Wolf Lords MOD - In Need of An Animator!

[Warhammerfug]

Dont mean to complain but... still no new posts... any little update will be good, just so we know the mod is still alive...
and any viewers that have ideas.. please post them to keep the ball rolling...
I thought that the hq might fit well as something different if it had a more high gothic look? to represent it as a permant outpost or watch point...

[Patman42x]

Dont mean to complain but... still no new posts...

it's only been one month since the last post. other mods sometimes go without progress reports for much longer times. and asking for news isn't going to generate them if there aren't any

[Mephistoned]

Actually the HQ (my next model to texture) is more inspired by the Viking Longhouse architecture, but yes there is a little high Gothic thrown in (flying butresses, steeple arches) to make it 'space marine'. It's probably the building I'm most proud of, even if the LP is more spectacular. I will of course post once it's been textured.

There may be some collaboration with FoK in the works which will hopefully speed both teams to SW goodness.

We are getting back to it after a hiatus, and yes am still prepping the GH for export. Fiddly work, but am getting there.

Hopefully Scout will be pressing on with coding once he's back from Hols.

[Warhammerfug]

@patman42. Ok, I dont follow many other mods... i just look to see if they are out yet or if a BETA is ready... so no harm in my previous hasty words... but I have been following this mod because the Space Wolves have... a different persona that is interesting to me

The FOK collaboration sounds great because i mostly play that mod now,... and it will be inproved with the addition with many other chapters

Cany wait for any pics of the HQ... lookin forward to the release of the mod.

(and if possible... would you be able to post a piece of concept art for the HQ??? )

[WorDhammer]

This is a really exciting project, bringing Space Wolves properly into the world of modding!!!!
keep it going Mephistoned

[Mephistoned]

Yes it is very exciting. Some of the team's on holiday at the moment and I'll be on hols for two weeks August, but then hopefully we can crack on all guns.

Remains my hope to give the community a playable Alpha, possibly by tiers, and then drop in the 3D assets as and when finished.

Time permitting I may have either a textured longhouse to show you or an ingame GH next week. If I say it here there's more chance I'll get it done!

For those who have never modded, understand how time-consumingly frustrating some stages are. I have modelled everything and could probably texture a model every couple of days. However, rigging (fixing the skin to bones), and preparing the model for ingame (which can mean checking hundreds of skin vertices) is very fiddly, and that's before we even get to producing the animations and FX, before putting it all together into the Object Editor. THAT's why mods stall or take a long time. And we still lack a 3D pipeline (ie. we need helpers to speed it along, as most of the above will just be me).

That said, it will happen, piece by piece, just not going to be fast (though it will accelerate as things can be reused and learning curves are journeyed).

If this sees the light of day, it's gonna be amazing.

Keep it woolfy!

[Mephistoned]

Here's a slightly reworked longhouse ready for texturing. Hopefully the flaming torches along the butresses will look right. Have changed the building ends to more closely resemble the large double doors of a Viking feast hall. The alcoves to either side will feature revolving alarm lights. Hoping it all glues together because it's a little out there compared to vanilla SM buildings (though the kit-bashing has aided consistency.)

[Richter]

Looking good there meph, looking good...

[Destraex]

very nice. I have a mate who will be most pleased indeed.

[Mephistoned]

Hi all,

In need of some help.

Still having trouble achieving export for the first time. Here's the error log:



The vertexes and mesh problems I think I can fix. However, I am mystified as to why it's having trouble loading the textures - the tga files are all there in the correct folder as far as I can see. However, irritatingly, there appears no way for me to scroll right and read the full address of the missing textures - so I can't be sure which is the problem.

Does anyone know how to get the rest of the error message and how to fix this problem?

Much obliged everyone!

As you can see the error list is now very small (far longer before) - fix these and we have a GH ingame...

[jONES1979]

You can see full paths of all textures used for model by executing "File \ Summary info" command.

[Mephistoned]

Thanks Jones - good tip. So here's what is written concerning the paths:


Multimaterial ( Multi/Sub-Object )
space_marine_unit ( Standard )
C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War - Dark Crusade\ModTools\DataSrc\mod_Wolf_Lords\art\ebps\Races\Wolf_Lords\texture_share\grey_hunter.tga
sm_banner ( Standard )
C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War - Dark Crusade\ModTools\DataSrc\mod_Wolf_Lords\art\ebps\Races\Wolf_Lords\texture_share\sm_banner.tga
Material #91 ( Standard )
C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War - Dark Crusade\ModTools\DataSrc\mod_Wolf_Lords\art\ebps\Races\Wolf_Lords\texture_share\accessories.tga
Material #92 ( Standard )
C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War - Dark Crusade\ModTools\DataSrc\mod_Wolf_Lords\art\ebps\Races\Wolf_Lords\texture_share\scout_marine_unit_default.tga
Material #93 ( Standard )
C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War - Dark Crusade\ModTools\DataSrc\mod_Wolf_Lords\art\ebps\Races\Wolf_Lords\texture_share\chainsword_blade.tga
Material #94 ( Standard )
C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War - Dark Crusade\ModTools\DataSrc\mod_Wolf_Lords\art\ebps\Races\Wolf_Lords\texture_share\chainsword_blade_colour.tga
Material #95 ( Standard )
C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War - Dark Crusade\ModTools\DataSrc\mod_Wolf_Lords\art\ebps\Races\Wolf_Lords\texture_share\wolf_scout.tga


Other Maps:
C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War - Dark Crusade\ModTools\DataSrc\mod_Wolf_Lords\art\ebps\Races\Wolf_Lords\texture_share\grey_hunter.tga
C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War - Dark Crusade\ModTools\DataSrc\mod_Wolf_Lords\art\ebps\Races\Wolf_Lords\texture_share\sm_banner.tga
C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War - Dark Crusade\ModTools\DataSrc\mod_Wolf_Lords\art\ebps\Races\Wolf_Lords\texture_share\accessories.tga
C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War - Dark Crusade\ModTools\DataSrc\mod_Wolf_Lords\art\ebps\Races\Wolf_Lords\texture_share\scout_marine_unit_default.tga
C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War - Dark Crusade\ModTools\DataSrc\mod_Wolf_Lords\art\ebps\Races\Wolf_Lords\texture_share\chainsword_blade.tga
C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War - Dark Crusade\ModTools\DataSrc\mod_Wolf_Lords\art\ebps\Races\Wolf_Lords\texture_share\chainsword_blade_colour.tga
C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War - Dark Crusade\ModTools\DataSrc\mod_Wolf_Lords\art\ebps\Races\Wolf_Lords\texture_share\wolf_scout.tga
C:\Users\Matt Townend\Desktop\space_wolf_stuff\Space Wolf Models\Grey Hunter\grey_hunter.tga
C:\Users\Matt Townend\Desktop\space_wolf_stuff\Space Wolf Models\Shared\accessories.tga
C:\Users\Matt Townend\Desktop\space_wolf_stuff\Space Wolf Models\Wolfscout\Scout_Marine_Unit_default.tga

So all the datascr paths are correct as far as I can tell. What's interesting is the 'Other Maps' section - I had an older folder system while I was preparing things and then moved them. Is that causing the problem? If so - how to solve?

Any help would be fantastic.

[jONES1979]

So all the datascr paths are correct as far as I can tell. What's interesting is the 'Other Maps' section - I had an older folder system while I was preparing things and then moved them. Is that causing the problem? If so - how to solve?

You have a meshes with references to this textures, instead of be referenced to your scene multi-material . This is can be after merging model with different meshes and so on

Try this as possible solution: Open a Material editor and select your main multi-material. Then switch to main window and select all meshes, by Ctrl+A for example. Then in material editor execute "Material \ Assign to selection".
Old references of "internal invisible multi-material" must be switched to the new references of current, explicit defined material.

Do not forget to make a backups of model before it

[Mephistoned]

Thanks Jones, but am still getting that error message after assigning to selection.

Any other ideas?

Is there any other way to find out exactly which textures it's got problems with.

Those odd other map files in the summary info still confuse me - they are not referenced in the paths of any multimaterials - so I can't see the problem.

Datascr is the correct folder right? And it doesn't need to be somewhere else too. .tga is the right format?

Mystifying...

[Mephistoned]

I had an 'It Liveeeess!' moment yesterday seeing the GH lone wolf moving in OE, though it truly is a bit of a frankenstein's monster right now with various things needing fixing.

Still I have, with Jones' help, finally cracked export and with a little tidying the GH files should be ready for OE and ingame in the next week or two.

It turned out those missing texture paths were something of a red herring and didn't prevent export once the vertex errors were fixed.

This is a big step forward and has taken a long time to reach, but means we are finally able to move into animation and OE and then ingame.

I've also made a start at rigging the wolf and studying the movement of wolves ready for animation.

Bear with us though as this is a lot of work. Still could really use extra team members to break the stages down, an animator or FX artist.

[Mephistoned]

I've suddenly realised there's something in Max I cannot figure out how to do correctly. Namely - attach bones together.

I can create an IK chain fine of course, but how do I then ATTACH that IK chain to the pelvic bone for example? Tried using attach or link constraint and it seemed to work, yet after export the new bones I've added do not move (and they should if attached to the old bones).

UNLESS - does that mean that NO new bones can be animated in Max using old animations? But then... surely one doesn't have to reattach these new bones for every animation?

Any help folks? Realized the tutorial section is rather light on animation (and I think Styrer's video is down).

[Mephistoned]

As a small update, here's a finished and improve GH texture.



The model is exportable now but I have one major issue with animation - namely how to connect new bones to the old skeleton in a way which will be continued into the existing animation files. Any advice much appreciated as it's stopping me from getting on with the animation side.

Another modification is I've decided I need to 'fix' the wolf tail talismans upon the weapons ie. they cannot freely swing. The reasons for this is due to how DOW handles tracking animations. To get a realistic looking 'swing' on things hanging off weapons is impossible as far as I can see, at least when tracking, so this is a necessity. Hanging loincloths and so on will be fine of course.

Am still on the learning curve at the moment. I can now:

Model
Unwrap
Texture
Skin
Rig
Export

I can offer advice to others on all these aspects.

I still need to be able to:

Animate
Create FX
Object Edit

As you can see the learning list is shrinking. Once I can do it all we can start to churn out models much faster, though it's a hell of a lot of work taking the model through all these stages.

[xhunkx]

very nice gratz

[Richter]

http://www.johns3dhelp.com/bonesandik.html
http://www.ogre3d.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=5812
http://www.character-studio.net/dbid...ue_rollout.htm

??

I'v no experience with anything I just don't like seeing you high and dry.

[Mephistoned]

Thanks Richter - kind of you and I checked those sites. No luck yet but I'll ask my consultants soon and get it sorted.

Meanwhile I took a little break to revisit the grey wolf model, the skin of which had been increasingly irritating me as inadequate. The original texture was from a photo of a wolf pelt, but stretched by the uvw map it appeared rather skin like rather than fur like. So have retextured it by hand now to a much more furry finish. This impacts other models (with wolf pelts, tails etc) so I needed to get it right early (and I'll need to get a Fenrisian wolf done earlier rather than later for the same reason). Have been running with wolf images a lot recently, and so the model has also been improved to be more accurate - tail and feet in particular needed work.

I'm far more confident with texturing now, and a tip for other learners - often doing the larger areas first means you can simply map other smaller areas onto the large, no need to paint every one. The warping effects of uvw maps can make it appear quite different, but it's a time saver and can produce better results than you would get by hand. It also saves on map space (so memory) and this whole wolf was done (almost) within half a 512x512 sheet. Leaving space for wolf claw, talisman and eventually the cyberwolf skin as well. The legs, feet and under chin area were all mapped onto existing areas of the pelt (my original map I drew them individually, wasting lots of space to little advantage). Remember, you want as much detail as possible, and this means larger spaces on your map, so saving space makes that more possible. The pelt was also mirrored (so the wolf is skin is a little over symmetrical but who cares?).

This is not quite finished but near enough...

[uncle_anaesthesia]

a very good texture, that hopefully once imported should look extremely good in game

[Warhammerfug]

Hey how have ya been?...
The mod is, as always, looking better and better... I am Pleased to see progress and the Wolf texture is looking amazing...

I think I might know why most mod tools wont work on my computer, I think it is because it has a 64bit operating system?

and me and many friends are looking forward to a BETA so keep up the good work and progress!
And on that bombshell I bit you all farewell for now...

[Mephistoned]

Yeah working out fur is kind of important for this mod. Came down to lots of small strokes in one direction and various colors. The uv map did the rest. And realising the fur has a surprisingly large number of different patterns.

Ah 64bit eh? Dammnit. It's kind of why I haven't upgraded my computer - ended up reinstalling windows vista instead recently. Pity cause could really use the help to move us along.

[Mephistoned]

Ok the finished and much improved wolf. Can't tell you how much time I've spent on this - the mouth and feet were particular pains. Around 3000 polys and half a uv map. Map shown too for the reference of those interested in such things.

Given the new codex, I considered whether a Grey Wolf fitted into the army (technically it should be Fenrisian or nothing) but I felt it was worth it to 'ground' the army and provide a contrast to the Thunderwolf which will be truly monstrous. My experience with this wolf will make the Thunderwolf model much easier later.

[Richter]

3000 polys?? That's.... quite a lot.

How many are you fielding of these?

[Mephistoned]

Really - I thought 3000 was ok for a trooper (including upgrades). I've tried to economize where possible but was waylaid by the symmetry modifier in max which added a fair few unwanted triangles (it was 2000 before). Optimizing is not an option post texturing as it screws up the uvw map.

Anyway fear not, packs are only 4 strong (+ cyberwolf). In any case by the time this mod comes out, poly counts aren't going to be a huge issue.

[Jaguar-Lord]

cool dog here Meph !!
imo 3000 poly and a 1024x1024 texture or even two, is null sweat for most of computer graphical card power nowadays. i woulnd't fear this. the polycount limit reference for dow1 is outdated since two years. again it is my opinion and i may be wrong.

[jONES1979]

For example, new FoK leman russ main battle tank have about 17K polygons and playng good in-game and in OE

[Whiteshield]

@Mephistoned - ummm... aren't fenrisian wolves more vicious looking?... Not complaining here, but it looks like the a average wolf we see on the Discovery channel and NatGeo. Great work though

[Mephistoned]

Agree JL the polycount can certainly be higher now, and inevitably with Sw, what with all their bits, fetishes fur and so on, they will be. Additionally the number of units will likely be lower since SW are highly elite, so I'm not worried. Yes one probably could do everything on a 1024 as well, but again I would shy away from that - it's arguably a little unnecessary if your maps are good. That said the Fenrisian wolf will have to go on a 1024 for its enlarged pelt.

This doesn't mean we have a licence to turbosmooth everything though, as it's better to err on the side of caution IMO..The other issue is the more polygons you have, the greater the chance for one of them to have a problem (smoothing,flipped normals, not mapped well etc) making more work for the modeller.

17K eh Jones? My my.

Whiteshield you are quite correct. This is not a Fenrisian wolf actually. I made the decision to include a more true to life 'grey wolf' (though the coloration is more Timber wolf) for two reasons. One because it will provide a contrast with the Fenrisian wolf (which is basically a Thunderwolf and can be upgraded to a rider) and make that seem all the more monstrous. If I had made a Fenrisian wolf and a Thunderwolf, well the difference would largely have just been a matter of scale. Secondly, the gigantic Fenrisian wolf doesn't make great pelts for the warriors - most of the wolf pelts on GW models are from fairly normal looking wolves, not the lionesque Fenrisian. So I needed something to explain this, and I needed a wolf model to skin for pelts. The Fenrisian wolf is just too big a pelt for many models. However, some vehicles and some models (eg. Grimnar, Bjorn) probably will get a Fenrisian wolf pelt. The Fluff changed with the latest codex, but I imagined there would be wolves on other worlds visited by the SW, and that they would capture and tame these as well. I think in the original codex there was description of Fenrisian wolves being the most dangerous on Fenris, but not the only wolf species. Like I said, fluff has changed and it's not always desirable to change everything to fit it.

[Mephistoned]

Haven't done a progress-o-meter for a while. Looking back at when we started this in... April 2009? Been quite a journey. A lot of initial planning, coding and UI from Scout, advice from many sources, and a steep learning curve. Most of the 3D work was done in under half a year, but texturing took longer, not to mention rigging and later aspects. A new SW codex shook up our tech tree a little and then RL kicked in early 2010. Now we're powering ahead once more heading towards a tier 1 release of some kind (not sure how many 3D assets will be in place, but we're working on it). As I've said, I favor a release-as-we-go development process, as it gives the community something to play with as we go and gives earlier opportunities for feedback and balancing. If we waited for a full polished release that could be years away. We the team have already played with early Alpha builds but it's not really ready for a playable release yet (and there have been considerable changes to the tree since the new codex).

Tier 1 build as of October 2010
TECH TREE - 100% and finalised post new SW codex
UNIT STATS - 100%
WEAPON STATS - 100%
CODING - 80% (est.) - Chiefscout on the case - working on a Tier 1 build
UCS - 100% - finished! Hurrah! Subject to tweaks if necessary.
AI - 0% - Thud will do this when the whole mod is finished
3D - 100% - Finished - subject to tweaks
TEXTURES - 50% - BC, GH, Grey Wolf, LP, Traps, Scout all done and textures now improved in some cases
FX - 5% - Steve the Goose had to leave us - so it's me, and I have a lot to learn
RIGGING - 5% - I've learned this now - GH done, others to follow
ANIMATION - 5% - this will leap forward once rigging is done as can reuse existing animation sets
OBJECT EDITOR - 5% - not sure if Schleeb is still with us so it may be down to me (gulp)
ICONS - 80% - thanks to Chiefscout - subject to revision once we have textured models
SOUND FX - 30% thanks to Noobie
VOICES - 50% - scripts written, have bought a mike and have the programs - I may well get round to doing this soon.
MUSIC - 50% - have a tune that I'm told is copyright free and we can use. I have a brother who might compose...
UI - 90% thanks to Chiefscout
ALPHA - 70%
BALANCING - 25% - well we're TRYING to balance against existing units from the outset!
BETA - 0%

I am also trying to out together a modding manual to help the community and myself get the process straight and all in one place. I still stand in awe of the likes of Demonhunters, Witch Hunters and Steel Legion (to name but a few) who achieved full race mods - the amount of work involved is simply staggering.

[Gorb]

For example, new FoK leman russ main battle tank have about 17K polygons and playng good in-game and in OE

Though it's kinda off-topic; a lot of FoK models have polys that aren't seen ingame at once; only select parts of the mesh are rendered at any one time. For example the randomised Chaos Lord is about 30k polys in Max (IIRC, HorusHeretic will probably correct me on that), but only several thousand are rendered in any one game because of all of the randomised parts.

[gerberman]

Good progress Meph.

As an idea for rapid multi facet projection of the mod, once coding is complete you can commence balance testing against vanilla with place holder 3D. Generally though, balancing against vanilla is not so hard I've found. Though its bit more of an overall rebalance mod now my own mod was orignally balanced against vanilla (I just made so many tweaks over time, now, perhaps less so!)

[jONES1979]

Though it's kinda off-topic; a lot of FoK models have polys that aren't seen ingame at once; only select parts of the mesh are rendered at any one time.

Gorb, of course you are right

[Mephistoned]

Thanks guys. Yes agreed, once Chief's got the code sorted we will commence balancing.

Yes many of our polys are also in randomised parts but not all rendered in game. And working on the cyberwolf now since I'm 'in touch' with the wolf model already. Should be fairly quick and then I'll have something to show. I may move onto the Wolf of Fenris after, since I've realized I'll need the pelt for other models, so makes sense to do it early (which kind of means doing the wolf rider too.. ).

Am toying with the idea of making the Wolf of Fenris team colorable (ie. the fur). But it's a toss up - can make a more realistic fur if it's not team colorable, but against that the player can choose how their wolves should look. Hmmm. Or I could just randomise wolf fur colors - but kind of feel they should all have the same pelt..... hmmmmm

[Lleman]

Am toying with the idea of making the Wolf of Fenris team colorable (ie. the fur)

If the idea of seeing pink and rainbow-hued wolves doesn't make you go in seizure...
Thunderwolves wouldn't be a problem seeing as they've got some bits of armour on them, making it TCable without (too much) conflict, but a wolf itself... i'd suggest you go with the unTCable fur and let the players sort their critters in game.

[Mephistoned]

Yeah I agree Lleman. Real wolf fur is not unicolor. I am thinking a storm grey coat for the TW, with black markings around the face and tasmanian wolf style stripes. However, I might just have to try a randomized variation. I originally saw the TW as jet black, bear like in coloration.

Got bored writing and mocked up a cyberwolf. Actually modelled after a conversion I saw online. I am tempted by a wolf with damaged parts exposing metal, a full terminator half wolf/half robot, and a fully metal wolf. May just have to do all three and randomize! Like it?

I originally stuck a full hot rod engine on the back, but it didn't work for me. The exhausts though remain and suggest an engine within (smoke fx...).




The feet, before someone asks, are axe-blade like (I felt mere metal claws were not enough and anyway I'm saving those for the TW) though I think they look better when on one leg rather than 2.

Am also considering giving him animated chainsword teeth in the mouth and a retractable bolt pistol in the upper jaw (he won't have a ranged weapon, but it will be used in synkill animations).

[Mephistoned]

Another brief update. This is a completely reworked Wolf of Fenris, based on my new wolf model. The texture is left over so try to ignore it. The mouth is also not finished (more teeth to add!). There was a nice description in the new codex of the Fenris wolf being like a shark, with multiple rows of teeth which get torn out and are replaced, so I have been aiming for that, a mouth brimming with asymetrical fangs rather than the neater arrangement of a normal wolf.

The body was really quite tricky, requiring a lot of playing to get the proportions right. It needed to be bear, rhinocerous, lion and wolf all in one. I heavily built up the shoulders, extended the toes and made the claws fully extended. It also needs to hold a wolf rider (and there'll be lots of amour later) so the dipped back is useful. Ultimately Mark Gibbons picture was the best guide (for me he is the defining W40K artist).

http://www.google.com.tw/imgres?imgu...1t:429,r:6,s:0

The face was highly problematic - I swept back the ears but that made it look more like a giant rat initially. The lower jaw has ended up somewhat tyrannosaur like - no bad thing. I looked at prehistoric wolves, but they resemble crocodiles rather than wolves, so I abandoned that.

[ChiefScout]

i like the little black bow on top of its head

[Mephistoned]

Damn you scout for noticing that :P Triangles with the wrong facing - not a beauty accessory!

-either that or Mr.Fenris just consumed 007...

----------

I forgot to mention that the eyes are modelled (not just a texture as with Mr.Grey) so I presumably could rig them to move. Interesting. Now if I could get him to wink..

----------

And I was also thinking - presumably a specular map could be added to give the wolf a little 'in the headlights' eyeshine - creepy! Any idea how to do that anyone?

[Jaguar-Lord]

not a specular map but a self illumination one will do the trick. it will be obvious only on dark maps. you may also add a marker for an fx and add a discret red glow....

[Mephistoned]

I think a soft glow could be good, but actually I want them to shine, and shine more from different directions - that's specular isn't it?

[Jaguar-Lord]

the eyeballs of your wolf is a very small area thus a specular map will be useless. in theory it should add a reflection to the eyeball but so small that it will be hardly noticeable, give a try it and you wi'll see what i mean.
i can do it for you if you want. pm me.

[Mephistoned]

Yes I realize it might be subtle. Thanks forthe offer - am not texturing it yet but will let you know when I do. Two of your uvw maps are done - pm me to tell me where to send them.

[Mephistoned]

This is just a test really for the wolfrider (I stuck the grey hunter on the back) but it helped me make some decisions about size. I've been inspired by images of the binding of Fenris (such as here) http://www.google.com.tw/imgres?imgu...w=1066&bih=572
for ideas for the armor. Having read about the bestiary of Fenris, am keen to include some wyrm scales as armor too, and probably a wyrm skull as a trophy rack of the wolrider's back. I see the wolrider's themselves as Lords even amongst the wolfguard, and thus I want their armor to be particularly special and I plan a very special helmet design for them. Wyrm scale shield and diamond sword (frostblade) will be the weapons.

Stat wise, my original WoF was matched against the warp beast, but given the size of the model, this was obviously daft. The idea that a krootox could knock about three of these riders was just insulting (and the model will outsize the krootox). So now the WoF will take up 3 vehicle cap and be more in line with dreadnoughts and krootox - not as high in hitpoints as either (and with heavy high armor, not as durable) but with an impressive damage output - the WoF wolfrider should beat a krootox in one on one, and they are particularly good against demons (giving the SW anti-demon ability in the absence of grey knights) but not so hot vs buildings and vehicles. They would lose badly against a SM dread for instance.

Add their speed and the fact they are built from LPs and it should be a mean unit against infantry and demons - balance pending of course. Plasma guns, vehicles and emplacements will be their downfall however. You can build up to five, so if you want a dramatic ride of thunderwolf cavalry - you got it (and it will be a very hard force to stop), but it will eat your vehicle cap.

[Richter]

Krootox was the immediate thing that I was reminded off, yes, and i think you are doing well sticking to that particular comparison. You could always have the scales and such as an upgrade as well. Or a commander..?

[Mephistoned]

The armor, scales and wolfrider are all one upgrade, to avoid fiddliness (and since the wolfrider is only available in tier 3 anyway, most earlier universal health researches will likely already have been accomplished) - it's a thought though... there's also a lot of opportunity for a degree of randomisation in the model - since I see wolf riders are very individualistic.

[Mephistoned]

Lots of good news recently - lots of help from various areas of the community helping us to move forward on animating, coding and so on. Chief's still chugging through the tier 1 Alpha (might we have something very rough downloadable for you all to play with soon? Only Morkai himself knows, and he's not telling, being a wolf). I've been getting hot under the collar with wolves, cyberwolves, and thunderwolf cavalry models, as well as a new power sword for the GH. I'm going to hold off texturing the CW and TWC until I see how the GW animates (need to keep an eye on where the texture warps etc.) which is painful as I can't wait to do them! I also should really do the wolfguard before the TWC as the rider should basically be a wolfguard. And I need to do the WoF before the characters as they need the fur. Sigh. Of course there are still a lot of buildings to do too...

Hopefully we'll have a GH and grey wolf animated soon. It's all happening, and with more hands it's going to happen a whole lot faster!

Tier 1 build as of November 2010
TECH TREE - 100% and finalised post new SW codex
UNIT STATS - 100%
WEAPON STATS - 100%
CODING - 80% (est.) - Chiefscout on the case - working on a Tier 1 build
UCS - 100% - finished! Hurrah! Needs tweaking.
AI - 0% - Thud will do this when the whole mod is finished
3D - 100% - Finished - subject to tweaks
TEXTURES - 50% - BC, GH, Grey Wolf, LP, Traps, Scout all done and textures now improved in some cases
FX - 5% - Steve the Goose had to leave us - so it's me, and I have a lot to learn
RIGGING - 5% - I've learned this now - GH done, others to follow
ANIMATION - 5% - animators from another team animating GH and GW
OBJECT EDITOR - 5% - not sure if Schleeb is still with us so it may be down to me (gulp), but there are hidden benefactors in the warp...
ICONS - 80% - thanks to Chiefscout - subject to revision once we have textured models
SOUND FX - 30% thanks to Noobie
VOICES - 50% - scripts written, have bought a mike and have the programs - I may well get round to doing this soon.
MUSIC - 50% - have a tune that I'm told is copyright free and we can use. I have a brother who might compose...
UI - 90% thanks to Chiefscout
ALPHA - 70%
BALANCING - 25% - well we're TRYING to balance against existing units from the outset!
BETA - 0%

I am also trying to out together a modding manual to help the community and myself get the process straight and all in one place. I still stand in awe of the likes of Demonhunters, Witch Hunters and Steel Legion (to name but a few) who achieved full race mods - the amount of work involved is simply staggering.

----------

Lots of good news recently - lots of help from various areas of the community helping us to move forward on animating, coding and so on. Chief's still chugging through the tier 1 Alpha (might we have something very rough downloadable for you all to play with soon? Only Morkai himself knows, and he's not telling, being a wolf). I've been getting hot under the collar with wolves, cyberwolves, and thunderwolf cavalry models, as well as a new power sword for the GH. Hopefully we'll have a GH and grey wolf animated soon. It's all happening, and with more hands it's going to happen a whole lot faster!

Tier 1 build as of November 2010
TECH TREE - 100% and finalised post new SW codex
UNIT STATS - 100%
WEAPON STATS - 100%
CODING - 80% (est.) - Chiefscout on the case - working on a Tier 1 build
UCS - 100% - finished! Hurrah! Needs tweaking.
AI - 0% - Thud will do this when the whole mod is finished
3D - 100% - Finished - subject to tweaks
TEXTURES - 50% - BC, GH, Grey Wolf, LP, Traps, Scout all done and textures now improved in some cases
FX - 5% - Steve the Goose had to leave us - so it's me, and I have a lot to learn
RIGGING - 5% - I've learned this now - GH done, others to follow
ANIMATION - 5% - animators from another team animating GH and GW
OBJECT EDITOR - 5% - not sure if Schleeb is still with us so it may be down to me (gulp), but there are hidden benefactors in the warp...
ICONS - 80% - thanks to Chiefscout - subject to revision once we have textured models
SOUND FX - 30% thanks to Noobie
VOICES - 50% - scripts written, have bought a mike and have the programs - I may well get round to doing this soon.
MUSIC - 50% - have a tune that I'm told is copyright free and we can use. I have a brother who might compose...
UI - 90% thanks to Chiefscout
ALPHA - 70%
BALANCING - 25% - well we're TRYING to balance against existing units from the outset!
BETA - 0%

I am also trying to out together a modding manual to help the community and myself get the process straight and all in one place. I still stand in awe of the likes of Demonhunters, Witch Hunters and Steel Legion (to name but a few) who achieved full race mods - the amount of work involved is simply staggering.

[wolfpack]

This is absolotely amazing work this looks as if it will be a really fun mod althoguh the team seems small that would explain why the progres is slow it seems t0 have been on and off mod since 2006 but it looks as if its heading in the right direction. i have some questions though is this in collabiration with the firestorm of kronus mod or indidual mod seperate from all the others and is it just you working on this mod or there a team? i know the progrss update is there but could you give a rough estimate as to when a downloadble playable version will be realeased ex say 2-3 months or so.

thanks for any feedback.

[Mephistoned]

Yeah it's a small team - no release date as yet. Keep an eye on the progress-o-meter. Expect a tiered release - ie. tier 1, tier 2, tier 3 and 3D assets will be dropped in as they are done. Our star coder quarterback Chief is working on the coding so when that's ready we can go for a tier 1 Alpha release. Hope it might have a few new models ingame by then but we'll see. When I know, you'll know.

We are supposed to be collaborating with Kronus but I guess they're busy and we're waiting to hear. In any case we're benefitting from some of their models and they could eventually benefit from ours when ready - so it will happen I am sure when it reaches critical mass. Actually this mod will benefit from many community assets, including voices, so some things like vehicles should be relatively quick and easy when it comes to it. It's all the new infantry and building models that is more the issue. It's so tantalizing as I can't wait to see how this plays, it's evolved into something far more than a SM mod with a couple of extra units - the playstyle is going to be different to any other army.

We didn't start in 2006!! - only last year 2009.

And now for my Jokeresque - would you like to join our team? If you're a beginner (as I was till recently) there's always some part of the mod that could be learnt and would speed us along. FX needs someone to learn it - otherwise it's me and that will slow me down later. Let me know.