UT2004 WIP Vehicle/Mod : A load of balls.

[Sabby]

The mod has been in contruction for over a year now due to various memebers being tied up with other projects during it's development, but with a last final push we should hopefully have a beta to play sometime before christmas.

The original idea comes from Simeon 'Lord Simeon' Spargo (of AS-Outback fame ) who together with Mike 'Blitz' Breuer put together the first working alpha version of the new gametype, which is a cross between last man standing and a traditional lap based racer.

Here are the early concepts


http://img318.imageshack.us/img318/5973/ballconcept1rm4.jpg

http://img315.imageshack.us/img315/672/ballanatomyvv2.jpg




The models so far with basic block colour skins. Polycounts are around the same as the existing default vehicles.


Wires


http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/8003/urdballswireframesgj8.jpg

Shaded


http://img77.imageshack.us/img77/324/urdballsskinshadedcm8.jpg

Crits are much apreciated, especially suggestions about detailing. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Thanks!

[Fjornsvavne]

First thing that comes to mind is a slight doubt of that fan underneath, hehe.. First of all I think a fan for holding the ball of metal levetating off ground would be pretty huge. Far more area than the ball itself. I like the idea of an inside ball being the "wheel" better, just a couple of stabilizers on that. Or just throw on an anti-gravitation engine. /images/graemlins/wink.gif The thing about steering the ball like a bike is neat, with a lying postion. Looking like he's hanging on there for what his life is worth. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif Rather than there being a chair which also disrupts the airflow. Other than that, continue to where you're headed, I'd say for now. ^^

[Sabby]

[ QUOTE ]
First thing that comes to mind is a slight doubt of that fan underneath, hehe.. First of all I think a fan for holding the ball of metal levetating off ground would be pretty huge. Far more area than the ball itself. I like the idea of an inside ball being the "wheel" better, just a couple of stabilizers on that. Or just throw on an anti-gravitation engine. /images/graemlins/wink.gif The thing about steering the ball like a bike is neat, with a lying postion. Looking like he's hanging on there for what his life is worth. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif Rather than there being a chair which also disrupts the airflow. Other than that, continue to where you're headed, I'd say for now. ^^

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, there are three Ball 'classes' a the moment, each with the usualy advantages/limitations, Small / fast / low armour
, big/slow/heavy armour and something inbetween.

They're going to have some kind of emitter/light effect on the bottom where the glowing blue things are to show the anti-grav thing more prominently.

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/8223/urdballsskinprogress1zo1.jpg

[jonnyhr]

Hehe, this is looking quite interesting I must say. I'm liking the designs for the different balls and the anti-gravity idea would work quite nicely. Looking forward to seeing the finished texture though /images/graemlins/smile.gif Keep it up

[cholden]

Since the balls being of separate classes, they appear too similar to stand out from each other. Experiment with silhouette at stamp size until the three are recognizably different. Then repeat this process with the color scheme.

[Phopojijo]

I don't know if "riding balls" in a community as immature as Unreal2004's is a good idea.

[Mark Dygert]

Cool idea! But you need to break them up more so they aren't so similar. If these where mine I would make the following changes.

Big Ball:
- Change the color scheme to a darker maroon.
- have some big defections plate armor or blast away armor that hangs off the sides. Hang it in a way that it looks kind of like saddle bags and is heavy to help explain why it is slower. Split the Ball down the middle and move the two parts away from the middle about the width of a player. Then give the center a cockpit with a tiny slit. Something like this.
http://vigville.com/forum_images/BigBall.jpg

HoverBall:
- Leave the color scheme red.
- Dig the middle into the model a little, so the sides come up to about knee high. Maybe add some light side platting or a guard rail. It would look more like a short pill or capsule instead of a ball.

SpeedBall:
Its perfect!

Overall they are cool, but similar and at a distance could be confusing. I see a few areas you can crunch some polys and those polys could be put back in as detail such as high antennas or exhaust piles like the top concept?

[Sabby]

[ QUOTE ]
Cool idea! But you need to break them up more so they aren't so similar. If these where mine I would make the following changes.

Big Ball:
- Change the color scheme to a darker maroon.
- have some big defections plate armor or blast away armor that hangs off the sides. Hang it in a way that it looks kind of like saddle bags and is heavy to help explain why it is slower. Split the Ball down the middle and move the two parts away from the middle about the width of a player. Then give the center a cockpit with a tiny slit. Something like this.
http://vigville.com/forum_images/BigBall.jpg

HoverBall:
- Leave the color scheme red.
- Dig the middle into the model a little, so the sides come up to about knee high. Maybe add some light side platting or a guard rail. It would look more like a short pill or capsule instead of a ball.

SpeedBall:
Its perfect!

Overall they are cool, but similar and at a distance could be confusing. I see a few areas you can crunch some polys and those polys could be put back in as detail such as high antennas or exhaust piles like the top concept?

[/ QUOTE ]

Cholden / Vig - Yeah, for the moment they probably look reasonabluy similar from a distance. The balls themselves will have numerous attachments onto which weapons/defense systems will be added. Things like the massive oversized weapons for the big ball, and some secondary colours on the skins should make things a little more obvious.

The gameytype itself is quick tight and short range, so you won't be able to see things more than 100 yards away.

I'm trying to keep them fairly compact and tough looking though, something like the robots from 'batteries not included' in style.

Also , as the gametype involves a lot of tunnels etc, any large trailing stuff can cause far to many headaches for our poor overworked programmed , both with potential snags collision wise, and clipping issues. Sadly the engine doesn't have provision in the physics for bendy whip-like ariels etc (which would rock, especiall with those little triangular flagson the end!)

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4471/urdballsskinprogress2kp3.jpg

[Sabby]

Done some more on the hover ball, changed some of the UV's for less stretching. Hadn't noticed some of the overlapping stuff on the seat back.

http://img506.imageshack.us/img506/3209/urdballsskinprogress3yf6.jpg

[Sabby]

still struggling with how to detail them, whether to just have smooth skins or whether to have chunkier parts sticking out from the models, like stowage boxes, access hatch things, pipes etc.

http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/3690/detailingpaintoverye8.jpg

[Sabby]

Progress on the skins so far. [updated]

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/4790/urdballsskinprogress5qk1.jpg

If I want to add more model detail I'm looking at having to do extra skinmaps, that or laboriously scaling each layer to fit a new UVW.

[Sabby]

Built the weapons and fixed some stuff

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/2860/urdballsskinprogress7mr7.jpg

[pior]

For some reason I can't wait to play this!
Maybe make the speedball even smaller?

[hawken]

good call on dropping the seat on the speedball, how about a visor?

I think you should retain the basic ball shape, there is no problem with that - it's the games main feature right? Although the 3 balls need to be more unique, why not make the speedball smaller and the big ball really big with a huge cannon?

Also take note of the polycount you have where the spheres polygon poles are (the sides where all the polygons connect), they are very dense and packed with polygons, some optimisation is needed in these areas to bring the count down.

[Sabby]

Thanks guys!

Yeah, the speedball is the final hurdle, we really need an expert on skeletal animation to work up some new poses for us, as we're still using the default driving animation, which doesn't work at all with the speedball.

With the pole polys, is there a more efficient way to have them? Should I, for example, simply collapse the center ring on the big ball sides?

In game shots

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/7280/collagesb6.jpg

[Sabby]

Okay, mostly there now I guess!

http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/9144/urdballsskinprogress8dr3.jpg

A lot more detail can be added to the skins/models, but at least they look mostly okay now for a beta release. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[uk_resistant]

I think its a great idea, and they have a good look about them, the only thing id add is a lot more wear and tear.
Get some bumps on there, scratches, and chipped paint!
These look like they might bump into things a lot, and i kind of imagine them to bop up and down as if on water.

[MAUL0r]

I agree with resistant, and if it matches the mood of your mod, maybe some decal skin variations, like maybe stuff that they scribble between battles. It looks like they're vehicles in UT2k4 which means you could conceivably create a few varying copies of each vehicle class... just to make things interesting.

[Sabby]

Yeah, that's something we plan to do, for the moment , while the codes not there to have damage based skin changes , I've left them virgin and unscathed. It may be that we offer up a variation on each class, or style accessories, to be able to tell individual balls apart (perhaps even different coloured balls!)

For anyone interested, we're due to put out a beta shortly - some shots in game are available here:

http://urd.unrealplayground.com/screenshots.html

[ebagg]

Badass, I like how they turned out and seeing your progress on them.

[zenarion]

I never thought i would say this.. but i want to jump on those balls of yours /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[MightyPea]

I'm happy i've only found this thread now, as it's very interesting to see it evolve from sketch to final.
I like the red/blue contrast a lot, and the materials look quite appealing.
The cannons seem to be made from an entirely different sort of metal though. There's a decidedly different feel to them.

[Moz]

Looks like something straight out of metriod.

I feel the sides of the ball could really used some asymmetrics. Like missing panels or something to break them up visually.

[SHEPEIRO]

love the idea,

cool designs esp the big ball.

would like to see some more metal panelling details like rivets/hatches/exposed machinery, but overall the looks are nice.

one thing i wuld say, is that maybe its wise to keep the sides a nice clean (form and colour wise not grim)metal armour panel, then the different team motifs can be added on floating polys with an alpha over the top.

cant wait to play.

[Sabby]

Thanks for all the crits guys, sorry I've not responded sooner, this project kinda stalled this last month or two. We're back on track and due to launch soon though. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Will definitely get around to adding more detail to things, both physically and with the texturing, the team icon/decal is a great idea, and would be nice to add an element of personalisation to the vehicle, especially for identifying people at a large distance.

Perhaps coloured balls? /images/graemlins/smile.gif?

Here's a couple of teaser shots from the maps in progrss - just finished the 'pit' mesh, again still low detail on skin and might add a lot more pipes or something to flesh it out, but it looks okay so far I reckon.

http://urd.unrealplayground.com/images/URDShot-16.jpg
http://urd.unrealplayground.com/images/URDShot-17.jpg
http://urd.unrealplayground.com/images/URDShot-18.jpg

[jgarland]

Looking great, but like everyone else, I think your... uh... your balls need some wear and tear, but try not to just throw random scratches and chips in.

Give them a meaning. Don't just scrape up the harsh corners because they look like they need it. Try to think about every dent, ding, and scratch you put in. Is it realistic? Is there a real reason for that scratch to be there? If so, what is it? Is it because an enemy rear-ended the ball? Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

One of my pet peeves is when someone just randomly throws dents and scrapes onto their vehicles, or buildings, or whatever, just because someone told them to. It doesn't look realistic. Think about why the huge scrape is there, and if you can't come up with a logical explanation, don't put it there in the first place.

Just my two cents. Keep up the good work. It's been great to look through the thread and see it progress from the concept to where it is now.

[Uly]

Looks cool, but the silhouette is kinda dull when in the regular 3rd person cam. Some special effects from Unreals super easy particle editor could help too.