Home Contests & Challenges Archives

Dota 2 Polycount Contest 'Q&A Thread'

1356714

Replies

  • aivanov
    Offline / Send Message
    aivanov polycounter lvl 5
    @latorril, I had no idea, big thanks for noticing! I was wondering why my choices weren't mixing properly.
  • Rik
    If I missed this, please delete my post. The most recent Warlock files downloaded from the Workshop site have mask1 and mask2 named as xxx_masks1.tga and xxx_masks2.tga, whereas the DOTA2 compiler requires _mask1 and _mask2 (no 's'). It won't really matter so long as we name our files correctly, but it may be misleading for some that are using those supplied files as reference for their own name scheme.
  • D4V1DC
    Offline / Send Message
    D4V1DC polycounter lvl 18
    latorril wrote: »
    I know it's a weird question, and probably the least of anyone's troubles, but I thought I knew about color, apparently - I don't know enough.

    Nice, so CMYK isn't only for printing anymore?
    Any info on what's up with this would be great.:thumbup:
  • I-ninja
    Offline / Send Message
    I-ninja polycounter lvl 5
    Pro tip: If you don't have Vertex "GET IT NOW" http://www.artbypapercut.com/
    Helpful pages found by "Mark.N"
    http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1660693&postcount=1401

    How to export your items right by "Lennyagony"
    http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1666576&postcount=1542

    All of these links will help you greatly
  • Kend
    Offline / Send Message
    Kend greentooth
    Is their a Esrb rating our for this game yet? say for example are idea might be a little bloody as that alright? might be a dumb question my bad.
  • Jungster
    Kur4y4mi wrote: »
    While I understand that the acceptable formats are .SMD (Valve's SDK I believe), .FBX (Autodesk) and .DMX (unfamiliar with this one), I was curious as to if there was an easy way to convert these so I can use the program Blender in order to create for this contest. I have been unable to find appropriate file converters for those file extensions in order to open and manipulate the files given by Valve. If anyone knows a workaround right off the top, or of another free program that can be used with these appropriate file extensions, please let me know as I am looking forward to submitting something. Thanks!


    I Just joined a small dota2 workshop group and it has been great so far.
    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNKKTMt6xG8&feature=plcp"]DOTA2 Workshop Tutorial 1 - Importing to Blender - YouTube[/ame]
    That link shows how to import into Blender with a few free programs.

    I am brand new and they have been a super help. I recommend anyone starting from scratch to join up too!
  • Jungster
    Question: For a character such as scorpion king, there is a head body slot.

    How much should we alter these?

    I know the silhouette is important, but how about the original colors etc?

    For instance, Can I change a tan SK into a volcanic black and red with some tan sand?

    Can I alter the color on the head and back? Can I also add new skull features such as a mini volcano?
  • editpolygon
    Are there any 3ds Max friendly tutorials involving importing/exporting assets from/to Dota 2?

    Edit: Managed to find a quick yet informative import/export tutorial.

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ohMu9YhRtY"]From 3ds Max to Dota 2[/ame]
  • latorril
    Offline / Send Message
    latorril polycounter lvl 6
    Rik wrote: »
    If I missed this, please delete my post. The most recent Warlock files downloaded from the Workshop site have mask1 and mask2 named as xxx_masks1.tga and xxx_masks2.tga, whereas the DOTA2 compiler requires _mask1 and _mask2 (no 's'). It won't really matter so long as we name our files correctly, but it may be misleading for some that are using those supplied files as reference for their own name scheme.

    Yes, this frustrated me when I was previewing a submission as a test- I didn't know why it wouldn't find my files until I noticed the dumb "s".
  • DashXero
    Offline / Send Message
    DashXero polycounter lvl 11
    I read all of the questions so far, and I don't think that mine has been covered. So, I'll ask:

    Is it okay to treat an item set for two characters as the same item set? I ask because I just got a dynamite idea for an item set that two closely-related characters would "share". And, considering that they're closely related, it would work best with both of them.

    Could I work on them both in the same thread, or will I have to make separate threads for each of them?

    EDIT: By "share" I mean that the items for each character would be different respectively, but they'd have the same "theme" in common.
  • sheckee
    Offline / Send Message
    sheckee polycounter lvl 9
    There's some weird skinning issues on the Templar Assassin. I've not looked at the submitting form yet, do we just submit the pieces we make seperatey, or the whole model? If so, should I just fix the skin problems?
    (example, you move the left arm and the Left thigh has a few verts that move.)

    Answer: You submit the items you've made.
  • jwest
    These tutorial video's are great but they all have to do with importing and exporting smd files. However you can download the fbx files from the dota 2 website as well as uploading fbx files directly into dota2. I

    I'm just wondering why everyone keeps using this complicated workflow instead of just using fbx files?
  • Lennyagony
    Offline / Send Message
    Lennyagony polycounter lvl 14
    I ended up with a bunch of errors on testing when i used the supplied FBX files. Import SMD and export FBX just worked for me, so i didnt end up looking into the FBX problem (could simply be my import options). Also if you extract the game files from the client your working with SMD files so it seemed reasonable to go with them.
  • EduardoMC
    Offline / Send Message
    EduardoMC polycounter lvl 5
    Hello, I have a question concerning LODs. Must LOD0 and LOD1 have the same texture map or can they be different?

    Thanks!


    Best regards,
    Eduardo
  • EduardoMC
    Offline / Send Message
    EduardoMC polycounter lvl 5
    Hello, I have a question concerning the LODs. Must LOD0 and LOD1 share the same texture map or can they be different?

    Thanks!

    Best regards,

    Eduardo
  • Hawt Koffee
    Offline / Send Message
    Hawt Koffee polycounter lvl 13
    Where are the Antimage files?
  • Spudnik
    Offline / Send Message
    Spudnik polycounter lvl 11
    @Hawt Koffee
    Qwiggalo posted it earlier in this thread
    Qwiggalo wrote: »
    http://www.mattwhite.us/files/antimage.zip

    Here ya go, I exported all his SMDs and VTFs and put them in a Maya file and an FBX and included all the SMDs.

    http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1680851&postcount=56
  • Anuxinamoon
    Offline / Send Message
    Anuxinamoon polycounter lvl 14
    The tech page says they create their textures at 4x the res of the in game textures. Just double checking to see if we should all be doing this as well?
  • Spudnik
    Offline / Send Message
    Spudnik polycounter lvl 11
    I think what they mean is paint at 4x and then downsize when compiling. It's all about what gives you best results, so if the compiler's automatic downsizing give you good results, go with it.
  • Spudnik
    Offline / Send Message
    Spudnik polycounter lvl 11
    Don't know if it's been posted yet but here's a definite answer to the tris vs. quads vs. faces debate:
    JohnM wrote:
    The intent is triangles, however it appears that the tool is allowing "faces". We will be fixing this soon.

    http://dev.dota2.com/showthread.php?t=58136&page=2&p=365439&viewfull=1#post365439
  • jasonroels
    Is it possible to have a bigger preview window in-game? Through commands maybe...
  • Qwiggalo
    Offline / Send Message
    Qwiggalo polycounter lvl 8
    Spudnik wrote: »
    I think what they mean is paint at 4x and then downsize when compiling. It's all about what gives you best results, so if the compiler's automatic downsizing give you good results, go with it.

    The compiler doesn't have to do the downsizing. Downsizing is just a good practice, when you paint it gives you more control over your tiny details and when you downscale it it makes it look better than if you painted it at it's 1x scale.

    Also you'll have a 4k map that you can use for renders or p3d uploads.
  • Spudnik
    Offline / Send Message
    Spudnik polycounter lvl 11
    @Quiggalo
    I think you misunderstood. I was saying, paint at whatever resolution you prefer (usually x4) and then either downsize directly in your painting app to w/e the appropriate size is for that item or save it at full resolution and let the compiler downsize it to the correct resolution (only works if the large scale image has the same aspect ratio) for when you compile it to preview ingame.
  • Qwiggalo
    Offline / Send Message
    Qwiggalo polycounter lvl 8
    Also, when making normal maps if you make the map at 4x and scale it down it looks extremely different than if you had made it at 1x.
  • Spudnik
    Offline / Send Message
    Spudnik polycounter lvl 11
    Really? I've been baking my maps at x4 so I can go into Photoshop and fix minor errors. So do you bake it at x1 resolution and just work on that same resolution (if it needs any work that is). I gotta check that out and see if I get better results, thanks for the tip :D
  • Qwiggalo
    Offline / Send Message
    Qwiggalo polycounter lvl 8
    I make my normals from greyscale images in photoshop with nvidia normalmapfilter plugin so it might just be my process.
  • Spudnik
    Offline / Send Message
    Spudnik polycounter lvl 11
    Yeah, that's why I went to x4 with my normals, so that when I create a normal from a color map (xNormal plugin, NDo2), I got the extra details that the color had in the normal as well.
  • Kur4y4mi
    I am relatively new to using any of these programs for modeling, but wanted to know if any of the Polycount community know of ways to convert the three available file formats (.smd, .dmx, . fbx) into a Blender file to allow for me to size new models appropriately. I've tried the converter on Autodesk's website and didn't have much luck, although since I'm new, it may have been user error. If anyone was able to let me know, that'd be fantastic as this is a great way to motivate people new to modeling and 3D applications. Thanks, and have a great day!
  • latorril
  • spidermannetje
    Hi people from PC i know this site for a while now but never registered because i thought i could not be part of this super designer form XD. I started to day playing dota 2 after waiting for ages on an invite to play. Anyway so i dont know much about the chars and there items.

    Oke so here is my real question i want to make something for the char: Outworld Destroyer but don't know what i can make for it? I checked in DOta if it had any armor packs put there was only one thing and that's a weapon.
    So can i only make a weapon for this char?
  • Aurock
    Offline / Send Message
    Aurock polycounter lvl 9
    This page shows what slots are available for that character.

    http://www.dota2.com/workshop/requirements/Outworld_Destroyer
  • Lennyagony
    Offline / Send Message
    Lennyagony polycounter lvl 14
    Resolution to the Tri/Quad/Polygon count issue with the editor

    "JohnM
    Valve Developer

    The intent is triangles, however it appears that the tool is allowing "faces". We will be fixing this soon."


    EDIT: Just noticed Spudnik already posted this on the page before this one!
  • RossC
    Offline / Send Message
    RossC polycounter lvl 9
    I see alot of people starting threads here that have no content yet and are just kind of "securing" threads. Is there a reason for this? Is there a deadline to start a thread?
  • Spudnik
    Offline / Send Message
    Spudnik polycounter lvl 11
    I can only speak for myself but actually starting a thread may give you the impetus to actually start work and not just think about it, at least for me. Plus it gives you the ability to get VERY early feedback on your idea. If you make a thread saying "I'll make a Batman set for Nightstalker, just reserving this" then you're very quickly gonna get feedback that you probably shouldn't pursue this idea.

    Furthermore, say you have a really cool idea for a hero set and you want to make sure that nobody else does something too similar, you can just post up with one line of text explaining the basic gist of it. Anybody else who posts after you with a VERY similar idea will be seen as just ripping off your concept even if they are not, because this IS the internet :) So you wanna be the first person in this example, not the second, just to be sure.

    Also from the contest info page:
    Update your WIP thread as much as you can! Showing your progress is very important. You cannot simply sign up today and then post your final submission 6 weeks from now. Showing your progress will not only motivate you to finish, but it will allow the community to offer words of wisdom. That, and it will show the guys & gals at Valve that you truly did make your entry for this contest and didn’t have it tucked away on your hard-drive somewhere collecting dust waiting for the opportune time to cash in.
  • Admiral Skye
    Offline / Send Message
    Admiral Skye polycounter lvl 5
    Can I have multiple entries? Like I make a set for Lina and a set for Outworld Destroyer?
  • Spudnik
  • Admiral Skye
    Offline / Send Message
    Admiral Skye polycounter lvl 5
    Thanks, for some reason I didn't see that question, despite being one of the first.
  • lysaara
    Offline / Send Message
    lysaara polycounter lvl 9
    How do I find out if I can use alpha transparency in my item set? It isn't on the technical requirements page, and I think someone mentioned checking some source file for a particular tag but I don't know what file I'm looking for :/
  • KingBlackToof
    The Texture Requirement for, Necrolyte Shoulders for example, is: 'Texture Size: 256H x 256W'

    When I open the current shoulder textures in Photoshop they're 1024 x 1024.
    Is there something I'm missing or do we just have a smaller budget?
  • Qwiggalo
    Offline / Send Message
    Qwiggalo polycounter lvl 8
    lysaara wrote: »
    How do I find out if I can use alpha transparency in my item set? It isn't on the technical requirements page, and I think someone mentioned checking some source file for a particular tag but I don't know what file I'm looking for :/

    In the future they might add it to everyone, but for now you go into the VPKs for the game in Steam\steamapps\common\dota 2 beta\dota (Open pak01_dir.vpk with GCFscape) and check in Materials/Models/Heroes/{hero name} and the name of the ffile you're looking for isn't always the same, but it's usually obvious. It's something like {Hero Name}_body_color.VMT vmt and body are important. Open it as a text file and look for $alphatest 1
  • lysaara
    Offline / Send Message
    lysaara polycounter lvl 9
    Thanks! That's great, looks like it's go for my feather alphas then :3
  • Andyk125
    Offline / Send Message
    Andyk125 polycounter lvl 4
    Ok something I still haven't figured out is the poly or tricount of the models, everybody says something different! The model I download from Valve itself has got for the Skeleton King a head model of 598 tricount?

    The info page says the head model can be 300 poly's for the LOD_0 version and a 128Hx256W texture. My current head model is 584 tricount. Is this Ok or do I need to change it to 300 tricount?

    Also the texture size which you can ddl is W1024x512H, why is that?
  • Spudnik
    Offline / Send Message
    Spudnik polycounter lvl 11
    The stock items don't really follow their own rules :S The values on the website are correct.

    As for tris vs. quads vs. faces, check here
  • Andyk125
    Offline / Send Message
    Andyk125 polycounter lvl 4
    Spudnik wrote: »
    The stock items don't really follow their own rules :S The values on the website are correct.

    As for tris vs. quads vs. faces, check here

    Hmm thank you, your very helpfull :)

    As for Valve I don't think they really did a good job letting ppl understand the real limits. Why do they put down poly's instead of tricount, that would be a lot easier to understand!

    Back to the modeling again :s Was hoping that I almost finished my first model, but now I can go back for the LOD_0 and LOD_1 version :S

    By the way, one last question, so the LOD_1 will only be seen from the top right? So all the faces looking down can be romoved?
  • Tekoppar
    Offline / Send Message
    Tekoppar polycounter lvl 10
    Spudnik wrote: »
    As for tris vs. quads vs. faces, check here

    So, for example let's take Crystal Maiden. I only got 350 tris to work with on her arms and not 350 polys?
  • Andyk125
    Offline / Send Message
    Andyk125 polycounter lvl 4
    Tekoppar wrote: »
    So, for example let's take Crystal Maiden. I only got 350 tris to work with on her arms and not 350 polys?

    You have 500 Tri's for the arms in LOD_0 and the ingame model LOD_1 should be 300 tri's ;)

    By the way, one last question, so the LOD_1 will only be seen from the top right? So all the faces (tri's) looking down can be romoved?
  • Tekoppar
    Offline / Send Message
    Tekoppar polycounter lvl 10
    Andyk125 wrote: »
    You have 500 Tri's for the arms in LOD_0 and the ingame model LOD_1 should be 300 tri's ;)

    By the way, one last question, so the LOD_1 will only be seen from the top right? So all the faces (tri's) looking down can be romoved?

    Mistook the back limit for the arm limit. That's not really that high then, I have pretty much hit my "limit" already then. My ideas just got crushed.
  • Andyk125
    Offline / Send Message
    Andyk125 polycounter lvl 4
    Tekoppar wrote: »
    Mistook the back limit for the arm limit. That's not really that high then, I have pretty much hit my "limit" already then. My ideas just got crushed.

    I thought if it were poly's it was allready low, but with tricount it's rediculous. It's almost impossible to get some nice model work into it. I deleted almost every face that I could without screwing up my model and im still at 380 tri's :S

    I'm also really getting discouraged by this :S If I see al those great concepts here, it's almost impossible to get them as detailed as many of them want too with these limits..
  • aivanov
    Offline / Send Message
    aivanov polycounter lvl 5
    It's possible, it highly depends on your modeling technique. Utilize the normal map as much as possible. And model with the lowest LOD in mind, always.
  • SpaceCentipede
    Offline / Send Message
    SpaceCentipede polycounter lvl 4
    Guys, sorry for stupid question, but try to ask. I made sort of creachure for venomancer, retopology it, but now i worry if it looks too lowpoly because polycount is 1300. Here are some pictures. Is everything ok? I have a paranoya and need help. Thanks.image.png
    image.png
1356714
Sign In or Register to comment.