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

[sqb-sma 66]

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..!

You could create a huge bunker type building on a hillside, with a covered top... That would be pseudo underground.

Just saying, because I love the underground parts of stalker.

[meshcarver 12]

Guys, quick question as I'd really love to get some feedback on this future issue:

At some point, I'm going to be doing structures with lots of enterable rooms like multi storey blocks of flats etc.. now, because of the nature of ARMA and poly counts etc, would people prefer REALLY basic geometry for this type of building, or something a bit more elaborate but only have say 25% of rooms in said structure enterable, the rest being blocked off by wooden panels and concreted up etc you get my drift?

I'm toying with either way upto now and can't seem to settle on which way to take this problem.

Thanks for any input on this one.

ps @ SQB-SMA, aye mate, I know about that method but unfortunately that also brings it's problems in the form of AI getting completely buggy when it goes "over" or inside said structure underground. Something to do with it not seeing the terrain under its feet and AI pathfinding- there's just too many cons atm mate sadly... :(

[mikkrish 10]

Great job Meshcarver!

Im huge fan of S.T.A.L.K.E.R universe, made some missions on ARMA 2 stalker mod by DAP and custom scripts.

Im tracking this thread everyday as im planning on scripting some gameplay utilities like PDA, Anomalies, Random generated stashes, Interaction GUI (talking with NPC stalker-like), mission generator, Basic NPC AI-behaviour adn more to come.

Im totally anti-talent for 3d/2d stuff so I was planning doing all this stuff on ARMA 2 islands, but You motivated me to do it on A3 as I plan to use modular gun customization that A3 uses.

If not a problem I will post here some info on my progress, as my project is strictly related to Yours and will take huge amount of time.

Love Your work, and it motivates me too!

Edit:

As for geometry for buildings, it all depends on scale and time that You want to dedicate yourself. For me i like it full enterable, i think most of players is of simmilar opinion. Dont know if its in A3 too but poly's that are not visible are not rendered so they dont stress gpu as much when player is out of building. Most engines have that, dont know if ARMA does, but dont depend on that info as im only a code guy.

Edited June 26, 2013 by Mikkrish

[metalcraze 290]

Yes you should do a nicely detailed big building with some rooms enterable.

It's better to have nicely detailed and atmospheric building that can't be accessed all at once than just a bunch of boxes for rooms.

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 :)

Yes that's what I meant. Thanks for the answer.

[mikkrish 10]

Oh, didnt understand the scale of a building. If its like a block, then yea.

[meshcarver 12]

Hello,

@ Mikkrish- sounds like you're going to be producing a lot of STALKER inspired scripting which is fantastic, the more the better I say!

I would recommend that you can keep us posted here about your project of course but it's probably much better for you if you started your own thread where you can soley go into complete detail about it and get direct feedback from the rest of us- plus it'll avoid confusion here in this thread.

That way, you really get MASSIVE inspiration from peoples comments and advice as they discuss your work mate, it really helps (it is a huge source of motivation for me personally to see feedback).

Either way, good luck with it and keep at it! :)

[mikkrish 10]

Thanks!

Today I was searching wiki for some effects commands and found particle's.

Made some little electro anomaly.

Made also vortex anomaly (flyng leaves) and burner anomaly (fire pillar).

When i make more content (now doing PDA and NPC chat UI) i will make forum thread, i think soon ;)

Edited June 27, 2013 by Mikkrish

[meshcarver 12]

Hey, no problem man..!

Already I see you're making progress..!!!

That looks cool, and it's great to see you're going to be creating more content for the Stalker theme. As advice mate I'd really recommend you not waiting to start a thread- just start one now! It's a huge boost to your project as people will start to take notice which in turn will spurn you on to more and more ideas... ;)

Anyway, if you do make a thread, PM me a link so I can keep watch- it's looking promising.

[KorroBravin 1]

Thanks!

Today I was searching wiki for some effects commands and found particle's.

Made some little electro anomaly.

http://i.imgur.com/p6vTQB6.jpg

Made also vortex anomaly (flyng leaves) and burner anomaly (fire pillar).

When i make more content (now doing PDA and NPC chat UI) i will make forum thread, i think soon ;)

That looks sweet! I'd combine that with a module to randomly spawn them around a certain area, and have them randomize their locations every now and again to keep people on their toes!

[AlexVestin 24]

That looks sweet! I'd combine that with a module to randomly spawn them around a certain area, and have them randomize their locations every now and again to keep people on their toes!

Maybe modify a minefield module. They randomize mine placement. Density of mines in the area can be changed too. Could work for quite the few anomalies.

Also, what about throwing bolts before your feet? :) Would work perfectly in ArmA3 with the current throwing mechanics. Someone could even get the actual bolt model from s.t.a.l.k.e.r if no-one feels like creating that tiny piece from scratch.

Another thought would be gas-anomalies, needing you to equip a gasmask to survive, more or less. Could get interesting.

Edited June 28, 2013 by AlexVestin

[mikkrish 10]

I was thinking about spawning anomalies in characteristic places. For example Electro anomalies near power plants.

Lets make this topic clear to the Meshcarver Island, I will create my own Thread soon and tere we will discuss things :)

[meshcarver 12]

Hi Mikkrish,

Once you do make a thread, let me know where it is so I can put forward some suggestions!

Here's one in the meantime: because of the new Physx, you could have things like the Poltergeist effects from Call Of Pripyat where the Controller/Iron Forest throws objects at you. ;)

In ref to the Gasmask suggestion- I'm planning on eventually creating Modules etc to compliment the map itself, so things like Anomalies/Radiation pockets/Bio hazard etc.

Ideally, these would be easily placable with editable settings per mission, like size, random etc.

I plan on creating a huge area called Ashland (Thanks to Kyle!) where you'll more or less have to wear a gasmask the entire time you're in it- a very inhospitable place!

Anyway, back to the next building, a sort of generic Empty Brick Warehouse, like in the Stalker games...

Edited June 29, 2013 by meshcarver

[BusStopWilly 1]

Amazing quality assets. Keep up the great work!

*edit* Just checked out meshcarver.com ...speechless!

BSW

[meshcarver 12]

@BusStopWilly- thanks very much mate!

I'm working on a generic Brick Structure atm which again is modular, so expect to see it in many forms on the island..!!! ;)

[meshcarver 12]

Hey up,

finished this large generic Brick Warehouse 01 at last..!

It's quite a basic shape this one, big and blocky, but it was quite difficult to do as I need to bear in mind that this model/texture set will be reproduced in various forms for variety again. So bearing that in mind I tried to come up with a structure that allows for different layouts and floors without being too recognisable each time, so little details are kept to a minimum and can later be added as other models/props like barrels/electrical junction boxes etc to spice it up.

It's a take on the many plain brick buildings that are to be found across the STALKER games, but I wanted to make a bit more of it, hence the brick ledges and trims etc.

Also, running through all these buildings it's a good idea to keep the roofing as basic as possible, as it allows for knocking holes out and letting the sunlight stream in to cause lovely shadowing! Also, this goes for night time too when there's an epic lightening storm... ;)

Anyway, here's some shots:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/86890612@N02/9228934412/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/86890612@N02/9228938490/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/86890612@N02/9226156431/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/86890612@N02/9226155513/in/photostream/

The last one is an internal shot of the small back entrance into the main warehouse area, and you can just see the concrete stairs that lead upto the room at the top.

Oh yes, the large painted writing on the front is Ukrainian- as NOVA ZONA is set in an undisclosed area of that country so I'll keep the continuity going with that language.

"Ñклад" means "warehouse", and I'm trying my best to get the spelling correct and am being helped in this by Soul_Assassin/Alex Vorobiev and also by the reliable Google Translate, so if any Ukrainian speakers out there could vouch for me that it does indeed translate well between English and Ukrainian I'd be most grateful..! ;)

A tip for anyone else trying to model buildings etc is to make sure the overall shape has a strong silhouette, and even if you extend a few polys out here and there to break up the outline it'll help add complexity to it without adding too many polys.

Anyway, hope you guys like it and I'll start my next one now- a radio mast in the STALKER aesthetic..! :D

Edited July 7, 2013 by meshcarver

[blu3sman 11]

"Ñклад" means "warehouse", and I'm trying my best to get the spelling correct and am being helped in this by Soul_Assassin/Alex Vorobiev and also by the reliable Google Translate, so if any Ukrainian speakers out there could vouch for me that it does indeed translate well between English and Ukrainian I'd be most grateful..!

I can vouch for that, that's proper translation.;)

One thing I'd like to correct, here http://www.flickr.com/photos/86890612@N02/8638650809/in/photostream/

It would be more appropriate in the context of radiation shelter to use "укрытие"/"убежище" in Russian or "укриттÑ"/"Ñховище" in Ukrainian.

If you have some problems with translation, feel free to ask.

[meshcarver 12]

Hi Blu3sman,

thanks for your clarification, I've PM'd you mate! :D

[iOGC_Broadsword 1]

Marc, Once again outstanding work mate. Cant wait to see this building in it's location.

[meshcarver 12]

Hey Broad,

Cheers man, and yeah, I'm always tempted after finishing a model to fully LOD it up and get it working ingame, but it'd take me out my stride in churning all the models out for the time being..!

...was really tempted with this one though, just to see AI on the first floor defending or something... ;)

[Kraun 10]

Eagerly waiting for a proper post-apoc mod! If i knew how to mod, id've started on one long ago, kinda like dayz, without zombies but instead roaming npc scavengers, survivors, bandits etc :)

STALKER-MP on roids :cool:

Keep up the great work, can't wait to see these in action :)

Edited July 7, 2013 by Kraun

[adanteh 58]

This is seeming like more and more fun every post. About the buildings: I'd rather have smaller / simpler buildings that are decently enterable then shut-off portions. It always breaks immersion quite a bit when I see stuff that I should be able to enter (I have this gun with a nice stock... I bet I can break the wooden board covering a room), so having full freedom in buildings would be nice. Also like that you're doing buildings that have different layouts. It would be very nice if there was a way to adjust the buildings though, like cover them up with wooden boards or so as a player (DayZ origins house-building is nice and all, but I'd much rather use the buildings in the map and transform those). No idea what that would mean modding-wise though. No idea how they did it with the vehicles either (Adding metal plates to windshield, wheel guards and so).

So far you're mainly busy with the buildings though? Are you going to the the actual terrain yourself as well or you'd rather wait (ie: hope) for some new tools to do that?

Man, I really do hope BI change map making tools a bit (And map making all together) so we can see quality content coming out more easily. I bet there are plenty of people with good ideas, but who are mainly scared because of the tools.

[meshcarver 12]

@Kraun and Adanteh-

thank you for your comments and suggestions guys.

Aye, it is pretty fun doing this project, but I'm trying to stay chilled, take it an object at a time etc and not think about rushing it out for a certain time because then I'd be so stressed I'd implode lol. Just trying to make the most of it while I'm doing it and enjoy the process..! :D

Yes, right now as ARMA3 still isn't finalised I'm working solely on objects/assets so when the time comes for creating the terrain process I've got loads of resources to populate the island with, and also by then HOPEFULLY there'll be some damn good terrain tools out, fingers crossed.

It was a conscious choice to approach this island in that manner, as I'm aware that I will need LOTS of buildings and objects if this is to be convincing and so that's another reason to go for the "modular" construction approach too- to lighten my own workload.

Also yes, I'd personally much rather have simpler buildings if it means all enterable rooms etc, as I hate covering doorways with plastic sheets or wooden boards nothing will get through. If I do have to do that kind of thing, I'll at least try to make it convincing like a huge concrete slab filler or bulkhead.

Hopefully everything will be enterable though. ;)

[adanteh 58]

Sounds good. Do you know what you're going to do with the layout of the island yet? I actually never played a Stalker game (iknowrite), but I do like the atmosphere. I'd guess the Metro games or somewhat similar when it comes to atmosphere? Is it going to be based a lot on that layout or just something imaginary? One island, just a part of land (Like chernarus), multiple islands? Multiple islands really have my preference, because they work so well for modes like Wasteland and DayZ as well. A bridge with mostly just structure standing could be nice as well. Seeing this huge bridge disappearing into the fog would be creepy as hell. Could also make one island first then and release that and then add other parts later in the process (I'm guessing that should be possible with the tools). Might be a nice way of getting feedback plus I doubt a lot of people would love to play it.

Glad you're focusing on objects first though. Do you have plans on building larger cities or just Chernarus-like towns? I'd guess larger cities would be a major problem performance wise though, as cool as they would be.

Swamps are nice as well. Namalsk meets Chernarus+ (DayZ SA) swamp.

Other buildings that I'd love to see are 'normal' ones. A school, a supermarket, hospital or so. Things like playgrounds are very cliche, but cool nonetheless. Basically anything that you would see in a real city. Train station, offices, normal homes. Then again, I imagine those things all taking a damn lot of work. Maybe I'll end up playing it in 2 years or more :D

[Kraun 10]

Might aswell "re-do" altis & stratis once the both maps are out with the assests you're making, going to be a crapload of work if you mean to do the island from scratch ontop the assets you're making, if you wan't to make it as detailed and varied as your assets :)

[adanteh 58]

Is that possible though? Wouldn't you need the map files from BI? Not sure if they're okay with giving those away. It might be nice to do a stalkerish redesign of Altis though. Different vegetation and all, different buildings, but that would probably mean a full retexture which is still going to be a pain in the ass.