Think of this thread as something similar to conceptships.blogspot.com for the Sins community. Basically, a way for the community to share what they have created whether it makes it into a mod or not.
At a minimum post a screen shot of your model in blender, xsi, 3d object converter, etc or in game. If you have a name for your ship or story behind it, even better.
We are looking forward to seeing what you have created!
Interested in importing your models into Sins?
Visit http://soase.weebly.com/modeling.html (thanks myfist0)The soase.weebly is a compilation of many of the hard to find topics created by many experienced soase modders and extensively added to by myfist0. Check it out, you won't be disappointed.
From the beginning of this thread IskatuMesk has wow'd us with his models and ultimately released a video of his creations in Sins of a Solar Empire. This particular model was my favorite in the beginning and still stands out.
SivCorp looking to stretch new ideas from existing models managed to create several menancing models including the fantastic Vasari version seen here: (Vasari Flagship Sonar Kal'd used in the Distant Stars Mod)
It's my thread so a few of my stuff...
Work on the Xy Gaverrah completes.
While work on the UD Cathedralship begins.
With the addition of a lot of multi-tracking Anahn ships and their heavier capitals, the Undead are losing quite a bit in my test games. They need their heavier ships to be able to dance with the Anahn additions. I took an alternate variant of the Cathedralship's base hull and began on the Autarch.
/e
Almost finished. Here's to hoping for no FAILED VERTEX CHECKSUM hair-ripping spleen-tearing random XDXDXD errors.
/e 2
Refunds will not be given for lost vomit.
I have begun work on what is likely to be amongst the last and most difficult Anahn models I ever make.
The Emperor-class.
Simply wow, dude.....
I like how the forward end literally says, "Screw you."
Glad you guys like 'em. Here's some detailing and layout updates for the Emperor.
Well Hello There my fellow Modelers I just started my classes of 3DS max and Softimage Like a month ago and here im here to present my hard work i have created a few model and i still dont knw squat all i have been doing is modeling and modeling my butt off so hopefully i can see my sweet firs models ingame one day in sins so plz give me review recommendations improvements etc So if someone would be nice enough to Help me texture mesh em and put the points on them o works plz it wud be great I wish i cud but my life is busy and its hard to folllow what steps to take to input and edit for sins use so plz help and review my firsties
well, you need to remember that model are for game and not for render in 3dMax or any pro-software... keyword is optimization at any level...
I will not comment about the shape of the model because taste is different for each people...
Based on your screenshot, i can only advice on poly reduction/optimization... it is not about changing the shape but remove non needed poly with the shape remaining like now...
Let's take the fortress... on the top of the arms who go in each direction, you have plenty of small quad when this can be reduced to only a few tri... same with the top front part of the Battleship...
If you really wish constructive critic, best is to post a .obj from your model... it is the only way to check if everything is good or not ( double edges/vertex, non planar poly, hole, bad normal, flipped faces, etc )...
Very nice begginings but I agree with Thoumsin. Optimization is very important. Take the front part of the battleship. From the 3rd row to the bottom of the front can be 2 large triangles.
I also see an error sins will not like. Polys with more the 4 sides. The front widows and the row above and below are extruded a little. This causes the triangle on the side to be 6 sided. ConvertXSI will spit that back at you.
Must learn to texture if you are going to model. It is very time consuming and each person textures are different based on taste and style. Lots of tutorials on the soase.weebly
The model on the left is very bad for triangle count. I deleted and rebuilt each panel with 2 triangles as seen on the left.
A quick XSI Poly. Mesh->triangulate fixes this up before you export.
THIS!
Though I'd restate it slightly as it's ok to make models without knowing how to texture IF you aren't planning to do anything else with them. But for the love of god don't start a modding project if you aren't willing/capable to do all the roles. So many mods appear to die on the vine (look at moddb) because somebody who could code or model (or worse yet, just had a cool idea) started up and then quit because no one would pick up their slack and join the mod.
LOL. I guess you're telling me that I need to learn how to make my own damn abilities .
That is the only thing left giving me a little grief.
Three new Undead ships have been created.
This capital ship had an unusual production life. I pulled the head off of Antharas from Lineage 2 and began my symmetry mangle spree until I had a base mesh, which I then proceeded to butcher in a thousand different ways until I finally ended up with this.
Simple UD Heavy destroyer.
An Undead Xy`Kranashian ship, formulated from Xy mental waves. Extremely rare, but fourth generation material.
Not really, I'm saying you should be capable of making your own abilities. If you can get people to join your mod or donate assets more power to you. I gladly reach out for modding assets from models to anything else including ideas and am constantly asking for permission to use various things. You might even find someone who is really dedicated to what you're doing which is great too. More likely you'll get people flowing in and out of the process which is more likely due to the hobby nature of modding.
What is funny or maybe not is watching various mods start up and then complain that no one will help them complete it.
I'm pretty sure you know all this... So I'm just blathering at this point
IskatuMesk, love your Xy`Kranasha corvette. I have drawn similar designs for a race I was working on, but since I have to graphic design background, made it hard for me to put my drawings into code, haha. Well done!
Learning how to render and add lighting. Hiigaran Battleship is finished.
Battle Cruiser Complete.wav
Nice job. Would be fun to play a strategic level Homeworld (although I admit more of a weakness for the first one). There's a tabletop game that was in development, but it stopped just beyond functional. Tabletops aren't my thing anyway.
So nice Battlecruiser. Now I might have to create a massive Homeworld map. Shining Hinterlands, here I come!
Barring any major events, this is likely to be the last Undead model for Black Sun I create - an updated Crusader.
It is where non planar surface ( non manifold surface ) can lead to problem... for example, a quad where two of the opposite vertex are somehow highter that the two other... with a auto triangulate, you have no way to know how the final result will be ( there is two way for triangulate a quad )... and both result give a different shape...
Well, more easy to explain with a picture that with text... look at the pic below...
The center piece is the original model... with the top surface of the cube being non planar ( non manifold )... left and right show the two possible way to triangulate the top surface... leading to two different shape...
Before make any auto-triangulate, best is to triangulate manually all the non planar surface manually... it is the only way to be sure about the final shape of you model...
In wings3d, "select > by > non planar faces" show the surfaces who are best to triangulate manually... in Meshlab ( my prefered free software for check/repair a model ), need to select/show the "non-manifold" surface... pretty sure that XSI or 3Dmax have a similar function...
I don't agree... a modeler need to know how to model-segment-UV-texture... same if he don't texture himself, he need to know how his modeling job will greatly impact the job of the texturer... by example, a good UV optimization give more pixel for painting job... and if you don't paint yourself, a dialogue with the texturer is needed from the beginning... by example if two identical pieces are planned to have text of number paint, don't optimize the pieces else on one piece, text and number will look like when you see them in a mirror when render...
As for doing all the roles, in my own case, i cannot... XSI hate me and i use somebody other for make the hardpointing and create the .xsi... it is not a big problem since i make models for other people and they own me...
Of course it is best to be able to make everything yourself and i will be able to make so in maybe one year, by removing completely XSI from the process... have already found a way for create hardpoint in Wings3d... with time, i will have a convert_obj-mesh script able to convert .obj to .mesh ( or reverse ) with everything ( hardpoint, tangent, bounding box, etc )... the trick will be to use wings3d and a special method of modeling ( hardpoint are a separate model that you merge with the main object without combine it... orientation is define by the line who go from the top of the little pyramid to the top of the big one, coordinate is now the center of the geometry but later, it will be the top of the little pyramid... wil only be for Linux version since i have no idea how to make a program for windows...
Point is that you don't need to know everything, simply adapt to the situation... you can collaborate with other mod ( i make your ability but you make my entity ) or create your own tools ( like the myfist hardpointing plug-in for XSI )...
If you have interest, i have a huge amount ( 54 ) of Homeworld 2 model in .lwo format...
Maybe it's semantics, but I don't see where you actually disagreed.
I simply stated the following. It's ok to make models and never learn how to texture if you aren't planning to do anything with them. You clearly stated a scenario where the original modeller intended to make the model for a project which implies them being created for a specific purpose other than the fun of making the model. In this case it would be beneficial they know how to uv-map and texture. However, given the hobbyist nature of modelling I've found quite a few people that make models don't know how to uv-map them or texture them.
The other statement I made was "willing/capable" in regards to starting a modding project. I didn't say that the mod leader would need to fill every possible role in making the mod, but they should seriously consider their willingness and capability to learn it if they can't fill that role they fill is "important" or potentially tweaking whats left after a team member leaves. It's not a difficult concept and one that a potential mod leader should really ask himself and evaluate before committing to a long term effort especially before asking others to commit as well.
I could site some example mod projects that fit the problem areas described but it's fairly obvious if you poke around on moddb.
Well, the guy have made spaceship model and post them on the "sins of solar empire" forum... ask about hardpoint, texturing and sins use... so, i conclude that the guy purpose is to have his model ingame... by the way, the topic title is "show off your sins model" and not "show off your model"...
Yes please.
I am sure I can figure out what the hell iwo format is .
As for the triangulate thing. I often do not use tools that automate because it you are a cook you dont get your spaghetti from a can, you should know how to create it. Same with the convert tools. I do all mine manually or with a script I created so I know exactly what is being done.
Thanks for that explanation Thoumsin. Can I post that info on Getting Rid of Non-Tris and Non Quads ?
http://www.love-from-russia.be/Homeworld.7z
Lightwave3D... it is the first 3D software that i have use, on a Commodore Amiga computer... it is a top end 3D software, was used for Babylon 5, Star Trek Deep Space 9/Voyager/enterprise, Galactica 2004, Avatar, Stargate SC-1, Dune, Iron man, V 2009, etc ...
I have the version 8 but actual version is 10.1 ( http://www.newtek.com/lightwave/ start the video and be amazed )... well, for actual version, you need 1500$ for the software... not really cheap... but for somebody who wish to work at a professional level, it is almost a must have...
As the .lwo in the archive, you can import them with wings3d and export them to .obj... problem is in the mtl, all map reference are lost...
If you cannot import them in XSI by example, PM me and when i will have time, i will use my old version of lightwave 8 for export them to .obj...
Model use transparency ( blue material in wings3d ), best to keep it like it is... once process by convertxsi, the poly with transparency are discarted and create a hole ( a good one )... model use a large amount of very small textures ( mothership have 42 .bmp texture, the biggest is 512x1024 and the smallest 32x64 )
Well, i am a lazy guy... so, i triangulate only the non manifold / non planar surface... for the rest, auto tool make a good job...
You can post everything everywhere... i am a open source guy and i promote sharing of idea...
i am not sure that your link is the right place... you link if about XSI ( one software is not the other )...
Maybe use my picture who show what can happen with non-planar ( non-manifold ) poly when triangulate and add the following text from the XSI wiki :
Preferences that Affect Drawing Polygons
There are two preferences you can set to control how the Add/Edit Polygon tool works: Preserve Planarity While Creating Polygons and Action When Connecting CW vs CCW Polygons.
To access these options, choose File > Preferences from the main menu, then expand Tools and click Polygon.
Preserve Planarity While Creating Polygons
The Preserve Planarity While Creating Polygons preference automatically adjusts the position to preserve the planarity of the polygon when you click to add a new vertex using the Add/Edit Polygon tool. As a result, new vertices may not be added exactly where you click — even if snapping is on.
If this option is off, then it is possible to draw non-planar polygons, for example, by drawing three vertices in the Front view and then a fourth in the Side view.
You can temporarily change the current behavior by pressing Shift while adding points. Pressing Shift allows you to force planarity as you draw a specific polygon when the preference is off, or allow a non-planar polygon when the preference is on.
Action When Connecting CW vs CCW Polygons
When you draw polygons and connect them to others, the normals might be facing in opposite directions. This occurs if the vertices on two polygons are ordered differently, that is, clockwise versus counterclockwise. When two such polygons are about to be connected, the Action When Connecting CW vs CCW Polygons preference controls what happens:
• Prompt user before proceeding: You are prompted to invert polygons or not in each case.
• Invert conflicting polygon(s) (and all their adjacent ones): The other polygons are inverted to fit with the current polygon you are drawing. The inversion ripples through adjacent polygons (if appropriate).
• Accept CW-CCW connection (with double-edge side-effect): No changes are made to the normal directions. Adjacent polygons with opposite normals are connected by a double edge to preserve the integrity of the mesh structure.
Second setting is important too... flipped polygon lead to bad shading ingame ( bad normal invert the effect of the normal map for the flipped polygon, tangent calculated is wrong leading to bad lightning/shadow for the polygon ) ... so, second setting ( invert conflicting polygone ) along the shift key when adding vertex is the perfect way to resolve some potential problem ( non planar surface, flipped face, and some type of double edge ) when using XSI...
Funny, i am the guy who cannot use XSI and i post advice about how to use it...
I was responding to myfist0's statement of "Must learn to texture if your going to model..."
Also this thread never predicated the model will ever make it in game.
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