ARCHIVED: WIPs - Interfaces & Static PCXs

[Balthasar]

Yeah, we went with the long plate, I'm pretty sure. If wishes were fishes, I'd do them all that way now, leave it that way through test playing the next beta, then recut them (using screenshots for sizing) for the final iteration.... I mean,... you might want to save the work file in case you'd like to do that....

I'm looking forward to the next two...

 

[Blue Monkey]

Still early days with figuring out details & proportions. Looking just at the finial - is this more like what you want?

 

[Balthasar]

Still early days with figuring out details & proportions. Looking just at the finial - is this more like what you want?

No, no; the question is, is this more like you want? If I suggest a change, it's just my sense of design talking, and I've learned not to depend too much on it, myself. For instance, if I had the Steampunk interface to do over, it would be much darker, more whimsical and much more, um, punk. More Terry Gilliam, less Disney/Verne, perhaps. Maybe someday; we do what we can do.

As to your image, that finial does look quite nice. Let's see where you take it from there.. Have you considered legs for this?

 

[Blue Monkey]

No, no; the question is, is this more like you want? If I suggest a change, it's just my sense of design talking, and I've learned not to depend too much on it, myself. For instance, if I had the Steampunk interface to do over, it would be much darker, more whimsical and much more, um, punk. More Terry Gilliam, less Disney/Verne, perhaps. Maybe someday; we do what we can do.

As to your image, that finial does look quite nice. Let's see where you take it from there.. Have you considered legs for this?

I've done more work - a finial with 2 spheres. I'll post an image soon. I don't like the idea legs for this craft - I want to keep the ballistic look since it is meant to be fired from a cannon.

Once I get better at the modeling I want to do an "aetheric car" based on the descriptions in Edison's Conquest of Mars. If you remember the "flying toasters" screensaver, picture something like a cross between that and a railway private car, powered by Tesla style equipment, including ray weapons. I can easily see that with the clawed feet I associate with Victorian furniture.

 

[KingArthur]

I think 2 spheres might take away the minaret look it has now. I agree with no legs - this thing should basically crash land, nose first into the side of the moon Have you considered ditching the finial altogether? - seems that most of the concept art/images went down that route.

 

[Blue Monkey]

I intend the attack to be some kind of an energy burst from the finial - probably balls of st. elmo's fire. Like a reverse lightning rod. I don't think 2 spheres spoils the look. The lower sphere is probably larger than what I'll end up going with.

 

[KingArthur]

The 2 spheres look better than 1. I like it better now that you've put the rims on the top too. Are you going to go for a pop rivet panneled look or a smooth surface? What colour: iron or brass would be nice.

 

[Blue Monkey]

The 2 spheres look better than 1. I like it better now that you've put the rims on the top too. Are you going to go for a pop rivet panneled look or a smooth surface? What colour: iron or brass would be nice.

The main body will probably be smooth shiny brass - like a typical shell casing. The structural beams will probably be riveted & patinaed. The observation windows blue-green bottle glass & translucent (I hope). The finial either brass or copper with one orb civ-colored & the other open-work as in the example posted above. The open work orb will be the source of the energy attack. All these choices depend on what looks right at the game scale. Any advice on how large to make it, either in terms of the samples I posted at first, or in pixel size?

I'm just now learning more complex animations. I've had some side conversations with my instructor about correcting minor problems with the model such as have curves where there should be straight edges. Also about UV mapping & adjusting camera angles by the numbers. Assuming all these things get worked out then the real trick will be figuring out how to get around the way the student version of Maya cripples animated renders. I think I know how to accomplish that, at the cost of doing screenshots of individual frames & construction the animations "by hand". I may end up just rebuilding the model in another program. I'm working on getting an internship with a small game development company. Hopefully that will gain me access to some sophisticated tools that aren't crippled. & some more advanced training.

 

[Blue Monkey]

Here's a newer example. The main visual difference is the open, spiral nature of the larger sphere on the finial. But there are several hours work cutting the finial in sections & substituting new objects for the tip & the two spheres. Next time around I'll have a much nicer door for you. & hopefully a prototype of a couple of animations (attack & run).

rant

Spoiler :

The reason for the splitting & separate models is that ultimately it keeps the geometry simpler in terms of adding the texture & rendering. I'll be doing the same with the door.

This is a "learn as you go" since I'm both redoing the model (or parts thereof) as I learn more in class and pester the instructor during breaks for things I'm trying that aren't in the curriculum. The more I work on this the more I'm seeing how crippled the MLE version of Maya is for actual output. Even though I know I'll end up redoing it in another program for the unit animations it's worth it to me to be able to proceed with the design rather than have the confusion of learning two program's UIs simultaneously.

thumbnail

 

[KingArthur]

Looking good. I can imagine some crackling electrical effects going on within that open sphere.

 

[Balthasar]

See? I'd have never thought of that.

 

[Blue Monkey]

Thanks to you both!

I can imagine some crackling electrical effects going on within that open sphere.

That's what I have in mind. A sort of Tesla coil that discharges balls of energy - like St. Elmo's Fire. & the finial is like a lightning rod in reverse - it aims the balls at the targeted unit. So they'll spiral out and along it. A weapon that will function both in planetary atmospheres and in the depths of the aether.

 

[Balthasar]

Just screwing around today.... playing with page headers.

Here it is in Gif form:

A smaller, "banner" gif:

 

[KingArthur]

Very cool - a great advert for the scenario. Perhaps I could put it on the first post of the Welcome page - unless you want to reserve it for the beta release?

 

[Balthasar]

Nah, go ahead and put it up - I'm learning not to say, "Let's do that later." I'm glad you like it.

While you're on the Welcome page, I have the following changes for the "Progress" section:

All eras complete.
Wonders done
Time Machine: Under Construction
Playtesting & Debugging: underway on alpha

First page of the Unit Lines thread should point >here< and >here< (Barsoomian Beasts)

So sad that Stormrage was the first person to post encouragement in the Welcome thread....

 

[KingArthur]

Yeah poor Stormy, he was such an enthusiastic supporter. We could always put a small dedication to him in the game. I've included him as one of the Great Leaders in my Super Hero scenario although I might bump him up to a special unit so I can include a civilopedia entry.

I'll attend to the updates on the first post this evening - got to get back to work now

 

[Balthasar]

Yeah poor Stormy, he was such an enthusiastic supporter. We could always put a small dedication to him in the game. I've included him as one of the Great Leaders in my Super Hero scenario although I might bump him up to a special unit so I can include a civilopedia entry.

There's an idea. You could do alot with a hero named Storm Rage.... A cross between the Storm girl (from the X-men - I forget her actual name) and the Hulk, perhaps......

Which reminds me, I forget if I've told you this before, but I should let you know that I've been working quietly behind the curtain with Vuldacon to shore up our heroes. You'll remember that I had the idea of combining the Monster Zombie and the Scientist to make a Jeckyll/Hyde unit; well, Vuldacon has been gracious enough to recolor the Zombie to make it less green, and now our Hyde looks much more fearsome (see attachment, below). He's also provided a non-civ-colored bat so that our Vampire can now turn into one when he runs and fortifies...

 

[Kyriakos]

Perhaps you could find some use in this spider-woman set?

 

[Supa]

Spider-Woman ?

 

[Kyriakos]

The centerpiece looks a bit like one, to me at least