|
|
|
Its not exlusive to this baby LD. Some custom vehicles have that and it is not intentional. I think its a shader problem or an occl problem or whatever. I have seen it on other export/custom vehicles too. I would no what i skinned onto it.shadows skinned onto the reoad wheels
#4202
Your right, i think i have noticed it on some other vehicles, but i can't for the life of me remember. But it was really noticeable on the StuG III, and when i saw it in DMz's skin, i remembered it and thought to mention it. I just figured it was in the skin, as an attempt at creating a 3D lighting effect on the 2D skin. If it's not, then i'm as puzzled as everyone else must be. I hope a work-around to fix/prevent it can be found.
No ive chased that down with the Alkett jagdpanzer & now on the stug III aswell .
Its the spcs and gls. They project details through onto the texture if they do not have an alpha manually made for them. If you let dds tools make the alpha dxt4 1 bit, prior to making your own alpha. It with give the effect of a shadow going round and round as the wheel turns. The same thing happens if the nrm details are too harsh\rough. If a smooth metal surface such as a wheel has rough embossing on it, it projects through onto the model in game giving the light dark effect as the wheel turns. Also happens if you have too many dark light shades of green on the nrm. Ive spent a lot of time playing with these textures recently and found that in a lot of cases these were the issues. Simply put, allowing max to over emboss your NRM textures, or to put too many different shades of light and dark green on them, will result in this effect.
Alphas are another main cause of dark patches aswell. Using just a plain white alpha is fine if your working with a skin that is basically one tone, ie dunkelgelb of khaki, but it causes problems with fading detail and lighting on a camoflage pattern or a skin which goes from light to dark a lot such as a structure with flags, oil, drums sandbags, concrete and ammo boxes on it. This also applies to the nrms unfortunatly, plain whites fine, but if theres a lot of detail on the nrm your better off making your own alpha.
The GLS issues can be solved by, lightening the texture and lowering the contrast, then any parts that still look too prominant, paint them out with a plain light grey that matches the majority of the texture. Duplicating the green layer prior to converting to dds and naming the duplicate alpha, then deleting your origional alpha channel also helps a little, when you reinport the dds the alpha looks plain white, but it does have a few details on it that were not there prior to compile.
The spc is a problem, if its too dark and jumps to light patches it causes a lot of light to show on the model, so in some cases a plain just off black texture can actually be just as effective as messing around making a SPC. But if you do make one, lighten any really dark parts a fraction, and darken any really light parts, till you get to somewhere near a constant tone. Then you just pick the parts that you actually want to be projected and unsharp mask or lighten them accordingly. If all else fails overlay a plain black at 30 to 40% optacity and then merge. If that doesnt work use the black as stated before. Also make the alpha manually again, otherwise the spinning wheel effect will occure, or worse still an effect of the shadow passing over an entire model continually.
Im adding, that on every model i have overhauled of my and Elis compiles, EVERY Problem regarding darkness or too much light, ect has been down to the textures not being made properly. In most cases the nrms were fine but the difs spcs and gls had the wrong alphas on. Only two models had welding and smoothing issues, the M5 halftrack, which as yet is not fixed, and the Opel blitz flak truck, which although fixed by texture, still has two flaws on the hub caps. We do have a perfect one, probebly had it for months but neigther Eli or my self noticed it lol. As yet that one has not been released. OCL in most cases, apart from not having a correct alpha, had nothing to do with lighting problems ect. So weather i used a plain white or the ones id actually made, it would have made no differance. the main fault was with the main difs spcs gls and nrms.
Last edited by DMz; 2nd Feb 12 at 5:08 AM.
@DMz
Here you go (especially DMz, lol) the new MG34. Polycount: okay, skin: I did the best i could, overall: I think it turned out decent and now it wont challenge the rigs that much. I am happy you got me into this DMz because I am quite content with how it turned out. I did a lot of thing only 2D what were 3D before because I found that by zooming out the 3D details were pointless! Thanks again for the 'bitching' DMz, that was the starting point for me to view this whole thing differently and experiment, only to come to the conclusion that you are right actually!
Can i pay attention to my MG42 now? lol
@LD
You know what I noticed this on? The new Tiger model. The all-steel wheels also have this 'rolling half shadow' on them. I am not entirely sure that the plugins we use are absolutely work to 100%. It seems to me that by generating the new shaders the process has its faults - in absence of any other explaniation, because the texture maps have nothing to cause this you can rest assured!
The guns excellant m8. Looks really nice. And the rolling wheels shadows are alpha,and too much nrms and spc detail. in about two hours i will post proof.
Your opinion means a lot to me, thank you. The feed cover and the inside of the receiver is also textured, looks pretty darn authentic. lol
Next time i come back i am coming armed with an MG42. Then maybe an MP40 and a StG44 and then i quit the German weapons....
Realy great work inukshuk ! ^^
i mean... amazing
PS : i've fixed my previous posts about the panther ausf.G texture i've made, based on Xalibur's texture
Spoiler
@Mirage Knight : thanks for the good comment mateanyway, i don't know if i'll create camoed wheels... sorry but i prefer the tank in this way, maybe later, when i'll got more talent to skin what i want
@inukshuk
That looks awesome! I am impressed.
I am seriously intrigued by the prospect of a new MG42... Might need an HMG version.
BTW: I will be on Skype in an hour or so.
Wow, that's one awesome Maschinengewehr! Can't wait to see you work your magic on the 42 and the 40 and 44
If they look anything as good as the 34 does i wont only be awesmacked ill be humbled lol . Serves me right for nagging i suppposeOriginally Posted by inukshuk
.
VanAdrian the panthers nice m8, i just dont usually say a lot unless i think somthings wrong, or unless im bitching
The MG34 looks amazing. Very, very impressed.
@Inukshuk. heres what i mentioned in post #4205 regarding alphas and nrm spc gls shades ect.
First off the origional stug , and very nice it is too apart from a few flaws with uneven lighting and the black background cutting into the model here and there. Never the less, its still good for a scratch model and skin for people to reskin or recolour.
Spoiler
full size.
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f..._origional.jpg
Spoiler
full size.
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...origional1.jpg
Now the same model with correct alphas, toned down and altered nrms with new alphas, and toned down spcs\gls with new alphas on the skirts and addons. the main hull spc and gls i only replaced the alphas on. Alpha cutouts were also redone on the wheels and commanders hatch plus an additional cutout was added around the shovel. All difs have new alphas. and the black backgrounds have been removed, however the various difs main model colours ect has not been touched. The only thing thats been removed were some remaining green lines from the uv overlay and some red marks where i think desaturate was used too harshly.
Spoiler
full size.
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...f/stug_now.jpg
Spoiler
full size.
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f.../stug_now1.jpg
I will only quote an old English saying, "The proof of the pudding is in the eating".
So you want me to eat the Stug?
lol.
@DMZ: could it be, that the StuG now have the wrong track links? Now they are looking more like a T34 (Waffelmuster) than the Panzer III/IV ones. Are Relics original tracks not usable?
im working on links m8 was doing several things at once :/ dont be picky look at the stug not the treads
@ Lord Wilffleby, dont make silly arsed comments please unless youve read what we are discussing. Scratch that im being pedantic and over defensive sorry :/
.
@Jagdpanther
Treads are WIP.
@Jagdpanther. Sorry. As Eli says i shouldent be so uptight all the time, what i was doing with the treads at the time was this.
I just changed the pic to the ones that have new dif spc gls and nrm plus alpha cutouts.
Last edited by DMz; 2nd Feb 12 at 5:50 PM.
I am almost finished with the textures, the left side of the receiver is still to be done, but otherwise its shaping up. This is a raw version, the texture will be better. The Mg42 is exactly as long as the MG34 (1,219 m). Reworked most everything, the inside of the receiver is textured also. This baby is 780 polies (including everything, the drum, the bipod, all whats on the screenies), so to my amazement it is more then the more complicated looking MG34. The cooling jacket is not hollow, it is only textured as such, but i guess you can tell that.I am seriously intrigued by the prospect of a new MG42
There were quite a few of these with wooden butt and wooden pistol grip so that was what tickled my fancy. Of course anyone with basic skills even can reskin the butt to the ugly black bakelit.
The cooling jacket is sloping from the receiver all the way to the front and from certain angles it looks a little fat but I included a side shot to show that it is actually slim as it should be.
Last edited by inukshuk; 2nd Feb 12 at 8:26 PM.
Nice job so far inuk
Out of curiosity, would anyone be interested in seeing a Schrapnellmine 34 or a Riegelmine 43 modeled?
#4220
DMz, Now that StuG looks goooooood!!! Especially with the new and improved treads. Are the treads remodelled, or is that all skin work? I will eat someone's hat if that's all skin work! And while Lord Wiffleby probably should have made a more constructive post, the "So you want me to eat the StuG" comment really cracked me up. Pretty much made my night in fact (i'll let you decide what to make of that thought). That StuG is so good, i'd eat it. And now i want a solid chocolate StuG III.
Edit: Do you have any plans on releasing that "fixed" StuG III skin? BTW, how is the bug with the white spot under the tank commander's cupola (where the hole in the roof should be)? Did correcting all those bits fix that too? (yeah, some of that skinning stuf was way over my head)
Inukshuk: Your right about your MG42. In the first pic (that angle), i thought there was something really wrong with it (aside from the tone on the barrel jacket section of the skin, i know it's WIP), but i just couldn't place exactly what i thought was wrong. However, from the side-on view it looks right, or maybe a little too short (but your going for the shorter Relic-style MG42 right?), but then your MG34 is shorter than Loran's MG34 too, to match Relic's stubby MGs?
I can't say i've ever seen or heard of a MG42 with a bakelite stock. I've seen some with a bakelite pistol grip and wooden stock, but not a bakelite stock. Either way, all wood-tone looks good to me.
Bakelite, bakelite, bakelite, bakelite, ........
Last edited by Lethal Dosage; 3rd Feb 12 at 3:49 AM. Reason: typos and adding stuff
Both the MG34 and the MG42 was just a hair over 1.2 m in lenght. My MG34 almost exactly the proportion of Loran Korn's model. But that is longer than the Relic MG42. Since I had to match my MG42 to the MG34 it is longer now than the stock model Relic had done. So the answer is, now both MGs are longer than the stock MG42 but right in its proportions, stock lenght, receiver lenght, barrel length, bipod size. I am sorry to say but there is no way to match the Relic model because it is unproportionate.or maybe a little too short
I matched my MGs (Solothurn, MG34 and MG42) to archived blueprints and they are bang on in proportion (of course sacrifices has to be made and some details are simplified but the proportions are correct).
Here you go. Many bakelite stocks are stamped CRA which is the code fro Berlin, so they were manufactured in a waffenwerke there. Looks very advanced. MP40 and FG42 also had bakelite parts but that is commonplace.I can't say i've ever seen or heard of a MG42 with a bakelite stock
Oh hey, my post actually made someone laugh. Anyway, DMZ, anytime you post something new here, it pretty much is always awesome. So consistently so, that I don't really comment on it, since I reckon my approval and enjoyment can be assumed (like the word "you" in an imperative sentence). To state it would be redundant. Still, I quite frankly don't understand why anyone would be interested in what I think anyway. It's not as if my opinion actually matters. Just wait until I start trying to post models I make as part of the project, then you can have a jolly good laugh.
LOL i had a bad hair day yesterday m8 just ignore me hehehe. And im intrested, because whenever you say anything in here its usually commonsense and useful, i was just very touchy yesterday as a cetain set of treads took me forever to get right lol.
And LD your going to get indegestion, i did them with skin and alpha cutouts.
Ill Post the stug with the new treads and fixed textures later, 3 sets Inuks stug and stuh, plus a camo one by me, which ive finally got the lighting right on.
Inuk the 42 looks fantastic, im going to be naughty now, as the poly counts so low, why dont you model the gas\heat exchange pipe on the side of the barrel, i reckon you could put one on there for less then 100 poly, and somthing like that would actually show ingame and make a differance
Last edited by DMz; 3rd Feb 12 at 10:22 AM.
While the models are most excellent, how does the increased length of the MGs mix with the Grenadiers' tendency to hip-fire them from the assault stance? Can they grab the bipod as they used to or?
Oh, don't worry mate. I'm only very interested on further development of this beauty.dont be picky look at the stug not the treads
Or...Can they grab the bipod as they used to or?
I shouldent think the bipod will be a problem m8 if its assigned to the bone, during annimation all that happens is the bipod is automatically moved to where the hands are in game when hip firing, i doubt anyone will notice a movement of a couple of inches during deployment.
The gunner wouldn't necessarily need to use the bipod when firing from the hip. He could hold the gun via the underside of the barrel / cooling jacket. It's not like the game supports the need for an MG gunner to change barrels due to heat buildup anyway
I personally think MGs should be setup to fire only from a prone position. Firing from the hip is not only a pain in the arse from a weapon modelling point of view - it is also stupid because even short bursts from a standing position would inbalance the gunner so bad he couldnt hit a barn. They fired from the shoulder of the assistant gunner, from any platform but not from the hip I am sure of that.
Anyway, if cowboy style is in the game we can live with it but I second MK on this one.
I didnt dare!why dont you model the gas\heat exchange pipe on the side of the barrel
@Dmz, my MP40 is 380 polies, if i model the shoulder stock nicely. If I do a mas o menos then it is 250. I would wanna keep the stock as is.
Question: what would you guys wanna see? 1, MP40 with folded stock (I tried it in game it looks so cool how the troops sight it and fire. it looks so real), or 2, like the Relic model: stock open?
I tested my StG44 in game...errrrh...the weapon is a very narrow gun, unlike the stocky fat guns Relic used. So it looks really nice but when zooming in, the hand of the human model is opened much wider the gun's width. So I either model it a fatty like the Relic one or we will live with it as is.
With regard to the MP40, a folded stock would be my preference.
The stock could be unfolded in the model and then animated so that a state could change its position.
Hey really great job on your MG inukshuk ! impresive work and well detailed model
@ DMZ :
ThanksVanAdrian the panthers nice m8, i just dont usually say a lot unless i think somthings wrong, or unless im bitching , or preaching.
By the way, don't forget that i've based my panther's texture on the beatifull skin Xalibur originally made
I knew you gonna say that! lola state could change its position
I am sending the MGs your way Eli!I think we ought to have new HMGs and pintles now.
Tomorrow I will showcase the final version of the Mg42, the MP40 and the StG44. Then if you approve they can go ingame.
Inuk you have 150 to 200 polys more you could splash out on the mp40 relics own sten gun is 450 so use that as a quide and add 100poly for small arms, as graphics cards have advanced a lot,
#4235
I wouldn't splash out on polies too much, after all, in some mods you could have 100 of the buggers on your screen at a time, so many hi-poly models would not be favoured, especially with some many mods now requiring you to drop your GFX card settings anyway, to deal with those "run out of memory" crashes. I had to do it for Blitzkrieg, and i'm running a Phenom II x6 3.2gb cpu, 4gb ram, and a GeForce GTX 570 Amp! with 1280mb ram. It's kinda embarrasing
Inukshuk, nope, i'm glad your MGs are properly scaled, Relic's stubby MG42 needs fixing IMO, so i'm glad you did it. I really don't mind if the gunner can't quite reach the bipod when hip firing, but i do prefer to let them continue firing from the hip. When Loran's LMGs were first released, some issues meant that his MGs and the modified Bren could only be fired from prone, and while that looked good, there were issues where soldiers didn't know whether they were going prone to fire or taking a few steps forward to better cover to fire (much like how the sniper can dance around looking for better positions without actually ever firing a shot). It also looks funny when you put them behind cover like a stone wall or sandbags and they MG gunner goes prone to fire with his gun and part of his model clipping through. Since i'm pretty sure we can't code states so that the gunner doesn't go prone when in light or heavy cover, i think leaving in the hip firing would be better.
BTW, i'm really happy, as i got to fondle not one, but two replica MG42s today!!!! One of a Lafette tripod (with all the attachments), and the other on an MG34 AA tripod.
Don't forget to add the zf43 scope and optional vampir light to the STG44, not much point in a fixed STG44 without my precious "options"!!!
DMz, don't worry, i'm not going to eat any of MY hats, they'll be someone elses. Anyway, i pretty much got a cast iron stomach when it comes to food, so long as its nothing that sets off my many food allergies. Between that and a diet, i'm not left with much else.So hats will be a good bit of variety in my diet!
Hello everyone! Coming to a close on the PaK 40's high poly model.
MP40 - with the shoulder stock in two positions
The model maxed out at 438 polies so it should be okay.
I havent lightened the colores yet because I will have to post process the exported maps anyway, but this is where I call this done.
I had to use primitive pentagons and stuff so even with smoothing certain angles are visible when zoomed in for the screenshots. I assure you none of this is visible in game. And for saving on polies I made it simple - it was a simple shaped gun after all, and it is so small ingame a good texture does better for it then a more detailed model. That is also the reason why the texture should be a hair lighter because ingame it turnes to a little dark 'thing' when zoomed out. But hey, it is a dark weapon , so...
Coming back with the StG44 but I am modelling the Vampire sight and the scope for it, and I wanna show it with those on!
The MG42 is done pretty well, so there is progress.
I am on a hurry to push these models out, I had a nice G43 in mind too but I will have to go back to work in a few days (having sit thru my entire holiday at the comp, lol) and then goodbye modelling for a while.
Again excellant and much better then relics m8.
And Gurdy that pak 40 is nothing like what i gave you lol
This is yours aswell i believe
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...kettGurdyA.jpg
Last edited by DMz; 4th Feb 12 at 6:26 AM.
Nice Mg42 and mp40 there. Gonna make a mp41 aswell?
Excellent camo for the Alkett "car". Is this camo really from Gurdy?
Yes
Awesome stuff guys, you're making this game better all the time!
only one word ? ok ^^
A W E S
Sturmgewehr 44 (414 polies)
Sturmgewehr 44 mit Zeilgerat 1229 (530 polies)
Sturmgewehr 44 mit ZF4.1 (622 polies)
I am quite sure Eli will fix this baby up with states as I see no other way to use them anyway. The scoped version I leave as is because although it is a little high on policount with the scope attached, only one or two will run around the map. The Vampire is the same and I am sure the base model is okay with 414 polies!
The Zeilgerat 'Vampir' had a backpack type attachment with cabels running from the batteries to the black-light night vision scope but I am sure all of you can vote that its gonna be okay like this. Actually a simple way to do this would be to alpha some parts of the Pionier model and there you go, a backpack for the 'Vampire' attachment!
I will re-texture it (I had to make a new uv map to fit all parts in one so I cant show you the teytured StG44 but trust me, it looks good. lol
Hmm... FG42 with states would be sweet...
I didnt check the Relic scope but my ZF could be used for the FG42 as well if you are already working on it as a state...
Sorry, the other picture of the Zielgerat 1229 is in closed position, this is how it will look like ingame!
Last edited by inukshuk; 4th Feb 12 at 12:16 PM.
Also, when you make these models, put everything in one MAX file when you are done. Merge the two stocks for the MP40 so I know where to move the bone to.
Here is the basic Sturmgewehr 44. Bakelite grip, weathered look. Or at least that is what I was aiming for, hehe.
I tried my damnest but I tell you it isnt easy to stretch a skin over a model made out of simple primitives.
@Eli
I dont think the states will work: when you set the states for the various scopes and stuff, all the meshes load right? It is just that some meshes set invisible and another mesh kicks in. But that also means that these weapons with the extras will be way over the poly limit. Every time the MP44 model will loads the troop carrying it will run around with all 792 polies ieven if its the base model !!!
Same with the MP40, it will load with two stock meshes, one open, one folded, but half the polies are the damn stock, so the models I have just made are going to do what we try to avoid: overload the engine!
I say lets make three separate model, one with the scope, one with the Vampire and the base model.
Lets make two MP40, one open stock, one folded. I mean, even if its states the weapon will have to be manually linked in combat_ext.
What difference does it make, if its three separate weapon, or one, with the critical_ext entries? But this way the weapon model will infact stay low poly!
I say lets skip the states. On a vehicle another 2-300 polies dont matter but it makes a big dif whether the MP44 is 414 or double that! I efforted to keep it low and at 414 it is okay. But no matter how much I shifted and welded and whatever, now I actually introduce you a weapon that is 800 polies.
The states will not work, simple cant do it.
I don't know how thrustworthy the Worldbuilder Statgraph is, but according to its tri count the states work properly:
Spoiler
The first pic shows the Relic Panzer IV. The tri count is around 9500. If I place the single panzer_iv.rgm, without RGO, which contains the mesh_selector data, the tri count goes up to 15000. So I guess States work fine.
In other words when a state is selected, only the mesh linked to that particular state will load. In that case my worries are over.
Here is the StG44 with the Zeilgerat 1229 black light night vision 'Vampir' attachment
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
