Miscellaneous Models

[Winter]

Individual bullets out in front look a bit small and out of place, so I took 'em out. Maybe you guys could find a use for the above stills in the game?

Maybe you just need to enlarge the individual bullet standing in front of the drum. After all, it's only for reference.

Regards,
Winter

[Psawhn]

Maybe you just need to enlarge the individual bullet standing in front of the drum. After all, it's only for reference.

Regards,
Winter

I suppose... I was thinking more along the lines of "hey, what's that magic bullet doing floating there?" because the models can be rotated in the view.

[Psawhn]

Actually, looking back on it, a single bullet, normal size, floating in front doesn't quite look too bad.



All the source files can be found here:

https://webdisk.ucalgary.ca/~djetowns/public_html/misc_files/UFO_AI/shiva_ammo/


Something else I've been wondering of late is if it is actually better, for releasing 3D models, to go with GPL instead of Creative Commons. Looking at the licenses, GPL does not allow anyone to render stills of the models without also providing the source 3D files. Would it be better if I rereleased all my models under both GPLv2 and CC-attrib?


Edit: And, just 'cause I felt like it, I made a render of my stingray with a more detailed cockpit.

This one uses raytraced reflections for the canopy, and the struts holding the windows in place are actually modelled.

[Winter]

Actually, looking back on it, a single bullet, normal size, floating in front doesn't quite look too bad.

Nope, looks pretty good to me! Someone please commit this.

Edit: And, just 'cause I felt like it, I made a render of my stingray with a more detailed cockpit.

This one uses raytraced reflections for the canopy, and the struts holding the windows in place are actually modelled.

That's beautiful. If you could put some walls in there to hide the blue infinity, we should use it as a loading screen.

Regards,
Winter

[Psawhn]

Heh heh, thanks. I probably should create a hangar for these kinds of shots - but maybe I could just import the map file, I wonder...

I was thinking about working on the alien wormhole device, but I'd like to know a couple things about it.

How large is it and the wormholes it creates? What is the bulk, or device-to-wormhole size ratio?

What shape is the wormhole?

Is the wormhole free-floating or connected to parts of the device?

Are there any specific kinds of glowy bits and colours in mind?

[Winter]

Heh heh, thanks. I probably should create a hangar for these kinds of shots - but maybe I could just import the map file, I wonder...

I think you can, but you'd have to ask someone else about that.

I was thinking about working on the alien wormhole device, but I'd like to know a couple things about it.

Certainly.

What shape is the wormhole?

Round. Disc-shaped. Just your standard kind of sci-fi wormhole.

How large is it and the wormholes it creates? What is the bulk, or device-to-wormhole size ratio?

The wormhole is tiny -- certainly no larger than a few centimetres in diameter. It's not intended for transport, you see.

The device, on the other hand, should be huge and extremely complex-looking. Massive power feeds going into the floor, etc. etc. Not so giant that it wouldn't realistically fit on a Carrier, however.

Is the wormhole free-floating or connected to parts of the device?

Can be either way. Remember, though, that UFOs generate similar wormholes to travel through (although those last only for a split second) and they don't need any machinery around the rim of the wormhole.

Are there any specific kinds of glowy bits and colours in mind?

The colour of the wormhole would be preferably blue. Apart from that, knock yourself out.

Regards,
Winter

[Psawhn]

Here's a relatively quick blockup. It's 1077 faces, most of them quads, so about 2000 tris at most. It's still missing many power conduits, pipes, and I plan to put cables and wiring on alpha-textured planes. I also probably need to put greebles below the wormhole, on that platform thing. The disc in the middle is the size of the wormhole.



How is it for bulk and general style?

Currently it's modelled as if it were up against a wall and a ceiling. I could change it to not need either of those if necessary.

[BTAxis]

I really like it. The wormhole itself though - since it's so small the player probably isn't going to notice it unless it stands out in one way or another. Maybe it would be more effective to put a blue shining particle in there. Trouble is that particles aren't part of map models, so they'd have to be put in separately by the mappers.

[Winter]

Here's a relatively quick blockup. It's 1077 faces, most of them quads, so about 2000 tris at most. It's still missing many power conduits, pipes, and I plan to put cables and wiring on alpha-textured planes. I also probably need to put greebles below the wormhole, on that platform thing. The disc in the middle is the size of the wormhole.

How is it for bulk and general style?

Currently it's modelled as if it were up against a wall and a ceiling. I could change it to not need either of those if necessary.

I originally imagined the device as only coming up out of the floor, but I think this is actually better than what I'd imagined. Good job, Psawhn!

I also agree with BTAxis -- we need to make sure that all attention is drawn to the relatively small wormhole at the centre. A particle is probably the best/easiest way to do that. Also, ideally, we would have everything necessary to make the whole device breakable, but that's a concern for later.

Regards,
Winter

[Psawhn]

Thanks for the compliments.

That disc thing there is just a placeholder - I had figured that particle effects would be used for the wormhole itself. If a single wormhole sprite doesn't cut it, there's always putting stuff around glowy bits, like lightning effects or halos, and the edges of the wormhole itself might react to the atmosphere, creating more fun particle effects. You can always make up reasons for more flashiness to draw a player's eye.

Do map models support animations? A few of the parts rotate, and the 'arms' can articulate a little. That in itself can help. Plus, I can maybe throw in death animations.

Speaking of which, I can probably save myself a lot of trouble making it breakable and explodeable if I keep it in mind from the start. What was in mind for that? What parts should break? Does shooting different parts destroy different areas?

[Mattn]

Do map models support animations? A few of the parts rotate, and the 'arms' can articulate a little. That in itself can help. Plus, I can maybe throw in death animations.

yes they, do

all they need is a anm file (like e.g. the characters) that defines an animation name and the frames. you then just use the correct animation name in the misc_model parameter settings in gtkradiant

[Psawhn]

yes they, do

all they need is a anm file (like e.g. the characters) that defines an animation name and the frames. you then just use the correct animation name in the misc_model parameter settings in gtkradiant

That's good. How about triggering animations upon an event, like death of the model?

[Mattn]

death of a model can't be triggered for static misc_models right now - they are just known by the client, the server doesn't load them and they are not client-server communicated.