New BT Props

[BlackThief]

let's start working us down the 'to do' list:

 

jewelry box:

 

How should I upload the model to make the lid openable ingame most easily?

2 seperate models?

[Baddcog]

That's awesome.

 

Yes we are using 2 models. The basse should be centered on the grid incase it is used for frobs, frob highlights use object origin so center is best.

 

The lid however is hinged so the origin needs to be at the hinge for easy set-up. I'd also slightly fudge the bottom so that it's top is on a grid line but mostly centered, that way an author doesn't have to use a tiny grid to get the lid to sit flush.

 

This now makes me think that the chest model itself should be what is frobbable in game so we have the best frob target. The lid would have to be frobbed at the hinge.

(Also, the lock lever [if you use one] should be set-up like the lid)

[Springheel]

Great work as always BT. Is that crazybump in action again? I have to get ahold of that.

[BlackThief]

yeah I rely only on crazybump in the meantime - it's got a lot more options and you can even preview your normalmap on your model with the diffusemap in a realtime preview window.

[Springheel]

You'll have to get yourself set up on SVN so you can upload this new stuff.

[BlackThief]

just installed RapidSVN, now waiting for spar to set up my account.

 

btw just tested the lowpoly noblehead ingame (no texture yet, just a normalmap test)

[sparhawk]

Cool! Great models and textures, as always.

[Springheel]

Wow, that's low poly??

[greebo]

Wow, that's low poly??

Exactly my thought. You have to look closely at the upper part to see the polys, but the normalmap is damn fine.

[BlackThief]

working on the diffusemap right now, however I'm not really content how it's turning out ingame. Something's wrong with it, but I can't figure out what is bothering me...

 

 

someone suggestions? Oddity?

[oDDity]

There's nothing really wrong, your head modeling has improved a lot since the last time you were here.

The tip of the nose is very pointed and the bottom too flat, and the diffuse map is perhaps too uniform, basically the same tan colour all over.

Nobles would be very white, not tanned. A tan was not something people wanted in those days, it was only for the scum who had to work for a living.

[BlackThief]

alright, I added some more variation into the skintones, but I hestitate making the skin more pale because I want to avoid the ugly unnatural doom3 look the original models have.

 

some progess with hair:

 

(I'm aware that longer hair might fit a noble better, though I doubt that long hair done with alphamapped imageplanes is going to work properly with doom3's harsh lighting)

[Baddcog]

He looks very smug. I hate him, want to steal all his stuff and blackjack him!

 

Nice work.

 

Actually, it's very likely that nobles had very short hair, they just wore fancy expensive wigs.

[BlackThief]

after playing around I guess I prefer him also a little more pale...

[Springheel]

Wow, looks fantastic. There's no reason he also couldn't be used as a guard head--he would make an excellent captain. What we plan to do with heads from now on is to model one or two accessories (hats, eyepatches, whatever) right into the model, but make them separate meshes. That way they can be set to nodraw if they aren't wanted. Def_attaching headgear after the fact is very inexact, so making it part of the original model is the only way to ensure it is positioned properly.

[BlackThief]

what about facial animations? Has anything in this direction been done yet?

 

I modelled all edge-loops that are required for realistic and detailed animations, but since I have no experience in animation I can't really test if they work as they're supposed to be.

[Springheel]

Yes, we are currently using some basic head animations--blinking and basic lipsynching, at a minimum. Ascottk set all that up so you'll have to ask him about it.

[PinkDot]

That head looks great, as for the proportions and detail. But I wouldn't say it's a nobleman's head. Face is too slim, like he was starving nearly or just had hard life. Also - I'm not sure what's the age of that man. Early screenshots suggested old man, but he's getting younger and younger with more details and hair.

[Tels]

That head looks great, as for the proportions and detail. But I wouldn't say it's a nobleman's head. Face is too slim, like he was starving nearly or just had hard life. Also - I'm not sure what's the age of that man. Early screenshots suggested old man, but he's getting younger and younger with more details and hair.

 

I agree, he looks like a Young Guard Captain, or possible "marine". Not like "Old noble man".

 

Not that it is wrong, he looks good, but maybe rethink the whole "old noble" thing

 

PS: Would it really that bad to add a few more polys to the upper side of the head to make the low-poly model less obvious? The "hard edges" sticking out of the rounded upper side of the head are quite noticable

[oDDity]

You still need some variation in hue on that texture. Redder around the cheeks and nose, and greener around the beard area. It can be quickly done in photoshop.

It's the tanned skin, cropped blonde hair and blue eyes that's making him look more like a perfect aryan and panzer division Oberleutenant.

Not that a noble man couldn't have looked like that, but you need to caricature these guys slightly to what people expect them to look like.

[BlackThief]

ok made him look older and pale.

 

 

I know that the hair on top of his head gives him a slightly military appearance which I didn't intend, however as a noble he's going to wear a hat most of the time anyway so you won't see much of the hair anyway.

[Springheel]

There's no law saying he has to be used only as a nobleman and that's it. Versatility is always better.

 

I think you should keep both textures, the old and young, and we can use them independently. That's actually a goal I have for the heads in the future; making different skins for different ages.

[Crispy]

Yes, we are currently using some basic head animations--blinking and basic lipsynching, at a minimum. Ascottk set all that up so you'll have to ask him about it.

It's worth noting that our "lipsynching" is currently very basic - the mouth just flaps open and shut in time with the amplitude of the speech. We're not doing proper lipsynching (with different mouth shapes for different sounds), since that would take too long for not much benefit. All we need is enough bones to open and close the mouth, and an animation of him doing so. There's a tiny bit of info on the wiki about this, and ascottk and I can advise if you have any further questions.

 

Of course, if you want to set up enough bones for proper lipsync feel free, just be aware that we won't be able to use them in the foreseeable future. It would require a lot of manual work to set up proper lipsynching for all the speech sounds in the game.

 

He looks great so far BTW.

[BlackThief]

ok finally something new from me. Wasn't able to do anything last weekend, since I had guard duty from Saturday to Sunday, so basically the whole weekend was fucked up. In addition to that I also had to do the 'vice guard commander' because I was the 2nd highest rank (absurd since I'm just a private first class (?) myself ), so I had to stay up the whole damn night to supervise the other guys...

 

 

anyways I noticed the lack of clocks and thought I should really do something about it:

 

here's a wallclock:

 

Have to say that I'm actually quite happy how the gold-material turned out in d3, at least something the engine can render quite well...

 

In case you're interested here the textures

 

and here's the medium detailed highpoly model it was based on:

[Springheel]

Holy. Shit.