Create units with OpenFX

[Varlin Saliptor]

Yes, I use GIMP.
Okay, but what is with the screwed up civ colors?
Why are they showing up like that?

 

[muffins]

Okay, with one problem solved, another arises:

The civ-color wraps around the entire outside of the unit when I view the flic:

Any Ideas on how to fix this?

Are you sure that that's civ-colour? It looks like alpha-shading. If it's alpha-shading then it's not usually a problem (it'll look invisible in-game - try the alpha-shading option in FLICster to see).

Perhaps you could post a pic of your palette? It should look something like below. The top row is civ-colour. The next three rows need to be filled with a colour that is not used anywhere on your unit. The very bottom row is for shadows (very dark to very light from left to right) and the row above that is for smoke effects but unit creators put colours that surround their unit (ie - off-magenta colours caused by anti-ailsing during the render) in that row. From left to right in that row it goes from almost 100% invisible to almost 100% visible.

 

[Varlin Saliptor]

Okay, here is my pallette. I havent changed the values for anything yet, so here is the unaltered one. What do you suggest?

 

[muffins]

Firstly, use PEdit to put the 'blur' colours that are around your unit into the second-from-bottom row (mostly on the leftish side) and put the shadow colour in the bottom row (on the right side somewhere or it will be too dark). Put the colours that are in your unit that will be civ-colours in the first row. Save your palette then in gimp load it into a random picture so that you can edit the palette so that the 2nd, 3rd and 4th rows are filled with a colour that isn't used anywhere else in your unit.

Lastly, the colour in the very bottom-right of the palette must be the background colour and must not be repeated anywhere else in the palette. The colour to the left of it must not be used anywhere else in the unit too.

 

[Varlin Saliptor]

I solved my problem when I recoloured the unit. Civ3FlcEdit works better for me than FLICster does.
Here is the new run:

 

[Varlin Saliptor]

I really don't get the attack animation stuff. Anyone?

 

[Saxofoner]

Hey good job. Looks Good! Do you know if OpenFX Anims will work with Civ IV? I don't want to invest time that will be wasted entirely in 4 months. Thx in advance!!!

 

[Varlin Saliptor]

I don't think the anims. themselves can, but I think the models are. I THINK. The won't be wasted, they just won't have a place in Civ4

 

[muffins]

If Civ4 gets shipped with Gmax (a free, cut-down version of 3dmax designed exactly for adding fan-created models to games) then it won't be a problem.

 

[Saxofoner]

If Civ4 gets shipped with Gmax (a free, cut-down version of 3dmax designed exactly for adding fan-created models to games) then it won't be a problem.

Thank you so much for telling me this. If Gmax doesn't come, can you buy it cheap?

 

[muffins]

Thank you so much for telling me this. If Gmax doesn't come, can you buy it cheap?

Gmax is a free download which I think you can get at discreet's website, however that doesn't mean that it will work with Civ4. The game has to be designed/set up for it to work (like Dawn of War). If Civ4 isn't set up to make use of Gmax then hopefully they'll do something like Bohemia Interactive did with their Operation Flashpoint and release their own model/animation suite of tools (Oxygen lite) for the fan community to use

 

[Saxofoner]

I don't think the anims. themselves can, but I think the models are. I THINK. The won't be wasted, they just won't have a place in Civ4

Sorry I worded the ? wrong, but
What I meant was:

Do you think that with only OpenFX and whatever other programs you use, a person with CIV IV and those could start making units? I mean without buying photoshop, or poser, or paying their arm, leg, chin, house, dog, firstborn child, and tax for some other program.

(Exaggeration, I do realize, but $3500 for a computer program?!?!?!?!? COME ON!!!)
(3D Software MAX)

 

[Varlin Saliptor]

Ohh...Okay. Yes, I do. Also, my answer wasn't what I thought it was earlier. Yes, I do think yo can use the anims. in civ IV, just not the way we use them to make units now

 

[Bolshevik]

I was wondering, muffins, would you be so kind as to explain to me how you model the tank treads you've used? Is it just a number of rectangles, textured, each with their own bone? And how do yuo make them move around the main portion of the model? Do you connect the individual bones I spoke of to one other bone, and use that one to rotate the lot of 'em, or am I way off? Thanks in advance...

 

[Bolshevik]

Oh, and one other thing: how do you (or anyone else using OFX, for that matter) make cloth (i.e. capes and other such flowing garments)? I assumed it was a flat surface, with each part -i.e. vertex or vertecies- of the, lets say, cape, attached to a bone of it's own (rhymed, ), but mine never turned out very well. So I was wondering if there was any particular technique, or if I just need more practice (haven't had much anyway)...

 

[muffins]

For tank tracks I just draw the outline shape by hand, extrude it to the required thickness, then use the "fill outline" command to fill in the top/bottom. As for animating tracks ... I don't. Mine are fixed to the model. However I'm experimenting with using 4 different models (each with the track links positioned slightly further along than the last model) which will be used in the costume keyframes in the Animator.

As for cloth, OpenFX isn't that good. You can create cloth by drawing a wobbly line and just extruding it but if you want good cloth modelling and animation then Poser is the program to use.

 

[Bolshevik]

Thanks, for both... Seems simple enough (the tank treads, that is), I'll probably give it a shot. Unfortunately, Poser (so far as I know) is commercial/proprietary software, so... I probably won't be animating much with cloth, .

 

[polyphemus]

hey muffins, you probably answered this question somewhere else but i am too lazy to look for it. WHen i render my unit. I get very hazy purplish pink colors that appear on the top of the screen. I added some extra light to fix this. It seemed to work but then my unit became too bright. How do i fix this?

Also if possible can you post your template for animating. (where you position everthing before adding your model in OFX format)

 

[Bob_the_Worm]

TheMorpheus, I'm impressed, been using OpenFX for a while but never thought about creating units for games using it!!

On a more general note, if anyone does like the software and wants to show off their models, or even just needs help, there's a new forum open now:

http://www.openfxforum.org/

It's still pretty new, but feel free to drop by and check it out!

 

[WildWeazel]

Please don't bump dead threads like that....