ch.2: Indie ingenuity—scope vs vision
- Ch.3: Art test walkthroughs & rubric alignment
- Ch.4: Remastering a legacy vehicle: a full teardown

Unit 31 — Portfolio, Careers & Ethics

Sub-units: Targeted portfolios, communication, contracts
- Ch.1: Sequencing a portfolio for recruiter flow
- Ch.2: Writing callouts & case notes that show thinking
- Ch.3: Collaboration skills, feedback loops, leadership
- Ch.4: Ethics of reference, dual‑use tech & cultural respect

Unit 32 — Sustainable Workflow & Creative Health

Sub-units: Time, energy, and lifelong practice
- Ch.1: Sprinting your personal projects
- Ch.2: Study plans (daily / weekly / monthly)
- Ch.3: Preventing burnout & building momentum
- Ch.4: Communities, mentorship & teaching