[WIP] My projects...

[Syndharos]

OMG and now I want that "Doomhammer's Hammer" too! :woot:

[ghosu]

Haha well...i was thinking 'bout creating a whole weapon pack instead of releasing the 2h hammer alone. Would take much longer of course, want at least 10 new weapons and my old ones in it.

[ghosu]

Hello

 

Well i've got a little idea i'm working on...as some of you may know i like to take on user requests, in fact all my existing mods are requested ones (even those that are not mentioned in the release list). My problem: I LOVE modeling but i really really hate texturing...when i think 'bout the whole creation process i guess at least half of the time (even more) is reserved for texturing - and i'm even not good at that. So the whole creation process takes me hours, i've got some kind of sickness - i can't stay focused on things that take hours, it REALLY drives me crazy. An excellent texture would take a lot of time, not talking 'bout the creation of a good UV map as well - stuff like that drives me mad...i even change my job very often :D

 

Whatever, my idea is to save time...a lot of time. There are tons of requests in the request board, thousands and i guess less than 1% will be fulfilled. So my idea is to more or less skip the texture process and use seamless material structures. No more wasted time on UV maps, photoshop and whatever - Modeling, Nifskope, CK - done. In exchange the textures look not that good like real handmade ones ... in 3rd view it looks nice, my aim is that it looks at least good in 1stperson.

 

So i will try to add more details in the modeling process...of course that needs more polygons, my first modeling attempts were limited to a few hundred polygons 'cause i was not sure 'bout the performance when using thousands. But i've seen single weapons with 100k polygons and they worked fine...of course i don't want that much but even my computer has no problems with something around 10k - ATI 5770, E6400, 2GB memory - really old rig.

 

I'm pretty sure it will look good with a good set of seamless textures (lets say 10 versions of each material for some variety) and more details in the modeling process / normal map. Just a small example, this is no final thing just first steps:

 

http://666kb.com/i/c2o0ogpcfwau28n1d.jpg

 

Leather and wood look terrible atm - these are no seamless textures, haven't got one yet just used something from an old weapon. So they will be replaced and a normal map for the wolf head, as well i will wrap a leather band around the handle to avoid the flat leather surface. Or some kind of small leather or metal band for a better transition.

 

Will spend much more time on the right NifSkope material settings and i have to collect some awesome textures..so this will take some days but finally i hope to create pretty much any weapon within 1 hour (i'm not talking 'bout really really fancy fantasy stuff) - the complete process. Contra: Less detailed textures, mostly visible in 1stperson Pro: Saves a lot of time so i can fullfill many more requests (even stuff that no one would do) AND i can spend more time on stuff i like. I'm also thinking 'bout doing a video tutorial that shows even inexperienced users how to change material settings...this hammer is divided into 6 parts, so you can change the material color of the screws within seconds...or the metal color or whatever, you could even change the whole texture. My old models only had one or two parts with a more complicated texture on it, no chance for fine tuning.

 

Of course no competition for handmade textures and many of these excellent weapon packs around here...but a good option. So yeah...just some of my thoughts :D

 

EDIT: Another thing, maybe an experienced modder comes around: The problem with seamless/repeating textures: I can't add details to the texture itself like scratches 'cause they would be all over the model. Is there a way to add a whole texture to the model? Lets say the hammer is made of 6 parts, all combined in NifSkope...then i melt all 6 parts in my 3D editor, create a new UV map/texture and import it To NifSkope...now i make the model invisible, only the texture is visible over my original seamless textures - now i make it transparent ... or use the alpha channel ... or whatever to add details like scratches...would something like that work?

 

greetings

Edited April 4, 2012 by ghosu

[Urwy]

Glad you decided to share those thoughts, as im eager to see how it works out. :)

[Syndharos]

Hmm I liked the idea, and in fact I dont realy think the texture to be the most important of those itens you make... since they are all so outstanding and completely new they always cativate us, in fact for texturing I believe in a simple formula that Rolling Stones told us a long time ago:

 

"Paint it Black"

 

Believe me, most of the things that have black/gray/silver/red are very welcome by most of ppl. and that just talking about colors.

In texture the leather/metalic or glowing aspect, in most thigs, also work fine, withou need of much details

Too bad that I am completely useless about those modder terms like "alpha chanel" "seamless" and that kind of stuff, so I cant say about that :(

 

Sry if my coments aint that constructive or of no much help at all, I just cant help about say what I think and like :D

 

GL on your weapon pack, dont know if you have many other weapons in mind or will just grab stuff from the request, but if you allow me I have one more weapon request that I just dont want to put on the forum becouse I dont feel like to let anyone make stuff that I want. I rather choose ppl that I beleive skilled enough to make it and try asking for it :whistling:

 

PS: in fact I have 3 more request but 2 of them I dont know if possible becouse there is nothing like that in game and I just know one mod that made something similar :(

just let me know and I will PM you about it

Edited April 4, 2012 by Syndharos

[ghosu]

Jeah, drop a PM...but as always: I can't guarantee anything :D

If i make a pack i've got a few slots reserved already but some are still free...i'm mainly focused on not so ordinary weapons BUT no hardcore fantasy stuff...more practical design ;)

Edited April 4, 2012 by ghosu

[ghosu]

So i played around a bit and i'm getting closer...will just edit the leather hilt a bit but the final look will be something like that.

 

http://666kb.com/i/c2o6ixtf0qhjhdswx.jpg

 

Compared to the minimal effort it looks quite ok, further experience will come with upcoming weapons and better textures...i'm still picking random ones 'cause i'm so damn lazy :D

Edited April 4, 2012 by ghosu

[Syndharos]

Ok pm sent, hope that aint too hardcore stuff, just osme ideas.

About the hammer: well I am not a very fan of wood weapons expt for clubs but they do look nice indeed, its just that I rather crush bones with something more "stone/metalic/" stuff.

But yeah seems very good considering the time as you said and rich in details.

[ghosu]

You see this is part of my idea...if i make a weapon pack it would come with many different textures that can be changed by the user. I would make a video tutorial how to do that, the weapons would be divided into parts so you can change each part. The hammer would be: Head, emblem, screws, handle, metal rings, leather handle, leather stripes...in fact you just have to open NifSkope, click on the part, open a folder structure and change the texture - that's doable for everyone. Of course there are many other settings for gloss and such stuff but all of that would fit into a 5min video, it's no big deal.

 

And not only talking 'bout a weapon pack, even when i create single user requested weapons i simply send them my finished model, they can download the texture pack and modify the weapon themselves - and keep the texture pack for future weapons...of course i have to collect "a few" free seamless textures, but that should be doable as well :D

Edited April 5, 2012 by ghosu

[SkjoldBjorn]

Well Ghosu you don't need nifskope for that though :) Just name all the textures with the same name and make folders named with the different colors or something, that way the users only need to copy-paste and overwrite to change textures :)