Defunct Community Model Project

[hnunez]

It great to see that your work is getting organized into quite a task list of great content im very happy that so much wornderful new content is in the works i think this is really the year for moding coh as all the factions are getting a breath of life from the talent assembly of dedicated modders that has been assembled for this community initiative.

@eli

My best regards to you hope you had a good vacation during this holiday season. I hope this year is getting of to a great start and that its filled with many great accomplishments for you and your family.

[Martinlegend]

Eli i dont wanna push you..

[sweeten2213]

@ Celestial - I have the sexton animated but not textured or uv mapped. If you want to map it, we may be able to get it textured much easier I could then release it here if Eli would allow

[uuziel]

@Eli cant wait for your shermans(yay variety) goodluck!

[eliw00d]

@sweeten2213
Of course, this is a community effort. It's just that I am animating most of it (for now), so I personally don't want to work on artillery until more important things are out of the way.

[sweeten2213]

@ Eli - I would work on it and finish it - just wanted to know if I could putit here to keep all community models in one spot

[eliw00d]

Yes, of course, that is what I hope to accomplish with this thread. We're a small community, so the more we work together to get this kind of stuff done, the better.

I will be taking a small break from animating to catch up on work for Fortress Europe. I will see if I can't get the Tiger wrapped up soon, though, since it is easier to release than the untextured work we have on the horizon.

[Lethal Dosage]

Well...

Archer;
If the weapon is animated to fire to the rear, there may not be anything else needed. Otherwise, i may be able to play with the entity and squad files to get something that will look like it fires to it's rear. No guarantees, but i'll give it a shot.

Sherman mudguards;
Yeah, they were released quite some time ago, but they were never textured. The fixed skins pack that Inukshuk posted a while back included some skins for them though. On a related note, weren't some M5 Stuart mudguards in the works at some point? Were they scrapped, or are they also waiting for a skin?

[eliw00d]

@LD
What I meant was that, when a vehicle has a rear-firing weapon, it will turn to face the target with the rear-facing weapon. I tried doing this with the 81mm MMC M4A1 and it always faced forward with the rear-facing weapon still facing backwards.

The Stuart mudguards have not been textured yet, but they have been done for a while. They will most likely see a release with the 75mm HMC M8, as I have seen a few pictures of them with the mudguards installed.

[Lethal Dosage]

I tried doing this with the 81mm MMC M4A1 and it always faced forward with the rear-facing weapon still facing backwards.

Thats what i thought. Did it simply not fire, or did it fire forwards, ignoring the fact that the weapon fires backwards?

[eliw00d]

I believe it can fire backwards, but the problem is that it does not turn the vehicle around to make use of this, so you have to manually do so.

[kapulA]

I am by no means an expert at issues like these, but couldn't you achieve the same result just by making the driver appear to be sitting in the back of the crew compartment and setting the reverse speed of the Archer to be faster than it's forward speed to simulate this?

[eliw00d]

The thing is, when not attacking, it would be driving with the gun pointed to the rear. Then, when in position, it would turn around so that the gun is pointing forward. Crews used this to their advantage to take a few shots and then drive "forward" at full speed to get away. It worked pretty well. However, I don't know how to accomplish that with COH.

[kapulA]

Well, in the case that it proves to be impossible or too difficult to feasibly implement, I think that, since the maps in CoH represent immediate combat areas, people wouldn't generally have a lot of problems with applying some suspension of disbelief as to why it's driving somewhat slower in reverse - after all, wouldn't a crew want to keep their armament pointed at the direction the enemy was most likely to advance from?

[eliw00d]

If Lethal Dosage can come up with anything, that will be great. If it's not possible, then we will just come up with an interim solution. No big deal, as it hasn't even been finished yet.

[Khorney]

how do the whermacht halftrack MG's work then? since they are rear-mounted. surely its just about its tracking values?

see what happens when you make the rear MG the primary hardpoint (as opposed to the front one), that will probably give the best indicator to whether its possible or not

[Aidas2]

it would be driving with the gun pointed to the rear.

Can't you just import it so that the back would be the front? The front would be where the barrel points? Like you import any custom model?

[eliw00d]

@Khorney
As mentioned earlier, it's not an issue with the firing or orientation of the weapon - that works fine (as it does with the halftracks). What I am referring to is the ability for the vehicle to turn and face the rear towards the enemy. If you tell a halftrack with rear machine-gun to attack an enemy, it will face the front of the vehicle towards the enemy - not the rear. That is the issue we are discussing.

@Aidas2
The whole point of the exercise is to do it accurately. If we can't make the vehicle face its rear towards the enemy to shoot, then we'll find a different way to do it.

[Khorney]

i understand that, my thought was if the primary hard-point was mounted on the rear (as defined by the tracking tables on the weapon) would it not face to align with the tracking values of the 1st hardpoint?

[Jagdpanther]

The tracking values I have tried yesterday, that didn't work, the vehicle is unable to turn to the rear side. So I think, the direction of hardpoint_01 must be assigned via modeling.

[DMz]

Ok does anyone have a plain green/khaki or olive drab stuart skin, That i can butcher for the scott. Im asking because i usually use default relic textures but i really cant be arsed to reskin an entire stuart, just because it has to be american. Please make sure you own the skin and dont mind me tearing it apart and editing it before you offer it. Without unit markings and numbers would be useful too as it will save me changing them to match a scotts markings.

& Eli very few of the m8s actually kept the skirts, from what im finding only the restored ones and a few of the early ones actually bothered with the mudguards and skirts, They may be better employed on the recce, ie do the british version with skirts, And a US T8-E1 without, that and the fact the US T8-E1 could lay mines from a layer built into the bottom of the hull, were really the only differances.

[Jes]

Celéstial: I'm not 'incorrect', really.

The VK4501(P), Tiger(P), is an up-armored, up-engined deriviative developed extensively on the VK3001(P) prototype hulls.
They sport the same hull shape and size, engine layout (only larger), turret design (both are Krupp 'tiger' designs) and gun (Later Leopard designs had it use the 88mm KwK36).
The chief differences are the heavier suspension, top speed (Leopard could do 60km/h), armor density (roughly 20mm more in all locations) and weight.

The few available images of both prototypes confirm that the hulls are extremely similar in design, and the noted size measurements are literally identical.

Given the 'WoT' 3001(P)'s complete lack of speed and use of the 88mm, it virtually plays as an armorless 'real' VK4501(P).
And WoT having highly similar performing tank types in seperate places is not a new thing.


Still, this is pretty irrelevant, as they're both cancelled vehicles (that we really don't need in CoH).
They used copper, a critical wartime material, and had very poor engine performance and reliability.

[DMz]

After much messing about i eventually decided on recolouring the default, i know its a mess atm, and no where near finished but at leat its US olive.
Got to finish the markings and figure out where on earth im gonna put the rest of the stuff now lol.

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[ab2531]

"Sloppy Joe"
who is it?

[DMz]

Ok i think i got it right now

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[eliw00d]

Looks good!

[Celution]

Looking great dude.

[sweeten2213]

Little help here maybe

Anyone have any idea why this may be the case...

I am animating the BA-64. I have the whole body as one rgm, and the turret as another. I also copied the mg 42 turret gunner and changed it to a DP28. It's a model mix with the irst two, the staghound rga for the body/wheels and the 221 for the turret. Everything animates fine, but for some reason two things are the case...

1) I can't get the crush to disappear. I am using it from the main rgm, and the wreck is not visble as it should be, but the crush stays visible when healthy despite the state names reading correctly. I tested it puting the crush meashes in the wreck section and they were invisible like the wreck - so why is the wreck invisible but not the crush?

2) I get an extra mg under the vehicle in the center (the regular mg is fine, animates fine, etc...). I am guessing it is trying to attach itself to the main rgm as well as the turret rgm - but how do I get rid of it?

I imagine it has something to do with the model mix, but I have no clue how or why as they all look fine in OE with all the correct states, including when I borrow all the models together.

[Jagdpanther]

Yepp, I even like it, looks like an 100 year old vehicle or like a heavy fighting veteran.

[Mirage Knight]

No offense intended but compared to the other vehicle skins, I think the M8 looks way too scuffed up. Seriously, my first impression was that it was a vehicle that had been left forgotten in a forest for many years :/

My take on this is that the M8's skin ought to remain consistent with other Allied vehicle skins, but that's just my 2 cents...

[DMz]

Good your nominated, you can reskin it

[eliw00d]

@sweeten
Either you or DMz should send me the original model files and I can animate it from scratch. A mix for something like this is out of the question.

[sweeten2213]

@ Eli - I don't understand why a mix is out of the question?

It work fine with the mix - the only issue atm is the extra mg gun under the vehicle (i got the crush to work). You are apparently quite full of stuff to do as you haven't released the last few you had almost ready - I don't want to give you more when it is uneeded.

[eliw00d]

I can have it ready by the weekend, including the Stuart VI Recce, Autocar 75mm and CGMC M15.

[Mirage Knight]

Good your nominated, you can reskin it

So that's what I get for trying to offer some constructive, i.e. helpful criticism and input? I certainly won't be making that mistake here ever again.

[sweeten2213]

@ Eli - let me give it shot tonight (if for no other reason than I feel like a failure), and if not I can give you the files.

Any idea that why I can't get rid of the crush (it's back)? I've noticed it now when I borrow the turret in OE - when I have just the body, no problems. When I borrow the turret, the crush appears and all the crush parts beocme unchecked when they were checked fine with just the body (the wreck remains checked, though)?

Or any ideas as to why the xtra mg appears under the center of the vehicle on the ground?
Again, the frustrating part is the anims with the actual parts work fine - perfect as a matter of fact - it's just the extra crush and gun that are an issue. Obviously OE is not my strength

And I know we have all use model mixes time and time again, so it's not like they don't work.

Edit - got rid of the crush problem - was obviously conflicting stuff I had to delete in OE. Now to work on the damn xtra gun

2nd Edit - figured it out - it was the dp28 added into commonmeshes and completemotion - gun and crush now gone - now I sleep

[Celution]

I agree with MK on this one DMz. He was just giving constructive critism and you reply with "It took me hours to make this, if you don't like it, gtfo". Even if you didn't mean it this way it feels like it.

[eliw00d]

Although I agree that it was meant as constructive criticism, please keep in mind that DMz is not a texture artist and has been going out of his way to make textures for these models. So, although you are both just giving your opinion, at this point I also have to agree that DMz should not spend any additional time changing it for any one person's or group's benefit. The whole point of DMz texturing is so that it has something rather than just being a pink model. A placeholder until someone else can re-texture it. That's not to say that DMz's textures aren't any good, I think they have been of good quality considering they aren't his forte.

Also, it is hard not to get frustrated when you've been working on something on your own free time, sometimes consuming an entire weekend in the process, only to be told, "You're doing it wrong."

So, let's just drop it and try to handle criticism better on both sides - myself included.

[DMz]

@Mirage i was kidding m8

@Celestial you should know me better by now, im rough round the edges

@Eliw00d i think Sweeten means its a model mix regarding anims, no parts are being mixed, its just bones. Ie gunner\turret bone and anim from pe scout car and movement anim from staghound, course i dont know how the damaged engine works in that equasion, but im sure he isnt actually mixing model parts.

[eliw00d]

@DMz
It's all good, man. I think we're all on the same page now and can move on.

Change of topic...

Besides me getting around to using your new textures, is the Stuart VI Recce done in your eyes?

[DMz]

@Eliw00d Ill be on steam in a bit. Plus im gonna waste the time on this texture m8, as a lot of people have been waiting for this thing for a long time. I think its only right it should have a half decent texture to start with, incase theres a delay getting it reskinned or recolours by someone with more texture skills then me.

@ Mirage Knight... This any better ???? , to me it looks like im heading towards that yucky Russian Olive ive been working with.. But i need the opinion, as i also believed it was overly rough in the first pics, is it now too clean now ??? , also i just spotted that theres some lines on the side number edging visible now, but i can sort that.

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[sweeten2213]

Here is the BA-64 (model and textures by DMz, animations by me)



Only problem I have now is the wreck si acting a little goofy and I tried for hours to fix it to no avail. Not sure how "fixable" it is, but he moving and firing animations are good

[DMz]

Looks good but without the wreck :/ , its got to be physx or somthing stupid, 1 bone maybe that needs assigning. Try splitting the wrecked wheels up into 4 seperate assignemts like on the staghound... as at the moment they are just named Wrecked_Wheels , and all together. otherwise i cant be sure, maybe Eliw00d can shed some light on it.

[sweeten2213]

I just double checked the bones and can't imagine it's them (every similar wreck or crush bone is connected to the appropriate bone from the stag). I have to imagine it's physics, which I can honestly say I know nothing about

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Here are the model files for the BA-64, Eli, if you want to try and play with it and see what the heck is wrong with the wreck (when it is triggered in OE, the vehicle points straight up in the air, and in game it disappears right after that).

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0NSY98SS

Edit - was just checking some of my other models in OE with ni physics done, and they act fine upon "death" when you trigger the animation. Something goofy with the Stag (which was used as the base for bones and rga), Maybe?

2nd Edit - I noticed a couple of my models based on the stag had similar issues (daimler and dingo) whereas others did not. Maybe a third set of bones in the mix for the wreck?

[DMz]

Id say use the bones from the PE scout car for the wreck, will solve the problem, that or the greyhound bones, both have been used with success many times.

[eliw00d]

I'm telling you guys, this would be better as a scratch build. That is not to say you did anything wrong, sweeten, but it would solve your conflicts.

[Sturmhaubitze]

DMz, I think you were pretty close with the first scuffed-up skin, it's just a matter of limiting the paint chips more to the edges. The Relic CoH models are quite dirty, but the paint job is mostly intact, and the weathering you did with dirt and other discolourations is accurate and should fit alongside the others. It was just the chipped paint areas that needed a little reduction.

I agree with you that the second skin is not as good as the first, it's a bit too plain. If you tone back the chipped paint and find it plain again, you can always discolour the paint some more and add more dirt. Due to differences in the thinner they used, paint jobs could get discoloured and differ in hues across the vehicle.

[Darkbladecr]

Stepping in on the physics issue. What exactly is wrong with the vehicle? Does it fly off the screen? Then the mass values or force of the physics_sphere in OE need to be adjusted. Or is it something else?

[sweeten2213]

@ DB - when you trigger the death in OE the vehicle "points straight up in the air". Here is an example of another vehicle having the same issue (I already started to rework the BA)

[eliw00d]

The Dingo is already done, btw.