African settler (06th March 2005)

I think this is the best first unit I've seen - a very stylish looking model. The animation is perhaps a little stiff (I'm not sure her legs bend at any point) but it's really pretty good. Definitely looking forward to the sequels!

Thanks for all the comments!!

As I advised in the first post, this was mainly a "practice piece" and I learnt so much from it. I agree that there are some minor problems, eg the death sequence thing with the skirt expanding, but I'm happy with it as a first attempt. In fact, the skirt prop was the major source of the difficulties. I did try the Poser 5 walk designer and had real problems with it - and yes, I read the manual! Fortunately, utahjazz7 gave me a guide in doing a walk sequence in 10 frames and whilst it isn't 100% perfect, it's not bad for a first try IMHO.

I hadn't latched onto the fact that the civ colour was included in the icons and will do that in future .

Originally, I tried this unit in 140x140 size and it seemed too small for me. Also, the detail became very difficult to see.

There will be an African worker. Chances are that I'll do a settle animation for that unit too to give it more variety.

No doubt that as I improve, I'll do another version. I posted this unit as it is partly to get some feedback, so thanks. Personally, whilst I'm not advocating that it's the best thing since sliced bread, IMHO, it's got some African flavour, it works, the worst animation is the death, but you hardly ever see that with the settler (it's normally capture, I think it's only when it's defeated by barbarians that you see the death sequence) and it's better than a colour conversion.

The main thing is that it has helped me learn to make units. With a mod in progress, that's a really useful ability.

I've never seen so much detail in a unit before

incredible

I do'nt think it warrents a remake at all. It was a good choice of first units; there aren't any alternatives to it (color conversions excluded), and its not a unit that's going to be in the spotlight during the game, like say a swordsman replacement. Plus, as you pointed out, if you're stupid enough to let your settler get killed by barbarians you probably won't notice the extenda-skirt.
Oh, yeah, about the pedia: no one pays attention to things like civ color in the civpedia icons. Or they shouldn't..
Ps I've already resized the unit myself, only took a few minutes (146x146). I might post it if anyone wants it.

here is a civ color pcx

Congratulations R8FXT. Finishing up your first unit is a big accomplishment (or at least I think so ). It only gets easier from here. I think my first unit took me like a month to finish up, and now it only takes a day or two... when I'm not being lazy.

Looking forward to seeing more and more from you.

A great idea for a unit!

Another way to see the death sequence is to disband it.. but who disbands a settler? Usually you have them join cities.

*Note: since I know that disbanding a settler plays the death flc, the obvious answer to the question "but who disbands a settler?" is me..... SHUT UP!

*puts a bullet in his brain*

Very Nice unit. Especially so given that it was a first unit. Better then my first.
I agree that the walk is a bit stiff, and the size is slightly too large.
Her walk would seem better if her knees were bent (at least a little), even if they never moved at the knees.
I think the original scale you had might have been better. I looked at the unit in its current size (155) and then resized it to 140. I think 140 shows the detail just as well and looks more scale. A woman slightly taller then the warrior escourting her is probably not unheard of, but looked just a bit off.

I hope you stay at unit creation, since you're clearly very good at this.

Dom Pedro II said:

I think that the run animation is a little awkward. Did you try using the Walk Designer?

Click to expand...

I think so, too. But it is a very beautiful unit with really nice dress. Her walk is more like she's tiptoe-ing and she looks like she has a quite stiff back from the side. I believe she would walk much more relaxed and more self-aware.
Besides, she might carry the basket on her head. Nevertheless, very beautiful unit.

R8XFT said:

There will be an African worker. Chances are that I'll do a settle animation for that unit too to give it more variety.

Click to expand...

Is the worker going to be a woman, too?

bluebox said:

Is the worker going to be a woman, too?

Click to expand...

No - it's a man; there is a preview in the Anno Domini thread (see my signature).

I thought about the basket on the head, but didn't want to overcomplicate matters for myself - it's the first unit I've done.

I did another flic for a different unit today just to practice. At 140x140 it does look about right.

Yeah, it's a very good looking first unit. If you think of it, I can't really remember any other female settlers(except mine, but those will come in a long time, so yours is first). So it has originality, true the walk is a bit akward, but it's too difficult to animate loose clothing properly and I doubt people will notice it in game, as it lasts for a very little time.

Default is what you really see most of the time, that and settle. Get these two right and you're set. I think it adds a big chunk of flavor to the game.
Congrats!

flamescreen said:

Yeah, it's a very good looking first unit. If you think of it, I can't really remember any other female settlers(except mine, but those will come in a long time, so yours is first). So it has originality, true the walk is a bit akward, but it's too difficult to animate loose clothing properly and I doubt people will notice it in game, as it lasts for a very little time.

Default is what you really see most of the time, that and settle. Get these two right and you're set. I think it adds a big chunk of flavor to the game.
Congrats!

Click to expand...

Thanks !

You're right about animating loose clothing. It's one thing you can get round when making leaderheads (in fact, there's never that much clothing in the frame when you're doing a leaderhead) but it's all "on show" when doing a unit. Even clothing that is supposed to be conformed to the main character has it's moments when you're doing the animations.

A couple general suggestions for further units. First, if you're modeling them yourself, remember big arms and feet are the norm at civ scale. Second, don't lock yourself in at a set size for every unit. For example, if a African worker or fighter is a little bigger, say 144 or 146, it adds a little variety and won't look unusual (and its better to err on the side of big-ness, as shrinking a unit is quite easy while enlarging ends up looking crappy and pixelated). I don't like the firaxis warrior as a size reference, because for some reason its smaller than most of their other units. The swordsman is closer to average. And one thing on animating attacks: if you are doinga jumpo or lunge attack, have your unit take a step back first, so he doesn't "go through" his opponent in game.
I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with next.

Bungus said:

A couple general suggestions for further units. First, if you're modeling them yourself, remember big arms and feet are the norm at civ scale. Second, don't lock yourself in at a set size for every unit. For example, if a African worker or fighter is a little bigger, say 144 or 146, it adds a little variety and won't look unusual (and its better to err on the side of big-ness, as shrinking a unit is quite easy while enlarging ends up looking crappy and pixelated). I don't like the firaxis warrior as a size reference, because for some reason its smaller than most of their other units. The swordsman is closer to average. And one thing on animating attacks: if you are doinga jumpo or lunge attack, have your unit take a step back first, so he doesn't "go through" his opponent in game.
I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with next.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the pointers !

Good "debut".

The civ-colors are a bit dark. You could try to make the blue tones in the palette darker. Or use the color from palette index 06 (PSP) as civ-color in poser. For the npt06 palette it's "RGB: 57 100 252". But be aware that the rendering does it "falsify", because of the light.

I view the Civilopedia not often, but I'm pretty sure the pedia icons have no civ-colors. Blue is blue for all civs. The unit32 has cc. But the pedia icons? So I think, the original icon is ok.

@Dom: Christmas is over.

Yeah, yeah, Aluminium... I know. To be honest, I got sucked back into EVE. But I have been keeping appraised of progress on the forums too. I post occasionally.


Regarding the unit, I had another look at the run, and it's certainly good enough to work. It's just something to keep in mind for the future.

Also, I didn't say it earlier, but it is a really beautiful unit. I plan to buy that set at Daz too. I have the male versions already.

But seriously, look into the Walk Designer because it will make life a lot easier for you. Instead of having to pose the whole thing, you can point and click and have a nice run anim. Especially since when dealing with characters that are not wearing long draping clothing, the movement of the legs will be very important.

*Asutralian Accent*

Quite mate, g't up 'n 'ere take take a look!

Its da rare and bootiful 'Dom Pedro II' in its natural 'abitat.Used ta be a common site 'round dese parts but den, for resons our team of experts (mean'n my wife) can't decifer.


Aww crikey! Its dissapeared!

I'm guoing ta make ma babie swim in a tank fulla pirhnahs!