New Unit Graphics

[The_Coyote]

nifViewer doesnt need 3DSMax? ...

nope, i don´t have 3dmax either (only Blender and all the other free tools) and sceneviewer works without problems. You only must have one file included in the folder i think it was something like boundshape when you want to open a nif (or have the file where the exe is and import the nif in the viewer or drop in - and save often, sceneviewer likes to crash)

hope that helps

 

[Ajidica]

Thanks. This will help alot.

 

[Deon]

I want this mod to progress. Currently I learn 3ds max via building making, but the day when I start unit making (well, I just have to get used to rigging) I will definitely appear in this forum with new units .

P.S. Ajidica: thank you for you work. This mod needs artists.

 

[Ajidica]

Yeah, I stated with building to. They were horrible to say the least but I at least managed to learn GIMP. I'm actualy planning to do a whole set of Byzantine and Goths. I may throw in some persians. I wont need to do slavs or avars, the mongol units by Bakuel will work.

 

[Psychic_Llamas]

i also started with modelling buildings, and i must say i do prefer building modelling to units (far easyer to do imho) plus you dont have to go through the hassel of gigging them... i still havent figured that out. ive got several units sitting on my computer that havent been animated...

 

[Ajidica]

I suppose non animated buildings are easier. For me they mere easier to skin becasue I didnt have to deal with vizualizing in 3d. with buildings I only had to visualize 1 side at a time.

PL, whith your units, couldnt you just assign them to any animation? They wouldnt have any animations but they would show up in game. Just an idea. I know next to nothing about animations. You could ask ploeperpengel.

 

[Psychic_Llamas]

ive asked ploep, he tried to help me rig my models but im near useless at it and gave up... i should give it another try...

i could put them into the mod unanimated but that would feel half finished and seem tacky so id prefer if they were animated

 

[Ajidica]

No offense intended at all, but the mod is a beta and is half finished. At least they are there, you can always figure out rigging later.

I have decided that doing units with lots of cloth is really hard (I'm not going to be doing Syrian Archers soon). I think I will be doing mainly armoured units.

Added my Gothic Freemen Spearmen. Next probably is a Gothic Lancer.

 

[Ajidica]

I added a gothic lancer that would work well for Kislev and a Byzantine Foederati Cavalry, I dont know where it would go.

 

[Psychic_Llamas]

nice stuff i need to find places for these guys

 

[Ajidica]

Thanks, do you have any tips for more advanced skinning? All of the tutorials go straight from 'how to open up GIMP' to 'how to rig a model to an animation or make a new model'. Also, do you know how to do gloss maps?

 

[Psychic_Llamas]

i was direced to a gloss map tutorial but never could get it to work...

here are my favourite tutorials:

Neener's tutorial on how to make, and texture a unit

Rabbit, White's Nif viewer tutorial
and part 2

you can probably ask seZereth about Gloss maps, he's very helpful and VERY knowledgable (and great at explaining) he expalined it well to me before but i couldnt suss it out (i should take another look)...

hope that helps a bit

 

[Ajidica]

I think I'll just ask seZereth for some tips. If you are able, I have a small model request, could you put the Skirmisher shield onto the Praetorian and Spearman and remove the spearmans helmet crest? Also, could you remove the 'asiatic' helmet from the keshik and add a head from the Charlemagne heavy spearmen? If you are able, that would be great. I would try and figure it out myself using blender and nifviewer, but I am back at school next week and wont have any signifigant time off until Christmas break.

 

[Psychic_Llamas]

ill see what i can do but cant promise anything, because like you im back at uni and have exams comming up. you could put a request in the art forum, you might get faster response in there. if not ill try get it done after my last exam (20th november)

 

[Ajidica]

Thats fine, I'm in no rush. Do you know how to have different objects get on the same UV map? EG: I'm retexturing the Charlemegne Light Cavalry, apparently the shield and spear on the rider arent part of the model itself but still on the texture (If I color brown where the spear should be on the texture, a the spear appears brown despite there being no template on the .dds file) I though I might be able to get them all on the same template by trying to select all the objects and get a template of them all, but I cant select multiple objects in nifskope. Do you know what I am doing wrong? (If I made no sense, I'll try and explain it more.

 

[Ajidica]

I finaly finished the LEgio Lanciarii. I am next going to do either a Logothete (Tax Collector from the reign of Justinian) or a revolting peasent from the Nika Rebellions. PL, could you post the COnfucian and Taoist missionaries? For some weird reason pakbuild crashes or messes up my computer.