Animated leaderheads

[Rob (R8XFT)]

I am having problems patching in Poser models into 3d Studio Max via Transposer II - not all the morphs seem to be transferred over. I'll have to either rectify this problem or learn to create characters in 3d Studio Max, which is easier said than done. I might have to stick with static leaderheads when I bring out the first version of Anno Domini or alternatively look for the best of the amended leaderheads by Amra et al.

Attached is another of my attempts - Agis of Sparta along the Greek shoreline. It'd be great to get him animated Civ IV style!!

 

[woodelf]

He's amazing Rob.

Using static LHs at first isn't a bad thing for Anno Domini. It saves on initial downloads for Beta testers.

 

[dalek master]

Nope, I'm Rob, a bloke. She (the image in the woods) is based on my Gladys of the Coritani leaderhead for Civ III .

lol. sorry I ment:

"who is she".

sorry.

anyway great work rob, I figured you were a bloke as people were calling you "rob"

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

Using static LHs at first isn't a bad thing for Anno Domini. It saves on initial downloads for Beta testers.

I agree - however, I might get away with the initial beta test (after Warlords has been released) using the leaderheads that come with the game - I'd have probably about 10 civs that should be in Anno Domini ready made. It would be nice to have at least Boudicca and Agis in there too...

 

[woodelf]

I agree - however, I might get away with the initial beta test (after Warlords has been released) using the leaderheads that come with the game - I'd have probably about 10 civs that should be in Anno Domini ready made. It would be nice to have at least Boudicca and Agis in there too...

From experience the Vanilla LHs don't feel right as stand-ins for mods. Personally I prefer a real static of someone instead of an animated Julius Caesar renamed.

So how is the Civ4 version of AD coming?

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

From experience the Vanilla LHs don't feel right as stand-ins for mods. Personally I prefer a real static of someone instead of an animated Julius Caesar renamed.

They wouldn't be stand-ins in Anno Domini - we already have Arabia, China (Qin She Huang only), Egypt, Greece, India (Asoka only), Mongolia, Persia and Rome in the game - with new leaderheads for Egypt and Rome and also new Civs Carthage, Celts and Vikings. That's eleven civs and fourteen leaders (ie Egypt, Mongolia and Rome have two each). They're all original Firaxis leaderheads being used as the person they were meant to be.

So how is the Civ4 version of AD coming?

I'm not even starting it until Warlords comes out! However, I'm putting a fortnight into it at the end of August/start of September, so expect the first version to come out around that time. For now, I'm just trying out 3ds Max in the hope that I can do something in the way of animated leaderheads. If I can figure it out - and it's a big if - then I'll create a couple of heads for the initial release. If I can't then it'll probably be some static images - though I personally prefer animated.

This time around, it won't be like the Civ III release, where I worked on the mod for about a year then released it. Once I've released the initial version, the plan will be to release updates/patches based on feedback given, perhaps each new release including new civilizations. I did a lot of research and a lot of civilopedia entries for the Civ III version, so that side of things should make life a little easier for the Civ IV mod. Before the initial release, I aim to clear up the website so that the Civ III version is pushed into a couple of pages whilst the new Civ IV version takes over the bulk of the site.

If I do manage to create animated leaderheads for Civ IV, then my priorities are to do Boudicca and Agis of Sparta. There are so many others I'd like to do to bring in new civilizations - such as William the Conqueror (Normans), Hengist (Saxons) and Teuta (Illyria) - and leaderheads for civilizations already in the game - Darius (Persia) and Trajan (Rome) spring to mind.

 

[woodelf]

Releasing it that way has a good track record in Civ4 so far. Do an Alpha, get feedback, and keep tweaking/improving. I look forward to AD.

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

I'm glad you're looking forward to it. It'll be released much earlier in Civ 4's life-cycle than it was in Civ III, so hopefully it'll be popular.

Attached is a good example of what I was saying about Transposer - the program that links Poser and 3ds max. This is Darius - everything has copied across except for the morphs which made him look Persian! Also, there was a morph on the headgear to make it more like Darius' headgear - that hasn't copied across either. Back to the drawing board....

 

[Ploeperpengel]

Fantastic stuff! Really hope you figure out how to get it into civ. But I think Firaxis should release their scripts for that. Someone should push them.

 

[Dom Pedro II]

One of the things I was trying was to import the leaderhead NIFs into Blender and then modify them and export them again as NIF files and put them back in. I didn't really get too far with that since I'm working on other stuff however.

I think reskinning goes a long way, but even small changes to the face, animation, and clothing could really make the leaderheads look distinct.

I'd rather do that than use Poser figures since then it keeps the Civ-style feel. If you use the Poser figures, however, I assume you're going to optimize them a bit, right? Their current polygon count is way too high to be used as is.

 

[Ploeperpengel]

Did someone already try changing LHs with the nifviewer?

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

The good news is that I've solved the morphing problem - Transposer2 doesn't transfer morphs from Poser 6 - but it does transfer Poser 5 morphs. So I've switched back to Poser 5 (which I actually prefer).

The bad news is that we're still on static leaderheads for now. However, I'm still practising. One question is whether or not the Amazons have a place in Civ IV Anno Domini. Attached is one reason why the answer should be "yes" .

 

[Ploeperpengel]

Hm, maybe the amazons could have a place. Atleast in the Warhammer Mod. Would you be interested in doing fantasy LHs? I have posted some LH pics we will use in the latest posts of our mod(link in sig). But I like your style. So if you would like to redo the pics posted by me to fit with it I would certainly use them. static is ok for now. Animation is something I hope for in the future. Let me know if you're interested.

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

Hm, maybe the amazons could have a place. Atleast in the Warhammer Mod. Would you be interested in doing fantasy LHs? I have posted some LH pics we will use in the latest posts of our mod(link in sig). But I like your style. So if you would like to redo the pics posted by me to fit with it I would certainly use them. static is ok for now. Animation is something I hope for in the future. Let me know if you're interested.

Sorry, but fantasy leaderheads are a no-go - I never play fantasy mods or have any need for the leaderheads, which take time to create. I'll only be doing ancient leaderheads for now.

 

[Ploeperpengel]

Ok nevermind. I just had to try

 

[Ploeperpengel]

Even if you don't like fantasy is there any chance to get a good samurai pic out of your store which I may use?

 

[Plotinus]

Ah, so this is why R8XFT has abandoned us poor Civ III souls. Well, looks like our loss is Civ IV's gain. I can certainly see the appeal of the longer LH shot when it's Boudicca and co. Good luck with it!

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Plotinus !!

I know that static leaderheads are possible, but (in the absence of original animated leaderheads) would it also be possible to have a few different static images for the leader (i.e. one where he/she is angry, one where he/she is estatically happy, etc) and show the relevant picture when you meet him/her?