Female heads Mod (yes, another one)

[nodunit 397]

Looking very impressive, great detail on the face and is that a custom head model or Arma default for now?

[LykosMactire 298]

Looking very impressive, great detail on the face and is that a custom head model or Arma default for now?

she made it using somethign

[zeealex 2029]

Looking very impressive, great detail on the face and is that a custom head model or Arma default for now?

tis custom, as mentioned aaaaall the way back in the first page, they are created with AutoDesk Character Generator, lovely bit of cloud based software by the model masters themselves. the model is generated and downloaded, and then the model is modified in 3dsMax to fit the Arma 3 bodies, generally scaling and their hair sometimes needs pulling in to reduce clipping, it significantly reduces the time required to get the mod out, because as mentioned, and as you probably guessed with my body models, I'm a slow modeller who likes to change their mind alot, I was more of a 3d artist before Arma 3 modding.

[krycek 349]

I hope BI hires you to work on a fully female dlc and what I saw so far looks great.Take your time and I hope you won't give up on the mod in the future.

[Rydygier 1302]

I'm a slow modeller who likes to change their mind alot, I was more of a 3d artist before Arma 3 modding.

I think, that's actually great. Such approach and skills IMO allow to expect something extraordinary. Bah, "to expect"... I see extraordinary result already. That face looks truly fantastic.

[zeealex 2029]

thank you both, truly inspiring words :)

I hope BI hires you to work on a fully female dlc and what I saw so far looks great.Take your time and I hope you won't give up on the mod in the future.

thanks! I would love it if I got hired by BIS to work on a DLC module like this, working for BIS would be a dream come true, I think i need to work on my skill and speed before I hand them a CV though :) But hey, if it's a mod its free! :D

I think, that's actually great. Such approach and skills IMO allow to expect something extraordinary. Bah, "to expect"... I see extraordinary result already. That face looks truly fantastic.

thank you! :) I'll be working on my low poly skills a little more when my exams are over, only 2 weeks left now try to get the best result possible using the least amount of polygons. :)

update:

the first Asian head was added a couple of days ago, her texture has since been modified to appear less yellow at distance.

not too happy about the eyes, I may modify them to make them less slanted.

and i'm aware of the issue with the hands, these are using default HL textures for now.

and one more thing before I clock off for the night

the heads module, once june 20th is over and done with, will be worked on like god knows what, and it should be on course for a july release.

have a nice [insert time of day]! :)

[dragon01 902]

Nice work. I really like who it's shaping up. BIS should indeed either hire you, or make a DLC adding both female troopers and civvies. I understand that rigging a new body model is hard, but complete absence of women in the entire game seems somewhat jarring, especially with such an open architecture.

I had an idea for a game design, similar to yours actually dragon01 in terms of the central character. the design is an rpg fps hybrid involving a former female marine, currently writing out the narrative in my free time. I hope to develop it into a game eventually, i've got some experience with unreal 4 so it should be a reality.

ArmA3 is suited for an RPG-FPS hybrid (heck, the BIS campaign comes close at times), so you might be better off using RV engine instead. :) Unreal 4 is pretty great, but I haven't seen neither this kind of scale nor detailed simulation on other engines. Though that depends on what exactly you want to do. Oh, BTW, unless you're writing a "villain protagonist", you should probably call her a retired/veteran Marine. "Former Marines" are the ones thrown out of the USMC.

I'll probably be going with a more traditional, fully lineal campaign, perhaps with (slight) branching (something like AII:OA). She'll be active duty, and a Marine's life is very lineal indeed (unless you want to get ninja-punched, that is). :) Female civvies will also come in handy, but I suppose that goes for any campaign that wants to show a proper civilian population.

Anyway, looking forward to release.

Edited June 8, 2014 by Dragon01

[zeealex 2029]

A new head has been added, and adjustments have been made, I was meant to show them, but thanks to an update, the way the RVMAT files are being handled has changed, and it's turned everyone a shade of blue in certain lights, and the shadows look really strange, it's a quick fix I should think.

Nice work. I really like who it's shaping up. BIS should indeed either hire you, or make a DLC adding both female troopers and civvies. I understand that rigging a new body model is hard, but complete absence of women in the entire game seems somewhat jarring, especially with such an open architecture.

ArmA3 is suited for an RPG-FPS hybrid (heck, the BIS campaign comes close at times), so you might be better off using RV engine instead. :) Unreal 4 is pretty great, but I haven't seen neither this kind of scale nor detailed simulation on other engines. Though that depends on what exactly you want to do. Oh, BTW, unless you're writing a "villain protagonist", you should probably call her a retired/veteran Marine. "Former Marines" are the ones thrown out of the USMC.

I'll probably be going with a more traditional, fully lineal campaign, perhaps with (slight) branching (something like AII:OA). She'll be active duty, and a Marine's life is very lineal indeed (unless you want to get ninja-punched, that is). :) Female civvies will also come in handy, but I suppose that goes for any campaign that wants to show a proper civilian population.

Anyway, looking forward to release.

definitely, RV 4.0 is very versatile, I want to get a sort of Mass effect-like head selection menu implemented, so people have a lot of freedom of how their character looks, rather than just have a set head selection.

I didn't realize former meant something different, thanks for that clarification! :) she's still technically serving, just as part of the US army instead of the Marines.

your idea sounds really cool, I'd play that! definitely. but you're right, if a proper civlian population is to be shown, it needs women. perhaps children, but that's where the real uproar begins.

[nodunit 397]

I wouldn't say uproar, most people (personal experience that is) haven't seemed to care much about children being ingame or not, regardless of being shot and killed..in the end its just polygons and coding, not real people.

The real issue crops up in regards to skeletons, animations and engine limits.

[IndeedPete 1038]

definitely, RV 4.0 is very versatile, I want to get a sort of Mass effect-like head selection menu implemented, so people have a lot of freedom of how their character looks, rather than just have a set head selection.

That's a great idea! I'd love some more character customisation. Arma 3's equipment system with changeable uniforms and gear is already a good basis and I read that user defined arm patches are supposed to come with the Bootcamp DLC. Custom faces are the next logical step in my opinion.

perhaps children, but that's where the real uproar begins.

I wouldn't mind having children, quite the contrary, it opens up some cool mission ideas. It's always a question of how the mission designer uses these "assets" but it's understandable that most "violent" games lack children. Strange, it's totally accepted if children die or get abused in movies, not to mention the real world, as sad as it is. Keep up with the female models, that's one thing Arma 3 is definitely missing and is necessary to create a believable world with Arma.

[nodunit 397]

I wouldn't mind having children, quite the contrary, it opens up some cool mission ideas. It's always a question of how the mission designer uses these "assets" but it's understandable that most "violent" games lack children. Strange, it's totally accepted if children die or get abused in movies, not to mention the real world, as sad as it is. Keep up with the female models, that's one thing Arma 3 is definitely missing and is necessary to create a believable world with Arma.

That is part in part due to the interactive nature of games and how many people still think that games are 'toys' of sorts...it also doesn't help that people like to use video games as scapegoats even today when it comes to violence.

[IndeedPete 1038]

That is part in part due to the interactive nature of games and how many people still think that games are 'toys' of sorts...it also doesn't help that people like to use video games as scapegoats even today when it comes to violence.

That's true I guess. I can play A3 without children, it would be a nice-to-have to make (peaceful) scenes more atmospheric. But women are definitely a must-have! I'd even accept "civie-only"-women for now as I see that it's a lot of work to adjust vests, backpacks, guns and stuff to their models. However, it's still a futuristic setting so one could assume that women play a stronger role in the military than they already do today. Despite some (bullshit) comments in this and other threads about how women are not suited for fighting and stuff I think armies that pass up on the benefits of both genders are just plain stupid. :rolleyes:

[dragon01 902]

Children aren't really necessary, besides, in civilized places they're usually the first out when the shooting starts. It's easy to "write around" them, much easier than around women. Also, technical challenges involving them are much greater. Since the AI is generally programmed around adults, you'd have to re-write that along with modelling a completely new body, animations and faces... All that from scratch, to boot, since nothing like this was done before on this engine. Not to mention there's an issue of children being annoyingly diverse - the term covers humans between ages of about 4-16, and the body changes dramatically during that time. Meaning more work... And all children being conspicuously of the same age (think Skyrim) is even more jarring than there being no children at all. In fact, short of a procedural skeleton (I don't think this can be done in RV), I don't see that being possible to pull off for a "lifelike" population. And even for a sparse one, you'd need probably 6 models (preschool, early teens, late teens, all in both genders) to really make it workable. Given how much work a single model takes, I don't see it happening anytime soon.

I didn't realize former meant something different, thanks for that clarification! :) she's still technically serving, just as part of the US army instead of the Marines.

Well, it's kind of weird, actually. "Former soldier" is fine (assuming you're talking about an actual solider, anyway, Marines hate being called that). "Former Marine" might get you lifed by some overmotivated SNCO. :) It's a part of this "Once a Marine, always a Marine" ethos, there is much more of that in the Corps. It's definitely something to remember when writing a character with USMC past. A Marine's stays a Marine, even long after being discharged from USMC. That goes double for 03's (grunts). There are even linguistic differences. A soldier calls a helicopter "chopper", a Marine would call it a "helo". And boy, I loved when they got that right in ArmAII. :) Terminal Lance forums (and TL in general) generally seem to be a decent place to go to get a feel of how "average" (i.e. ones not grossly overmotivated nor ones that hate the corps) Marines act.

Edited June 29, 2014 by Dragon01

[zeealex 2029]

finally got there in the end... kind of, the RVMAT for the persian heads is still a little worse for wear, so sorry in advance for the shininess.

I referenced her from someone I actually know who is from bangladesh, but women from bangladesh do have naturally darker skin than the more western countries, so i would consider her more indian than persian, nevertheless i can brighten the skin if need be.

I was going to change the hair texture to a tied back version, but i actually kind of like the short hair, implementation of tied back hair is easy as pie either way.

anyway less tittering:

Children aren't really necessary, besides, in civilized places they're usually the first out when the shooting starts. It's easy to "write around" them, much easier than around women. Also, technical challenges involving them are much greater. Since the AI is generally programmed around adults, you'd have to re-write that along with modelling a completely new body, animations and faces... All that from scratch, to boot, since nothing like this was done before on this engine. Not to mention there's an issue of children being annoyingly diverse - the term covers humans between ages of about 4-16, and the body changes dramatically during that time. Meaning more work... And all children being conspicuously of the same age (think Skyrim) is even more jarring than there being no children at all. In fact, short of a procedural skeleton (I don't think this can be done in RV), I don't see that being possible to pull off for a "lifelike" population. And even for a sparse one, you'd need probably 6 models (preschool, early teens, late teens, all in both genders) to really make it workable. Given how much work a single model takes, I don't see it happening anytime soon.

Quote Originally Posted by zeealex View Post

I didn't realize former meant something different, thanks for that clarification! she's still technically serving, just as part of the US army instead of the Marines.

Well, it's kind of weird, actually. "Former soldier" is fine (assuming you're talking about an actual solider, anyway, Marines hate being called that). "Former Marine" might get you lifed by some overmotivated SNCO. It's a part of this "Once a Marine, always a Marine" ethos, there is much more of that in the Corps. It's definitely something to remember when writing a character with USMC past. A Marine's stays a Marine, even long after being discharged from USMC. That goes double for 03's (grunts). There are even linguistic differences. A soldier calls a helicopter "chopper", a Marine would call it a "helo". And boy, I loved when they got that right in ArmAII. Terminal Lance forums (and TL in general) generally seem to be a decent place to go to get a feel of how "average" (i.e. ones not grossly overmotivated nor ones that hate the corps) Marines act.

I suppose you've all got good point on that front about the children, while it would make for some interesting scenarios they aren't necessary. I just thought an uproar might occur about people being able to kill children ingame, it would cause a fair bit of controversy. It would take too much time to implement than alot of people would care for, whereas a female anatomy, while all being 6 foot something, is feasible. "children" does cover quite a wide variety of ages and sizes, very annoying, it would've been quite cool to see a full scale population, but i suppose it isn't necessary in this game.

as for the narrative the main character still maintains marine qualities, she still lives by semper fi, still says aye aye to orders (to which a fellow squad member takes the piss out of) and still calls helicopters helos as you've said. but I'll check that forum out it sounds pretty cool :)

Edited July 2, 2014 by zeealex

[Quietus 10]

From one female arma 3 player to another...thank you very much! Looking forward to their release.

[nodunit 397]

Looking very good! Bonus points for not dolling her up, smooth shading and flow...I'm liking the direction so far.

Just one question, is there a chance that the outside of her eyes could be whitened a bit more? I don't know if its just Arma or what but everyone always seems to have reddish eyes.

[froggyluv 2130]

Really, really looking forward to this :)

Did I read correctly that you could also change male/female BMI for different shapes??

[theevancat 277]

finally got there in the end... kind of, the RVMAT for the persian heads is still a little worse for wear, so sorry in advance for the shininess.

I referenced her from someone I actually know who is from bangladesh, but women from bangladesh do have naturally darker skin than the more western countries, so i would consider her more indian than persian, nevertheless i can brighten the skin if need be.

I was going to change the hair texture to a tied back version, but i actually kind of like the short hair, implementation of tied back hair is easy as pie either way.

Based on my experience at least with my Armenian family and friends (as well as a few Arabs and Persians I know at school and around town), people from that region can be pretty fair skinned (I'm Armenian and I'm pretty white: so is my family. I know a guy from Mosul with blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin.) But they can also be dark like that. Really, the whole region has more variety than one would think (the usual brown that's often depicted.)

[zeealex 2029]

From one female arma 3 player to another...thank you very much! Looking forward to their release.

hey, you're welcome! :D it's awesome to meet fellow players, especially female players. no one I know in my area knows Arma for anything other than DayZ (which i get annoyed at)

Looking very good! Bonus points for not dolling her up, smooth shading and flow...I'm liking the direction so far.

Just one question, is there a chance that the outside of her eyes could be whitened a bit more? I don't know if its just Arma or what but everyone always seems to have reddish eyes.

thank you! :D I really appreciate your inputs, you help point this into the direction I and others want it to go in. I can whiten the texture of the eyes in photoshop, the sub saharan head's eyes are really scary because of the whiteness of them.

Really, really looking forward to this :)

Did I read correctly that you could also change male/female BMI for different shapes??

good to hear! :D I can add body models in of different shapes and sizes, it's been an interest of mine for quite a while to add in some diversity to the shapes and sizes of the characters, so i could add overweight or underweight models into the game. for a more "average" population. the same goes with female body shapes, they can be implemented for use as part of a military faction or as civilians.

Based on my experience at least with my Armenian family and friends (as well as a few Arabs and Persians I know at school and around town), people from that region can be pretty fair skinned (I'm Armenian and I'm pretty white: so is my family. I know a guy from Mosul with blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin.) But they can also be dark like that. Really, the whole region has more variety than one would think (the usual brown that's often depicted.)

yeah, there is quite a lot of variety in that area, the girl i know from bangladesh is quite dark skinned, if it wasn't for her atypical facial structure you would perhaps consider her as sub-saharan. but from google, persian women are really quite pale compared to their male compatriots (probably something to do with the burkhas)

[Laqueesha 474]

Looking very good! That one head looks a bit shiny, though. Amazing that one modder can do all this and a professional developer company can't. Keep up the good work! :)

[bad benson 1733]

wow she looks beautiful! and human. not like a puppet. congrats on that. one thing about the shininess. just tweaking the rvmat could help but, depending what set up you use, a more detailed smdi aka specular map can do wonders here. if you look at the arma 3 male heads closely you can see how they almost have pores. so the method would be something like less shine in the pores and other places that are less likely to have that natural oil/fat in them. when it comes to skin you can almost treat it like a heightmap you prepare to make a normal map from. high is more white (rendered as shiny) and low is more black (rendered as matte).

here's a (probably bad) example of the concept: http://docs.cryengine.com/download/attachments/15728681/humanskin_textures.jpg?version=1&modificationDate=1399026316000&api=v2

this will give you a huge leap in believability. same goes for having a destinct gloss on the eyes compared to the rest to really show the difference in surface/material.

just talking out my ass here. i hope you know what i mean. good luck. very promising.

[zeealex 2029]

BadBenson, you are my hero! thanks for that info! that concept helps so much! :D it's the damn specular maps that get me every time!

I'll give a Black/White Specular map a go, i've been using the diffuse inverse method (Unreal Engine habits) which doesn't give magnificent results and is probably the main cause of all the problems in the first place!

I'll check back shortly with the results, it's only the RVMAT files that need sorting now, a very crude version of the heads mod is ready to rock, if this works, a quick rework of the RVMAT files will take place then I'll be putting up that crude version for download.

thankfully i've managed to keep my config file neat enough for people to interpret.

[TheRed343 10]

So how is Lydia Cheung coming along so far? Can't wait for this mod! Love that there's more variation than just western/white women in this female mod. Will the heads be selectable in the profile editing options, or are they dependent on the unit that you choose?

[FrankManic 13]

Super psyched for this mod. Good luck moving forward!

[zeealex 2029]

So how is Lydia Cheung coming along so far? Can't wait for this mod! Love that there's more variation than just western/white women in this female mod. Will the heads be selectable in the profile editing options, or are they dependent on the unit that you choose?

they're selectable in the profile options :) units are to be made so people can easily access the female variations in the editor as well.

@FrankManic

thanks dude!

incase anyone here didn't see it:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?180099-FEMAL3-Alpha-1-Crude/page1

I haven't been working on it for a while due to PC hardware issues, but it looks like a long term problem so I'll work through it for the time being.