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XCOMUFO & Xenocide

ART - Environmental Models


Breunor

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Finished the roofing for that model the other day, it consists of single sided groups. Each piece covers the 1 square meter of floor below it. The pieces around the edge are a little bigger to provide overhang, covering the tops of the walls. I'll post a shot when I'm home and have a chance. Wanted to post my thoughts about naming for flooring and roofing here:

 

floor1-2-6

roof3-7

 

So for the flooring, you have the type, what floor it's on, what row it's on starting from the front of the model, then the occurance of that piece in the array counting from left to right. So the example would be on the first floor, second row, sixth piece from the left.

 

The roofing doesn't need a floor ID since there's only 1. It only needs the row and occurance within the array. Otherwise it's the same as the flooring.

 

If memory serves me right, the roof added up to 115 groups and 330 polys. The flooring is 99 groups and 198 polys. 11 sections across by 9 sections deep=99 pieces, plus the 2 by 8 porch. No flooring on the porch. 2 copies of the flooring are needed here, so I guess I'll be renaming those copies :crying:

 

The interior walls can use the same system as the flooring, with an additional designation for walls aligned north/south versus east/west. An example would be:

inwall1N-2-5

inwall= interior wall piece

1N=first floor, north/south piece (aligned along the Y axis (Z axis in Milkshape))

2=second row starting from the front of the model

5=fifth section in that row

 

How does this sound to everybody?

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Finished the interior walls for the first floor including doors and stairs. Had to make some adjustments due to the 128 group limit in Milkshape. It's currently at 125 groups. Had to remove some windows, and I'm pretty sure I'll need to fix the doors, which are not saved with their pivot points on the Z axis. I used a wallpaper texture I had, it's not that I like the pattern mind you, but it shows up the best for a screen shot like this. To provide more room for groups, I'll probably remove the porch section and save it as its own model. Then I could use the original number of windows. This building is a generic template, I plan to remove sections to reshape it, and apply different textures to create a variety of buildings from it. This will provide a generic group of buildings, and I can then start customizing them to expand on that group and create some regoinal differences.

1stfloor.jpg

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Also, does anyone have comments or suggestions regarding the naming conventions for parts of the model mentioned above? I'm not familiar with what should be used, and don't want to make lots of stuff that has to be renamed later. Are parts exclusive to the parent model, or does everything in the battlescape need different names? As an example, if I have 2 houses, each have a front door, do I need to name the door sections differently, or can they be the same since they are part of buildings that have different names?
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I don't know the proper naming convention for models, but I'd say using where in the world the building will be, the main texture colour and how many floors it should be associated with would give anyone looking at the name a good idea of what the model is.

 

I used a similar system for the naming of the geoscape items.

Example below, is Xnet_menubut_lit_down.png

post-29-1048857763.png

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Drewid suggested the following system, similar to your suggestion Deimos:

 

HHUS_doorway

HBEU_wall

 

The prefix tells what kind of model and which continent it would be in, HumanHouseUnitedStates and HumanBusinessEurope as examples. If all the pieces are in the same directory, they would sort alphabetically for easier reference that way.

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For those who are on the sourceforge list for these models, are there any updates or new items being worked on? A couple new people have been asking what's available to do, so when people have a chance please update the status of work in progress or add new tasks you're working on at this point.

 

For those who are not currently on this list but have items they wish to offer or work on, check out sourceforge.net/projects/xenocide and check out the tasks in the arts department. If you have items to add/include post screen shots here and ask to be put on the sourceforge list, and we'll get this puppy a rollin'.

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well it's late so I'll keep this short, I whipped up a wall section for an alien ship. It's a version with a console on it, it needs a better metal texture, and some buttons or something, but it's a rough idea. Let me know what you think, if I am on the right track, or maybe someone has worked on this already. The Console is 60 Pollys so I can probably add something to it, I think even with some buttons on it, it would still look kinda plain.... I plan to add more colors to the display too, but as I have said it's late, just wanted to get this up...

 

I have a little web server running from home at http://lambers.hopto.org for use on this project, the pics (if the post here dosen't work) are at http://lambers.hopto.org/xenocide_pics.htm

 

This is a close up pic, follow that link for one more pic, like the battlescape view of it.

 

thanx all, let me know what you think.

 

-Lambers

post-29-1049181060_thumb.jpg

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It looks good. Is the display recessed a bit into the wall? I'm guessing that's why it's 60 polys at this point. I think many would suggest keeping the wall flat and just apply a texture to it for the display as well as for the buttons. With the close-up view the panel looks like it's recessed, which is nice, but with the battlescape view you really can't tell.

 

By no means am I trying to tell you what to do/not do, but my comment would be to minimize the polys for wall sections whenever possible. After deleting faces you can't see from the isometric perspective, the section should be around 18 triangles minimum. But again, if the only way to get the look you want is with more, certainly use what you need.

 

What software are you using to make your stuff with? There's been some talk about whether everybody's working at the same scale between programs. Here's a link to a 3ds file of a block which takes up the space of one wall section by one floor section. It's 40"x40" for flooring, and 100" tall (~1 meter square by 2.5 meters tall). If you're using something other than Milkshape for modelling, could you PM me and let me know how it compares in your app?

 

Thanks, and good work on the model!

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Excelent, thats exactly what I wanted to know. As I have said before I have never worked on a game before, I wasn't sure how much detail was needed. I'm sure I can cut that wall section down. I'm using 3DS Max 5, and I had no problems with the scale. I think it is a very apropriot scale, after all, that piece of wall is rather small once it gets into the game. Feels right to me. I got the wall section and the block, and that console section I made last night is the same size as the wall section (with the window) Now that I know about what you are looking for, I'm gonna whip up a bunch of variations of alien walls and maybe throw togeather a sample ship, how are you doing flooring? Will the flooring in game be just bitmaps, or actual 3d models, I'm not really sure if I do a sample alien ship how I should go about that ( kind of a newb to some of this :) )

 

Anyway thanx for the feedback, and don't worry about trying to tell me what or what not to do, you guys know more about this than I do, I'm just here to help, and I'm laid back anyway so no worries :)

 

-Lambers

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Guest drewid

Yah nice one. Like it

 

With things like picture and overlaid panels don't float it over the wall panel on a seperate polygon. If it is too close we will possibly get z-buffer fighting artifacts at certain distances.

 

It's worth sacrificing a few extra polys to make it part of the wall. (it should only add 6 at most) or cut a hole in the wall that matches exactly.

 

Bruenor is right about losing polys as well. Once we are isometric if there are any ocverhangs then you won't see the under-surface.

 

 

keep it up

 

-Drewid

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Guest drewid

sorry and another one.

 

if you take the back of the sticky out console bit , and make it as wide as the front of the wall panel you'll save 4 more. also if you are using grid snap you should be able to make the bevelled sides of the panel 2 polys without any gaps showing :-)

 

 

regards

-Drewid

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Since you'd have to make the floor pretty thick to even notice it in game, I'm just making square sections from 2 upward-facing triangles, on a single plane, for the flooring. I had thought about side edges for realism, but that increases the polys from 2 to 10 per section, seemed like a waste to me. You'd have to make the floors really thick to notice it, and it doesn't serve any purpose. The roofing is the same, each piece covers a 40"x40" section of flooring below. Easy for me, making a shingled roof to a typical house. Making alien spacecraft, your mileage may vary. Once I have my new web page up, I'll put all the model pieces I've made so far on it for people to use/check out.

 

Personally I think people should submit some artwork of alien craft designs rather than remaking the ones from the original. At some point there's a legal issue with X-Com's owner if we keep making things too close to the original. I think artwork is a key point for resolving that, since the mechanics of game play can resemble the original using our own, original code. But if the artwork is too close to the original, there could be a problem. The GUI is looking good and is different enough to be safe, but in particular the units and spacecraft need to be different enough to avoid legal issues. How different, I don't know.

 

If you make pieces for the alien craft that fit together, you can piece together a variety of craft based on artwork submissions. We hope to have a repository of modular model pieces that we can all download to use. Then we all can make ships-who says a small ufo can't have 20 variations on it? These models don't take up a lot of space, so I think a couple variations would be nice. Particularly on larger craft, you wouldn't know for sure the layout as you enter it every time, adds to the fun I think.

 

My thought on your panel was to just use a single box for the wall and another for the panel sticking out, and apply a texture to it to make the display section. I think it would look good using something akin to Star Trek-looking panels, those all seemed to be flush along the panel's surface. Did that window model import standing upright, or did you have to rotate it in any way? I ask because Milkshape uses the Y axis for up/down, and Z for front/back.

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ok, where to start. Well I am at work right now and I plan to revise that panel tonight. after that I may not venture into the alien stuff right away... I think it might be better to brain storm a look, I don't feel satisfied with that piece... I'm thinking more ergonomic would be better for aliens, although that most likely means more pollys than just a few squares.

 

I guess I am just pumped to be working on something worth while, just wanted to start, LOL. I'm sure I can cut the pollys on that, as I said I have never worked on a game B4. I have only ever done my renderings and animations right from Max, so I'm not used to polly budgets or even what is resonable. I just bumped into this a few days ago and I have already learned a TON! Great fun :)

 

I for one, would really benefit from some more examples of flooring and walls and doors and anything else, so the posting on the web site thing is a GREAT idea.

 

As far as your question about the model and how it imported to Max... Yes I had to rotate it, it was lying on it's side (well flat) Anyway I'm pretty sure I can reset the axis to the way it is in milkshape if need be, once again, I never export models so I'm not to educated on how things work, (orientation, textures) but I can make the models and making those types of changes is pretty easy for the most part, so no worries.

 

OK, I think thats all.... :)

 

-Lambers

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Just thought of something else... The whole aliens invading concept. In Xcom, the aliens seemed to only terrorize cities with 4 or 5 houses and 1 gas station... LOL... get my drift. It would be very kewl to include say... a post office, city hall, general store (walmartish?) or even some land marks, say capitol buildings, airbases, government facilities... of course it's not practicle to include EVERYTHING, but those were a few things I was tossing around. Also I think it should feel more like the people near a UFO crash should be a bit more... um... "caught with their pants down" In the origional it seems the country folk had qurentined the place already.

 

A few ideas.

 

-Lambers

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Guest stewart
Lambers go to the game aids forum and grab the basic map editor (really a map rearranger) you can realize some of these ideas with XCOM now to see what you think.
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With things like picture and overlaid panels don't float it over the wall panel on a seperate polygon. If it is too close we will possibly get z-buffer fighting artifacts at certain distances.

Holy shuckeroonies.... drew you should know by now that you shouldnt wake the z-fighting bug deamon :devillaugh: , so when you talk about him do it in low voice. shhhhh .... It is the nastiest to handle.... :erm:

 

Greetings

Red Knight

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Guest drewid

The z-fighting bug demon is a pussy cat. :uzzi:

 

The worst one is the dark angel of demos..... :devilsmile:

 

"Hello mr suit come and have a look at our game which hasn't crashed for a month ... as you can see " >fooom<

 

Hey Lambers. during Alliance the idea came up that the Sectiods were into hexagons, like all our houses are square, all theirs are hexagonal like a honeycombe. Their writing was all hexes, the floor textures on the sectiod homeworld,they had hex-caste symbols on their foreheads........

 

Perhaps we could base the ship designs on hexes too, that would still give us wall blocks that are easily destroyable, but gets us away from the x-com octagonal thing. (could be a real hexagon, but close enough.

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There was discussion early in this thread about customizing the look of battlescapes to match the region by using different textures, architectural features, and even creating landmark buildings that would be relevant to the area. I agree with making the terror sites larger, as the aliens would land someplace a bit larger than Mayberry. The main limiting factor will be processing power I think, we could easily have 20-30 buildings and other terrain features, and the poly count would be well over 50K. Once we have the elements ready and the coding permits, we can create a sample town to see how it works in the demo. Of course, that's some time off at this point.

 

As to alien ship design, why not use some theory from Buckminster Fuller? This site talks about his geodesic dome structures, I've been in a couple houses made from them and they are really cool. The concept is that the dome takes the least amount of surface area so it's efficient on materials and energy transfer, and it's built from triangles (how convenient for 3D modelling!) which provides the maximum strength. You could make modular pieces for different designs, and it would have a strong honeycomb effect as well. In real life, these structures need no interior load-bearing walls, so the insides are made any way you like. Sounds like a good design for a modular transport vehicle, eh? In particular, I could see Sectoids using this type of UFO.

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Guest drewid

OK back to topic.

 

Object counts matter as much as poly count depending on how off-camera objects are being culled. (Taken out of the drawing process before it is passed to the renderer)

 

It might be possible to cull objects as groups (say a whole buildings, or even groups of buildings) rather than as individual objects. which would obviously be quicker

I'll bet RK has this covered already:-)

 

poly counts on screen shouldn't be -too- bad because of the viewpoint. and should be reasonably consistent, with a known top limit.

 

Its going to help if we can keep the textures down to a level where that can all fit on the video card.

 

Large terror sites are OK -so long as you don't have to hunt for too long to find that last alien hiding in the toilets.

 

I like the buckydome idea for ships, as long as it's not a headache to build and blow chunks out of. I suppose we could come up with repeatable wall chunks which will tile, then we just blow a whole chunk away, same as with the hunam buildings.

 

That'll need a bit of R&D, but I have to say that would look sooooooooooo coooooollll that I'd vote for it.

 

we'd also have to check with RK that it would work with LOS code and any other clever codey stuff he's doing.

 

Damn that would look good tho, I can see it in my head already with light glittering off the panels.

 

Lambers & Bruenor. The whole orientation thing could be a problem if someone is turning out hundreds of objects, It'd be a drag to have to go back and reorient them all, any ideas about how we can fix it? (apart from medelling everything lying down). I'm not sure if the exporters take the model orientation from the model pivot point or the world axes.

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Now that I know my items are importing based on the world axes' orientation, I can model everything based on Z being up/down. I haven't checked yet, but maybe there's even an option in Milkshape to swap the Y and Z axes. If not, I have no problem with making my model as is, then rotating everything 90 degrees before I export it to 3ds format. The last I heard however, was that we're using the Milkshape scene file format, ms3d. So after exporting the model I'll rotate back to where I had it and save the scene.

 

As to modular chunks for the GeoDome concept, the triangular buildings sections are normally assembled into a pentagon-chunk before being bolted into the main structure. This could serve as the building block for craft. I can make a piece at work and email it to anybody who wants one, but can't post it till this weekend at the earliest (our home Internet connection is down). The chuck is not flat when you put the 5 triangles together, it makes an interesting bulge when they're tiled together. I'll make one and post it in a bit.

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I was doing a little research on the whole orientation thing, and it seems there is no way to re-assign axis (is that the plural?) in 3ds max, and as far as I can tell there is no correction. There seems to be alot of programs that don't agree on up and down, and all it would take was a quick rewrite of the export code (IE switch the 3rd co-ord with the 2nd) but as of yet I have found nothing that would help. so... I'm gonna keep looking and if all else fails I'll switch to milkshape, can't be that different :) Not a problem right now since all I have finished is the one wall section, I have revised it, just didn't get a chance to take pics, didn't look at a polly count but I am sure it's alot less. I may tinker with a few other model ideas (mailboxes, dumpsters, Phone booths, desks, chairs, boxes, store shelves...) while I'm trying to see whats up with the orientation thing. I think there was some one else using max too, it would be handy to see what each of the modelers is using. Thats all I got now... beat X-com again today :)

 

-Lambers

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If you've been using 3ds for a while, you'll probably want to stick with it, things are done quite a bit differently from what I've picked up. We shouldn't need to worry about rotating objects as we import really. You'd spend a lot more time learning a new program than you would rotating pieces from Milkshape I expect.

 

Here's a quick and dirty example of that wall section I mentioned. It's not exact, so you'd need to make your own to use, this is just as reference. Each triangle piece should be an equilateral triangle, each side is the same length. When the outside corners are connected, the inside points overlap, so they have to extend up to meet at one point. If my brain is working right, you can duplicate one piece and rotate it 72 degrees on the z axis, then connect the dots along the outside edge. Then drag the center points outsome and snap them together. There's probably a more automated method out there.

geochunk.jpg

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I don't know about other apps, but Milkshape has a geosphere object, same as box, sphere, etc. You can create one then remove faces you don't need to make these chunks, I just wasted some time doing it by hand! Always learning, always learning...
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Object counts matter as much as poly count depending on how off-camera objects are being culled. (Taken out of the drawing process before it is passed to the renderer)

 

It might be possible to cull objects as groups (say a whole buildings, or even groups of buildings)  rather than as individual objects. which would obviously be quicker

I'll bet RK has this covered already:-)

 

poly counts on screen shouldn't be -too- bad because of the viewpoint. and should be reasonably consistent, with a known top limit.

About culling, i have already implemented a culling mechanism into the engine... Currently it just returns "render it" for whatever object you ask it to (i am using the most conservative approach, always render :P), but i had made it flexible enough to handle whatever culling method you would like to use... BSP, special tailored culling methods for height field rendering, octrees, etc... You only have to program those methods and trigger the rendering for every inside object... That was the reason i had started programming an engine on the first time, most engines want to do things fast so they make a lot of assumtions regarding culling methods and sometimes you cant do some things you would like to do (for instance i couldnt do a dynamically generated height field on an FPS engine cause it was too much tied to BSP rendering).

 

Its going to help if we can keep the textures down to a level where that can all fit on the video card.
Thats up to you guys the only thing that i can do with that is try to manage better the video memory and some caching scheme.

 

we'd also have to check with RK that it would work with LOS code and any other clever codey stuff he's doing.
I think that you mispelled LOD when you write LOS... right now im only doing LOD at texture level with mip-mapping. If we have to, because of performance issues, introduce LOD schemes for models someone (i guess it will be me until we get another graphics programmer) will have to implement it...

 

Greetings

Red Knight

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Guest drewid

The how the hexes will work thing is still nagging at me a bit.

 

I vote we still need to make UFOs out of chunks similar to the other buildings wall-sections. just cos it simplifies the destruction code. (chunk_wall becomes chunk_damaged_wall becomes chunk_destroyed_wall). those chunks could be pentagons or hexes, but we need to make sure we don't end up with a different set of destruction blocks for every lil chunk of ufo.

 

I guess we should make a difference between chunks that are off the ground and chunks on the ground........hmmmm :huh: .........I suppose if an off ground chunk gets destroyed it vapourises and all the chunks around it get blackened and damaged. An on-ground chunk can leave a pile of debris. this would prolly work in a similar way on other structures, so the code isn't special case (ugh).

 

Lambers - Axis is singular axes is plural :D

 

You can realign axis per object in Max but I've never seen an option anywhere for worldspace, but then I've never looked

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You have a lot more experience in this than I do Drewid, so maybe I'm way off here. But in Milkshape, as I'm making the model I can group the faces together in such a way that regardless of whether the building/ship is made of rectangles, triangles, or polygons, I can remove a relatively 'rectangle' piece at a time. Taking that sample above, say that's an approximate 1 meter section. I can put 2 together and add some filler triangles along the edges, and have a piece that's very close to the standard wall section. As long as the openings are consistent throughout the model and large enough for a unit to get through, I think we should be OK. But again, I'm green when it comes to this, so I may be way off or missing the point somewhere as well.

 

In regard to debris and damage to parts, could we make it so that no matter where the piece is, when it's destroyed it's replaced with a debris/rubble model that will drop or settle to the next floor or ground surface? It's my understanding that some method will be developed to deal with buildings where the entire first floor was destroyed, yet the rest of the building is floating in the air. If the building could settle/collapse after a certain amount of support is removed, maybe that same code could allow the rubble to settle as well? I agree with applying a blackened alpha layer to the textures of surrounding pieces when a wall section is destroyed, supposedly all we need to do is make a transparent image layer that can be applied by code as needed.

 

All my textures are in bmp format right now, but I can convert them en mass to png. Should I assume that png is smaller for the same quality?

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All my textures are in bmp format right now, but I can convert them en mass to png. Should I assume that png is smaller for the same quality?

Yes, they will be far smaller than BMP...

 

Greetings

Red Knight

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This is a duplicate posting that's relevant to this thread as well. The asset list is a table of all the 3d models we've completed to date, or are working on. Everybody please send me a private message with any data you can provide, so we can get this up and running:

 

I've finished the FAQ and sent Micah a message to coordinate getting the page posted. I've also completed the layout of the asset list, and have put some samples on it. Both are html, and the asset list is in table format. I'll be tweaking it as I go, but I think it's in a presentable format now. I'll ask Micah about permission to post that web page as well. For now, everybody can send me private messages regarding the pieces they have done/ are working on. I'll cross post this to the environmental model thread as well. The current format I'm using is what you suggested Drewid:

 

Type of Mission Asset Type Asset Name Assigned To Completed?

Crash Site Wall HP_NA_wall.3ds Breunor Yes

 

The prefixes in the name (for now) are:

HP/AP=human part or alien part

NA/SA/AF/AS/EU/AU/NS=continent:North America, South America, Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, North-South Poles

 

If these prefixes aren't enough to keep names unique, we'll start adding a number to the end, or make it more descriptive, like redbrickwall01.3ds.

 

Once I get permission/instructions to get this web page to Micah, everybody will get a better idea of how this looks, and we can start organizing this monster. :D

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Guest drewid
You have a lot more experience in this than I do Drewid, so maybe I'm way off here. But in Milkshape, as I'm making the model I can group the faces together in such a way that regardless of whether the building/ship is made of rectangles, triangles, or polygons, I can remove a relatively 'rectangle' piece at a time. Taking that sample above, say that's an approximate 1 meter section. I can put 2 together and add some filler triangles along the edges, and have a piece that's very close to the standard wall section. As long as the openings are consistent throughout the model and large enough for a unit to get through, I think we should be OK. But again, I'm green when it comes to this, so I may be way off or missing the point somewhere as well.

 

In regard to debris and damage to parts, could we make it so that no matter where the piece is, when it's destroyed it's replaced with a debris/rubble model that will drop or settle to the next floor or ground surface? It's my understanding that some method will be developed to deal with buildings where the entire first floor was destroyed, yet the rest of the building is floating in the air. If the building could settle/collapse after a certain amount of support is removed, maybe that same code could allow the rubble to settle as well? I agree with applying a blackened alpha layer to the textures of surrounding pieces when a wall section is destroyed, supposedly all we need to do is make a transparent image layer that can be applied by code as needed.

 

All my textures are in bmp format right now, but I can convert them en mass to png. Should I assume that png is smaller for the same quality?

Yeah the filler triangle thing would work hhhhmmmmmmmmm

don't forget tho a geoshpere is mostly hexes. an icosahedron only ever has five pentagonal poles. not that that really matters cos we could build it out of either.

 

I can't see in my head how pents would work, I'm stuck in thinking in a particular way that I probably shoudln't be. If you can do one I can have a look at then I'll prolly get it.

 

We could do the tardis wall thing. like the pic.... but I don't know how you'd get it to curve in higher up to make a dome. unless you just did that as a roof.

 

debris - we could have it settling possible if we are running simple physics which stops when the Y=0. stuff would go through floor and walls, but there'd be a big explosion going on so you wouldn't see it.

 

 

BMP - bmp is uncompressed and I think the headers are quite big, I've not use png before so I don't know what the compression options are and I don't know how lossy any compression is. The textures won't be compressed when in RAM, at least not when on the card.

A 256 square texture, 24 bit, (No Alpha) 256 x 256 x 24 = 196608bytes = 192K

The alpha version would be 256k, so 4 of these is 1 Meg, (it soon adds up!)

post-29-1049462686_thumb.jpg

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This Java applet shows how the sphere is made based off of pentagons and hexagons (icosahedron), just came across it. A very cool step by step of making a structure using it. Since the tool in my app used the dodecahedron (hexagon) version, I tried a sample with it. I tried posting a shot here, but it's not allowing me. Later I'll put them on a web page. For now, there's a pic at the homepage of domes.com that shows the pentagon section for the house.
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For those who haven't already done so, check out the thread about the asset list in this forum, and let me know what items you're working on based on that format. I think this will help us out with organizing our efforts. Thanks,

Breunor

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Guest drewid

The only thing I was thinking was how many blocks it's going to end up as.

 

If we did it like "whole -> damaged -> destroyed" then it could end up as a lot of specific blocks, which makes the possibility of getting it wrong somewhere along the pipeline greater.

 

When you break the thing up does it come down to a small number of similar blocks or are large number of specific blocks.

 

We could do the damaged version on the texture which would make it easier....

 

I'll look at the applet later, cos I've got to go out now.

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Red Knight was thinking about an alpha layer for bullet holes/damage on objects. I see what you mean about the issue of too many unique pieces, a hexagon based system would very likely build with fewer unique parts. If anybody wants to give it a try, I need to finish the house parts I'm working on. I'm too easily distracted, and start lots of things, finishing few. So I'm off to break that pattern,

Breunor

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Guest drewid

good for you.

 

I'll keep thinking about it and see if anything comes to mind that'll make it work without too much hassle.....

 

It's such a nice idea I think It's gotta be done

 

-Drewid

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Here are some shots of my inability to focus on just one thing :P The first two are the start of an UFO based off of a geosphere, the third shot is a house-in-progress using both 6 and 5 sided polys. Shot 1:

1.jpg

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I agree with you Drewid that there aren't many repeating pieces in that model, so I guess that would require more memory. To give it some scale, there's anough room for units to walk within the wing section of the model, the whole thing would be 2 or 3 stories tall. Not much to look at, it was more just a test to see how the triangles would work.
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  • 2 months later...

Some time ago there was discussion about the "other" models in the game, all the props needed for the battlescape beyond the units, craft, and weapons. I wanted to start getting a better list of these items together for the assetlist, so this area doesn't fall behind in development. To start off, we need a list of items to design, and that list can be broken down into several categories: human base props, alien base props, plant/flora props, animal/fauna props, building props, and outdoor props.

 

What we can do here, I'll start the lists in this post, and then edit in suggestions people make as the replies come in. Then everybody can just check this first post for the current status. Once we have a fairly complete list, that can be copied into the assetlist, and we can get into the concept art for items and then the models. Several items have been modeled already and could be used for reference, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

 

HUMAN BASE PROPS

Lab Equipment-test tubes, microscopes

Computer Consoles and chairs

Chairs, couches for living quarters

Multi-monitor PCs

Workshop- Drill press, lathes, automated robot arms like those used in car factory lines perhaps?

 

ALIEN BASE PROPS (includes ufo props)

Nav Control panels

harvester cryo chambers, various holding tubes

food chambers

alien entertainment

surgery/examination room

power sources

light/environmental regulators (alien version of a ventilation system, stand-alone systems. picture big lava lamps! :D )

armory racks in a UFO

 

PLANTS/FLORA

Trees-cacti, succulent(jungle), deciduous, evergreen, small and large of each, with leafless/burnt versions

Bushes-

Various Crop Circles

Various Crop field tiles

 

ANIMALS/FAUNA

Dogs, Cats

Horses, Cows (for farm crash sites)

Mutilated Cow!

 

BUILDING PROPS (walls, flooring, and roofing based on 1 meter sections)

Wall section (mostly texture swapping here)

Floor section (texture swap)

Roofing (texture swap)

Doors

Windows

Railing/Fencing

Stairs

Furniture (recycled as base furniture where appropriate)

storage crates (for warehouse mazes)

display counters in shops

Specialty items (cultural variation items*)

 

OUTDOOR PROPS

Streetlights, traffic lights

Fire Hydrants, mailboxes

Benches

Signs, billboards

Sidewalk/curb for street tiles

Barrels/garbage cans/dumpsters

Gas Pumps ( :devillaugh: ) and other gas station facilities

 

 

*Cultural variation items: Having generic pieces will make building looks too similar, even with different textures IMO. These extra items can be little extras that add stylistic elements that textures can't do alone.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey, I'm actually the first one to come up with something here!! Wooohooo! :D

This is a bench I just did, front one is flat shaded, the rear ones I just gave some material to see what it would give.

If there's any comment (maybe it can't be used with current tile size, I made it 1 metre wide as I thought that's tile size, but I'm not sure the engine still is going to be tile based) please let me know.

Oh yeah, model is 72 poly's

 

I resized the image to be 320*240 instead of 640*480, still seems enough for what it is.

Bench1.jpg

Edited by j'ordos
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I like those! Nice angled legs on the table. For the bench, the model imports with a single leg, so I suggest that it be centered on the seating area, so that you'd have at least 2 side by side, and the seat would be centered over the legs that way. Single pieces could also be used for seating around a picnic table as well, similar to fast food places around here.

 

Keep up the good work! I'll upload these to the assetlist.

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I tried a book case here, but what about books? Are they going to be separate models? Should I incorporate them in this model? Or is it going to be as a texture?

This one has a polycount of 130, but I made some doorknobs, without those it's 118 poly's

Bookshelf1.jpg

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Keep up the good work J'ordos They're looking good.

 

I particularly like the single legged bench, very 'designer' :)

 

As for the bookshelf Maybe model up a simple 'book' with four or five different coloured textures and then we can populate the bookshelfs and keep it random looking.

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