US 75th Rangers

[Hvymtal 1251]

/Puts on Chad voice

OH, LOOK AT THESE GUYS DOING INTERNET MODELING STUFF. WHAT A BUNCH OF DORKS AMIRITE CHET?

/Puts on Chet voice

YEAH, WHAT A BUNCH OF LOSERS. HEY LOSERS, WHY DON'T YOU GO PLAY YOUR VIDEO GAMES!?!?!?

/Puts on GI voice

Holy shit that AVS looks awesome, what computer thing is this again?

(Chad and Chet quietly walk out of the room)

[Siege-A 4054]

Okay, now that I have a little more time, I'll go over some of the details on the AVS. The base texture/UV mapping is done, for now, and I'll admit I got a little sloppy at the end doing the harness, only because I was so eager to get it done I was kinda rushing through things. So even though it may look great, the UV map is a mess and definitely will require some fine tuning afterwards. Same goes for the textures themselves, mostly the textures that have been placed on have been for referencing for UV placement. Some of the textures are final, just needing dirt/worn overlays, but many will be edited further to achieve the quality that I'm looking for. This is especially visible with things like the brightness/saturation of the straps/velcro/other misc smaller parts. So plenty of things that still need editing and fixing, but now that the base texture is complete, will speed up the process with getting the rest done as well as the other color variants. Which means we are on track for an alpha release of the AVS. Probably shouldn't be saying this, but I had planned on having it ready this last weekend which didn't quite work out. I'll be using the rest of this week to try and get things situated with it, and no promises, but shooting for this coming weekend for the first release.

 

Which leads me to another thing I wanted to make clear to everyone. One thing about Sahio pumping these models out, is it kinda gives the impression that things are almost done and ready for release soon, which is pretty far from the truth. Much of this stuff will take time to get 100% complete, and I don't want anyone getting their hopes up only to find out they may have a wait ahead, but one things sure...once it is complete, will be one hell of a gear/units pack. 

 

And finally, I wanted to mention how we will be handling the new models. As I mentioned before, once a base version of an item is complete, it will go into an alpha release for public preview. We will be attaching a version number to the models themselves, allowing us to easily keep track of changes made/needing to be made. So all first releases for any models will be considered alpha until the final version is released (v1.0). During this alpha phase, many changes will be made to the UV's, textures, RV's, and possibly to the models themselves, so not to be taken as final product for anyone looking to do retextures or modifications. With this first gear pack release, I am hoping to include alpha versions of the AVS, Safariland holster, Wrist Map, Throat Mic, and possibly a few other misc items such as shades, gps, etc. Some models may include alternate color/camo variants with their alpha, and some won't until final release. I wanted to do it this way so that the community will get to preview much of this as its being made, without waiting until the very end. 

 

5 hours ago, road runner said:

Pretty shit looking to be honest!!  

 

I see what you did there, nice one, lol. When I first saw the comment on the home page and could only see the first part, I was like really? Is it that bad? Thought it looked pretty good myself, lol. 

[Eduardo Argimon 104]

I didn't had the swatch, but downloaded a print Siege sent me of the swatch he used for the velcro and molle on the AVS, I think that  just one person should do one swatch, for example he created a Mcam one that looks awesome, if I went ahead and created other, I might make it look similar but would always be different, so Once someone create a good swatch, we will stick with that one.

just tested it on the LBT 6094 and is good to use.

Spoiler

 

[Eduardo Argimon 104]

On 19/03/2018 at 9:46 AM, wsxcgy said:

oh dang, they fit cunico's G3, nice. on the topic of battle belts, imo I feel like a lot of people overdo it and have these super overloaded plate carriers and belts, like in Project Zenith or Military Gear Pack, and its kinda silly. if the vest has a good amount of real estate, it might not really need a belt, and just because theres open molle slots doesn't mean they need to be covered. KISS principle. 

The logic behind the usage of battlebelt is that you can comfortably carry a part of the weight around your waist, and distribute it in a way that the risk of damaging your spine and vertebrae is smaller.

For example, I used to carry only 3 rifle mags on my carrier, one IFAK, radio and 2 grenade pouches.

On my battlebelt I carried a dump pouch, 2 pistol mags and 2 extra rifle mag in my side, this way I kept a low profile, allowing me to Hug the ground more when going prone.

About fitting a ton of gear looking silly, well yeah... But not all operations are "Fast" Raids, there are a lot of LRRP and other Long duration ops where guys would carry shit ton of gear.

Just depends on the situation

[Eduardo Argimon 104]

On 17/03/2018 at 9:42 AM, road runner said:

Just a little constructive criticism, I'd thin the front and rear panels on some of these new vests, SAPI plates are not that thick, mine are less than 1.5cm in thickness, and were standard issue to US Mil back in the day.

Other than that, I still maintain these are the best looking vests created for Arma 3 to date, hands down.

Also, are you guys going to make the LBT 9022 IFAK that seems more common worn on waist belts these days??

There are things to be done, in the plate carriers relm the one that comes the closest to the Medium Size plates is the AVS, all the other ones are ranging from Large to extra large, Sahio is doing his best, we will try to get all of them in the same size (Height, width, thickness)

In relation to the Medium size plate because seems to fit better in the A3 character body type and size

 

PS: And by plate carrier I mean the plate carrier so, armor carrier size is different from a plate carrier.

Usually is 2 inches taller than the plate carrier in the same size.

Eg: Medium armor carrier is 2 inches taller than a medium plate carrier, due to the fact of the body armor being taller, is also wider too.

But that also depends on the model of soft body armor being used

[Siege-A 4054]

And now for an early look at the Rangers new AVS:

[road runner 4344]

I just came in my pants !!

[direone 3697]

2 hours ago, Siege-A said:

And now for an early look at the Rangers new AVS:

 

Totally awesome buddy! :D 

[Bitesrad 481]

You guys are machines with this output. Very impressive. However, the textures seem very dark. Even with those brightness edited screens showing the goods off in game, it's still hard to make out details. Any chance you'll adjust the texture brightness in the future? It's one of the reasons I found the original pack a bit off putting. The texture and model quality was fine, but they just stood out like sore thumbs ingame due to being too dark.

[wsxcgy 1960]

yeah, I've always felt their multicam on the uniforms and headgear was way too dark and desaturated. I generally use the look of the Multicam done by Sabre for RHS and Spec4Gear as a sort of reference for how I should have my multicam looking.

[Siege-A 4054]

5 hours ago, Bitesrad said:

However, the textures seem very dark. Even with those brightness edited screens showing the goods off in game, it's still hard to make out details. Any chance you'll adjust the texture brightness in the future? It's one of the reasons I found the original pack a bit off putting. The texture and model quality was fine, but they just stood out like sore thumbs ingame due to being too dark.

 

25 minutes ago, wsxcgy said:

yeah, I've always felt their multicam on the uniforms and headgear was way too dark and desaturated. I generally use the look of the Multicam done by Sabre for RHS and Spec4Gear as a sort of reference for how I should have my multicam looking.

 

I'll see what I can do, afterall, this was only the base texture whipped together for UV placement. I tried not to spend a ton of time putting it together in the beginning because I knew I would be editing it afterwards. And no offense to anyone, but if I look at 100 different photos of mcam, almost every one of them is a different shade/hue/saturation from the others (then throw in the fact that there's different generations of mcam to make things even more complicated). Even Sabre's MCAM doesn't match perfectly to every photo out there. So where does this end? This draws us back into the endless battle of adjusting lightness/saturation settings trying to find that perfect match that everyone is satisfied with. Then hope that no one has different video/montior settings than mine, otherwise they will still say it needs changing. What looks good to one person, doesn't look good to others....yada yada yada. Arma's lighting can be a bitch to work with, since it oversaturates and brightens everything, so we do what we can to desaturate the colors and make them not pop out ingame, but this can also lead to it becoming too dark. I do agree, Sabre has the best textures around, but I'm not him and I can't hope to perfectly match his colors/hues (The guys a texture god). Add the fact that he possibly uses overlays for dirt/wear/desaturation/etc, makes it even harder. I know in a perfect world, all mods would have matching patterns between them, but unfortunately thats not the case, and we either try to make it match as closely as possible, or we do our own design with it...or beg Sabre to come do our textures. Add the fact that I also use ReShade in A3, so that already throws off what I see compared to others that don't use it (which also makes RHS stuff look overly saturated for me). I agree with both of you, that our textures are a bit darker than the standard patterns that are seen around the community, but I really don't feel like it kills the details or makes them stand out (I was able to see the details of the vest quite well ingame, even from a distance)...unless you're standing them next to RHS units or something like that. Almost feels like we're going back to the whole 'Ranger Green' scenario (Which stressed Hawaiian out enough to call for a break). Please don't take this as me bashing either of you for your comments, just trying to get an understanding of what needs to be done and the challenges that we're facing. I will make some changes to the patterns and see what we can do to make them more appealing, but I don't plan to spend too much time on it as I have sooo many things to do. Right now I'm more focused on getting these assets done and working ingame, then we can always come back afterwards and make tweaks to them. I guess in the end if people don't like the way things look, retextures are permitted. 

 

BTW, the pics I posted weren't photo edited in any way, apart from the border around the pics. Used the built in camera to snap the pics and I'm sure ReShade has much to do with the lighting that is seen there.  Colors/brightness settings have always been an issue with any mod out there, and it can be very hard to find that perfect balance, but we'll definitely do our best to make it right.

[Eduardo Argimon 104]

3 hours ago, wsxcgy said:

yeah, I've always felt their multicam on the uniforms and headgear was way too dark and desaturated. I generally use the look of the Multicam done by Sabre for RHS and Spec4Gear as a sort of reference for how I should have my multicam looking.

The Multicam from Crye Precision usually is a little darker, but that also depends on the batch that was produced, the authors in the mod only replicated what they see in photos, Crye has a partner in Brazil, and I have their gear, the multicam is spot on, But in the mod there is also a multicam that is more lighter and more tan, this will depend pretty much on the batch, and manufacturer.

But thanks for the reply guys

[Siege-A 4054]

Currently getting our mag panel fit onto the AVS, see if I can possibly have that ready in time for the alpha. The magazines in it currently are just placeholders, gonna swap them out with the pmags before its done. We'll also have the triple M4 pouch flap as well, to add a little more variation. And going back to the talks about the darkness of the mcam, I'll do a test run on this front panel and play with the colors a bit to see what can be done. If all goes well and it looks good, we can carry that over. I just know if we alter it too much, it won't go well with the current Ranger uniform textures. Which I have no intention at all of messing about with Will's retextures, that opens up a whole new can of worms. But since we will have new uniform models along the line, if we're able to come up with something that everyone agrees with, then that could be done on those as well. 

 

[Hvymtal 1251]

Just be careful not to do the camouflage too light; they may be quite pretty but overly bright uniforms are a tactical handicap, especially in Arma where lighting and shadows may not be consistent. Function always comes before form, and it's better to have camouflage that works than camouflage that looks pretty. ISN'T THAT RIGHT US AIR FORCE?!?!?!?

[road runner 4344]

Mate, do what YOU guys feel is right, seen this debate a million times with AOR1 and AOR2, if you're using Will's MC as a base, then keep it as close as you can to that, as it's almost a forgone conclusion that people will edit the textures to their personal satisfaction anyway.

[road runner 4344]

1 minute ago, Hvymtal said:

Just be careful not to do the camouflage too light; they may be quite pretty but overly bright uniforms are a tactical handicap, especially in Arma where lighting and shadows may not be consistent

and never use the Virtual arsenal to base your camo's off either, use Malden with no sunlight ( that was my personal preference due to limited artificial light sources)

[Siege-A 4054]

7 minutes ago, road runner said:

and never use the Virtual arsenal to base your camo's off either, use Malden with no sunlight ( that was my personal preference due to limited artificial light sources)

 

Absolutely, the VA is not the place for judging lighting adjustments, much different than the lighting on the maps. You're spot on though, those pics were taken on Malden, even though some sunlight was present, I tried to keep it so it wasn't glaring right on them. 

 

13 minutes ago, Hvymtal said:

Just be careful not to do the camouflage too light; they may be quite pretty but overly bright uniforms are a tactical handicap, especially in Arma where lighting and shadows may not be consistent.

 

And I can most definitely agree with that statement, I'd prefer a texture thats too dark over one thats too bright anyday. Reminds me of all the retextures we've seen that weren't desaturated properly, making them visible from a distance and not blending well even in shaded areas.

 

Non-Ranger related:

Spoiler

Added an insignia area on the back plate, should be useful for certain applications:

 

[Siege-A 4054]

Alright, it's the weekend and I'm working on getting everything sorted for the gear pack alpha release. As said before, this release will be very limited, so don't expect anything major. Mainly just meant to give a preview of things coming. 

 

Also, wanted to show some WIP pics of the item Sahio is currently working on. Figured I would give everyone an inside look to the modelling side of things, and may do this a bit more for other items as well. This asset is one that was somewhat requested, and thought it was a great item to be added (and one we overlooked). Even though this will also be included for the Ranger pack, I decided to keep the pics hidden to keep from flooding the page. I'll be editing this post with new pics as Sahio gets further along with it. So we would like to present to you, the M50 Gas Mask:

 

Spoiler

 

[Foxone 1044]

Outstanding work!

[Hvymtal 1251]

Heeeey, a gas mask that interfaces with a helmet properly 

[GRISHA_228 112]

Well, what can I say, now it's my favorite mod

[Siege-A 4054]

Haven't had much time to work on the mag panel for the AVS, but I did get some of it put together and adjusted the multicam colors for a quick test. There are 2 rows of the front panel that have varied alterations to the colors, they should be pretty noticeable. One row showing a lighter 'brown' multicam pattern, and the other showing the 'green' pattern. In O2 they both look equally great....but ingame, I feel they are still too saturated and probably the worst effect is the difference compared to the current uniforms. Anyhow, just a test, can always adjust things down the road. 

 

[Siege-A 4054]

M50 Gas Mask

Spoiler

 

[GAF Toby S. 7]

Can't wait for a new update for this mod! Those textures look amazing

[Siege-A 4054]

Sorry guys, didn't manage to get that alpha release done yet, wasn't quite ready yet so I pushed it back just a bit. Don't wanna get too hasty and make a sloppy release, so just making sure the end product is up to par with what I'd like as a standard for the whole pack.

 

Also, even though I'm slacking a bit, Sahio still hasn't missed a beat. So here's a quick look at some of his newest additions:

 

Eagle Industries Land Combat Integrated Releasable Armor System (CIRAS-L)

Eagle Industries Modular Body Armor Vest (MBAV)