Models giveaway

Its reaaaaaaaaaaaaly not that hard, gentlemen. The most annoying part of it is generating good UVs. After that, its a cakewalk, just time spent. Sit down, and just do it. That’s really all there is to it.

Be epic. Know what, screw it. School’s out till late June for me, I’m free for a while. Add me on skype, anubis714. I’ll run a seminar. I can get ya’ll up to pro-grade in a day.

Have to agree with Sizer. UV mapping is the biggest pain in the butt ever. After that, making a good texture is rather easy.

Well it took me a total of 1.5 hours to texture the Mjolnir, most of the time was spent picking the right texture, thats what 89k polys? As long as u keep the part separate it usually is pretty easy. Most of my time working on your models has been reassigning polys to a specific texture then using various UV mapping on them. Its not hard though, just time consuming. I also recently did a one called Uberport, most of the mapping time was spent pulling the windows out of the model so the interior could be seen in-game (one of your 2009 starports btw). A tip, leave ur model in parts, it helps when UV mapping them.

Oh and use FBX, so much better for max users.

Most modders DON’T have the know how to make proper textures. Of all the skills in the general modding community, texture artists are the second most scarce, behind proper high-level programmers.

I’m telling you, you sound just like me about 3 years ago. ‘I can do it, but I don’t want to.’

What’s really happening here is that you aren’t satisfied with what you can do (you’ve said as much), therefore you don’t like doing it… therefore you won’t get better at it. Making a metallic texture isn’t hard, it just takes a few tricks. They’re stupid obvious, but easy to overlook. I am going to keep harassing you till you try. Someone did the same for me, and I hated him a bit, but it was worth it.

Automatic UV doesn’t work for me especially when working with your older models (no UV at all). I just tend to like customized UV for the models which points out your ‘every modder has a preference’ statement. Most of your textured models are unaltered but if they aren’t, I texture them to my own preference. Hehe guess I’m used to it since Furball never textures his models anymore, it’s a non-issue to me. Just keep creating great models and I will keep UV mapping them accordingly.

When you do texture them like he said, usually the modders will keep those textures intact, even I do…

SolCommand wrote:
Hehe then you can keep trying mate but it isn’t going to happen any time soon Besides, why even try this hard to get better at this thing when I have no future plans in this line of work. I plan to take things one day at a time, whatever happens happens, that’s one thing I learned from my recent motorcycle accident where I’m still amazed I actually escaped rather ok.

Ah bollox! I adopted that attitude when I had an argument with a lamp post at 80mph 12 years ago, since then I’ve achieved nothing in particular that I hadn’t already achieved back then.

Put it into perspective! You might feel like you’ve cheated death, and you’re probably thinking more about what might have happened (but didn’t), than what actually did happen. Truth is, you’re fine and you still have the rest of your life to look forward to, so dream, and dream big!

I had a heart attack last year and finally woke up. Time is not something to waste away with a whatever happens happens attitude, make plans and make things happen otherwise nothing ever will

I need examples of what FL will accept for new player ships. Anything like that?

What is the max poly limit for a typical player ship in vanilla FL? I’m using a budget module for Blender.

For freelancer i usually try to stick to 5000 triangles or less for fighter sized craft.

Capital ships up to about 10000.

There’s no limit. We have 100k models, there are 1M models floating around (not that that’s going to run very well), it’s all up to who you’re targeting and what kind of budget you think you can work with.

if you’re going by standard rules, 3-6k polys for a fighter, 10-30k for a capital. If you go by my rules and also use the Max .CMP exporter, I shoot for ~10k polys for fighters, and anywhere between 40-150k polys for capitals. Also note that if you’re going to use higher count models, use aggressive loding to keep performance on older machines, if you care about supporting legacy hardware.

Sizer wrote:
if you’re going by standard rules, 3-6k polys for a fighter, 10-30k for a capital. If you go by my rules and also use the Max .CMP exporter, I shoot for ~10k polys for fighters, and anywhere between 40-150k polys for capitals. Also note that if you’re going to use higher count models, use aggressive loding to keep performance on older machines, if you care about supporting legacy hardware.

Dang, what graphics card do you use, a Quadro?

BTW, your modeling and texturing tutorials, how can those same techniques be applied to a VHF?

That level of detail doesn’t require a powerful card. I used to model like that on a mid-range mobile card. As for my tutorials, honestly, it’s just a matter of adjusting your scaling. It’s the same stuff… just make a fighter. Number one thing is to use reference material. I’ve got years of experience, so I can pull something out of my ass and have it turn out ok. But even then, to make a truly excellent model, you need reference material. Concept art, photos of real life machinery, etc.

I can’t provide my own ref material, and I will certainly not use anyone else’s reference material. I’m not the best modeler, and never will be. I’ll just end up killing scratch work, and end up with an empty portfolio. It’s no wonder why I never got the game development career I should have got. I have a fear of commitment, I fear of having to put my personal life behind, to work as a lowly unskilled laborer, leaving no time to practice my skills.

I’m telling you this, because my parents think I could only afford the bottom tier, because they think I don’t know how to handle myself in public. I’m sick of being babied all my life, I want to make a difference in the world, but I can’t do it the way people tell me to!

EDIT: Ok, I’m sorry I doubted myself, I’m at a stage where my parents need me to grow up. I can make reference material, I just need to know how to do it, all I have is physical medium, a scanner, a tablet, yet I have a problem with concentration.

You don’t always need to make it yourself. It helps if you can draw, but Google is your best friend. Find artists and styles you like, take influence from them. I like Syd Mead (Aliens, TRON, Blade Runner), Andy Probert (Star Trek I, TNG), Fractalsponge (Ansel Hsiao) (High-res SW work, The Essential Guide to Warfare), and Rob Cunningham (Homeworld). It’s about immersing yourself in your chosen aesthetic. I love 80s futurism and sci-fi films. I watch them all the time, and sketch and model while I do it.

Also, just about every modeller out there started by using existing artwork as a basis, often just making a perfect replica of the thing. It’s how you begin. You can’t reasonably expect to start off from zero and instantly make a work of art.