Nosslaks stuff

[Springheel]

Yeah, but it's hard to find any good map that could be used without too much manipulation that doesn't feature America and still look somewhat good.

 

I wasn't saying don't use it, exactly, just not have it facing up so much, and perhaps not prominently labeled.

[PranQster]

My $.02 ... I think that the western hemisphere should be very vague, with mostly just the northeastern coast along Canada and parts of Greenland. Also, should it have any name referring to America? What approximate century is TDM taking place in? If it is in the 15th century or earlier then America shouldn't appear by that name.

Also, should the map be labeled in Latin? Or should it be in old English or a Scandanavian language, etc.?

Edited November 19, 2010 by PranQster

[Nosslak]

I wasn't saying don't use it, exactly, just not have it facing up so much, and perhaps not prominently labeled.

I wasn't going to use that angle in the final model. I just wanted to show some part of the map and the emblem that I had attached at the same time.

 

My $.02 ... I think that the western hemisphere should be very vague, with mostly just the northeastern coast along Canada and parts of Greenland.

I just found this map from 1664 which is probably the closest to what you want

 

Also, should it have any name referring to America? What approximate century is TDM taking place in? If it is in the 15th century or earlier then America shouldn't appear by that name.

TDM's got steampunk and stuff so I just assumed it was supposed to take place in at the very least the 17th century which would mean that Columbus had found America.

 

Also, should the map be labeled in Latin? Or should it be in old English or a Scandanavian language, etc.?

So many unforeseen obstacles. I doubt this really matters though as the texture will have to be pretty small so you probably won't be able to read most of it anyways.

[Nosslak]

Here's how it looks like with that new map texture that I found:

I think this one looks better so I'll just stick with this.

 

I've got America facing up just to show how it looks I'll rotate it to feature Europe more prominently before it's finished.

[ungoliant]

oh snap! why can't we have high poly models in TDM?! that is gorgeous!!! would it really hurt to keep that thing as it is, and just put a rediculously lowpoly shadow/collision mesh in it?

[Nosslak]

oh snap! that is gorgeous!!!

Thanks!

 

why can't we have high poly models in TDM?! would it really hurt to keep that thing as it is, and just put a rediculously lowpoly shadow/collision mesh in it?

Yeah, I wish, but the models got about 0.5 million triangles, so that's prolly a big no-no.

Edited November 19, 2010 by Nosslak

[Springheel]

Looks great!

[ungoliant]

0.5 million triangles

 

oh... yeah, ok.

[PranQster]

That's awesome!

Yeah, I wasn't sure what time period the steampunk theme was supposed to fit into... whether it was 1600s-1800s, or whether it was closer to the dark ages.

I was imagining it being during about 1200s-1500s with the addition of steam engines and primitive electric generators.

[Nosslak]

oh... yeah, ok.

Yup!

 

Looks great!

That's awesome!

Thank you!

 

Yeah, I wasn't sure what time period the steampunk theme was supposed to fit into... whether it was 1600s-1800s, or whether it was closer to the dark ages.

I was imagining it being during about 1200s-1500s with the addition of steam engines and primitive electric generators.

Don't take my word for it, I'm just guesstimating.

 

Here's how the lowpoly looks right now:

It's currently using about 4000 triangles so it is a bit heavy, but I think I'll be able to trim some of those off.

[Tudor]

Well it definitely looks like you're heading the right way with it.

 

One thing that could get a little shaved is the circular mount on the top. The edges on the bottom cross could probably become a little bit flatter too without getting severely stumped. I guess you already knew all those though.

[Nosslak]

Well it definitely looks like you're heading the right way with it.

Thanks!

 

One thing that could get a little shaved is the circular mount on the top. The edges on the bottom cross could probably become a little bit flatter too without getting severely stumped. I guess you already knew all those though.

Yeah, I was able to shave off about 600 triangles with these optimizations and some other ones. So right now I'm down to 3350 polygons.

[SiyahParsomen]

looks good!

[Tels]

It's currently using about 4000 triangles so it is a bit heavy, but I think I'll be able to trim some of those off.

 

Hm, I think it would be better to invest some tris in the round cage thing (it looks awefully jagged, probably is better with a texture on, tho) and make for instance the bottom cross totally flat and then re-insert their rounded top via a normalmap.

 

The viewer would not note the bottom so much but the silouette is much more important.

[Nosslak]

looks good!

Thanks, man!

 

Hm, I think it would be better to invest some tris in the round cage thing (it looks awefully jagged, probably is better with a texture on, tho) and make for instance the bottom cross totally flat and then re-insert their rounded top via a normalmap.

 

The viewer would not note the bottom so much but the silouette is much more important.

No, I won't make the feet completely flat. Each foot uses about 70 triangles so that'd mean I'd save at most 270 triangles all in all, which to me doesn't sound like enough to justify making it look like crap, I would also have to use alpha mapping to really squeeze the lowest polycount which I'd assume takes up some power too. I did add some segments to the cage thingy (I assume you meant the smallest circle around the globe) and because of some clever optimizing I ended up with a mesh that's using 24 polygons less than the last update. Here's how it looks at 3326 polygons:

I don't think I'll be able to optimize it much more than this, so this will probably be very close to the final polycount, is it too high?

Edited November 20, 2010 by Nosslak

[Springheel]

Our existing globe is about 2400 polys, not counting the shadowmesh. 3300 is probably fine, though I'd try to get a shadowmesh of 600 polys or less.

[Nosslak]

Our existing globe is about 2400 polys, not counting the shadowmesh. 3300 is probably fine, though I'd try to get a shadowmesh of 600 polys or less.

Alright, that shouldn't be all that hard.

 

Quick question: Is it very important that America isn't facing up? I'm asking because my map texture have big borders around both the circles that it consists of and if possible I'd like to hide those behind that wooden frame around it. Here's how the border looks:

If I am to hide America in the bottom this border will be clearly visible. I could probably remove it altogether if needed but as the colors doesn't match up it would require some work. What do you think?

[PranQster]

I think the map borders should be visible. Check out these photos of old/antique globes:

http://en.fotolia.com/id/4408917

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...#ht_2296wt_1141

 

The first one especially shows those dotted line borders quite distinctly. If you could trim, or overlap the texture so the border going from north to south pole was just one dotted line instead of two... that would make it perfect.

 

Actually, the second one pictured is a cocktail bar for stashing bottles and glasses... but still a nice looking globe.

Edited November 23, 2010 by PranQster

[Melan]

It is a good-looking globe! How about making one with a celestial map texture, like the one here? (Maybe with slightly lowered gamma - this specific image could be a bit overbright.)

[plasticman]

I think the base color of the map should be less white, more yellowish.

But it looks nice so far.

[Nosslak]

I think the map borders should be visible. Check out these photos of old/antique globes:

http://en.fotolia.com/id/4408917

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...#ht_2296wt_1141

 

The first one especially shows those dotted line borders quite distinctly. If you could trim, or overlap the texture so the border going from north to south pole was just one dotted line instead of two... that would make it perfect.

 

Actually, the second one pictured is a cocktail bar for stashing bottles and glasses... but still a nice looking globe.

Thanks. As far as I knew the map was painted right on top of the globe so I just assumed there wouldn't be any borders like this as it just looked like decoration.

 

It is a good-looking globe! How about making one with a celestial map texture, like the one here? (Maybe with slightly lowered gamma - this specific image could be a bit overbright.)

That's a great idea, I'll try that, probably with another texture though. Thanks!

 

I think the base color of the map should be less white, more yellowish.

But it looks nice so far.

Hmm, you might be right, I'll try making it more yellow. Thank you!

Edited November 23, 2010 by Nosslak

[Nosslak]

Here's a new update:

It landed on 3254 and as usual I'm working on a 2048^2 texture will get downsized. It's not finished yet, I still need to make a specmap, bake more details onto the normalmap and possibly add some other details. I think I'll try to go for a dark oily wood material so it will probably be a lot glossier.

 

I'm thinking of adding a pattern around the big horizontal ring around the globe, something like this:

What do you think about that?

Edited November 24, 2010 by Nosslak

[ungoliant]

you're going to use a celtic knot lookin thingy as the equator..?

[Nosslak]

you're going to use a celtic knot lookin thingy as the equator..?

No, that's not I what I meant at all. I meant this circle right here:

[Melan]

That may be a little bit too much bling. The relative simplicity of the ring is by no means a defect.