Springheel

Ok, I guess first things first; how do I open a .pk4 file?

Of my current list of modellers: Deep Omega: has logged on at least twice this week, but has not posted any replies to the pms I sent him. oDDity: no contact for at least three weeks oofnish: working on coding at the moment Jay Pettitt: still without regular internet access last I heard alan9000: unsure, he logged on in the last few days but no updates recently kyo: told me on Monday he was available to mod, but hasn't posted anything in the modelling forum like I asked. Fjonan: no word for over a month Phantom: no word for over a month So yes, I would say we have bit of a problem. I'm not entirely sure what to do about it. Especially since, AFAK, we don't actually HAVE any of the models they already finished. Just pretty pictures of them.

Great, thanks BT. I'm at work at the moment, so I can't check. Will I be able to open the files in PS?

I was thinking last night about the most effective way to get some of our models into the game for testing purposes. Then I remembered that our plan was to use some of the zombies already present in the game (since the model and animation are already done) with modified textures. I've also been looking for ways to try my hand at skinning. So in a brilliant flash of synthesis, I thought I would try my hand at creating custom skins for one of the zombies. Since I'll be modifying something that is already created, it won't stretch my limited skills as much, and we should be able to use it fairly easily in our mod tests once I'm done. However, I need someone's help, because I have absolutely no idea where to look for the relevant files. I need the UV map, the texture map at a minimum...I can make my own normal and specular (if they even use that). Can anyone tell me where to find those files? I'm thinking of the thin zombie with pants and no shirt (although the fat one will do in a pinch).

Well, if they aren't textures, then how were they made? Anyone mind if I send an email to the mod group and ask them on our behalf?

This looks very cool. I want those spider webs! Any idea how they might have accomplished that? http://mods.moddb.com/gallery/image/17163/ Come to think of it, are there spider webs already in D3?

Here are some screens from another D3 mod...our textures look better, but it's nice to see some city environments. Something like this is what we want for our main menu. http://mods.moddb.com/gallery/3906/

Looks good BT.

So, Frank, have you registered yet? I have lots of modelling jobs I'd be happy to give you, but it needs to be done through the forum, not email.

Well, keep in mind that these coins will be slightly bigger than a thumbprint. Not exactly something that's going to be that noticeable, even if there are history students playing. (the only people liable to recognize coins from the 18th century....)

Lol. Be my guest. I don't think anyone will be able to read it in-game though. Too small.

Ooo, I like this one even better! Let's make that our gold one.

Agreed. One could be silver and one gold. And then there is that funky egyptian one we could always include for foreign coins, if it matters. On second thought, that might be silly...chances are you won't make out any of the details anyway.

I think it looks great. One of the things we might have to consider is that some textures will need to go in more than one spot. If we are organizing them by 'environment' (like mansion, castle, etc), then many will be useable in more than one. Otherwise, we'll have to make very large folders, like "Stone surface".

I agree, but if we use the normalmap to create the illusion that they are slighly askew, and we keep the size of the stack low, it shouldn't matter.

The historical ones are perfectly centered and just waiting to be run through a normalmap filter. There's no point in redrawing them...we just have to choose which ones we like the best.

Here's another cool batch of Egyptian coins...might be neat to include the bottom two for some variety. Perhaps to put in ancient ruin missions. http://www.geocities.com/fareastwonders/CO...ns/egyptian.jpg

This is dying for the glowy yellow windows.

The overall concept right now is radially balanced. I couldn't shift things to the side without screwing up the balance. Well, I was thinking we would use our own city picture...that one is just a placeholder. Ours would hopefully look a little more steam-punk and less medieval. But we could always have moving parts in the background. Sure, something like that would be good. I added some gears around the clock (will look for more) and they could move as well when things are selected. For loading screens, could we do something where the clock and title remain, but the background changes to a screenshot of whatever map is loading? The hands of the clock could keep track of the loading time. Something like this:

I had another idea while I was working on this. I realized what the above version was missing was a middle-ground. The clock is foreground, and the city is background, but there was nothing in between. Looking at BT's latest wall (very cool) made me think of a city street. The tunneling effect that I liked so much in Ren's parchment picture could be created by a city street using an in-game shot. This would accomplish a few things: 1. It gives an immediate feel for what 'our' city is like. 2. It has lots of depth (artistically speaking) 3. It showcases the engine graphics right away. 4. It's fairly simple, and doesn't require tons of art production. 5. It can still capture the feeling of the player 'being' the Thief as they look at the menu (at least to some extent). The version below obviously uses the T3 picture, so we'd have to create one of our own. But it gives you the idea. What do you think? Should the clock still be a part of it? If I can put some gears around it that could turn as options were selected, that might be good.

Why don't we use actual historical coins, to keep the feel of the time period? I found several victorian coins that are ready for use, including this one: http://www.btinternet.com/~petercoins/images/pc41.jpg Edit: a few more: http://www.coinimages.co.uk/images/1871sov...hieldrev240.JPG http://www.coinmag.com/article/20STGAUDENT.gif http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/ballc/oe...ethelred2-r.gif

Ok, Pak and I have been swapping ideas...goldfish too. Stealing from both of them, I've come up with this: The title would have to be bigger, and the clock needs hands, but what do you think so far? I think something needs to be added to the sides, but I'm not sure what. Comments welcome. Btw, Pak, what did you do to the font to get that effect? I've tried duplicating it, but can't get it exactly.

Or just reading. I don't know if that was too obtuse.... I haven't been able to do anything with the concept that I like. After many many hours, I'm no further ahead than when I started, so I'm leaving the menu to other people. I'm happy to advise or tinker with other people's concepts, but I don't have the time or expertise to do one from scratch.

I don't know, who is working on one other than Pak? I haven't assigned this to anyone specific.

Ok, to go along with our Mansion Pack, we're going to need the models that are required for basic play. Things like our lightgem, weapons and equipment. Just like the other thread, I'll post links to reference pictures and record who is doing what. Stars in front of the object mean it has already been spoken for. Completed objects will be highlighted in red once they are uploaded to the ftp site. Please sign up for anything you are interested in. (update: Jan 15th) HUD Elements: ** Lightgem/compass -- TYROT -- WIP Weapons: ** Short Sword -- DeepOmega -- WIP ** Bow -- oDDity Noise Arrow Rope Arrow Equipment: ** Flashbomb -- Deep Omega -- WIP ** Holy Water Flask -- TYROT -- Example ** Potion Bottle -- Fingernail -- Example #1 -- ** Explosive Mine -- TYROT ** Gas Mine -- Atti Flare ** Looking Glass (telescope) -- -- Fingernail -- http://www.scientificcollectables.com/page_telescopes.htm -- WIP Lockpicks