Wolf Revision

[xMetalKitten]

First off, this isn't so much a request as some suggestions and observations I've made. This is for those of you who are up to the task of creating a much more realistic wolf mod, or those who have some free time on their hands and are in that "why not" mood.

 

Secondly, I can't recall if I've ever made a post on this forum. If I have, I'm sure it's only my third or fourth. If not, sorry for the many months of lurking. :biggrin:

 

Now down to business. There are many wolf mods on the New Vegas Nexus, either adding a model to the wasteland or giving you the privilege of having one as a companion. I call it a privilege because hey, who doesn't go up a couple notches on the badass scale when a wolf is never more than a few feet away from you?

 

Anyway, I like these mods. Perhaps they're unrealistic in the sense that no one could ever tame a wolf in such a way, but I like to think my character is magic. Which leaves only the aesthetic things to judge on realism. I've noticed many things about the models. Many are simply Legion mongrels in a new grey version, or dogs in a new grey version. And this is fine, I don't expect much more. They do represent a wolf quite well. However, when compared to an actual wolf, they fall quite short. And I don't expect a perfectly realistic wolf, nothing in the Fallout universe is perfectly realistic and that's partly what makes it Fallout. But I think with some effort, the community can do better. I say the community, because I am not exactly up to this task, and thus I've found myself in the request forum. :smile: I have modding experience, but it's minimal. Some houses, a half finished companion, etc. All things that can be done in the GECK alone. As for creating or even editing models and textures, I find myself lost. I'll say more on that in a moment, but for now, here's a list of things that can help create a more realistic wolf.

 

1. Position of the head.

In most wolf, or mongrel, models (and even vanilla models of coyotes and dogs), the head seems to be an extension of the body, simply jutting from the shoulders and torso out in front of the rest of the body. You can see this here. A real wolf, when standing still, holds its head noticeably higher, as seen here. So, perhaps changing the model of the wolf (while in a still, standing position) to make the head raised more will produce a more realistic wolf model in the Fallout world.

 

2. Texture/Coloring.

Obviously the Legion mongrel is not the color of wolves people are accustomed to. However the wolf mods I see on the Nexus are often just a change to a solid grey or black color. As shown in the picture of the wolf found above, the coloring of wolves has many values and different hues in it. *This is something I may actually be able to help. I have experience in graphic design, at least enough to be able to change a texture to be more realistic. If someone could point me in the right direction to help me learn how exactly the textures work and how they transfer from a file in photoshop, to going on a model and eventually being in-game, I may be able to do this.* Anyway, more specific texturing will also aid in bringing a true wolf to the wasteland.

 

3. Meh everything else.

There are a few minor things that could be improved (on all canine-ish models) to help boost realism. Most "claws" in the game are just pointy extensions of the feet, whereas anyone who has seen a dog is incorrect. Ideally, they should be small "hook" shapes. Ideally, they'd have more of a bushy mane type hair growth around their necks instead of the ugly mess of hair the mongrels have. Obviously these are very minor things that most people would never notice and even I don't really care, but in the interest of producing the most realistic wolf around it could be done at some point. However as minor as they are, other flaws take top priority.

 

Once again, this isn't much of a request. More of a "here, try this, maybe". If anyone has any links for me that could aid me in tackling this, that'd be fantastic. Anything related to dealing with textures and meshes/models would help. Even with the help of articles or tutorials it'd take me a while to do this, due to my laziness and inconsistently hectic/not hectic at all schedule. But at some point, I would get this done.

 

Thanks for any help, suggestions, etc. that you provide, and thanks for reading (assuming you read at least most of this babble)!