Large S.T.A.L.K.E.R. inspired Island "NOVA ZONA"

[SAMstudios-3Dartist 45]

@ Zsalheden, hi man, I'm not rendering anything at this point, the images are just print screens.

Okey nice :) Love the texture work

[meshcarver 12]

Hehe, thanks man!

The next piece I start will be a take on the classic log cabins you see in STALKER, but it'll be in about 4 weeks time as I'm away from my pc...

[meshcarver 12]

Hi Chaps,

Something different for a change of pace while I'm away from my PC (sob!).

I'm currently trying to make a start on some possible names for this island so would love it if any of you had any ideas you'd like to get down here.

So far, these are some I like the most as they either sound (to my Western ears!) ominous or are a (probably incorrect) translation of a descriptive name:

NOVA ZONA (means "New Zone" in Ukrainian and is currently my favourite)

YEVA (means "Eve")

CHORNA ZONA (means "Black Zone")

SIRA ZONA (means "Grey Zone")

STRUGATSKY (Surname of Roadside Picnic brothers who authored the book, and thanks goto Broadsword of iOGC for this one!)

You can probably tell from these few I really want to go with a strange sounding one, not just something like Leninogorsk or Severobaykalsk for example..!

So, if anyone has any suggestions they'd like to put forward please do and I look forwards to hearing them..!

[soul_assassin 1750]

Obochina

tishina

[meshcarver 12]

Hi Soul_Assassin,

Do they mean Silence and Picnic..?

[soul_assassin 1750]

Hi Soul_Assassin,

Do they mean Silence and Picnic..?

Obochina - roadside, in reference to the novel

Tishina indeed means Silence

[meshcarver 12]

Nice man, nice..! :)

Any more suggestions like that are exactly what I'm after, strange relevant words that also sound cool in Russian/Ukrainian.

[grimwald 24]

Strugatsky Island seems very "respectful" and deceptively bland. :-)

[meshcarver 12]

Yes, I really like Strugatsky for the homage' side of it too, but at the moment I'm really taken by NOVA ZONA...

At any rate, there's a lot of names I plan to include in some form or another as little tokens of acknowledgement to the sources like "Pilman" (from the Pilman Radius), or Guta for example.

I'm thinking of having some really large and substantial Anomalies as permanent fixtures on the map, where the surrounding area has been physically effected, and perhaps I could name some of these anomalies after some of the source material, like "The Pilman Anomaly" or "Red Trigger Anomaly" (From Redrick Schuhart).

[SlavicHavoc 10]

This is freakin' awesome, man. Thank you for creating such a brilliant island with its own buildings and such.

Is there any say on the release date?

Question - Are you re-creating the actual S.T.A.L.K.E.R terrain piece by piece?

Or are you doing your own thing?

Either way, it's going to be awesome!

[meshcarver 12]

@SlavicHavoc- thanks man..!

The release date will be some way off yet, as I'm still in the process of creating all the objects/buildings etc from scratch, and then after that I'll be starting on the terrain itself which takes awhile.

This can be thought of as its own beast.

I'm taking the aesthetic from the STALKER games but creating the actual locations and lay of the land myself with its own unique spin- but staying true to all that is The Zone. ;)

One of the reasons is that there's already so many very direct translations of the Stalker games out there (Which is NOT a bad thing at all), so I thought if I'm going to do this I might aswell do it with variation in mind.

There will be a few recognisable set pieces like certain buildings and areas, but again they wil be adapted to fit this new landscape.

[Kyle_K_ski 1]

Strugatsky -I like this one a lot.

But, why not call it Strugatsky, Nova Zona? That way we get the cake and get to eat it too - and I like eating cake!

[meshcarver 12]

Hi Kyle, hey that's another good idea man! :)

I'll see what other names appear in the meantime too, but that's pretty damn good..!

[meshcarver 12]

Yahhyyyyy..!

Back in steamy Bangkok now, so I'll be creating more assets sooner than you can say "What happens in the Zone, stays in the Zone...".

I've missed this for the past 7 weeks, but contented myself with some cracking books, ZONA and a few Chernobyl accounts for research also.

Chernobyl: The Final Warning and Chernobyl: Confessions Of A Reporter, and all well recommended.

Anyway, good to be back here..! :)

Edited June 11, 2013 by meanmachine1

[mr. bravo 17]

Great to have you back :D I've been lurking this thread and your blog for a while and really love the sense of detail in your work. I'm a huge fan of the Stalker series as well and would really love to see a proper apocalyptic map in A3. It really is the perfect base for a project like this!

Looking forward to more updates soon then ;) I hope to be able to support this with more than kind words in the future.

[KorroBravin 1]

Excellent news, can't wait to see more of your work, was missing checking this thread for the past few weeks!

[meshcarver 12]

Hi guys,

thanks for the kind words, and hopefully in about a weeks time I'll have a new building to show, a log cabin type of small structure with a central fire stove to while-away those dark stormy nights in the Zone with a group of fellow Stalkers...

[Shatter3D_S0uL 1]

I guess this will be released after the beta is released,right?

As for what I have seen so far from the few screenshots you have shown us,it is really good.Probably this is my most anticipated mod for ARMA 3 right now.

[meshcarver 12]

Hi man,

aye, this is gonna take some serious time tbh... it's a LOT of work but I'm loving the process and the freedom going solo gives me too.

I've heard of some maps taking 2 years to complete, and some of those don't really have custom objects in them- this one is going to be about 90-95% custom objects, which is what I'm concentrating on now, building up the asset base.

After that comes the Terrain part, then putting them together... as I say mate, a LOT of work! ;)

[meshcarver 12]

Hi again..!

Damn, it's been awhile but at last I've finished this bloody log cabin- it's taken awhile as I've been getting back into the swing of things after 7 weeks back home, I've also been jet lagged, been ill (...twice the toilet fairy came visiting...) and basically because this is constructed of logs, there had to be a bit more planning and forethought so I can create modular variations on it further down the line- ie, make one with a "C" shape or another layout inside etc. Also because of ARMA unit animations windows and doors have to be of a certain height etc for vaulting out... you get the idea (Nightmare...). ;)

Anyway, here's an external shot of the whole cabin:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/86890612@N02/9140734379/in/photostream/

And here's a shot of close up detailing and a section of inside the cabin so you get an idea of the feel:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/86890612@N02/9140737559/in/photostream/

As you can see, there's little things like missing floorboards but I try to be frugal with this side of things as I don't want to go mental poly count wise so as to keep it playable. All these little edges and planks will make it more immersive as they catch the light and shadows etc.

Also, you'll be able to light fire in the houses fireplaces.

Up the outside of the cabin, there's a simple wooden ladder to take you to the top floor (Well, attic area) where you can also look down into parts of the structure and open fire on any unsuspecting Stalkers..!

Anyway, I hope you like this new cabin and apologies for not updating sooner but RL rules..!

Oh, and I've changed my username here to "meshcarver" at last too, to avoid any confusion..!!! ;)

Right, I'm gonna go get some beers in and chill out and watch some TV...

[AlexVestin 24]

Great progress!

Proportions looks fine so far. Nothing looks wrong with the doors height/width or anything like that. You seem to know what you're doing. Enjoy your well deserved beer(s)!

I can already see the fog outside, slowly creeping in the woods, just waiting for 'preys' to walk out of that cabin :D

[metalcraze 290]

BTW just a suggestion - don't forget to add some kind of lower, underground base for buildings since if you will not you will be forced to place them only on a flat map.

This was an issue with ArmA buildings too until OA

[meshcarver 12]

Hi guys,

Thanks for comments and advice..!

@ AlexVestin, aye, I am completely envisaging these kind of cabins deep in the woods or out alone in the middle of a swamp in the mist! ;)

@ metalcraze, I would LOVE to do extensive underground areas for this map, but until BI give out some solud evidence that tey're supporting underground properly, I will not be doing any. There'd be too many compromises to get it to work 100% and that would bring down the whole feel of the map imo mate... Fingers crossed BI support undergrounds though..!

[AlexVestin 24]

@ metalcraze, I would LOVE to do extensive underground areas for this map, but until BI give out some solud evidence that tey're supporting underground properly, I will not be doing any. There'd be too many compromises to get it to work 100% and that would bring down the whole feel of the map imo mate... Fingers crossed BI support undergrounds though..!

I think he actually means a base for the house to stand on. Like a concrete block to stand on if the terrain is un-even and bumpy :)

[meshcarver 12]

Ahhh..! Lol, yes man, I'm giving each house/structure at least one meter of underground/terrain depth already.

Just for the purposes of these WIP shots I'm cutting those parts off or all the houses would look too tall..!

Thanks anyway guys! ;)