Units Requests Thread

[Dom Pedro II]

*Dom Pedro II walks in, takes out the ol' 3DS Max and blows some dust off it. He takes out his old stuff from the Civ3 Creation forums and sets up shop here.*

Well... now begins the long and arduous task of taking all of the stuff that many of us, myself included, spent years working on for Civ3 and convert it to Civ4.

I had been hoping some months ago to get a jump on things, but without the game it was a bit tricky.

Well, as one of the first modellers to hop on the Civ4 bandwagon, I figured I'd get the ball rolling...... post here any suggestions you guys might have on units you'd like to see done.

Post a pic too if you can. If you can't find one, draw it if you can.

 

[Perfxion]

two from the last game I love building were modern infantry

http://www.tomstockton.us/tanks_pictures/ghq/nato/ghq-n__3-c1.jpg

and

guerrillas as in civ3

 

[AKauhanen]

"Alien" multiunit from "Starship troopers" and/or "Alien" multiunit from "Aliens 2"

And multiunit "Mobile Infantry" from "Starship Troopers" and/or multiunit "Federal Marine" from "Aliens 2"

No one said this would be easy..

 

[CivArmy s. 1994]

any chance to create these units in Poser 5.0?

 

[Dom Pedro II]

any chance to create these units in Poser 5.0?

No. I can almost guarantee that it won't work with Poser 5. However, Poser models can be used, reduced in polygon size, and then exported to a program such as 3D Studio Max.

Somebody more experienced than me though is going to have to determine just what needs to be done to create a model that the gamebryo engine can use and understand.

 

[CivArmy s. 1994]

No. I can almost guarantee that it won't work with Poser 5. However, Poser models can be used, reduced in polygon size, and then exported to a program such as 3D Studio Max.

Somebody more experienced than me though is going to have to determine just what needs to be done to create a model that the gamebryo engine can use and understand.

It is not bad news totaly, we could use Poser models used for Civ3 units to be the base of Civ4 units created in 3d Studio Max

 

[Dom Pedro II]

It is not bad news totaly, we could use Poser models used for Civ3 units to be the base of Civ4 units created in 3d Studio Max

That is my plan, yes. Hence the reason I've never gotten rid of my models for my Civ3 units.

 

[CivArmy s. 1994]

That is my plan, yes. Hence the reason I've never gotten rid of my models for my Civ3 units.

me too. the same for LHs and other creations,. But first I must learn how 3d Max works

 

[Ekmek]

two from the last game I love building were modern infantry

http://www.tomstockton.us/tanks_pictures/ghq/nato/ghq-n__3-c1.jpg

and

guerrillas as in civ3

do you mean Balou's modern Infantry i loved those ones, but I could also go for te firaxis ww1 infantry and ww2 units (but they might have tat in the scenario)

 

[Kissamies]

Zeppelins! WW I bomb zeps would be most logical, but something more exotic, like those US Navy aircraft carrier zeps wouldn't be bad either.

 

[s3d]

Some thoughts:
A lot of people have not top-of the line computers. So I'd advise unit creators to use low poly and small texture models if possible. Or even better make high poly and low poly models for the same unit.

 

[The Great Apple]

To be honest, we really need to know the game "standard" on texture resolutions and poly counts. From looking at other (RTS/FPS) games, the units will probably have several LODs (Levels of detail), which can be set in the graphics options of the game. These LODs may be able to be generated in-game (killing polies from a hi-poly model), or they may have to be done with the unit. Often you get a lower LOD when zoomed out further (so you can see more, but it's so small you wouldn't be able to see the removed detail)

There is a program somewhere out there (I forget it's name), by NVidia, which can be used to lower poly counts of high poly models, and convert the excess polies into bump maps (which I'm not sure if Civ can use). That would probably be good for creating different LODs.

It is also likely that the textures with have several different resolutions. This will almost certainly be done in game, with the highest resolution being the one the creator makes.

To get some standards we're either going to have to decompile some models, or find some way of testing it (or just ask Firaxis - I think they'd tell us). Textures will probably be pretty easy to decomplile, and probably will be 256*256 or 512*512 anyway.

EDIT: And just out of last nights chat

[20:08] <@Chieftess>&#194; <Gaias> What kind of 3d application whould be used for unit creation?

[20:09] <+SorenJohnson> Gaias: Studio Max

Looks like unit making has turned expensive...

 

[Chopperhead]

the V2 rockets would a cool unit to mod in maybe as another UU for Germany.


- I dont think I need to post a pic Im pretty sure everyone knows what they are and what they look like. if not very easy to find a pic.

 

[WankIT]

Helicopter transport

Its really bugged me in the past about lack of integration of carrier, with helicopters, and foot soldiers.

I think we need chinooks choppers as well.

 

[Spatzimaus]

Most of the units on the wish list for my future mod are ones I KNOW people will create. For instance, I want some of the Alpha Centauri units: the Needlejet, the Former, and the Mindworm, specifically. I want a few fantasy units (like a good Dragon), and a few ones I know people are planning (the Aliens from, well, Aliens). But then there are some wierd ones I want:
> A high-tech Elf with ornate armor and an energy sword.
> An armored Dwarf with a big laser chaingun.
> The Deathclaw, from Fallout, shrunk down to be a bit smaller than human-sized.
> A Bolo. (The gigantic tanks from the books).
> A stealthy VTOL attack plane that uses plasma weapons.
> Two near-future naval vessels; one stealthy missile boat, one heavy submersible transport.
> A good Zombie worker unit that doesn't look quite so low-tech. Basically, modern "reanimated corpse" instead of brain-eating Undead.
> A powered worker unit, like the loader suit from Aliens.
> A mobile shield generator. Imagine the Gungan shield thing from Episode I, mounted on a light antigrav vehicle.
> A doppelganger unit. It'll be a spy unit that has some combat abilities as well, so it'd need to have all kinds of animations, but the default appearance would just be a Man In Black sort of suit-n-tie. (The T-1000 from Terminator 2 would also work.)

And the tough one:
> The Singularity missile (aka Planet Buster), a next-generation ICBM. Instead of the usual mushroom cloud, it creates an expanding black sphere (think Akira). When it clears, there's nothing left in the square underneath; no units, no cities, no terrain, no fallout, just an empty wasteland square that can never, ever be improved. This requires some coding, but I need the explosion animation.

 

[dpaajones]

Paratroopers!

 

[oldStatesman]

I would like my Roman Legions back!!!

A laurel crown to anyone who can do this!

 

[Dom Pedro II]

To be honest, we really need to know the game "standard" on texture resolutions and poly counts. From looking at other (RTS/FPS) games, the units will probably have several LODs (Levels of detail), which can be set in the graphics options of the game. These LODs may be able to be generated in-game (killing polies from a hi-poly model), or they may have to be done with the unit. Often you get a lower LOD when zoomed out further (so you can see more, but it's so small you wouldn't be able to see the removed detail)

There is a program somewhere out there (I forget it's name), by NVidia, which can be used to lower poly counts of high poly models, and convert the excess polies into bump maps (which I'm not sure if Civ can use). That would probably be good for creating different LODs.

It is also likely that the textures with have several different resolutions. This will almost certainly be done in game, with the highest resolution being the one the creator makes.

To get some standards we're either going to have to decompile some models, or find some way of testing it (or just ask Firaxis - I think they'd tell us). Textures will probably be pretty easy to decomplile, and probably will be 256*256 or 512*512 anyway.

EDIT: And just out of last nights chat


Looks like unit making has turned expensive...

Shouldn't be too much trouble to determine what the average poly count and texture resolution is once we start pulling out the models from the program files

 

[the100thballoon]

I request multiple great people. For example: I dont want every great sci to look the same. maybe hv like 4-5 diff looks for each great person type.

 

[TreeFoot]

how about iron teeth like units, ones like they used in either WW1 or WW2 to stop tanks from passing.