Burning Sands: Africa '42

[petrtlach 1375]

Nice Work. But

1)right MP cartridge box its bad. When? This its screen from hinder side. Fixture at belt - angle!!

2) Shoulder suspenders for infantry equipment(m1939) its in olive cotton, not black.

3) Tropicalwater bottle!! not M1931

*************************

And i have this atrworks - italien and german desert soldier.

PS:

Tobrúk protect too czechoslovakian and polish units (czechoslovakian units haven too in Tobrúk 105 mm artilery)..

[Deathstruck 375]

good point. As petrtlach said, czechs took a big part in a battle of Tobruk, are you planning them too ?

[MehMan 0]

looks pretty much awesome. However i would add more Wear and tear to all the textures including the clothes. Especially the leather gets very rough after some time. Moreover the normal maps could use some tweaking i could be wrong with that though  :P

Well the leather is gone now, so mneh! Well the wear and tear is still to do, more towards the finish though. The normal maps are the absolute final thing to do though, there's still more texture work on the soldier itself to do. The only normal map that there is is a quick hack job mixing the civi normal map and BIS soldier.

Quote[/b] ]1)right MP cartridge box its bad. When? This its screen from hinder side. Fixture at belt - angle!!

Thought I had enough of an angle, but seems I was  wrong. Fixed now.

Quote[/b] ]2) Shoulder suspenders for infantry equipment(m1939) its in olive cotton, not black.

Fixed.

Quote[/b] ]3) Tropicalwater bottle!! not M1931

Fixed as much as I could.

Thanks for the pictures though, first time I saw the back part of the tropical boots.

No italians though.

Quote[/b] ]Tobrúk protect too czechoslovakian and polish units (czechoslovakian units haven too in Tobrúk 105 mm artilery)..

Quote[/b] ]good point. As petrtlach said, czechs took a big part in a battle of Tobruk, are you planning them too ?

Nope, not yet. I'm not doing Tobruk. I'm doing fictional for now. I don't have enough time, energy or will to do the whole of Tobruk. There were also Yugoslavians at Tobruk, probably under the Czechoslovakians, so if I were ever to do Tobruk I'd make the Czechoslovakians too. IIRC they didn't defer much from the normal troops, they still wore the same uniform and webbing.

[Fab. 0]

So far so good, but I would also change the rest of the gear to tropical gear, and add a second canteen as this was commonplace in the desert.

you might also want to double check the size of some of your equipment, a lot of it looks too small at the moment, particularly the gazmask canister, mp40 pouches and breadbag.

I would also replace the scarf by an unbutonned shirt, and make the opened colar of the tunic open with a sharp V rather than U if you get what i mean

this website is pretty useful since they also provide the size of the items they sell, so that should help you sort it all out properly.

there's also something bugging me about the shoulders, they dont look very natural at the moment, but then maybe its just an Arma thing. Same as the fish-frog eyes of the Arma faces : a well proportionned human adult face should have about one eye distance between both eyes, in BIS ArmA faces they seem too far apart. i reckon since they're in 3d you would be able to bring them closer together without having to remap the whole head or modify the textures... would make them look a lot more human

keep up the good work,

Fab

[DaKa 0]

Very nice job man, keep up the good work, can't wait too see this in MP

[MehMan 0]

Quote[/b] ]So far so good, but I would also change the rest of the gear to tropical gear, and add a second canteen as this was commonplace in the desert.

Done.

Quote[/b] ]you might also want to double check the size of some of your equipment, a lot of it looks too small at the moment, particularly the gazmask canister, mp40 pouches and breadbag.

All bigger now, about right now I think. The Mp40 pouches should be fine now, just a bit higher I think.

Quote[/b] ]I would also replace the scarf by an unbutonned shirt, and make the opened colar of the tunic open with a sharp V rather than U if you get what i mean

Did a bit of sharpening, it's a bit hard to make it sharper and not distort the UV too much. I like the scarf better :P. Even rommel had one. But a shirt might be cool too, depends how it'll look.

Quote[/b] ]there's also something bugging me about the shoulders, they dont look very natural at the moment, but then maybe its just an Arma thing. Same as the fish-frog eyes of the Arma faces : a well proportionned human adult face should have about one eye distance between both eyes, in BIS ArmA faces they seem too far apart. i reckon since they're in 3d you would be able to bring them closer together without having to remap the whole head or modify the textures... would make them look a lot more human

They're about an eye apart, only a tad bit more. The problem is the way I make the renders and probably which texture I use. I use the default one, which doesn't really fit if you ask me cause the face shape just doesn't fit with the texture.

Well I finally had some more time after a month and here's an update. The gear should be near final now. I hope. Only a bit of resizing and tiny movements around.

[hoot 0]

The pictures look very promising, but are there additional plans to apply some mapping like normalmapping? When looking at the pictures, the textures are quite good, but they feel somehow flat, like those from good-old CoD/BF1942.

Btw. The counterpart for Kraut is Tommy - just for clarification

[Col. Faulkner 0]

Quote[/b] ]2) Shoulder suspenders for infantry equipment(m1939) its in olive cotton, not black.

Only in tropical issue (or generally from 1943 onwards).

Quote[/b] ]3) Tropicalwater bottle!! not M1931

You can have them in continental equipment too; it doesn't

all absolutely have to be tropical. Not all troops in-theatre

were issued tropical kit (some had been transferred hurriedly

without time to reequip) and, from 1942, very little of it was

issued anyway. Mixed tropical and continental kit was very

normal. This was why I suggested that you could have them

in M1939 leather belt supports painted sand-colour.

Quote[/b] ]

Thanks for the pictures though, first time I saw the back part of the tropical boots.

What!? I posted that very same picture of the Afrika Korps

guy for you months ago when I suggested you do some

tropical boots!

Are you doing a man in longer trousers too?

Quote[/b] ]The counterpart for Kraut is Tommy

"Kraut" was more an American word. The British at this time

preferred "Jerry", "The Hun", "The Bosche" or "Fritz". Older

soldiers who had served in WW1 still even called

them "Freddy".

[Sennacherib 0]

really nice since i have bought again Arma, can't wait to play this era which is my favourite during ww2 .

keep it up.

[BraTTy 0]

Mehman .... Your stuff is professional quality. If you aren't you must do that for a living.

[hoot 0]

Quote[/b] ]The counterpart for Kraut is Tommy

"Kraut" was more an American word. The British at this time

preferred "Jerry", "The Hun", "The Bosche" or "Fritz". Older

soldiers who had served in WW1 still even called

them "Freddy".

Okay that's true, although my book says Germans were also called 'Krauts' by Brits.

However, the label 'Tommy' comes from a little handbook for british soldiers from the year 1837 in which the fictitious soldiers Thomas Atkins explains the army thingy to the grunts. That's the counterpart to our Max Mustermann. 'Limey' on the other hand has its origin in the fact, that scurvy was the most dangerous disease for such a great nation on the seas like this colonial empire and its men. To prevent shortage of vitamin c, lemon juice was served from 1795 on. And now starts the funny part: the synonym 'Kraut' would als fit to the Brits, because the well known James Cook found another option (1773) to prevent scurvy and others and handed out sauerkraut. Because it is well known for carrying lots of vitamin c and nutrients. If Cook's sauerkraut would have come out on top instead of the lemon juice, the Brits would be called 'Kraut' today.

By the way, to say Huns to Germans is pretty dumb as well as Teutons. The Huns came from the far east moving to France and the Balkans during the Voelkerwanderung. The Teutons were tribes that moved from Denmark, the nordic regions of Europa, to the southeast when they faced some horrible floodings in their homelands. They crossed germanic tribal homelands but continued moving to the areas between the Donau and Save (near Vukovar), what is called the Balkans nowadays. Ordo Teutonicus (The German Knight's Order) is an amalgamation that wrongly implies that Teutons are Germans, the Romans are to blame for it *lol*.

To conclude here: I don't give a hoot in hell for how they called each other, it is and was just used for defamation - for propaganda reasons. I just wanted to point out, that of course (self-)irony should be a bilateral thing, even when creating filenames

[Warrior Xâ„¢ 0]

Looking better and better every time! Keep up the awesome work MehMan!

[sander 14]

The screens look excellent.

One of the fads in the DAK was to bleach the peaked field caps in order to look like an old hand (cf allied pilots applying a "50 mission crush" to their head gear), so a slightly lighter colour for the cap compared to the tunic and trousers might be an option.

Regards,

Sander

[Col. Faulkner 0]

...However, the label 'Tommy' comes from a little handbook for british soldiers from the year 1837 in which the fictitious soldiers Thomas Atkins explains the army thingy to the grunts. That's the counterpart to our Max Mustermann. 'Limey' ...

The information was offered for historical interest, and it was

you who raised the issue in the first place.

The actual origin of "Tommy Atkins" is disputed. Your 1837

"soldiers aide memoire" etymology is rather dubious since

the term was already known in the mid 18th century. I have

heard of several explanations. I'm sure if I typed it into

"google" I'd find several more.

As to "huns", the logic of nicknames does not have to be

consistent or clever. My grandfathers always called the

Germans "Dutchmen", for example, try to work out the logic

of that one. Anyway, the nickname "hun" was used in the

general sense of a destructive and pugnacious barbarian, as

a vernacular term it was not coined by an anthropologist.

I know all about James Cook F.R.S, thanks, I own and have

read every biography of him ever written.

Back on topic: Mehman, the booklet I was referring to was

the book in the Osprey series about WW2 German equipment.

It doesn't look much as if you really need it now, though.

[sander 14]

The logic for confusing German and Dutch is actually simple. The German word Deutsch (adjective, means German) sounds very similar to English Dutch.

Regards,

Sander

[Col. Faulkner 0]

The logic for confusing German and Dutch is actually simple. The German word Deutsch (adjective, means German) sounds very similar to English Dutch.

Yes. My grandpas also called Dutchmen "Hollanders", so they

did recognise a distinction. So Germans were Dutchmen but

Dutchmen were Hollanders.    

I think you are largely correct, though, since I believe

that "Deutsch", "Dutch" (and variants) was a much older (ie

Tudor or Elizabethan) generic term for anyone living in what

used to be "Germania" (for want of a more concise

description). Fascinating though this all is, I don't want to

drag Mehman's "Desert War Addons" thread any more off-

topic than I have already.

[MehMan 0]

The pictures look very promising, but are there additional plans to apply some mapping like normalmapping? When looking at the pictures, the textures are quite good, but they feel somehow flat, like those from good-old CoD/BF1942.

Btw. The counterpart for Kraut is Tommy - just for clarification

Normal maps are applied, though not apparent, it's due to the render lighting conditions, I used a skylight which renders 360° light so normal maps don't appear.

But normal maps are the last thing I'm going to edit, the textures near to be near final and only then will I edit the normal maps.

Quote[/b] ]You can have them in continental equipment too; it doesn't

all absolutely have to be tropical. Not all troops in-theatre

were issued tropical kit (some had been transferred hurriedly

without time to reequip) and, from 1942, very little of it was

issued anyway. Mixed tropical and continental kit was very

normal. This was why I suggested that you could have them

in M1939 leather belt supports painted sand-colour.

Both are great. Or I could make it so that the squad leaders have the tropical straps while lower ranks have painted leather.

Quote[/b] ]What!? I posted that very same picture of the Afrika Korps

guy for you months ago when I suggested you do some

tropical boots!

Are you doing a man in longer trousers too?

Must've missed it, sorry.

Longer trousers? Perhaps later, it'd be a quick switch actually, fully doable quickly.

Quote[/b] ]really nice since i have bought again Arma, can't wait to play this era which is my favourite during ww2 .

keep it up.

Thank you for the support.

Quote[/b] ]Mehman .... Your stuff is professional quality. If you aren't you must do that for a living.

Hehe, while very flattering, I'm far from professional quality. I only wish I could achieve that level.

Quote[/b] ]Looking better and better every time! Keep up the awesome work MehMan!

Thank you.

Quote[/b] ]One of the fads in the DAK was to bleach the peaked field caps in order to look like an old hand (cf allied pilots applying a "50 mission crush" to their head gear), so a slightly lighter colour for the cap compared to the tunic and trousers might be an option.

Ah yes, the hat colour will be finalized when I finalize the tunic colour so it fits.

Quote[/b] ]Mehman, the booklet I was referring to was

the book in the Osprey series about WW2 German equipment.

It doesn't look much as if you really need it now, though.

I...acquired it...

Regarding the naming issue:

I was wondering when somebody'd notice my pun . Next up: sausageeater.jpg

[Col. Faulkner 0]

I...acquired it...  

Regarding the naming issue:

I was wondering when somebody'd notice my pun   . Next up: sausageeater.jpg

That makes me spit. Nearly 20 years of collecting - hundreds

of the Osprey books - and now people can just "acquire"

them.  

Anyway...

You'd be better calling them "pastanosher.jpg" since DAK

had to eat Italian rations most of the time.  

Long trousers would be nice. Those tropical boots weren't

exactly popular (the long laces were a pain in den Arsch)

and I think they look gay too.  

How did you make your normal maps? I ain't got a clue how

to do that for my soldiers  

[MehMan 0]

That makes me spit. Nearly 20 years of collecting - hundreds

of the Osprey books - and now people can just "acquire"

them.  

Anyway...

You'd be better calling them "pastanosher.jpg" since DAK

had to eat Italian rations most of the time.  

Long trousers would be nice. Those tropical boots weren't

exactly popular (the long laces were a pain in den Arsch)

and I think they look gay too.  

How did you make your normal maps? I ain't got a clue how

to do that for my soldiers  

Yes yes, I know, I deserve a beating for what I did, it's wrong.

Yeah, the tropical boots really do look like some fetish boots. All they're missing is a whip and somebody in a gimp suit.

Might make that later on.

Normal maps? Well, you need photoshop and the cloning brush, copy paste it around, nv normal map filter and just screwing around with it until you get the desired effect.

[Col. Faulkner 0]

Yes yes, I know, I deserve a beating for what I did, it's wrong.

*smack* *thud* *kapow* now let that be a lesson to you!

Yeah, the tropical boots really do look like some fetish boots. All they're missing is a whip and somebody in a gimp suit.

Might make that later on.

If you read Spike Milligan's memoirs of his participation in the

N. African and Italian campaigns you'll be surprised how close

to reality you are there.

Normal maps? Well, you need photoshop and the cloning brush, copy paste it around, nv normal map filter and just screwing around with it until you get the desired effect.

Copy/paste what around?

[MehMan 0]

Yes yes, I know, I deserve a beating for what I did, it's wrong.

*smack* *thud* *kapow* now let that be a lesson to you!

Yeah, the tropical boots really do look like some fetish boots. All they're missing is a whip and somebody in a gimp suit.

Might make that later on.

If you read Spike Milligan's memoirs of his participation in the

N. African and Italian campaigns you'll be surprised how close

to reality you are there.

Normal maps? Well, you need photoshop and the cloning brush, copy paste it around, nv normal map filter and just screwing around with it until you get the desired effect.

Copy/paste what around?

So Gruber was based on a real person?

Copy paste parts of the normal map around and then blend them in correctly using brushes so that they fit in and you've just added an extra crease. Plus, after you finish the texture any new bumps and holes need to be normal mapped and added to the big normal map.

[Col. Faulkner 0]

So Gruber was based on a real person?

Apparently a few of those German boys got very

bored out in the desert.

Copy paste parts of the normal map around and then blend them in correctly using brushes so that they fit in and you've just added an extra crease. Plus, after you finish the texture any new bumps and holes need to be normal mapped and added to the big normal map.

*"Col. Faulkner" hits the deck as that explanation

whizzes over his head with a supersonic crack...*

[MehMan 0]

*"Col. Faulkner" hits the deck as that explanation

whizzes over his head with a supersonic crack...*

Oh, no no, I make it sound like I'm doing it wrong and it's actually pretty easy, but rather tedious.

[Col. Faulkner 0]

*"Col. Faulkner" hits the deck as that explanation

whizzes over his head with a supersonic crack...*

Oh, no no, I make it sound like I'm doing it wrong and it's actually pretty easy, but rather tedious.

Cutting and pasting the BIS normal maps I understand,

but how do you normal map "any new bumps and holes"?

Do you have high-poly versions of the soldier figures?

[jojimbo 0]

MehMan have you tried crazybump? nv filter doesn't really help with real good normal maps on its own,i first put my texture into crazybump as it has lots more in program editing possibilities and it is free:

http://www.crazybump.com/

you can get really good soft large normals for the main uniform bump,or even take a fine copy,i just use the big normals then use the nv normal map filter to create the fine details.

crazybump save all,normal,specular,displacement etc as .tga and the latter can be used for.as or .smdi base.