Don't let the detailing on the wood/wires fool you, it's a quick hack job UV map and a quick few brush strokes and is nowhere near final. Personally I'm really leaning towards wood now.
As for the model itself, the rear end and the handles are probably done, the stock needs some more tweaks to combat obvious clipping, and the sight needs a complete redesign so that it is actually good. That ring between the handles that joins the split tube sections also needs a lot of work, though it's not a component people photograph much so I may end up improvising.
The front blast deflector has been shrunk a bit, and it may get a little smaller, though there's a fine line since if it's too small it just looks pointless. The rear one has also been reduced and feels a lot more in line with the slim nature of the whole launcher.
I also ended up ommiting some components, namely the box above the trigger, since it didn't really feel necessary when the model had more details. The wire running down the side is also gone.
Colour wise, I'm not ruling out a change in the green shade yet, and the bright wood colour looks a lot better to me here than on the shotgun (though that might just be the rough wood effect).
Any thoughts on where I'm going with this are welcome.
Next up:
Probably fixing the handle of my spade-pick. I've been testing all 3 items in game at once and that bit looks the worst right now.
nice, looks really good textured. I don't really like the whole piping thing on the back of the launcher that everyone is using. Looks bit too modern i think.
I think it really needs the box above the trigger again. It added to the overall shape of the weapon, without it it just looks too plain. Remember that both other launchers use very exaggerated changes in shape through sharp angles or curvature. Add some weight and shape to the middle of the design to make it seem more interesting to look at as currently it looks just too flat for TF2.
Instead of just adding the box back I think it'd be better to exaggerate it even further. Add something like an ammo tin to the side of the launcher, similar to what oobersli did with his shotgun. I did a quick draw-over to explain what I mean but it wouldn't have to be exactly like that http://i48.tinypic.com/15yeqee.jpg
I'd also suggest putting the rear deflector back to the size it was; give the launcher as many strong changes in shape as you can.
As for other stuff, I still prefer the wood wrapping seeing as grey blends in too well with the shade of green you're using. Plus the wire just adds a bit too much noise. Also as for ironsights, I like the first one you have there, on the left. So long as it isn't too wide/obtrusive that'd look really nice.
Karkasmolenklok, Khthon - I'm really not seeing the similarity...though this might just be because I've been staring at it a lot more when it's next to the DH as a reference. It might just be the colour - which is the same at the moment.
Buck - Eh?... That wasn't something I expecting anybody to say... The wireframe cage thing is only present on the bazooka and panzerschrek, which makes it a feature of the earliest rocket launchers and no others...
Batt - Removing that structure has bugged me a bit too, it feels a bit unbalanced somehow. I'll probably put something there, but I don't think I'll be making it too big. The rear end of it launcher might get a tweak if I feel it's necessary once the model has more bulk, right now it's roughly halfway between the RL and DH cones in size.
onionhead_o - Thanks!
Karkasmolenklok, Batt, Galago - 1 call for left and 2 for right eh? Well I was already leaning towards the right one (tho the sketch is a bit crap) since that one doesn't have any shapes simlar to the regular RL sight in it.
Karkasmolenklok, Khthon - I'm really not seeing the similarity...though this might just be because I've been staring at it a lot more when it's next to the DH as a reference. It might just be the colour - which is the same at the moment.
Mostly referring to the wood area where he puts his shoulder. Hell, there's actually something of that nature (a little further back) on the old rocket launcher anyway
Like I said, looks better, but it also increases its similarity to the other ones.
Well the thing that draws me to the wood wrapped like that is precisly that similarity - it feels rather like a defining feature of the RL models.
E-tool Development Part 3
I decided to deal with the handle by going back to my original concepts and taking the handle of the M1910 model. I haven't seen any metal-handled tools in the given time period, making the original idea of metal tubing seem like a bad choice. This way I also get some detailing around the T of the handle, and have an area I can apply colour to.
I originally compiled a test version with this but since it looked like so little work was needed to finish it off I decide to get that done before posting something about it, so what you see here is the final mesh. The blade of the pick and shovel heads both have a single chip in them (nearly all the TF2 bladed melee weapons seem to have this) and the base of the handle has a bit of wood chipping. Any other damage or wear will be in the texture.
I'm also going to change my colour scheme. Now that I've been seeing a lot of the DH's green it bugs me. Whilst it looked fine on the pallette it doesn't seem to be working quite right in game. It seems to me that the blu skin is making the colour look like a blue-green rather than a neutral green when there's a lot of it about, which stops making it look like a military green. It might just be my eyes and monitor but either way I think I've found a shade that works, though I haven't tested this particular variation on the other models yet.
Next up:
Shotgun work, I might even get the mesh finished.
One way you could make it better would just be to have it come to a triangular point, it would be lower poly anyway.
Also, I'd add something else to it to make it seem...custom, somehow. He's already got his trusty MET, maybe I dunno add shark teeth to the shovel bit, splint the handle, something to make it seem like a custom tool.
A pointed head would make it rather similar to the player facing point of the Equaliser, so I'm inclined to keep it as it is:
Here's a shot of it from first person perspective:
Given it's shape something like serrations on the shovel blade is hardly going to be visible in either first or third person, so that sort of feature wouldn't be worth it.
In other news,
Shotgun Development Part 3
I ended up rebuilding a lot of the components that make up the folding stock, along with reducing the level of beveling on the handle (-200 tris) and made a few other tweaks. I'd rather not have to spend time setting up another colour testing UV map before finishing it so that's why there's no colour. I don't think it's far off being final.
This thing is also getting a new name: The Reserve Shooter
This is a play on the term reserve parachute (ie. reserve 'chute), I could call it "the reserve chuter" but I think a lot of people would end up trying to pronounce it with a hard ch without an explanation of where the name comes from.
Next Up:
I'll probably push to get this finished and UV mapped before moving on the the bazooka. I should probably get texturing properly underway too.
Well I put off finishing the Reserve Shooter so I've been texturing the Market Gardener:
These are shots with the texture at 512x512, I had to rearrange the UVs after testing a shrunken version of an earlier version in order to stop the screw heads from blurring too much. I also added a few more chips in the wood of the T of the handle. I'm pretty happy with how it's going, but I need to redo the wood, there are too many hard blocky areas.
I've also been designing and modeling the new sight for the still-needs-a-name:
I went through quite a few different components to get to that, namely so that it didn't jut out too far and at the same time didn't look too heavy-duty. It'll get some tweaks so that the components aren't perfectly aligned, and may or may not get a jigglebone for the main hinge.
I still need to reposition the stock and tweak other bits of the launcher but the sight was the component in most need of major work - it takes up roughly 1200 tris out of a near 5000 tri object, and it needs them since it dominates the first person view.
Next up:
Well, the Reserve Shooter needs final tweaks, UVs and textures, the Bazooka needs the same, and the Market Gardener needs the texture finished, so I should probably make my next milestone getting another model to the texturing stage.
Ok, I'm calling the Market Gardener done unlesss I figure out a better way of doing paint chips between now and the deadline (I have 2 other models to test things out on). Here's a quick shot of it,with the 512x512 texture, promos can wait til the major work is out of the way on all three models:
I also go the really-should-stop-calling-it-a-bazooka unwrapped after what seemed like an eternity, and have been working on the texture. The wood is done and the paint has basecolour and brushstroking:
The sight contains bones for repositioning and jiggling, but every time I try a jigglebone configuration it likes to go crazy and I don't know why. I feel it needs something though, since the fact that they animated the regular RL's sight makes this one look odd when it doesn't move. I'll play around with it some more.
Next up:
That shotgun needs me to be finished off and UV'd.
They do look pretty similar to the originals... but that's not a bad thing. They feel both new and familiar, they feel comfortable. I like the color schemes, and I can't wait to see the shotgun finished.
The launcher's green is a bit light at the moment, it seems I used too many and too subtle brushstrokes and ended up changing the overall tone. I haven't determined the final technique to use for that colour yet, though I have a few ideas. The exact shade of green may even change again before the end seeing as it's a defining part of my pack....
Other than that, I finished off, unwrapped and got started on the shotgun texture:
Apparently I baked out the AO with the geometry approximation settings set up wrong, so loads of bits appear faceted...so I have to redo that. So far the wood and a load of the metalwork have had work done on them.
Next up:
Three items in the middle of texturing and some jigglebones that need fixing. The end is in sight...
I trialled that colour variation, and it turns out that under in-game lighting you can't actually tell the difference since the lighting varies so much across even one map, so I'm sticking with the original tone.
Seeing as the shotgun is the only one of the three that has all 5 of the base colours on it it's become my proving ground for texturing, so I've gotten far enough with it that I could probably call it done now:
There are a few little things bugging me, and the green part of the stock needs a paint chip or two on it for wear, but I'm otherwise happy with it.
Next up:
Getting the bazooka (which has a name now! see the first post) texture done and sorting out the jiggling. Then just finishing up and packing it all up.
Khthon: This sort of thing seems to be how paint wear is on the Valve stuff, though it varies from a bit here and there to more excessive wear on every edge like on the medigun. The paint chip on the shell port is probably going to go since I had an over the shoulder comment that it was in a weird place (not very likely you'd get a scratch there). I'm going to need to tweak the Market Gardener's chipping to get it in line with this though, now that I've sorted the technique out.
Hotdogbunker: Thanks man, I'll be getting better shots of everything up when I can, at the moment though my priority is on getting everything finished so it'll have to wait until everything is about ready to send off, or even after that.
The bazooka is now at the same stage as everything else, in need of final texture tweaks:
At a glance I'd say some the highlighting needs some sharpening and some paint chips may get reduced. But for now a little break from it so I can come back to it with fresh eyes.
Next up:
Seeing as there's timezone malarky I'll be aiming to get everything finished up saturday and possibly get it all submitted by the end of the day. After that I'll put together better shots of all the items and textures and think about doing a promo.
Before I get on with the final clean-ups, here are some examples of what the ingame lighting does to the colour, the maps are 2fort, Sawmill, Pipeline and Dustbowl:
The variation is enormous, one colour has produced about as many shades of green as I originally looked at...
Anyway since it can always be tweaked with a mask I'm going to get on with cleaning up. Also the jigglebone on the sight probably isn't going to happen, as it likes to break regardless of the configuartion I use, and the viewmodel exerts forces on it that make it move in unnatural ways. It also seems to result in far more movement than on the original launcher.
The existing launcher sights are both largely aesthetic, they sit at reasonable heights in first person but are actually unusable if you look at them being carried in third person. I tried a lower down one earlier but it looked odd, so that's why mine is in the same place as the others.
All I was hoping for was a little bit of movement that suggested a screw or two was loose but it doesn't seem to want to happen in a way that behaves naturally. Seeing as I have the bones rigged for it I'll include a version with them and detail my attempts, and let Valve decide. Seeing as the regular lacuncher's sight doesn't jiggle when you move around it can probably get away without it.
As far as progress goes, the Market Gardener and Reserve Shooter are organised for submission, they just need OBJs since the Polycount guys want the spec met to the letter, final tests that I've included QCs that work, and the additional information typed up.
Well everything that needs doing is done. I ended up packing up and submitting everything late last night, so I've been putting together some shots of the final models with ingame views. The first post has been updated to include them, but I'll put them here to for the sake of continuity. I have a fake update image pretty much done but noticed a typo, so I'll be giving that the once over again before putting it up.
If this doesn't get in (I would be saddened if it didn't), could you please make these models available to people who want them to replace their Soldier items?
Replies
Don't let the detailing on the wood/wires fool you, it's a quick hack job UV map and a quick few brush strokes and is nowhere near final. Personally I'm really leaning towards wood now.
As for the model itself, the rear end and the handles are probably done, the stock needs some more tweaks to combat obvious clipping, and the sight needs a complete redesign so that it is actually good. That ring between the handles that joins the split tube sections also needs a lot of work, though it's not a component people photograph much so I may end up improvising.
The front blast deflector has been shrunk a bit, and it may get a little smaller, though there's a fine line since if it's too small it just looks pointless. The rear one has also been reduced and feels a lot more in line with the slim nature of the whole launcher.
I also ended up ommiting some components, namely the box above the trigger, since it didn't really feel necessary when the model had more details. The wire running down the side is also gone.
Colour wise, I'm not ruling out a change in the green shade yet, and the bright wood colour looks a lot better to me here than on the shotgun (though that might just be the rough wood effect).
Any thoughts on where I'm going with this are welcome.
Next up:
Probably fixing the handle of my spade-pick. I've been testing all 3 items in game at once and that bit looks the worst right now.
I'd definitely go for the hinge on the irons.
Instead of just adding the box back I think it'd be better to exaggerate it even further. Add something like an ammo tin to the side of the launcher, similar to what oobersli did with his shotgun. I did a quick draw-over to explain what I mean but it wouldn't have to be exactly like that http://i48.tinypic.com/15yeqee.jpg
I'd also suggest putting the rear deflector back to the size it was; give the launcher as many strong changes in shape as you can.
As for other stuff, I still prefer the wood wrapping seeing as grey blends in too well with the shade of green you're using. Plus the wire just adds a bit too much noise. Also as for ironsights, I like the first one you have there, on the left. So long as it isn't too wide/obtrusive that'd look really nice.
Buck - Eh?... That wasn't something I expecting anybody to say... The wireframe cage thing is only present on the bazooka and panzerschrek, which makes it a feature of the earliest rocket launchers and no others...
Batt - Removing that structure has bugged me a bit too, it feels a bit unbalanced somehow. I'll probably put something there, but I don't think I'll be making it too big. The rear end of it launcher might get a tweak if I feel it's necessary once the model has more bulk, right now it's roughly halfway between the RL and DH cones in size.
onionhead_o - Thanks!
Karkasmolenklok, Batt, Galago - 1 call for left and 2 for right eh? Well I was already leaning towards the right one (tho the sketch is a bit crap) since that one doesn't have any shapes simlar to the regular RL sight in it.
Like I said, looks better, but it also increases its similarity to the other ones.
E-tool Development Part 3
I decided to deal with the handle by going back to my original concepts and taking the handle of the M1910 model. I haven't seen any metal-handled tools in the given time period, making the original idea of metal tubing seem like a bad choice. This way I also get some detailing around the T of the handle, and have an area I can apply colour to.
I originally compiled a test version with this but since it looked like so little work was needed to finish it off I decide to get that done before posting something about it, so what you see here is the final mesh. The blade of the pick and shovel heads both have a single chip in them (nearly all the TF2 bladed melee weapons seem to have this) and the base of the handle has a bit of wood chipping. Any other damage or wear will be in the texture.
I'm also going to change my colour scheme. Now that I've been seeing a lot of the DH's green it bugs me. Whilst it looked fine on the pallette it doesn't seem to be working quite right in game. It seems to me that the blu skin is making the colour look like a blue-green rather than a neutral green when there's a lot of it about, which stops making it look like a military green. It might just be my eyes and monitor but either way I think I've found a shade that works, though I haven't tested this particular variation on the other models yet.
Next up:
Shotgun work, I might even get the mesh finished.
Also, I'd add something else to it to make it seem...custom, somehow. He's already got his trusty MET, maybe I dunno add shark teeth to the shovel bit, splint the handle, something to make it seem like a custom tool.
Here's a shot of it from first person perspective:
Given it's shape something like serrations on the shovel blade is hardly going to be visible in either first or third person, so that sort of feature wouldn't be worth it.
In other news,
Shotgun Development Part 3
I ended up rebuilding a lot of the components that make up the folding stock, along with reducing the level of beveling on the handle (-200 tris) and made a few other tweaks. I'd rather not have to spend time setting up another colour testing UV map before finishing it so that's why there's no colour. I don't think it's far off being final.
This thing is also getting a new name: The Reserve Shooter
This is a play on the term reserve parachute (ie. reserve 'chute), I could call it "the reserve chuter" but I think a lot of people would end up trying to pronounce it with a hard ch without an explanation of where the name comes from.
Next Up:
I'll probably push to get this finished and UV mapped before moving on the the bazooka. I should probably get texturing properly underway too.
These are shots with the texture at 512x512, I had to rearrange the UVs after testing a shrunken version of an earlier version in order to stop the screw heads from blurring too much. I also added a few more chips in the wood of the T of the handle. I'm pretty happy with how it's going, but I need to redo the wood, there are too many hard blocky areas.
I've also been designing and modeling the new sight for the still-needs-a-name:
I went through quite a few different components to get to that, namely so that it didn't jut out too far and at the same time didn't look too heavy-duty. It'll get some tweaks so that the components aren't perfectly aligned, and may or may not get a jigglebone for the main hinge.
I still need to reposition the stock and tweak other bits of the launcher but the sight was the component in most need of major work - it takes up roughly 1200 tris out of a near 5000 tri object, and it needs them since it dominates the first person view.
Next up:
Well, the Reserve Shooter needs final tweaks, UVs and textures, the Bazooka needs the same, and the Market Gardener needs the texture finished, so I should probably make my next milestone getting another model to the texturing stage.
I also go the really-should-stop-calling-it-a-bazooka unwrapped after what seemed like an eternity, and have been working on the texture. The wood is done and the paint has basecolour and brushstroking:
The sight contains bones for repositioning and jiggling, but every time I try a jigglebone configuration it likes to go crazy and I don't know why. I feel it needs something though, since the fact that they animated the regular RL's sight makes this one look odd when it doesn't move. I'll play around with it some more.
Next up:
That shotgun needs me to be finished off and UV'd.
Good work, dude!
I don't really like the green on the launcher, it doesn't really fit in the palette.
The launcher's green is a bit light at the moment, it seems I used too many and too subtle brushstrokes and ended up changing the overall tone. I haven't determined the final technique to use for that colour yet, though I have a few ideas. The exact shade of green may even change again before the end seeing as it's a defining part of my pack....
Other than that, I finished off, unwrapped and got started on the shotgun texture:
Apparently I baked out the AO with the geometry approximation settings set up wrong, so loads of bits appear faceted...so I have to redo that. So far the wood and a load of the metalwork have had work done on them.
Next up:
Three items in the middle of texturing and some jigglebones that need fixing. The end is in sight...
Khthon - thanks
Seeing as the shotgun is the only one of the three that has all 5 of the base colours on it it's become my proving ground for texturing, so I've gotten far enough with it that I could probably call it done now:
There are a few little things bugging me, and the green part of the stock needs a paint chip or two on it for wear, but I'm otherwise happy with it.
Next up:
Getting the bazooka (which has a name now! see the first post) texture done and sorting out the jiggling. Then just finishing up and packing it all up.
Hotdogbunker: Thanks man, I'll be getting better shots of everything up when I can, at the moment though my priority is on getting everything finished so it'll have to wait until everything is about ready to send off, or even after that.
The bazooka is now at the same stage as everything else, in need of final texture tweaks:
At a glance I'd say some the highlighting needs some sharpening and some paint chips may get reduced. But for now a little break from it so I can come back to it with fresh eyes.
Next up:
Seeing as there's timezone malarky I'll be aiming to get everything finished up saturday and possibly get it all submitted by the end of the day. After that I'll put together better shots of all the items and textures and think about doing a promo.
The variation is enormous, one colour has produced about as many shades of green as I originally looked at...
Anyway since it can always be tweaked with a mask I'm going to get on with cleaning up. Also the jigglebone on the sight probably isn't going to happen, as it likes to break regardless of the configuartion I use, and the viewmodel exerts forces on it that make it move in unnatural ways. It also seems to result in far more movement than on the original launcher.
All I was hoping for was a little bit of movement that suggested a screw or two was loose but it doesn't seem to want to happen in a way that behaves naturally. Seeing as I have the bones rigged for it I'll include a version with them and detail my attempts, and let Valve decide. Seeing as the regular lacuncher's sight doesn't jiggle when you move around it can probably get away without it.
As far as progress goes, the Market Gardener and Reserve Shooter are organised for submission, they just need OBJs since the Polycount guys want the spec met to the letter, final tests that I've included QCs that work, and the additional information typed up.
Time to finish up the Jumper's Trumpet.
Final Models:
Click here for high res version of below
Click here for high res version of below
Click here for high res version of below