Temporary new units solution for ALL the mods

How do you like my new model? This one's for you Kael
Unfortunatelly it is not a 3D model.
I was thinking...
..
.
Problem:
Thousands new units to do - not enought 3D modders.

Solution:
Make one generic 3D unit which can represent all the units by simply changing 2D texture.

How:
1. I made a simple plane in 3dsmax
2. Gave it a simple 2-sided material with one same texture applied to diffuse and opacity slot
3. Export it to civ

Specs:
The model itself (plane.nif) has no texture but a reference to texture.dds file. All you have to do is substitute this texture file with your own. It must be square and have transparence where you want it.
The scale of the plane in 3Dsmax is 0,1m on 0,1m. In civ CIV4ArtDefines_Unit.xml scale was set to 1 and it shows as you see it on screenshot.

Problems:
It is 2D so you won't see much when the angle is wrong.
The transparency is not totally transparent and it covers other units. Weird. Maybe I set something wrong in 3Dsmax.
Suggestions?


This is just a temporary solution till we get all the units done. I hope it'll help you guys.


PS. The dragon is a random picture from internet, I hope I'm not braking any copyright laws.

I was astonished when i followed the link and saw your new dragon model ! But alas, then i continued to read and understood that is a 2D model...
Nevertheless i deem your proposal is rather rational as a interim solution till all requested models are done, particually now, then "the wanted list" is quite long and it may take a lot of time to finish all models or at least part of them in 3D. If we manage to solve problem with trasperancy then new, temporary units will pour as from cornucopia .

It is a good solution until we can have cheaper tools to make units.

Question: Can you make the model point to another type of texture file ? GIF or other animated file for exemple.

No, Civ4 only supports DDS as textures for its models.

sharick said:

How do you like my new model? This one's for you Kael

Click to expand...

A steamroller has runover my dragon!

This si a great idea to get some placeholder art into the mods and into beta version while the real art is being worked on. Particuarly the colonization of the moon mod may be interested because they have a lot of art to make for their space vehicles and it will be great for everyone to see them.

- Kael

ps Anyone else here ever played paper mario?