Modular Building, its Principles, Systems & Logic

Modular design is like building with a LEGO set.



"Kits" are made of parts that snap together

to build massive worlds Quickly.

A Modular System lets only a few

build an entire universe.



This Allows Developers to Focus on Making

the World feel more engaging.

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A Simple Example of a Modular Kit

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Fig.1 - A modular kit creating the interor of a house. Plan view. Paraline. Side view




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Fig.2 Only 7 different components make up the larger model

An extension fo the same Modular Kit

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Fig.2 - An extension of the Modular Kit to create a new iteration.




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Fig.3 - I needed to add 1 corner object to the kit to create this extension.

How Modular Building Works


Components can be rotated and mirrored to create variety:

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Fig.3 - Plan view of rotating and mirroring components.

Rotation and Mirroring


Components can be rotated and mirrored to create variety:

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Fig.4 - Perspective view of rotating and mirroring components.

Snapping


Components can then be snapped to form complete structures:

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Fig.5 - Snapping components.

Snapping using Instances

Instances are copies of an orginal object. Instances use less memory and allow for easier updates:


In blender, instances are called "linked duplicates" and can be created using Alt+D (or Option+D on Mac).

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Fig.6 - Creating Instances and Snapping components.

Editing Instances

When you edit a single instance, all linked duplicates update automatically.


This can save a lot of time when making changes to complex scenes.


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Fig.7 - Editing an instance.

Texturing Instances

Adding or changing textures to a single instance, & all linked duplicates update automatically.








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Fig.8 - Adding a texture to an Instance.
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Human Scale in Skyrim

Box 7

Box 8

Box 9

Box 10

Box 11

Box 12

Box 13

Box 14

Box 15

Box 18

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Layout.
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Interior close to completion

© 2026 Rangituhia Hollis All Rights Reserved