Ten Years of Counting Polys

[r13]

Once again we have come back around to the First of April, the anniversary of the site. This time we find ourselves at quite the milestone; ten years. Ten years of the green and black. I can't begin to form a description of how amazed I am by this. I know every year I tend to get a bit more sentimental, but ten years... stunning. I don't attribute this longevity to myself. Long ago, the community took over the space station.

While the inmates were running up and down the halls, we're been working on some things off to the side. One of these as you can see is a brand new set of boards. This is all new tech. No more UBB. This is built on a new foundation so that we can build more functionality into the boards to allow us to do more things as we spend our time here. As some have noted, a new color scheme and design as well. The traditional colors of the boards had grown obnoxious over the years. So many of you were so nice to not say anything to me about it. Please realize that the boards are not done by any means. Things are a little broken here and there. We know, you've told us. We didn't go through all this just to stop now. Have faith.

One suggestion I saw that I was fond of was the idea of a logo contest. I've not going to look into the logistics of it right now. We've got to get the site all plugged in and working as intended. But in the meantime, I think it's safe to say you might ponder some sketches.

The best thing that I thought of today... I was telling a friend today, the site has changed the life of just about every person I know. That's just awesome. Cheers to all.

[Tulkamir]

Wow, 10 years eh? Well that's impressive. I haven't been here for the whole time, but for the 6 years I have been around it's been great.

Thanks for the amazing job to those of you that have worked so hard to keep the boards up and running all this time. The new forums are certainly a good 10th birthday thing for the boards. :D

It's a great community, that's forsure.

[flaagan]

I'd personally like to keep the basic greentooth as our hapless logo... maybe replace that "... O" in the title with our smiley-on-crack.

I'd really like to keep him around as I have a rather amusing plan for him when my piece of musclecar history is complete. :cool:


And as I've said before, thanks Rogue and everyone else involved with this forum. I wouldn't have gotten the job I have today if it weren't for PC.

[MoP]

10 years... That's a lot of polys to be counted.

It's very cool that you are still around and kicking after all this time, r13. Keep up the awesome work, I am sure there are hundreds of people out there who have you and the guys to thank for making this whole thing possible, and indirectly landing them a job (myself included!) :)

[rollin]

this site is supercool :)
changed a lot over the time but it´s still a nice place
maybe even nicer and more professional as ever before

and for nonprofessionals like me, its just an awesome info place :)

[firestarter]

Thanks, sincerely, for keeping it running all this time. I do more staring at the thing than is healthy. For no known reason either.

[NeoShroomish]

10 years, wow, grats. I haven't been on the interwebs for 10 years let alone 10 years on a single forum.

[rooster]

My join date says 2004 but I've been a follower since q2pmp, and so a HUGE thanks to you r13, bearkub, vito and everyone involved in keeping things running behind the scenes while we bicker about the paint job hehehe

I'd say one of the biggest influential factors in my ambitions of improving as an artist has to be polycount and its members

[Slainean]

I remember browsing Polycount during the q2pmp days as well. I made a couple of crude copy/paste q2 skins and was in complete awe of Kenneth Scott's protofiend.

Happy Anniversary, PC. There's a lot of history here.

[Ruz]

congrats . For me to around 2004/5 my work suddenly improved from doing polycount challenges with the likes of Bobo, Mr rockstar , Poopinmymouth, Peppi - to name but a few.

I was making unreal1 mods back in 1998( I think) and not sure if i was visiting polycount - its a long time ago

Before That I was naiive enough to think my work was of a reasonable quality:)

Shortly after I got my first job which was great. Best of luck for the future.

[bearkub]

If you guys make me cry, I am kicking asses. Just sayin'....

;D

[EmAr]

Congratulations! Polycount has changed my life for sure. The style and quality of C&C made on models here are very motivating. Though I still need lots and lots of those critiques to get a job :)

[Ged]

Polycount rocks! Im getting a better education about all things 3D here than my university could ever offer me, just reading threads and helping others and getting feedback consistently is so useful. plus at times this place is just plain hilarious. You guys are legends!

[Makk]

Congrats to polycount :)
10years and still awesome.

[perna]

13, do you need to rub it in? Some of us are feeling old enough as it is here!
You know what would be awesome, a bit of retrospective. It's been too long since we had any decent articles on here. Some images from q2pmp, some old war stories. Anything people may have lying around

[TelekineticFrog]

All I can really say is thank you. Polycount has definitely made a mark in my life. I wouldn't have known a lot of people that I now call friends and some that are even currently or have been co-workers in the industry. It's definitely appreciated.

This community is something special in that no matter how many people come or go, a lot of us have stuck around for a long, if not the whole time. People may bitch at each other, be absolute tools at times, but in the end it's a pool of some of the most talented game artists out there and they actually contribute to a lot of the knowledge that is practiced by so many others out there learning or working in the game industry. There's something to be said about that.

Here's looking to another 10 years of black and green. Once again a thank you goes out to those that kept the thing going behind the scene that allow the community to live and a special thank you to Rogue for being the one to come up with and begin what is Polycount.

Oh yeah and Kub...start crying hippy. :)

[perna]

Been digging through my old files.

This is from a compo. I'm sure a few of the guys are still around, but I can't remember who drew what. I believe this is from 1999.

I'm amazed at how topical it still is. A sign of real art. So, let me know if you recognize your work of art here.
http://www.per128.com/pub/crap/compo.jpg

This other thing is funny, it's a q2pmp redesign I made and suggested to 13, and he told me they were just about to change designs anyway. That was at the end of march 99. I guess just a few days later polycount was born!

http://www.per128.com/pub/crap/per128_q2pmp.jpg

[notman]

10 years is a good solid run... congrats guys. I've only been hanging around here for almost 4 years now and it seems like the site just keeps growing with new talent. Here's to another 10 :)

[low odor]

Happy birthday PC...heres to 10 more
Cheers to the guys in the background keeping this place going

[sinistergfx]

R, I'll buy you beers some time. Then we can hug and cry.

[EarthQuake]

What ever happened to counters? This site needs more counters! Per: mock up ur best counter design ASAP.

[BoBo_the_seal]

Congrats on ten years! Can't wait to see where we are in another ten.

- BoBo

[sinistergfx]

Bobo, let's get some people together and cheers R some time!

[neolith]

Wow, ten years. Has it really been that long?

Polycount has always been a great source of inspiration and information - I hope it will continue to be like that.

Thanks for everything. :)

[Emil Mujanovic]

Its a shame I didn't get amongst Polycount a lot earlier then I did. Its been a huge help for me and such a learning experience and it has gotten me where I am today.
Huge thanks to the founders, admins, mods and members for making Polycount what it is. Polycount can has teh caek tyme plz.

-caseyjones

[CrazyButcher]

wow 10, while I know the place quite long, I began more actively reading when starting studying after the q2/q3 mod work (yeah that makes sense right hehe).

thanks a lot for the long time support on this one, I am not sure how stuff would be without PC, we probably would have made millions more by work, instead of time looking at cats spent here, some of us might have chosen careers outside of games and cured diseases or becoming astronauts. so thanks polycount for giving us all a nice daily routine hehe

[Jesse Moody]

I gotta say this site has helped push me more than anything else since I started school a few years ago. I have had my ass torn a few times for some shit but I have never held a grudge just like many of you.

We are a great forum of great artists and I have been lucky enough to meet some of you and hang out, have some beers and just chill.

I ended up here at Midway just because my current boss was browsing polycount and liked my work. So I owe a lot to you guys.

I look forward to 10 more years with this great community.

Thanks guys.

[Joshua Stubbles]

10 years...yeesh. I've been coming here for ~8. Incredible to see how the site and it's users have grown. Amazing stuff. Congrats r13/Vito and all of you crazy polycounters!...except for brome. ;)

[kat]

10 years is old in gaming years! Older than cats and dogs (and smarter too). I've lurked here more than anything, come here especially when I'm creatively 'down' and never fail to leave with the old spark reignited.

[Josh_Singh]

I can honestly say finding polycount was the catalyst for me gettng into game art. Anybody that ever asks me how to get in the industry or how I got in the industry, it's impossible to not bring up polycounnt. I have made some very good friends because of these boards an I hate to sound sappy or over sentimental, but finding polycount changed my life. So happy birthday and a huge Thank you, to Polycount. My favorite forum, full of crusty Jaded art vetrans, and over enthusiastic n00bs constantly seeking crits. Looking forward to another 10 years of flaming and great art! :)

[Slum]

Polycount is THE SHIT.

10 more years plz kthx

We really need some special edition 10yr shirts.

[MightyPea]

If it wasn't for polycount, I would've never gotten beyond making an 'alien' in one shade of painfull green in paint. I'm sure I wouldn't ever have seriously considered this for a career without Polycount either.

[dur23]

I would never have known that just about anyone could edit a video game let alone become an artist in the video game world without polycount being around to guide me in 1999.

Thanks to all who have made this community the best on the net.

[killingpeople]

http://www.musthavefashions.com/images/015001.jpeg

[b1ll]

shit, 10 fucking years. God. . Lol Goodtimes

[vik]

Toast! Ahh, what a year 1998 was! Grim Fandango, Thief, Starcraft (yeah baby!), Unreal and, of course, Half-life. all these great games came out 10 years ago. I know I spent the next 5 playing them... these games are gone now... just a hollow echo in the wind... but polycount is still going strong,,,and that`s good...

[Sectaurs]

hot damn, ten years.

been around for half of them.

i blame polycount for getting me in the industry, and for taking up most of my time once i was in. here's to ten more.

[Joseph Silverman]

I've only been around a couple of years, but polycount has already done a lot for me. It's thanks to you guys that i'm seriously pursuing and studying art and general, and that i ever did more in max than modeling lowpoly m16s and doing skylight renders. Here's to ten more years of polycount, if not twenty. :)

[Lee3dee]

should of worn my PC shirt today in celebration. Huge thanks to everyone on here that I either met in person or online and everyone in #model_design. This is an awesome community that I am really happy to be apart of.

-Lee

[Jeff Parrott]

I think I've been coming here for about 5 or so years off and on. PC definitely helped me start a career as well as get to know so great peoples.

[ElysiumGX]

6 years for me. And you guys have enjoyed every minute of it.

My original polycount tshirt is old faded ripped and probably covered in all manner of unknown stains, otherwise I would be wearing it. But the forums keep getting better and better.

Happy 10th!

[hjd_uk]

I'm a filthy lurker, but for years Polycount has been my "go-to" site for inspiration and viewing the best 3d modelling currently out there. It really is, in my opinion, an institution.

Congrats on the big 10. Long my it continue.

[Xenobond]

We need 10th anniversary shirts for us to purchases, yes?

[Luxury]

I was always a lurker, but when I did post my horrible horrible stuff back in '00, I got raped with the crits and stayed in bed crying for weeks. So I of course did what anybody would do...I pussied out and didn't post any other artwork on here for years. It's still working for me to this day! Go Polycount!

[moose]

I <3 Polycount

[adam]

The last paragraph Drew was fantastic.

10 years is a fantastic accomplishment, especially for an art forum! Polycount is quite literally my home on the internet and I don't know what I'd do without it. I've been to other forums, but they quickly bore me.

You can include me on the list of people who had their life changed by this website. I'd never be doing what I do now if it weren't for it. If you're not already feeling it, feel proud Drew.

Here here!

[oobersli]

If I wasn't the greedy bastard that I am I would give pc part of my paycheck for helping me be the artist I am. I learned more shit reading other post, watching all the wips over time and getting crits than all the crap I ever learned in school.

[Joseph Silverman]

We need 10th anniversary shirts for us to purchases, yes?

I would buy

[SkullboX]

Congratulations rogue and the rest of the crew!

Thanks again for this amazing site and community, I wouldn't have even started out dong characters that would eventually lead me to animation if it wasn't for this site. It still kicks ass and looking at the dominance war contest, it probably kicks more ass than ever.

Great job on the new boards as well, here's to another 10 years!

[jam]

Congrats on the 10 Years! New layout rocks.

jam

[Zwebbie]

I'm not as post-whorey or old as the gross of the members here, nor have I ever posted cat images, but Polycount has made the very short list of websites that I visit every day... and it's in fact probably the site I spend most time browsing.

Congrats to Polycount and its members!


...Senior Member sounds a whole lot more important than Triangle :)

[spacemonkey]

I havent been around so much lately.. still not settled as I should be moving into my flat this weekend... but yeah polycount is da bomb. After all.. I learned enough on this forum to get myself a living ;)

[Xenobond]

nor have I ever posted cat images

No better time to start, than now.
http://kman.cottages.polycount.com/cats/1162774225055.jpg
Let yourself be free.

[Marcus Dublin]

Wow ten years, WTF, where does the time go! All kidding aside it's good to see this place still going strong when it's peers have long drifted "cough CG Chat, R.I.P". It would be cool ten years from now to see a Polycount school where it's alums are the professors, haha. Once again congrats guys and keep on rolling!

[Rick Stirling]

The content on Polycount has been my biggest source of knowledge. Without Polycount I might well still be working on writing SQL queries.

I owe so many beers to so many people. thank you Rogue, Bearkub, Vito, and all those others behind the scenes for keeping this place running and putting up with all our hideous bitching.

[Waz]

Wow 10 years. It's just amazing to see how far game's and art have come in that time. What will the future hold in 10 years for us?

How about for the logo contest, tie it in to the anniversary. Who ever wins gets their shirt printed up and sold to help support Polycount.

[rooster]

I feel some important issues have been raised! bring back the post some cats thread and also teeshirts!

[SHEPEIRO]

deleted for weirdness,

ten years of good stuff, and loads more to come

[Chunkey]

I've got a lot to thank polycount for, if it weren't for this forum, I probably wouldn't be in the games industry now :)

Been a member since 1999 or 2000, and I bet like a few people, wondered WTF?! when the new look came online, but it's growing on me now :D

It'll be interesting to see what another 10 years brings... Rorshach will probably be the old fella in the corner next to the fire, sampling fine single malts, Per geting more senile by the minute and b1ll might have learnt how to spell lol

not got any good liquer to hand so I shall hold me bottle of flat coke up to 10 years of Polycount :D

*humps everyone's legs* :p

[PeterK]

"Hi , I'm Epsilon, from the boards, you probably hate me, but I wanted to say hi" qouth PeterK
from E3 199x.

Been over ten years I've been hanging out in this place, and q2pmp before. I remember when I first submitted a protoss model and R13 bashed me for crapping on Tanner Owen's model, hehe. Damn good time all around. Cheers Drew, Cheers PC.

[Eric Chadwick]

Many many thanks to the folks behind the scenes for keeping this going. Yes, you too Vito. As someone said earlier, it's like home around here.

[Lee3dee]

We need 10th anniversary shirts for us to purchases, yes?

I would purchase one!

[soulstice]

im glad to be apart of this, even as a newb. =)

[RustyFranks]

man it's been along ride... i've been here lurking and occasionally posting since ~99... this is the one forum that i've always come back to.

so thanks to you who keep things up and running and here's to another 10

[Jeremy Wright]

I'm glad I came across this place. The most genuine and helpful bunch of people I have every had the pleasure of communicating with across the vastness of cyberspace!

All glory to Polycount!

[Rwolf]

Woo! my eyes bleed :)

[HonkyPunch]

It's been a great help to me, especially recently. I'm back to drawing out of enjoyment, not obligation.
TANKS GUISE

[bounchfx]

this site is awesome.

I really need to start visiting more again. I've been busy with my first industry job (still not full time, if you want to hook me up that would be great though!) and everything, so I haven't really browsed around as often. I had another epiphany so I'm going to be doing a lot more personal stuff (I really gotta kick it into high gear and get a full time to support myself) so you should be seeing a lot more of me in the wip section. see you guys around.

polycount ftw!

[ThE_BirD]

Congrats on the first ten years and thanks to everyone who keep's this place goin' :) Met a lot of good people on PC that've become great friends outside the internets as well... <3's for Polycount!

[Illusions]

Polycount helped get me a job too, even though I don't post much art here... :)

[TWilson]

Congrats!

10 characters minimum post eh...

Polycount rox0rs!

[Thegodzero]

I like the new looks but as long as PC has the people it will always rock! Ten years wow! I think i have been around here for half of that. I love this site, and the people we have here. With out PC i would NEVER have gotten a job.

[TWilson]

This thread got me thinking....and 10 years ago I made these and others which are still online:

Skinsmith! (http://skinsmith.planetquake.gamespy.com/banner.gif)

http://skinsmith.planetquake.gamespy.com/drgibs/drgibs1.gif

How fun :D Joyous day.

[xysdf]

congrats to 10 years!!

for myself i think it started 3 years ago, it helped me to learn stuff, helped to push myself ..blablabla.. and it helped me to get a job in the industry - thaaanks! this place just rocks!

[Peris]

Incredible, I completely forgot how old this place actually is. I only started watching these forums about 4 years ago and they have been a huge inspiration and motivator for me. Keep it going guys!

[vahl]

Those were for sure 10 years of fun and learning, thanks polycount !!!

I wasn't there since q2pmp, I think I started on polycount around 2000 or 2001 (before the gamespy server change that reset all the join dates to 2004 :p).

Thanks R13 and all the other admins for keeping the ship alive for us to spam with cats and toilet paper discussion !!! :D

[Tumerboy]

HA HA!

I had JUST started 3d 10 years ago. . . the oldest piece I still have is 9 years old, but here it is:

http://www.tumerboy.com/3D/001-Fountain/Fountain.jpg

[Asmuel]

Yea this is awesome. I've been here since about 99', its been extremely influential on my life.

Thanks everybody, the next ten will be even better I'm sure :)

[rooster]

look what I found in google cache :D

i'll see if the skin is still floating about...
edit: i was so proud seeing this in the news lol


Friday, 26 October, 2001 – Planet Quake News
Eight is Enough
18:59 PST | Pappy-R | Print News | Category: Community News
The review team over at Polycount have put their time in and added some great new skins to their basket of treats. They start off by featuring up the Quake III grouping:

Mutech for the Razor model, by rooster. He's good looking, strong too! - Yet he's blue!
Selkk for the Klesk model, this too by rooster. This one looks... AaaiiiiiiiiiHHHRRGG!
Ti for the Major model, by Ken. Gasp! - It's a stark naked female terminator!
Magma for the Visor model, by Mortiis. Hot stuff, I tell you!
Gratha for the Sorlag model, by Nazz. She's heavyhanded and liable to throw a tantrum!
Did I mention they had eight new skins? Well I sure did. Here is the set of three for Quake 2:
CTF3-Enforcer for the Enforcer model, by Spacer
CTF3-Guard for the Guard model, also by Spacer
Black Convoy for the Soundwave2 model, by Phantasm

These mutha's are mean and nasty, and just in time for Halloween. All of the new additions have been reviewed toot sweet and are also available for immediate download.

[kary]

Thats an incredible amount of time, and the place has become an incredible resource. Thanks.

[Whargoul]

Wow, it's been sooo long. I don't think I was there right at the start, but very near to it at least! I sure don't post as much as I used to, I think I was in the 1000's before the big RESET of 2004 :)

I come here every single day, but I really should post more often!

[snemmy]

I've been around since Q2PMP and I've never left. This place has been my browser homepage and my basis for web browsing for 10 years! Wow... I don't know what I would do on the net without it. And in the next 6 months I'll be applying for game jobs.. couldn't have done that without this place. :)

[b1ll]

ahaha CHunkey, Ill NEVER LEARN!, but when i joined like 10years ago, I didnt speak english at all. So if my spelling suck, it is your FAULT polycount!

[pliang]

Ten years ago I was still in elementary school...its only been like two years since I've joined...

Also I've been working in games for about couple of months now - as an environment artist.

Thanks again to all the helpful people on board..to be honest without people looking and tearing through my work I'm prolly still making tapes.

...and bring back the cat thread...

[pliang]

Lets start funding polycount university for b1ll...

[rooster]

he should be paying us!
edit: on second thoughts if he learned english from polycount we probably do owe him some money

[Jackablade]

Well now, an entire decade eh.

While I spend most of my time here mooching on the couch and occasionally getting in the way, I'm nonetheless most appreciative of you guys for saving me from the life of the checkout chick in some god forsaken retail store and helping to reduce my overall suck factor to an employable level.

Props to the Polycount crew. Heres to another ten years.

[Phobos]

I have to agree with everyone.

I first discovered PC in the days of Half-Life 1..
Trolled for quite a while, then joined. This is by far the best community of industry newcomers and veteran professionals.

Lets hope for another 10 years.

Nick.

[skankerzero]

Congrats polycount!

Congrats R!

Congrats to us all!

Been here for about 8 of those 10 years and I can't tell you how much I love this site. If it wasn't for polycount, I wouldn't be in this great industry.

This is and will be the only 3d game forum I ever post in, unless it ceases to exist.

Here's to 10 more!

[pior]

Congrats!
I remember going to a local cable company store just to use their internet access in order to post on these very boards :P I think I joined when q3a was out ...

The 2004 reset was indeed quite something. Does someone happen to have screenshots of the various interations the forum and home website went through?

[Vito]

Many many thanks to the folks behind the scenes for keeping this going. Yes, you too Vito.

kub and r13 definitely deserve a lot more thanks than I do. While I've lurked since it was Q2PMP (anyone remember the Perilith Knight model?), I only started helping out after the reset of 2004, by hosting the boards. Until Tuesday, the contact email address was temporaryboards@polycount.net. I never expected to keep it up, but r13 maintains a hefty stockpile of blackmail information.

In that sense, these are the real, post-reset, "new" boards.

Regarding old colors and logos, after the reset, I looked through Google's or the Internet Archive's cache to find saved board pages, to make a lookalike color scheme. The colors and setup weren't exactly the same.

The Polycount logo stayed constant the whole time (even the .net logo that was linked to earlier was just a shiny update), until I replaced it with the green smiley from the first Dominance War in 2006. This was the original logo:

http://nathan.perilith.com/~vito/oldpclogo.jpg

And, as I recall, there was a lot of bitching about the green smiley at the time. :)

[rooster]

that logo still rocks!

[RustyFranks]

that's still the logo i see when i think of polycount

edit- the wayback machine is cool

Ye Olde Main Page (http://web.archive.org/web/19991128082030/http://polycount.com/)

I always liked how there was a lot of information but it didn't really get to cluttered or flashy as some 'portal' like sites. I miss the tutorials... seeing as I'm a perpetual noob and quit and come back to 3d about every other year I used them alot lol.

ah the memories (': <---- that's a tear btw....

[Eric Chadwick]

Wow, those were the days.
http://www.ericchadwick.com/examples/files/polycount_2002_messageboard_files/mht826%281%29.jpg
http://www.ericchadwick.com/examples/files/polycount_2002_messageboard.html

[Eric Chadwick]

Vito, I need to send you a PM, but your box is full.

[Em.]

I'm not old school, or hardcore, or whatever, but...
I can't say thanks enough to everyone that has made Polycount what it is, I , like a LOT of other people it seems, would be nowhere without polycount.

Thanks to all of you who tell people that their work is bad when they think it's good, bring up their taste levels and help them improve and make it (or show them the door when they're argumentative troll asses).

Here's to another awesome 10 years!

[Ruz]

i first posted in 1872 under the name of isambaard kingdom brunel

[HarlequiN]

Good lord! 10 years!

Happy birthday big ol' green spacestation. I owe you a lot, not least introducing me to my wife (before she was my wife obviously) and by inference being partly responsible for Tinsiquin (working title - makes him sound like a girl, poor dab).

I'd also not be in the industry if it weren't for you, nor in my present position here in "sunny" Champaign.

Many happy returns, and may every return rock like a mountain.

[osman]

Congrats, but..no cometogether/party?

[Malekyth]

*sniff* I love you, Polycount. Thanks for a decade of stuff.

And things.

[doc rob]

Cheers!

It's a constant costume party.

[sledgy]

Wooohooo! 10 years...has it really been that long? Am I really this old? Le sigh. Here's to the next 10.

[RogB]

congratulations on the 10 years chaps, you should be proud to have helped so many into the careers they have now.

[dabu]

I, too, can say Polycount was directly responsible for me landing my first industry gig through the contacts I made here. I had been living in LA, and wanting to move back to the bay area. Getting a job at EA happened because I posted work on here.

My experiences here changed my life and art in major ways. I will always be grateful for the immense resources of this wonderful site, and I send my promising students here to cut their teeth and get invaluable feedback.

Props to you, Polycount. Heres to another 10!

[danpants]

Congrats on 10 years and more to come. Great new and improved look.