Eiffel Tower: 3D model renders

This gallery shows a 3D model of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, built as a landmark for a racing game environment. The first three images are renders of the model on its own, seen from different angles. The last two show the tower placed in the game scene, as a driver would see it from the track. The archived captions credit the model to a drift track in Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (© THQ Inc, Juice Games).

What to look at

The real tower is an open wrought-iron lattice, far too dense to copy bar by bar for a game that has to draw it many times a second. Compare the close renders with the two in-game views. From the track, the tower is recognised by its silhouette: four curved legs, the great arch at the base, the platforms and the long taper to the top. Ask yourself how much of the likeness comes from that outline and how much from surface detail, and how the model reads against a bright sky compared with a dark one.