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TF2 - Polypack - Jackablade

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polycounter lvl 18
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Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
Hey folks.
Kinda got a load of disparate ideas spinning around in my head but no two that fit with a single character much less a single theme. Kinda leaning towards the Solly for the simple reason that I don't think I've seen anyone else making gear for him, but I dunno.

My half considered ideas are at present:
*A new set of heavy soldier boots that slightly reduce regular movement (as well as replacing the very useful shotgun), that feature the damage reduction of the Gunboats but additionally are enormously damaging if the soldier lands on an opponent from a rocket jump and creates a concussive shockwave when he hit's the ground.

*a bellows-typed device for the pyro which uses no ammo but can only use an enhanced airblast attack. Not sure how useful such a thing would be, but the item would look kinda neat at least.

*A flamethrower variant that replaces the airblast with a backwards firing consistent blast of air that grants the pyro a temporary boost of speed at the cost of a significant amount of fuel. Seems like something the pyro could really do with

*Limpet sentry - the sentry can toss a single level, low powered sentry onto any surface. the functionality should all already exist in the game utilising a combination of engy and demo man code.

*The magnet thingy. Not really sure what it does, but the picture in my head of a bunch of horseshoe magnets wired together seems very appropriately TF2 engy. Maybe it captures incoming fire and converts it into metal or some such.

*A sniper rifle with a U-bend in the muzzle. Firing it kills the sniper, saving me the effort.

That's about all I've got at this point. Hopefully I'll be able to pull some more coherent thoughts together soon.

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  • Bal
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    Bal polycounter lvl 17
    Jackablade wrote: »
    *A sniper rifle with a U-bend in the muzzle. Firing it kills the sniper, saving me the effort.

    This please. :D

    Nice ideas, I like the bellows type thing for the Pyro, maybe he could air jump with it, move around more and become more of a melee figther.
    And yeah some weirdo weapon with magnets or one big red/white magnet definitely seems like it would fit in the univers.
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    Alright, I think I'm going to run with the Solly.
    Concept number 1.
    rocketlauncher.jpg
    I wanted a unique silhouette so went for the elbow at the end and things kinda developed from there. Obviously going with a real jury-rigged setup made from found materials.

    Not sure whether the Itchee and Scratchee jamming weapons in the muzzle thing is a good idea, but I'll be damned if I'm not going to try it.

    I'll probably keep the jury-rigging as my overall theme. Gotta decide how to work that into the boots (hence forth known as the Clod Hoppers). No idea what my third item will be.
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    Forgive the crappiness of the art here. I wanted to knock out something really quick here before bed so that I could get some thoughts.
    clodhoppers.jpg
    I'm trying to work out a gimmick for the Clodhoppers, the first idea in my initial list. I want them to look dangerous and knocked together from found parts with at least a bit of a distinct silhouette. In case it's entirely evident from the crappy drawings, the drawings are: nails/screws/sharp bolts pushed through the leather of the toe, barbed wire wrapped around, spurs, and some kind of heavy weighted boot as an alternative. I'm not sure really whether any of them are what I want.

    I could really use some suggestions here as well as for the rocket launcher. And what to do for the other item. I dunno. Maybe the fact that I can't pull together any decent ideas is an indication that i should choose an entirely different direction.


    I promise the next piece of art I post will suck less.
  • Ryu Ookami
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    I think the first one is a bit too extreme I think. The one with the wire mesh think would fit more into the TF2 universe ( but I always think about something like "Doesn't it hurt yourself if you walk with them over time ?). The third one looks like it would more fit into the typical engineer inventory. I think I would choose the last one, if there weren't any other shoes left XD. You have to be carefull that thoes shoes don't look like the Gunboats we already know ^^. To make it more unique, why don't you try to make it more medivial. I mean Knigt Shoes with Iron plates instead of leather. I can have a more specific shape then too, but that's just a matter of taste:
    800px-Knight_Shoe.jpg

    Or you can give those boots spikes under the sole, like we know it from soccer or sport-games.

    N645%20Lawn%20Spike%20Shoes.jpg

    I hope I can help ya with that ^^'
  • Puffstoole
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    Not sure whether the Itchee and Scratchee jamming weapons in the muzzle thing is a good idea, but I'll be damned if I'm not going to try it.
    I lol'd
    Maybe put the funnel jammed with items on the end of the u-bend, like it's feeding into the launcher? Also, my vote's for the barbed wire boots
  • EVIL
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    EVIL polycounter lvl 18
    !! the magnet could activate a magnetic surge for 5 seconds (on demand) causing all rockets and bullets within those 5 seconds to change direction towards the magnet, as some cool base defence. Then it has to degauss for a while before it can be activated again.

    Its crazy, DO IT! :D
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    Hm. You know the only reason I don't run with the engi is because I find playing him rather dull. Maybe it'd be worth it for the crazy model options it'd open up.
  • Zipfinator
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    Zipfinator polycounter lvl 9
    Jackablade wrote: »
    Hm. You know the only reason I don't run with the engi is because I find playing him rather dull. Maybe it'd be worth it for the crazy model options it'd open up.

    What's dull about crouching behind a sentry whacking it with a wrench for 20 minutes?
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    Alright, I think I've finally worked out what I'm going to run with. I'm going to go with the Medic. Yes, just like every other man and his proverbial canine. I think though that I've got some ideas that are interesting enough to make my entry stand out.

    I'll be going with a theme of quack medical science and specifically humourism (manipulating the 4 humours in the blood to improve health. Or not as the case may be). There's lots of options here, but the tricky part will be coming up with items that won't require any real knowledge of the subject to make sense.

    1. Blutsauger becomes a little more literal - a gun that fires out leeches. The needle canister will be replaced with a jar of water containing the little wormy guys. Hopefully some carefully placed jiggle bones should make that feasible.

    2. The melee weapon will become an item to surgically remove the gall bladder. After all the enemy wouldn't be such jerks if they didn't have all that excess yellow bile swishing around. Of course your average TF2 punter isn't going to understand or probably care about any of the background info, so suffice to say it'll probably be something akin to a big corkscrew with an appropriately medical appearance. That shouldn't be too confusing.

    3. I'm still considering he possibilities of the medigun, but as a fall back I might do a plague doctor mask. Frequent viewers will remember I tried that once before, but this time it'll more like the carnivale mask rather than the full face and head deal that I went with last time which probably didn't go down so well at Valve.
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    corkscrew.jpg
    This is more or less what I'm thinking for the Choleric Screw (better name pending). I'll do a bunch of messing about when I get it into 3D. I'll probably add some kind of lever triggering setup to the grip
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    Scribbling in front of the TV tonight (note the horrible perspective issues). Came up with this for my leech gun. It needs a fair bit of work, but I think it's a decent sort of direction. Certainly distinct enough to the existing needle guns and indeed to what everyone else is doing.
    leecher.jpg

    I'd be glad to hear any thoughts or comments on either of the two latest designs. Should be able to make a start on the 3d tomorrow.
  • Ikimono
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    I like this idea as a replacement for the Blutsauger.
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    And we're off the mark. Quick lunchtime Maya session.
    medicaugerwip.jpg

    I think the blade is going to wind up looking a bit flimsy. Will need to do some messing about to give it a more threatening appearance.
  • nrek
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    nrek polycounter lvl 14
    Haha awesome dude! I really like that leech gun, both the idea and the design are very cool. I do agree with you about the blade of the melee weapon looking kinda weak. Maybe just do a big thick corckscrew on the end as opposed to a little one that is sitting inside of the second blade. Or maybe a beefed up version of a grabby tool could go on the end of it.
    http://www.mcmelectronics.com/content/productimages/s4/22-9724.jpg
  • Khthon
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    The needlegun replacement is where it's at man! So different, really stands out.

    If you have to have physical needle entities to stick into walls they could have small black leeches inside the needle. Or have the leeches skewered onto needles/hooks like worms on fish hooks.

    FT_texas.jpg

    worm-hook_%7Evl0005b065.jpg

    I wish there was some way to have a literal rubber ducky involved in one of these unlocks (Quackery).
    quack_small.jpg

    ALSO found a cool name you could use for something:
    The word "quack" derives from the archaic word "quacksalver," of Dutch origin (spelled kwakzalver in contemporary Dutch), meaning "boaster who applies a salve."
    Kwakzalver sounds fitting for the medic, although not German.

    You could have the tank the leeches are in be an old bottle of Cure-All! Like these -

    800px-Three_early_medicine_bottles.jpg
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    Kwaksalver. I like that.

    Thanks for the comments, folks.
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    A bit of progress, albeit not a great deal.
    medicaugerwip2.jpg
    The mechanisms are kinda doing my head in a bit, but I think I'm starting to get a structure that makes some degree of sense. The scissor bits still need some work so that they'll finction whan animatd but also still look nice.

    Think I'm going to pop a worm gear and a cog in the housing at the end so that the rotation of the screw works. And because it'll look neat.
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    I think I need to do more design work on the screw, so in the mean time, I've made a start on the leech gun.

    leecherwip.jpg
    Not entirely sure where it's going yet, but you can be sure it's somewhere. I'm still experimenting with shapes and stuff so the structure may change quite a bit before I'm happy with it. I'm quite pleased with the various mechanisms though.
  • Khthon
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    It already looks uniquer than any of the other Needle Gun replacements I've seen so far.

    Thinking of jiggle bones/see through glass for the jar? A label texture of some sort? Maybe a homemade label the medic drew a leech on? heh.
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    Yup, I intend to stick pretty closely to the design for the jar in the concept. Going to have to have a look at how they animate the jarate. Will have to experiment with how to animate the leeches too I might be able to get away with making a bunch of them into a couple of objects and hanging them on jiggle bones from the top of the jar or something.

    That's a ways off yet though. Still need to find a design that works first.
  • Khthon
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    Maybe some gas canisters alongside the jar to 'fuel' the high velocity leeches?
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    Thought I'd upload a quick WIP before I go hunting for a needle gun model so I can get the proportions down.
    leecherwip2.jpg

    EDIT: Don't suppose anyones got a convenient upload of the TF2 weapons, or the needle gun/s?
  • Guitbox
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    I really like that design for the needle gun. I wasn't too fond of some other designs for it, because they seemed too similar. This ones spot on! Great silhouette, and a good use of proportions.

    Only thing I would say, is maybe give the grip a little more sturdiness. More girth.

    I wanna see more!
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    Having problems getting the Source SDK SMD importer to work in Maya 2011. The versions available only go up to 2009. Anyone know if it's compatible with the latest version?

    I couldn't get the batch file to work so I attempted to write my own maya.env file. The contents looks like this:
    MAYA_SCRIPT_PATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\jackablade\sourcesdk\maya\scripts;C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2011\scripts;
    XBMLANGPATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\jackablade\sourcesdk\mayaicons;%XBMLANGPATH%
    MAYA_PLUG_IN_PATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\jackablade\sourcesdk\maya\plug-ins;C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2011\plug-ins;
    

    I've got it in my C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2011 folder. Maya doesn't make any reference to it in the script editor when loading. I'm kinda way over my head here. Any suggestions on how to either get it working or where I'd find an alternative plug-in that's not such a pain to get going.

    With such a vibrant modding community, it's about time Valve made this whole process a whole lot less of a pain in the arse.
  • x-quake
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    Use Prall's plugin.

    It works with 2008 at least (and it only states 4-8). So, it might work with 2011.

    http://mitglied.multimania.de/prallvamp/
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    Thanks X-Quake.

    Restructured to fit better with the proportions of the existing weapons. Might be still a bit of messing about to do, but I'm reasonably happy with how it's looking now structurally. Now its just a matter of making it look prettier.
    leecherwip3.jpg
  • Khthon
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    Going to add anything to the model or texture next?
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    The geo is pretty messy. I need to do a whole lot of optimisation. Beyond that, I'll bevel some edges and smooth out some curves. Maybe add a couple of details

    The gap between the two pipes is kind of bugging me. I'll probably mess with that a bit before I call the overall design done.
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    There we go. Sitting in at just under 6000 tris. Going to need to add a few for liquid and leeches in the jar.
    leechercomposite.jpg
    Looking at it now, I think I could probably scale up the jar until the end of it reaches close to the pipe holder thing.
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    Hey can you do double-sided polys in Source or do I need to physically double up the geometry?
  • Base
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    Base polygon
    I don't think it's necessary to have double sided normals-- just make sure all your normals are pointing out and you should be in the clear. I know valve's engine uses double sided normals, but I'm fairly certain that you don't need to do that yourself. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

    Gun looks GREAT by the way. Great job so far.
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
  • Simski
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    Is that... Leeches?

    AWESOME!
    I didn't see the concept image on the first page...
  • Ilex
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    After lurking on this forum for some time there are few ideas that I simply cannot stop checking up on. This is one of them.

    In my opinion this is one of the best weapon designs in terms of originality and desirability.

    I can't wait to see the other items you make in this theme! Have you got a name for it?
  • nofacej
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    Best and most inventive Nail Gun replacement so far. One thing that strikes me as odd is the uneven spacing between the three screws below the jar.

    Not a fan of the bottle opener thing though. Looks strange, awkward and non-threatening.
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    Ah, didn't notice the misplaced screw. I'll fix that.

    I'm not really sure what to do with the melee weapon. It seems like an idea that could work if I could get a design down, but I dunno. Going to need to sort it out soon though.

    Thanks for the comments, folks.
  • Burkans
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    I dont know if I like the empty space between the barrel and a jar, but great idea, and it definetly looks as some odd medical instrument.
  • TheDjinn
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    TheDjinn polycounter lvl 7
    Going with the old weapon theme (what with the leeches and all), what about something like this for the melee weapon?

    4351680433_651e472e90.jpg

    It's an old surgical saw that would fit quite nicely, in my opinion. Maybe fill that piece at the top with some liquid and add a wire or two if you want it to be an Ubersaw replacement.
  • Khthon
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    Man, that gun is so unique and badass...

    Maybe make something for the melee based on autopsy tools?

    31_autopsy_set_open.jpg

    autopsy-15.jpg
  • Galago
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    Holy shit, this is a really inventive idea done perfectly. Nice!
  • Karkasmolenklok
    Dear God it's a leech gun.

    New best medic weapon idea.
  • Snowloss
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    if you can make the water slosh around and the leeches swim about it'll be the bees knees.
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    Yeah, I'm not really sure how well the water is going to work, but we'll see I guess. As a fall back I can always fill the jar up to the brim with liquid, but that obviously won't look quite as nice.

    As for the Melee weapon, I want to steer clear of another surgical saw and do something distinctive. As long as it's an item that can be wielded with a punching typed action, I should work fine with the existing animations. Lord knows I'll have enough of those to deal with on the leecher.
  • x-quake
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    You could always make a shape to fill the inside of it and give it a jiggle bone. Texture it like the liquid and let it jiggle around inside. Would take some messing with, though.
  • Khthon
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    IDEA!!

    What with quackery and all- you could have the melee be a BLOODLETTER.

    You know, they used to bleed patients to cure them. 'Too much blood causes fever' and other spooky nonsense. Some people still do it, make cuts and use a bottles suction on the skin -

    palbloodletting.jpg

    here's some refs- the swiss army knife looking things are called Fleams -


    596px-Blood_letting-732450.jpg
    mayan16.gif
    429815354_f1cc631098.jpg?v=0
    bloodletting_fleam_Holmes_Fr._Osborne.jpg
    496f3a8ef1881Multiblade%20Veterinary%20Fleam.jpg
    10287450.jpg
    bloodletting_fleam_How_c.1700_with_case.jpg
    25485.jpg
    scarificator.jpg
    blood_letting.jpg
    Gemrig_bloodletting_instruments.jpg
    CupVesselsA.jpg
    Blood_letting_machine.jpg
    Blood_letting_machine_mechanism.jpg

    Tell me what you think!
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    Some interesting stuff. I did quite a it of reading up about bloodletting and humourism when I was initially coming up with the concepts. The problem with most of these is that they're not really distinct enough to make easily recognisable weapons. The Fleams could possibly be able to be teased out into something workable with some thought.

    I appreciate the effort. You've given me a few things to think about at least.
  • Ruskeydoo
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    Really digging this concept Jackablade :)

    for your melee have you considered trepanning? This is the medical process of cutting a hole in someones head to let out the pressure/malevolent spirits depending on the culture doing the trepanning.

    home_trepanning.jpg
  • komfyrion
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    Swizzle is getting competition on his medic pack!
    Keep working! :thumbup:
  • JigglesMcGee
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    Really love this leech gun idea/model.
  • Khthon
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    @Jackablade - thanks. I could really see a fleam-like saw with multiple smaller fleams folding out of a handle that has a glass blood bottle tubed to the fleam with inspiration taken from the creepy antique brass and rust.
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