Grenade Launcher WIP

[Sage]

Hi, here is a gernade launcher I designed for Vermuelen's mod. The model is made up of 969 polygons. I was wondering what you thought of the color scheme I have in mind for the texture. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

Alex
http://apsentertainment.com/previews/gL01.jpg
http://apsentertainment.com/previews/gL_s01.jpg

[JKMakowka]

The mesh looks really nice, but I still think 1000 polys is overkill for weaponmodels, even with todays fast computers.
That computing power could be much better spend on other stuff.
Oh and I really don't like that red on your concept pic... dunno but for me even fantasy weapons should look like 'realistic' weapons.

[timothyd]

I think the handle is too thin. Also, where do you put your other hand to steady it? Just underneath? Usually there's an underside grip as well. The color scheme is ok, not sure if paint would hold up in combat situations.

JKMakowka - 1000 polys is fine for weapon models, if the power exists it should be used.

[EarthQuake]

1000 is overkill for world models, if its a view model then most games today are using closer to 2000-2500

[Bradfordart]

Looks pretty pimp, I think the polycount isn't a problem. Looking forward to the texture!

[KDR_11k]

Grenade launchers use a different sight. Since grenades are heavier than normal gun projectiles they aren't fired at the same speed and gravity has a much larger influence even at short distances. They usually have lots of targeting markers for various distances. But then again you dont have a shoulder piece on the weapon, either...
Oh, and the clip doesn't look like it could house the ammunition you're going for, might want to scale it up.

[Thermidor]

If you look at real life guns , they are purely functional in design ... try to think of a reason somthing is onyour model ... if there is bits sticking out , or holes ... why are they there? just my 2 pence /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Zeldrik]

1000 polies for something that will be taking up a quarter of the screen is definitely not overkill.
I like the design, kind of a mix between the quake 2 and 3 grenade launchers. I’m not a big fan of the grey blue and red colour scheme though.

[Bronco]

Thermidor:- I see what you mean baout the functuality of guns,but unless you are a gun-nut (and this can be todo with anything really) you,like me,maynot know the parts or the "why are they there?" for your average gun....As long as the design for a futuristic based object is ergonomically possible to use and the most basic functality issues are solved (in this case the handles,grip,trigger position and grenade clip) and the design matches the style you are going for then I see no issues about it.

ALso im not digging the red outlines either.

John

[Sage]

Hi heere is an update of the gun. I started to texture it. Let me know what you think. Thansk for the replies and suggestions.

Alex

http://apsentertainment.com/previews/gL02.jpg

[steady]

looks good, keep goin!

[melkior]

-the barrel hole is very large

-the projectile is very large

-the ammunition feed belt/wheel holes are not correspondingly sized

-a rotary amunition feed for this weapon just doesnt make a huge lot of sense. I suppose you could keep it for the fantasy sense but usually grenade damage is huge compared to other weapons and gameplay balance would have it be a slowfire weapon. Slow rate of fire weapons benefit a lot from fancy reload animations when possible; this brings upt he opportunity to have a chamber that needs reloading which would be a really nice and impressive animation that takes a few seconds - thusly balancing the need for gameplay balance and to have the weaopns appearance and function balance its appearance.

-your current color scheme appears to be more of a sports color coding than a weapon coloring. If your making a CTF/teamplay game then that coding may be appropriate (and if so you may want red/blue variants) However usually I recommend you make your first skin be a non-team colored variant and when its done find out what colors/areas would benefit most from team color variants. Having a gun look like its got sports striping or Circus colors doesnt add to the "holy hell thats going to rip my head off" feel that a flat gun-metal grey does .. at least to me.

-the current design of this weapon is waaaay to heavy on the front side and the way the grips are it would be breaking your wrist (or feel like it was) in 2 minutes or less. If its going to be that front heavy this is a HEAVY weaopn and would need a bigger grip for the non-firing hand that would allow you to support the front end of it and you might want to also have a shoulder strap to support it.

overall I suggest re-design to a chamber loading grenade which will alleviate half of the feedback I have.


As always - its your gun so please take my crits only as suggestions and enjoy your design if it suits your personal needs.

melkior (at)
studio-erebus.com
Nightwatch Modeling Team Lead

[Sage]

The color scheme was approved by the people that comissioned the gun since it fits into their game pretty well. Melkior you made some good points about the holes, I sort of overlooked that. I modified them so they match and added the ammo. I sort of based this theme on the Quake 3 guns so I'm not really going for a typical realistic looking granade launcher. I also added a spot for the character to hold the gun steady, similar to what was done in Quake 3. The gun's texture has a long way to go. The final lines will be all scratched up as well as most of the paint so I will be revealing alot of the base gray paint. There will be burn marks, dirt, and other wear and tear. Thanks for the advise. Let me know what you think.

Alex
http://apsentertainment.com/previews/gL03.jpg

[flachdrache]

I like the revolver kind of loading system. /images/graemlins/smile.gifIt does looks a little unbalanced because of the handle imho. I would rotate the handle and resize it just a little. What i don`t like is how parts of the model (buttons, coolgrid) intersects the gun. Try to flatten the edges to the surface - it`s also easier to skin.

hth

[Irritant]

The hole in the barrel needs to be centered. It just doesn't look right being shifted to the top like that.

[Zeldrik]

Maybe a less bright pinkish shade of red would work better? Something closer to blood, im still not a fan of the colour scheme but i think changing the red would help alot.

[Sage]

Hi here is an update to my gernade launcher. This mostly a prototype and is around 1045 polys. Let me know what you think.

Alex
http://apsentertainment.com/previews/gL04.jpg

[PeteJ]

the new design looking much better Sage, only crit possibly is that the area under the barrel looks a bit flimsy. nice improvement

[Sage]

Here is another update to my gun. I started to do a color test for the gun and sketched in so details. I also optimized the gun alot, it's now 970 polys. Let me know what you think.

Alex http://apsentertainment.com/previews/gL05.jpg

[Sean McBride]

Reminds me of the quake2 art somewhat /images/graemlins/wink.gif Which is a good thing in my eyes, I loved that stuff. Keep going /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[MoP]

Reminds me of the Quake2 Grenade Launcher (which is a good thing!) /images/graemlins/smile.gif
[edit]lol, n30g3n3s1s... great minds... /images/graemlins/wink.gif

I like the start on the colour scheme. something to remember is that when paint gets chipped off like that to reveal the grey metal underneath, the chipping usually occurs around points of most contact - ie corners and edges of the metal, it's not likely that the paint would flake off in large areas which wouldn't come into contact with things very often.
Also you'll want to remember to throw in some nice sharp highlights on the grey metal, but not on the red paint - that will help differentiate the materials.

Keep it up!

BTW just a note: You've been spelling it "gernade" all this time, it's actually "grenade"!

[Vermeulen]

One thing to fit the nexuiz style, is that it should be more of an alien chrome clean metal type design. No textures in nexuiz have rust or dirt. The model looks great now though, its a lot more detailed on the top which adds a lot to it.

[AfroLeft]

The grenade launcher in terminator 2 had a revolvng magazine, right? I didnt mind the old paint scheme (as long as it wasnt going for realism, kinda like a colourfull ps2 game). I think they re-do looks too much like the Q2 one, but the fatter grenades are better. (and the magazine was an oval in the old one.)

Hmm... old paint does flake off in laege bits in the middle of things, but that old flakey lead based paint most likley.

[Sage]

Hi, here is an update to my gun. I hope to have it done in a few weeks. Let me know what you think.

Alex
http://apsentertainment.com/previews/gL06.jpg

[adam]

Hey, I'm a fan of the mesh. Really like it, well done. The overall appearance of the weapon though looks all too familiar from sorts of FPS games. The imagination side of it seems lacking, but the execution of it all is superb. Now to see a finished skin...

[Sage]

I did some more work on the skin. I started to add some details and shading. Let me know what you think.

Alex
http://apsentertainment.com/previews/gL07.jpg

[_Shimmer]

delicous, looks really cool.
i like the red plastics (i hope they are plstics /images/graemlins/laugh.gif)
The metal needs some work though, or do you plan to make the reflectiosn via envirnemtnmaps?

[usagi]

nice, thats starting to turn out really well

[steady]

very cool keep up the good work

[Badname]

wow realy great progress! I love the skin man:D

[Mit Gas]

How about overlaying the skin with itself (desaturated)?Sometimes works wonders. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Sage]

Hmm that sounds interesting Mit Gas... I do feel the skin is a little to saturated at the moment especially when I add my reflection overlay. I'm still adding the basic details though so I have all the overlays off since they tend to make me say the skin is done before it really is. I'll have an update soon. Thansk for the feedback.

Alex

[thinsoldier]

I really really really like the details in the skin...really.

[Sage]

I'm really liking how the gun is turning out. I added more details and the gun finally has a hole in it's barrel. Let me know what you think.

Alex

http://apsentertainment.com/previews/gL08.jpg

[Irritant]

Coming along nice, but I really am not a fan of the grip at this stage. Looks like a cow skin or something. Of course I realize it's a WIP and that might change.

[Sage]

Hey it does look like a cow skin, I had not noticed that at all before. It's pretty funny /images/graemlins/wink.gif I hope I can fix that before I'm done. Thanks for the observation John. Later.

Alex

[killingpeople]

it looks great, you should start dabbing in dots of maroon/black to push the contrast more. looking great thus far!

[Sage]

Here is another update to the gun. Let me know what you think.
Later.

Alex
http://apsentertainment.com/previews/gL09.jpg

[steady]

Sage, i think it is looking good, it is a very clean design and looks like its going to be sweet when its finally finished. I'd recommend to try to stay up all one night and just bust it out, otherwise its going to drag out into a unnecesarily long amount of time, time which can be used on other projects.
Id also say you should add some texture layers over it and dirty it up with scratches and brown grimey stuff. keep it up

[Steakhouse]

This has come a long way from the original with the excessive ventalation holes. Great progress man!

[Vermeulen]

Hey, I imported into Nexuiz and took some shots:
http://www.nexuiz.com/verm/nexuiz000005.jpg
Thats as an item

http://www.nexuiz.com/verm/nexuiz000003.jpg
Thats the view model

One comment from Havoc: maybe make the red portion be more of a dirty dark metal, with polished edges from wear?

[Sage]

Heh I thought I could not add any wear and tear to the gun, but now that you asked this should look a lot better. I have been wanting to do that for a long time. The game pretty nice and I'm glad to see the gun in there. Hey do Quake 3 shaders work? Latter.

Alex

Alex

[Vermeulen]

Nope, no quake3 shaders
Only bumpmaps, offset maps, glow maps, gloss maps

[flachdrache]

That looks mighty fine /images/graemlins/smile.gif but is it a different texture in game or is the clip facing the wrong direction ? /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

@vermeulen - i have to overlook my texture so i can post my new model the other day /images/graemlins/laugh.gif.

[poopinmymouth]

Seeing it in game now, you really need to push the contrast on that baby. Some near blacks would not be amiss, because the engine will never lighten them brighter than black. So it will always look like a groove or recess. The details are looking nice, they just are too shallow in their value rainge.

[Sage]

Thanks for the feedback! Here is what I have done to the gun. I added a metal overlay and played with the contrast a bit. I'm finally starting to add the final details to this skin. Bout time! /images/graemlins/wink.gifLet me know what you think.

Alex

http://apsentertainment.com/previews/gL10.jpg

[Irritant]

Could really use some more specular treatment. Right now it's kinda flat looking IMO.

[Sage]

I added the back to the shells. I'll be finishing up the details and fix the shading issues at the end. I'm looking at my Halo game cover and am going to try to push my highlights in that direction. Let me know what you think.

Alex

http://apsentertainment.com/previews/gL11.jpg

[Sage]

Another quick update. Played with the contrast abit.

Alex

http://apsentertainment.com/previews/gL12.jpg

[Sage]

Did alot more work on the hilights and shading and added more details. Let me know what you think.

Alex

http://apsentertainment.com/previews/gL13.jpg

[Irritant]

Starting to come alive, keep it up /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Renaud Galand]

That is really cool /images/graemlins/smile.gif I would add some burning tracks (or something like that) on the metal near the grenades, to give a "already used" feeling.

In fact, I think the whole gun need a rusty/damage pass.

great job!

[Sage]

Here is another update. I'm almost done. I'll be adding dirt to it soon. I worked more on the shading and added most of the final details to the exterior of the gun. Let me know what you think.

Alex

http://apsentertainment.com/previews/gL14.jpg

[Steakhouse]

I really like the little light you added. It makes it look very angry, or at least slightly put out.

[Sage]

Heh yeah, that was a happy accident. The general shape of the gun looks like the head of a pissed off rhino of sorts. That's what it reminds me of anyway. Thanks for the comment Steakhouse.

Alex

[Thegodzero]

Thats whats wrong with it, i have looked at this every time you made some change to it and couldnt figure it out. All your texturing is the same depth. All the details are so shalow it feels epmty. Your missing the high contrast that makes the details pop. You already have the details, you just need to make them all pop out or into the gun.

[Sage]

This might sound like a stupid question, Thegodzero , but what is a good way of doing that? I have had trouble finding a good workflow to keep me from having this problem again and again. At the end of texturing I just paint in stonger shadows with a mutiply layer. But really that is just a work around. I have always had this problem even with traditional painting, I get to this point and can't get to the next step. Any tips would be welcome. Thanks.

Alex

[Irritant]

Stronger shadows and specular highlights will give it depth. Certainly looks like it could use some contrast.

Don't be afraid to take some bold strokes...

[RageUnleashed]

Make the tightest shadows 100% black and the tightest highlights 100% white, it will give it more depth, and feel more like metal, whereas right now it seems the contrast makes it feel like it was made out of brick.

[Bronco]

Nice work Alex keep it up...

Is it a metal you are going for?,I mean the redness of it reminds me of a plastic just add some reflections using an enviromental image of some sort,distort the images,make it a soft-light blend and then chnage opacity as desired,that would create abit more color in the surface and works rather well.

if of course it is metal,you really need to scratch the beech up..add some underlayers of paint also,which would also help break the red up..I think thats the main prob...

Rage:- Id have to disagree I think with your highlights being 100% white...It would work for like where the paint has been scratched or is "pure" metal but apart from that Im not sure there would be that much highlight as the surface treatment and red paint would dull down the highlighted areas somewhat.

good luck with it though alex.

john

[Thegodzero]

Sage, looking at the engine its going into id say make a bump map for it. That way your nice lighting will show on this gun of yours. That and a specularity map. If you dont want to go that path, then go the path of the under light and the over light. With very dark shadows and full highlights like bronco said only not balck and white, use the complementary colors for the darks and i guess white if you want for brites.

[killingpeople]

http://members.cox.net/wisdim3/killgL14.jpg

i would totally up the contrast and add some variation in the red color to break up the forms and make it more interesting. i usde gray marks and the smudge tool on a color layer.
unless you were against it, i think giving the edges some dings and nitches would make it look less like a 3d model. the old trick still looks good imo. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[qubism]

i might add that u could pick certain shapes that u have painted there and tone up or down in brightness to make it even more... variated .... but just on on spot ... i see some interesting shappes on the side where the magazine sits ... maybe there. also ... dirty up the blank grey metal...

[Sage]

Here is another update. Thanks for the tips. I played with the contrast a bit and added more details to the inside of the gun where the clip goes. Let me know what you think.

Alex

http://apsentertainment.com/previews/gL15.jpg

[Irritant]

Looking better, little by little. Good job. I think you could go a little further on the highlights. I did a quick paintover with some subtle things that could give it some more depth, if it helps any. You'll have to excuse the messyness, but you should get the idea from it.

http://www.planetquake.com/cor/stuff/paintover.jpg

[Sage]

Almost done. I added some imperfection to the gun and played with the highlights some more. Thank you guys for the feedback and the paint overs, it was very helpful. Let me know what you think.

Alex

http://apsentertainment.com/previews/gL16.jpg

[Irritant]

Looking good /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Slash]

sweet! when will nexuiz be released? Are you guys still using that skin i did hundred years ago? (im guessing not :P)

//edit: after a little research i see that there`S a closed beta thing. I wanna test! *runs off to apply*

[Vermeulen]

nexuiz will hopefully be released sometime in the first half of april.

[Sage]

I'm pretty much done with the gun at this point. Here is what the interior of the cartridge holder looks like. Let me know what you think.

Alex

http://apsentertainment.com/previews/gL17.jpg
http://apsentertainment.com/previews/gL18.jpg
http://apsentertainment.com/previews/gL19.jpg

[Josh_Singh]

I think this looks awsome.

[Cubik]

Really nice, a bit muddy, but then I have no idea how big your texture-resolution is. But is it really necesary to use any texture at all for the insides? Have you checked if you'll ever see that area ingame?

[Omar_Nabiev]

yes, this gun looks awesome!:

[Volkov]

I like the amount of work that went into it overall, looks cool. What res is the unwrap btw?

[killingpeople]

fantastic! well done!

[Sage]

Thank you all for the help and compliments. The texture res is 512x512 Volkov. I think that's what you meant by "What res is the unwrap btw?". Here is the texture layout.

http://apsentertainment.com/previews/gl_skin.jpg