Hiya, I like rocks! Rocks are great! I’ll do some rocks!
I did a test rock based on this concept art for the Deshaan Plains, brand new mesh :)
So here it is in game:
Any good? Texture is CCA license.
I thought the texture was a pretty good match to the photo I was shown:
https://salamboinaddis.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/dsc01674.jpg
If we’re happy, I’ll bang out some more rocks based on that concept art. If not, I’ll change it :)
As is, ready to implement except collision, which I’ll do when we’re happy with it.
| Attachment | Size | Date |
|---|---|---|
 terrain_rock_deshaan01_screenie01.png | 1007.82 KB | 2016-03-10 20:26 |
2015-08-10 20:50
3 weeks 1 day ago
The texture looks good, certainly for the time being. As we’re still not completely clear on what palette we’ll be going with for the Deshaan, it’s probably best not to spend too much time on the texture.
While it’s hard to judge from the screenshot, it does look as though the vertex shading might be a little soft, though; I would add two or three horizontal lines of darker shading, a bit in this direction:
The model itself looks solid, though it would be more convenient if you were to upload the file so that I could take a proper look at it.
2016-03-09 19:42
8 years 9 months ago
Oh sure, here’s the model. That was dumb of me! I figured the texture wasn’t finalised, so I’ll just use it for now.
It’s a lil’ rock, I could do the horizontal shading on the taller rocks, but ya I’ll do it for this little one if you like :). Lemme know.
2016-01-17 16:36
5 years 8 months ago
Oh wow, this looks very good. I know the Dres lands are kind of a priority right now but I might as well ask here; would you be willing to make any statues?
2016-03-09 19:42
8 years 9 months ago
Awww thanks that’s very nice. I could have a crack at a statue, sure.
2015-08-10 20:50
3 weeks 1 day ago
Yeah, even though it’s a small rock I’d try and introduce some element of horizontal shading to tie it together with the rest of the set. Something like this:
2016-03-09 19:42
8 years 9 months ago
Okay, I'll get on it Gnomey :). That looks great!
2016-03-09 19:42
8 years 9 months ago
Behold the power of vertex painting!
Nice screenie from NifSkope. This was the first one I was happy with. Wow, 2002 graphics are kinda limited.
Any good? Happy to change it :), but it’ll need more vertices. No problemo though :)
Attached is the NIF. It needs the DDS texture from my last post :).
If we’re happy, I’ll go ahead and crank out the rest of them, including that cliff piece, cause that looks fun.
2014-01-01 23:00
1 year 7 months ago
Hey, this is great! I have a few suggestions however.
I checked out the model, and it looks like the triangle count is a little high (469) for a small rock. The mesh looks simple enough that you could probably use a decimate modifier to lower that significantly while still maintaining the shape. (for example, the top of the rock would need only a few triangles).
The texture also looks a tad stretched in some places, so perhaps you can tweak the UVmapping a little. Don’t get too hung up on this though, as this can be fixed later down the pipeline.
Don’t take that as disaproval though, feel free to start the other rocks! It would be nice if we had a consistent set by one artist. Keep up the good work. :)
ps: For the sake of keeping threads organized, I recommend we discuss the statues in another thread (perhaps in conceptualization).
2016-03-09 19:42
8 years 9 months ago
Hiya Swiftoak! No problem, I’ll decimate it and get back to you. As for the UV, I just did a very quick job; I’d prefer to tweak the UV when we have a final one if that’s okay, it just gets the idea across (if you don’t agree though, lemme know and no worries I’ll tweak it :) ).
Thanks for your kind words and I’ll bang out the rest of the rocks :)
viz a viz the statues, ya sure, maybe my showcase?
2016-03-09 19:42
8 years 9 months ago
Sorry, error with this post when I first… erm… posted it. So please redownload if you haven’t seen this message before :)
Time for an update!
These have the same issues as I have been warned about :(. They need more optimisation regarding their polycounts (too high) and UV maps (way too stretched), but my insomnia kicked in last night so… rocks happened XD
Note: terrain_rock_deshaan01 is tingered with, so please redownload XD
All have a similar radius, so ff it’s cool with everyone, I’ll move on to making the rocks in this set with larger and smaller radii (after fixing these of course!). Could do some more variations of these though, so please let me know XD.
So, what needs fiddling with to make ‘em better and TR worthy? Tell me and I’ll do it :).
Also I can’t wait to have a go at the cliff pieces :).
2015-08-10 20:50
3 weeks 1 day ago
I’ve cut out the statue discussion and have moved it to this thread. I’ll try and take a look at your latest rocks today, sorry for the wait.
2016-03-09 19:42
8 years 9 months ago
Sorry about the off-topic Gnomey, and thanks for taking a look at my rocks. You don’t have to be sorry for the wait, I get that everyone has like… real lives :)
2015-08-10 20:50
3 weeks 1 day ago
I’m nothing if not thorough: I’ve attached an .esp with the rocks as well as some of Rats’ ambient sounds. They’re located in or near TR_DP_TESTCell. I’ve gathered quite a few notes on the rocks:
-most of the rocks are way too large for some reason
-the top of the rocks should generally not be shaded
-I think the shading should be less saturated
-the bottom edge of the rocks should either always be shaded, or should be closed off and left unshaded.
-I feel your rocks are too orderly, and as a result don't make efficient use of polygons. I'd try and break up the current structure of horizontal bands of vertices stacked on top of each other. The same goes for the shading; it generally shouldn’t go all the way around the model except perhaps at the base.
-part of it is that you seem to be largely using quads as opposed to making full use of triangles.
-at the same time, I feel they are too jagged. The model just needs to create the rough form, and it should be relatively smooth, with only very shallow depressions. The shading is there to accentuate those depressions and give them real depth.
-vertex shading should, however, only be used where there is a vague depression and at the base of the model. bulges should not have shading.
2016-03-09 19:42
8 years 9 months ago
Okay, I’ll get on it! Thanks for being thorough :)
2016-03-09 19:42
8 years 9 months ago
I’m learning so much about modelling and this is really helping me, so thanks so much Gnomey, Swiftoak and Templar Tribe for the free advice and encouragement! You people are awesome!
Anyway, update on the size error… actually, I have no idea. When I exported them to NIF and placed them in the CS, I had no problems with scale (see my first screenie at top of post). I just re-exported them, and they’re the correct size again. Lol I really have no clue, I guess something to do with NifSkope and me stupidly removing the scale transformation.
Still, unprofessional of me to not actually upload the one’s I exported… sorry!
Anyway, that’s fixed. Somehow. As for the vertex shading, I believe I’ve sorted that out too. I’ve been more minimalistic, and would appreciate more of your guidance once I’m happy with them :).
I lowered the polycounts on them all as Swiftoak suggested; I’ll do it again once I have played around with their meshes for Gnomey’s fixes.
So now it’s just smoothing them out and breakup up the orderly nature of them. Playing with sculpting to fix that one. Will have them ready for you today hopefully, unless my laptop explodes or something.
2016-01-17 16:36
5 years 8 months ago
I wonder, what about some types of cliffs that look like this: http://stuffpoint.com/ireland/image/373935-ireland-one-of-irelands-many-table-rock-formations.jpg ?
Something that has a very unnarutal look to it that could have been caused by chloriene storms or salt storms long ago?
EDIT: Ooooh, or perhaps something like this: http://cache4.asset-cache.net/gc/148627986-the-tabletop-of-roraima-getty...
2015-08-10 20:50
3 weeks 1 day ago
I think that sort of stuff works better for Shipal-shin; Deshaan shouldn’t have a lot of big rocks in my opinion except at the border. It’s a plain.
2015-07-05 20:55
4 years 2 weeks ago
My comments on Vertex Shading.
Vertex shading is useful for giving rather plain textures some additional depth. Applying darker colors will make the area look a bit recessed, and applying lighter colors will add some height (or just make it stand out). One of the problems with using vertex shading for MW is the lack of vertices. The models should be relatively simple, so doing good vertex shading is difficult. However, adding a few additional vertices in the areas you want to shade or highlight will help with the overall general effects.
My comments on rocks:
MW’s rocks are very simple. The triangle count ranges from 40, for a small half-rock to 400 for one of the arch rocks. Computers have come a long way in the past 10+ years, so small rocks should probably have 100-200 triangles, or less, and larger ones could be up to 1000 triangles.
Try not to make the half-rocks, or rocks with missing faces. These severly limit a developers options on placing them. This doesn’t necessarily mean that all rocks should be circular, a flat bottom would be acceptable. Just so long as there are no missing faces.