Geeze...Talk about a rag-tag bunch of varmits

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

I finally got around to making a bunch of units, a recycler, and factory. Boy do I have a lot of work still ahead to get a new race of fighting aliens ready for battle. Anyways, as shameful as they appear I've managed to get some of them done. I never realized this before, but getting it all right is easier said then done. Some units still need to be transfered from my other PC, but that'll have to wait for a while. I see I'm also going to need to tweak some of the textures as well. Scaling also appears to need some tweaking as some units are either bigger or smaller then I originally remembered. Here's a screeny using some stock ISDF assets to get things working though. 

[Steeveeo]

My god....they're....they're made of WOOD! Johnson, inform Central Command!

[TheJamsh]

lol

low detail settings! wheres all the high!

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

I guess the JPG format just kind of sucks for posting images, but filefront accepts the format. Actually, the models themselves are quite nice looking. Wood? Actually the textures are a desert style camo. Nothing really fancy, but very utilitarian in a sort of can't really texture worth a crap sort of way. Making your own models really sucks up the free hours in a sort of where did my life go when I decided to try my hand at modeling sort of way. I may eventually go completely insane, but making my own stuff really is sort of like throwing away the peanuts and chewing on the shells...it tastes a little bitter at first but after the taste buds go it's really not that bad...LOL.   

[AHadley]

No offence, but it's either wood or paint

[bigbadbogie]

Varnished treated-pine, Oak or Mahogany?

[TheJamsh]

wait i know!

its a red and orange image file? thats what it looks like!

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

Strangely enough getting the recycler and factory parts right was the hard part. I had to illuminate the collision_hc object, and the grid4 objects to get the 2 buildings to even load right. Essentially, the minimum parts required were the terrain, hp_vehicle, _powerup, _com, _light, terminal_podium, and terminal_2g. I figured out that once the recycler parts were added I could reuse the same objects to make the factory too. I never realized how very similar the 2 buildings really are to make. I also made an undeployed recycler; a boxy looking monstrosity that actually deploys itself. Trouble is now that I have way more units ready then I have space to add them them to the buildiitems list of each building. I may have to add them to the constructors build list in the form of another support building; which I had to use to get the stock constructor to build my factory. Not to mention the fact that I need to make models for the other support buildings like the power generators, relay bunker, etc.

Boy! Do I have a lot of work ahead or what? I think I'll call my race something like BNG's Raiders and make them more or less a pirate race that feeds off the assets of other races. My God! A scavenger race that recycles other races! Galactic domination in an eco-friendly sort of way! Don't stop me now boys! I'm on a roll here!

[bigbadbogie]

Lol. You little treehugger you.

Wooden ships, now eco-friendly galactic domination.

[TheJamsh]

wish i could model =[. got all the tools, just cant do it lol

[bigbadbogie]

You WONT be able to rely on others for every model in Serenesis.

Even BS-er has taken up modelling for MAD after Lizard left, and he is a programmer.

Modelling is one of the most important things to know if you are a modder.

[TheJamsh]

yeh thats it exactly. i like to mod things one at a time and get them finished and perfect, and i need models to do that.

Got 3DS Max 7, id like to be able to use it as well as NK1/GH/You do. Maybe ill just ask for help with texturing and UVmapping...

[Warfreak]

Look at Avatar's Tutorial: http://bz2md.com/fishdotxsi/model.htm

A bit outdated, but still holds true. Keep going trough it as much as you would like, by then you should have the hang of ONE way to make models.

[TheJamsh]

yeh i went through it a while ago. id probably find it easier if i learnt how to use the program really well first.

got plenty of ideas in my head, just need to learn how to create them... CAD programs were much easier lol

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

TJ, you might try using TS 7.6 to make models with and then export them to MAX to convert them to XSI. Seriously, Truespace is pretty much a no brainer kind of 3d modelers for peeps with very little modeling savvy. I gave up on just about every other 3d program due to the sheer complexity of them. I almost gave up on modeling until I stumbled across Truespace and Gamespace. The model making part is pretty easy. At first everything was totally alien to me as modeling stuff is pretty complex to begin with, but I was very persistent and determined to make something.

What makes me want to tear out my brain is texturing; I totally suck at it, but now I'm taking a second look and forcing myself to just learn doing it. TS 7.6 also exports to 3DS and ASC both are MAX formats. The modeling tools are easy to understand too.

The primitive objects like cubes, spheres, cylinders, and cones are good for making simple body parts. The real power comes from right clicking the objects and entering into the edit mode. From there you can turn a simple object into a complex object, and do stuff like extruding faces, moving vertex points, and a ton of other cool stuff.

I think the most powerful tool I've come across in TS is the point drawing tool where you basically draw out the basic outline of an object, and then convert the object into an editable 1d mesh object that can then be made into a 3d object by right clicking it to enter into the edit mode. 90 percent of everything can be done in the edit mode.

There's a ton of buttons/tools that I never even use, so all you'd need to learn is the basic user interface, and a few other modeling tools to get started. Trust me, you'll want to kick yourself when you realize how simple TS is to use; I did and boy did it hurt.

TS 7.6 has 2 basic layouts: 1) The Workspace mode for rendering stuff, and 2) The Model mode for creating and editing your models. It also basically includes Truespace version 6 which I mostly use as it's basically the same as my old modeler Gamespace which is now obsolete and no longer supported by Microsoft; yes MS bought Caligari out a while back. BNG.