Screenshots

[Hipshot]

very cool Hipshot, when can we test it?

Hopefully next week (or the one after that). But it's not going to have this theme. I changed it after a while, didn't work with the layout.

[Kaz]

MP Beach is easily the best map, ever. Ever.

[phantasmagoria]

Just a little tease... These are some WIP shots of RtCW's mp_beach "Beach Assault" thats being remade. As you can see, there isn't any detail added, no real decals, the outdoor lighting isnt there, the terrain is missing, all sorts of things... But hey, WIP media is WIP media!

I don't agree with the pipes coming out of the front of the bunker in the first shot.

[fKd]

yeah, not a good place to put something as it could get shelled/panzered... it should be reinforcing material

[o'dium]

They were already changed after I posted the shot and noticed myself.

[T_Creutzenberg]

Aussenposten 08 for Quake 3 Arena. Coming soon. Probably. Or similar. That doesn't make sense. Right.

[phantazm11]

^ Rocks!

[o'dium]

That really does look nice mate, well done. If anything, I have to nit pick those lights, I can't seem to make sense of them? It almost looks like your trying to do some kind of fake lens flare effect, but its just not working for me...? The rest of the level really looks great, good lighting, structure and texturing.

[T_Creutzenberg]

Cheers!

Yes, there are Quake 3 style fake lens flare sprites on the lights.
I actaullay really like them and it looks way better with them in
game than without them. Also, in vertex light mode, you won't
see them. So all the lego-quakers (like me sometimes) won't get
distracted

[Hipshot]

This looks interesting, I'll comment more 'bout it when you post the entire level.

Looking at the first shot, all the flares from the lamps, looks like the bubbles in Mega Man 2's underwater stage =)

[scythe]

Wow, that really does look nice T_Creutzenberg, I thought it was Quake 4 at first glance. I'll reserve judgment on the lights until I see it in-game, but they do look a little odd in the screenshots.

[jal_]

Just a little tease... These are some WIP shots of RtCW's mp_beach "Beach Assault" thats being remade. As you can see, there isn't any detail added, no real decals, the outdoor lighting isnt there, the terrain is missing, all sorts of things... But hey, WIP media is WIP media!

I know it WIP, and I know is at night, but I find it a little too dark. Besides that, it's looking promising.

[o'dium]

Its brighter than the original. NO DEAL

[obsidian]

o'dium, a little too many red lights on the antenna, IMO, draws your eye to it too strongly to it that I tend to ignore everything else.

Maybe add some broken bricks or broken concrete with bits of wire sticking out on the front of the bunker, make it look as if it's been shelled and battle-worn.

[fKd]

i agree with obsidian

[o'dium]

Looks like I'll be making them fewer and smaller

[o'dium]

[Plan B]

Looking sweet, o'dium, although I don't really see the purpose of those 'better grip ribs'.
Not like you're gonna lose your grip on a smoke grenade.
But I'll stop with the functionality criticism, it's getting tired already; sometimes you just want to add polies to make things look more interesting

btw, what app do you use for modeling?

[o'dium]

Yeah, you can really get too caried away with making things work sometimes. Sometimes its nice to just add something because it looks good lol.

Oh, Max btw.

[Plan B]

Cool, thanks (I'm learning blender, btw. For a 9 meg app it's damn versatile).
Hope to see a playable version of your mod soon

[phantasmagoria]

Any of you use zBrush?

I've been toying with it a bit. With a decent tablet this thing seems like it could be the dog's balls. I get tired of the clinical nature of max. Going more towards modelling a ball of clay is far more natural for me and a far better way of expressing creativity, rather than endlessly adding modifiers and arduously pulling vertices about. At least for organic shapes, I'm guessing it's a lot harder for stuff like o'dium's grenade there.

I've been talking to the CNC operater at one of the places I've been working, he said he could cut me some small models out of some spare blocks of modelboard if I give him the file in 3ds. I'm thinking I might fuck max off and use zBrush to make it, especially if this could turn into a fruitful career path. I'd rather use a fluid program with what seems like less confines than max, which I've always found constricting.

[Hipshot]

You can't AFAIK, cut a base modeling app like Max/Maya totaly out of the development cycle, atleast not if you're making models for ingame assets...

[o'dium]

Not really the best way to go. Possible, yes, but Max etc are best at what they do for a reason. You wouldn't make a high poly sculpt of a mans face with stubble in Max, same way its not wise to make the low poly head in zBrush.

Its possible both ways, but not worth the effort because its much harder.

[phantasmagoria]

mm I thought as much, but for what I'm going to use it for, I think it'll be quicker to use zBrush to achieve the desired result, simply because it seems like a more creative medium. I'll post some results here. Looking around online, I think a good way to go is to block out an extremely low poly shape in max, and use that as a base to create higher detail in zbrush.

Any input into what I should model as a portfolio piece? I'm thinking about doing a bust of my girlfriend or my dad. (ie something that I can prove I have made, rather than something I could potentially have downloaded from the internet). I could do a 'creature' but stuff like that always seems like a bit of a cop out to avoid getting proportions anatomically correct. Maybe I'll do both.

[Kat]

You're looking at using zB *literally* as a digital sculpting tool then yes? If you're doing that you need to approach it from the same point of view as a real clay sculptor so look at books and resources on clay modelling and so on; as you pointed out, it's more about expression than accuracy when you're doing that.