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Ok, I'm uploading part one 'laying out the basics' now to the Darkmod/tutorials' folder on the FTP. It's 30 minutes long and going to take about 4 hours to upload, since it's 60 mb and I'm still on this damn 56k:/ I encoded it as an swf flash movie, since it's half the size of an avi encoded with xvid and better quality. Just click on the html file to view it in a browser. The main point at this stage of the modleing is to keep the meshes as low poly as possible. Part 2 coming to a theatre near you soon!

i just think the wood carving could stand out a little more with a stronger normal map - what setting do you use? edit: of course, it's hard to judge from a still, I'd need to see it ongame, is it on the FTP? I'm making a folder on the FTP for finished, game ready models only.

fixed and uploaded into the furnitures folder.. i dont know why but if i dont turn off smoothing in the export options it messes up the mesh.. so you will need to apply a smoothing value of 40 to that mesh..

anyhow..I've uploaded them on the ftp.. they are in a rar in darkmod/models/props/furniture folder.. i will add more details to these models soon.. edit: howver i dont really know what things should i add on these..could you give me some hints?

I could try to texture the bed. plze upload it as .obj that's easier to import for me. place it into the TheDarkMod/models/props/furniture/beds folder edit: but first you should reduce the triangle-count - there's a lot, that could be done with a normalmap

Damnnn! That green, especially, PWNZ. Edit: ah, crap - good a place as any to ask: could there be (for these, and any new texture dumps that reach the server) made available, perhaps in a new_textures_zips folder, or something, a compressed zip of them? That's another 7 mb or so to get.

I have PSP and that would do fine for me. But that still involves downloading them all separately. Is there really no way to log into the server for access enough to whip up a rar archive?? Chripes, if the folder format is now "how it's going to stay" (is it?) then it should take a few minutes and then everyone can download updated textures and stuff. My models don't work right either, but that could be from 'themod' archive or perhaps old mtr files or such? Basically, the only thing that works here on my system is that I can frob an incorrectly textured door (changed by hand) in the frobtest map.

If you're using blender... clicky The tutorial links to the export script via my web space - so you don't have to bother logging on to the ftp server to download - but I also put the script in the blender folder on our ftp server if you prefer Unfortunately none of the 3D apps import .ase files. Not even 3D Studio Max, and it's their file format! when it comes to sharing files between 3D apps the .obj and .3ds formats are both pretty reliable.

The textures are already pretty much in place for quite some time now. The only thing we changed recently was the path to remove the dark_mod bit in the textures folder.

Okey Spring, it's on the FTP under Art-Concept folder. Called "half-life-menu.avi" (very low quality though, but I didn't want to go higher than a meg in filesize, and I suck at video-compression)

no it was yours just take a look into your darkmod/models/misc/coins folder (if you've downloaded the latest version of the mod) regarding normal-maps: I can easily make them, but currently I'm working on the chair and I don't want to interrupt my work.

There should be two model files, three texture files and some definition code (like the material definitions, but for models) that goes in a central def file, for each model. It would be best to have a folder for each model, or zip file.

Within the next few days I'm gonna be reorganizing the texture pack so it'll be easier for us to plug textures into our cooresponding packs with only minimal fuss. Not only will the directory structure be changed, but I'm gonna adopt a new naming system that's more homogenous and easier to manage. First off, instead of just having 3 main catagories (Walls, Floors, Objects) I'm going to sort them into themes. For now I'm thinking Mansions, Cityscapes, Churches, Factories, and a misc catagory for things that can easily overlap among all the themes. The directories below these will still be the same, a folder for each type and material. This is open for discussions, of course, so if anyone has a better idea of how structure the texture tree feel free to add to the discussion. Next comes the naming scheme, we're gonna keep this as straightforward as we possibly can. If you have a wood floor that'll go well in a mansion then it'll be called Mansion_Floor_Wood0x to coorespond with the directory it's gonna be placed in. Any variations on the same texture should have a letter applied to both...like Springheel and I both have Jay's tile floor in our respective packs, but somewhere down the line I changed mine to a black and white marblesque texture, so Spring's version will be Floor_Tile03a and mine will be Floor_Tile03b. Simple, straightforward, and easy to change if we have a naming conflict. If we do it right we can all send each other small updates that can be plugged into our material files easily without having to worry about sending increasingly larger packs to keep up with. Another thing to keep in mind is making similar textures share the same specular or normalmap. Once again I'll bring up Jay's floor texture for the example. The changes on mine are just cosmetic, so both can use the same local and spec and save on some file space. Just name it Floor_Tile03_local or _s and direct the material file entry to it. If you want to make 2 versions of the same texture with different overlays or material properties, like a really shiny version of a brick wall that has an ultra reflective spec or a glowing fullbright window, just name them what you think is appropriate..like wall03_wet for the shiny wall or Window02_lit for the fullbright window. Nothing complicated there. Taking this and the above change into consideration, we can have entire families of similar textures that can be swapped back and forth easily. We'll have to keep track of what we're all doing for awhile, but once we get this rolling it shouldn't take much management to keep things running smoothly. Blackthief: You'll need to get in the habit of doing this, too. You don't have Doom 3 yet but you will eventually, getting into it now will make things easier for you when you do. Just remember to name your dither as x_x_d and the normals as x_x_local and save em as TGA files...rar em up if you're worried about them being too large, they compress well. That should about do it. I'll also post an update listing all of our current textures once we get this squared away.

Sure, just let me know which ones you'd like me to do. I have some extra time this week so it shouldn't be a problem. BTW, did you get my PM about texturing objects? I can't see it in my sent folder, but I was sure I sent you one.

Renz you were right - I'm on a roll new marble texture http://www.dark-project.com/BlackThief/floor_test3.jpg the white line isn't a texture issue - the brushes just don't fit together properly. I've to learn this editor better edit: it's on the ftp now - folder: Dark_Mod/Mansion/Interior/Floor/Marble mansion_mosaic01_d.tga mansion_mosaic01_ed.tga mansion_mosaic01_s.tga mansion_mosaic01_local.tga

thx. I'll upload it. Maybe I should start organizing my new textures. So I'll put it into a Mansion/Walls/Stone folder, alright ? edit: everything is on the ftp, including the normal- and specular map

This is only the "categories". The folder structure for where the sounds will be placed. Even if you do a city mission, you can add sounds from all the other categories as well. That would be the ambient tunes. Great idea! Very cool actually. Yes, but we have to remember that we're doing a mod for other people to make their missions with, so it would be a mistake to design our sounds around one or two levels made by us. We should try to do a broad range of sounds that can be used for a lot of different missions. Still, I guess it could serve as inspiration. Edit - Added a new category: The Scary Place

I can't sign on cause I'm at work, and they frown on messengers. And I looked at my site. I left out the folder and there's some spelling errors. I'll fix it when I get home.

Man, that is amazing. Great sense of depth on the normal, nice specular, and a great looking painting to boot. If you don't mind, could you do a quick walkthru of what you did to get the texture ready? I might learn a thing or two along the way. And just make it a zip or rar file and drop it in the textures folder on the FTP. I'll download it and see how it looks in the room.

Oooh, purdy. Got em saved in my WIP texture folder.

Upload it to the FTP server, make another folder called Screenshots and post to your hearts content.

Well, I did back it up onto my spare HD, but I backed up the wrong folder. Entirely human error. =P From now on I'm gonna do a big backup onto a DVD

Umm. So. I just lost the file for this. I had no backups. Or rather, I had many backups, but only in one folder, so they all got nailed. Um. Yeah. I'm actually seriously in a terrible mood about this now - two or three weeks of work down the tubes. Will be taking a bit of a break before I guess I'll start it again. So.. yeah. If there's any really light 3D work you want done, I may be able to but that's probably it for a bit.