Military SciFi Projects Thread

[thedog88 4]

hey guys, im brand new in the modelling business and im planning on doing halo buildings (hoping to find a map maker that would make a halo map) anyways, here is my very first model ever created in 3dmax. a few touch ups on the textures and then ill bust my ass to port it into arma. the warthog is from a random source and just for size comparison. anyways, what do you guys think? oh and also my first texturing job :)

http://imageshack.us/a/img802/4930/testag.png (883 kB)

oh and i have a question to add to this, what are the dimensions for 3dmax for arma. i.e. i dont know how big this building will be in arma since it was all just random. if somebody has a soldier from arma that can be openend in 3dsmax that would be awesome, let me know. anyways, feedback please :D

[mach2infinity 12]

I’m not a big user of the sci-fi mods for the series, but I tend to download every mod I see available so have a very large collection of them from over the years.

Regards the Batmobile as we used to call it when I watched the original series, when it first came to British t.v 60’s (sorry I am that old:o), this model looks a lot better than that one did in the series. I of course had to take it for a drive around, when I first got the mod, and to be honest it was pretty good, being able to swap from normal drive to bike style, also the opening screen/roof, is really nice as well.

Oh yes it's a good effort and I really like the how he's modelled the Tumbler almost exactly as it is in the films. I guess I just want to be a bit ambitious and try my own model! I actually have this book:

Batmobile: The Complete History

Which has some decent images. I want this one too:

The Dark Knight Manual : Tools, Weapons, Vehicles and Documents from the Batcave

I'd love to do a desert camo as well as the 'shadow' skin and even see if it can have an ejection feature with the Batpod. Having 'The Bat' would also be awesome. In fact it would be great to have a mod much like GTA San Andreas's "Dark Knight mod" where you have Wayne Manor, the Batcave and Batman's toys to play with!

[nodunit 397]

hey guys, im brand new in the modelling business and im planning on doing halo buildings (hoping to find a map maker that would make a halo map) anyways, here is my very first model ever created in 3dmax. a few touch ups on the textures and then ill bust my ass to port it into arma. the warthog is from a random source and just for size comparison. anyways, what do you guys think? oh and also my first texturing job :)

http://imageshack.us/a/img802/4930/testag.png (883 kB)

oh and i have a question to add to this, what are the dimensions for 3dmax for arma. i.e. i dont know how big this building will be in arma since it was all just random. if somebody has a soldier from arma that can be openend in 3dsmax that would be awesome, let me know. anyways, feedback please :D

Hey that's actually quite good for a first timer, did you also unwrap and texture it yourself? If I may add a suggestion, the vent unit on the wall, the bottom of it doesn't need quite so many vertices.

[thedog88 4]

yeah i unwrapped an textured it, did a sloppy job i think, it was about 2 am when i finished up. but this model is just for me to understand the concept of modelling, next ill try to put this in game but i doubt it will be in the final pack. planning on making a building pack containing military unsc, covenant, and civilian buildings (with plazas, sidewalks, statues and what not). hoping to recreate part of the halo world and still hoping to team up with some people to make a full project :) anyways, thanks for the advice on the vent, next time ill do less :)

EDIT: oh and i figured the dimensions out, i ported a bis sample model into 3ds and matched the size of the building to a soldier.

Edited October 18, 2012 by Thedog88

[mach2infinity 12]

Great effort Thedog88 :)

I have 'great ambitions' of eventually having a multiverse for ArmA where various alien species battle it out on Earth, the Covenant would make for a very interesting addition!

Once you start working on a few addons, you should start your own "addons thread". :)

[thedog88 4]

yeah, since im brand new to all this i dont wanna rush a thread. like said, im hoping to get a team together and take it as far as even having a little developer website/teamspeak. i wanna base my project off of halo reach, considered calling the project "taking back reach" but its all still up for discussion. anyways, my first objective is to get something in game and understanding the process behind it, once i achieve that ill be happy for now. after that ill make (hopefully) a ton of buildings and objects that you would see on reach and hopefully get with a map maker to re-create a portion of reach. how hard will it be to port things to arma3 though, does anybody have any idea yet?

oh and thanks for the positive support, it always helps when people back you up on things :) i friggin love this community for that.

[don2k7 1]

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he was using reverse psychology, because it worked. ;)

And I'm working on the tail section, pouring through my Dropship references for a good view. The trouble is, even in the official models, there's ambiguity on whether it's a sharp incline or a smooth curve.

See what I mean below.

WARNING: Huge file sizes.

http://alienscollection.com/behindthescenes/aliens/dropship/Photo%2051%20of%20100_2.jpg

http://alienscollection.com/behindthescenes/aliens/dropship/bluescreen1.jpg

http://alienscollection.com/behindthescenes/aliens/dropship/bluescreen3.jpg

http://alienscollection.com/behindthescenes/aliens/dropship/burnsdropship24.jpg

http://alienscollection.com/behindthescenes/aliens/dropship/burnsdropship25.jpg

http://alienscollection.com/behindthescenes/aliens/dropship/dropshipmodelrear.jpg

I'm going for something more like these, even though it is a fan made model (A really high quality one too), because I think it looks the best and fits with the overall Dropship design. I try to use the full size set piece for reference as often as I can and the Toro model (below) matches closely what little I have seen (Or at least perceived) of the back end of the set piece.

http://www.modelermagic.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/TMS_DROPSHIP_003.jpg

http://www.modelermagic.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/TMS_DROPSHIP_006.jpg

http://www.modelermagic.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/TMS_DROPSHIP_002.jpg

that looks awesome be amazing to see it in game with the marines and that tank from alien rolling out the cargo door.

[icebreakr 3143]

Personally, a dropship, is the most anticipated unit in armaverse. :)

[pathetic_berserker 4]

oh and i have a question to add to this, what are the dimensions for 3dmax for arma. i.e. i dont know how big this building will be in arma since it was all just random. if somebody has a soldier from arma that can be openend in 3dsmax that would be awesome, let me know. anyways, feedback please :D

There may be a diffinitive answer for the 3dmax to O2 conversion but when you get into O2 each unit is a meter so its not too hard to fix any scaling issues there

[max power 21]

The soldiers are 1.8 meters tall IIRC. They are quite large (tall and quite broad shouldered). To set up the units in max, go to Customize\Units Setup

Working in meters is helpful for converting, but it makes the tools go a bit out of scale. When you want to extrude something, the default value is 10, so you're always working in giant steps. I think the finest the tools go down to by default is hundredths for the most part, so again, the finest grain you get from the spinners is 1 centimeter.

Edited October 19, 2012 by Max Power

[PuFu 4599]

Working in meters is helpful for converting, but it makes the tools go a bit out of scale. When you want to extrude something, the default value is 10, so you're always working in giant steps. I think the finest the tools go down to by default is hundredths for the most part, so again, the finest grain you get from the spinners is 1 centimeter.

That is because you need to set the system units in the same units or smaller ( Customize\Units Setup just as well). ;)

[thedog88 4]

im using the arma tools for max, it converts automatically right? (at least has the option). does anybody here have experience with it? would be nice to have a helping hand for a first timer :) anyways, im working on another model and am putting a bit more detail in the new one. used the above mentioned tools and it setup the whole folder for me. hope to get this model in game by sunday :(

[thedog88 4]

hey guys, little update on my little halo project. im getting better at modelling (i guess) and managed to create the covering wall structure that is seen in many of the halo games. so far untextured but ill get to that in a second. anyways here it is, above are the screenshots i used for reference, then left to right you see the model front and rear with a soldier posing for measurements. then theres a sideview shot of it and the last one is the one thats killing me. is it normal for such a simple model to have that many faces? if yes... holy texturing job... if no, how can i reduce them?

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/9711/conceptr.png (1014 kB)

in about 2 or 3 weeks im going to airborne school and then on christmas vacation followed by a move, so by then i want to get this in game, and then in january continue my project. just an fyi

[max power 21]

It isn't really customary to have such a model with so many faces, since you don't require all of those faces to define the flat surfaces. You would reduce it by taking away edge loops, but it might be easier to just make a model using that one as a bases and only putting in what you need. In 3d software apps you can usually snap the vertices of one model to another.

[thedog88 4]

thanks, its weird because when i started making this i had maybe around 100 vertices and now its just covered in them little basterds... ill figure it out somehow

EDIT: huge thanks to aplion, he got my building model working in game.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/43/arma2oa2012103007484679.png/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/688/arma2oa2012103007483496.png/

once i figure out how to get from nothing through 3ds max to in game ill be working on a halo world pack containing

city buildings, village buildings, unsc base buildings, covenant base buildings and a misc pack (roads, lamps, and anything minor that belongs to a city)

huge plan, hope i can get there. plan is to provide a map maker everything he needs to create a scifi (halo) world. help appreciated and wanted :)

Edited October 31, 2012 by Thedog88

[thedog88 4]

hey guys, another update. working on some textures for my "cover wall", the cover that is seen in many of the halo games used by the unsc to put something between themselves and the covenant. these are not final, i realized i had a face with 6 vertices so ill go back and fix that, then redo the textures but it will look very similar to this.

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/9843/waltextured.png (254 kB)

[J. Schmidt 10]

@Thedog88 Keep up the good work, I wish I was able to create good models and texture work like you do.

[max power 21]

That is because you need to set the system units in the same units or smaller ( Customize\Units Setup just as well). ;)

customize\units setup is how I change the units from max units to meters. The default roller unit is still 1 meter.

[don2k7 1]

Woa, really? :D Thanks! I might just take you up on that offer.

Edit:

By the way, is there a limit to the number of missile proxies that an aircraft can have? :p

Edit2:

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u125/booce/ArmA%20II/Aliens/UD-4L/th_Express_elevator_to_hell.png

just out of interest is there an update of the progress of this addon? looks amazing so far just wondered how it was going as would love to use this in game

[b00ce 160]

Here's an update after a few hours of work.

I'm quite happy how it turned out. This is the last you're going to hear from me in a while. Well maybe. I go back to AIT from leave tomorrow. I'll be able to work on the addons in my free time once I get my shiny new laptop, but I don't think I'll be able to access the BI forums due to filters. :butbut:

I know I can get on ArmAholic and Yurapetrov's Blackhawk blog for some reason...

Edit:

Played with the rvmats today. Found out that you can see your changes as you tweak them (No Alt+Tabbing) in buldozer, greatly improving workflow and quality. :D

Edited January 1, 2013 by b00ce

[goose4291 11]

Looks good. And just in time for Colonial Marines to be releasd as well!

[Leaulux 2]

Personally, I cannot wait for what the community will develop for ARMA 3. It looks like the game will be a lot more fluid and flexible for Custom Content. Using the Science Fiction mods is my favorite part of ARMA 2.

I don't think anyone is up for it but I would like to see this "Insect Pack" converted to ARMA 2 and the developer said "a few changes to the Config" and it worked fine in ARMA 2.

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=4150

I'd like to try to fix it but...is it hard to do this for someone that dosen't have any experience with configs/coding?

[chrisb 196]

Personally, I cannot wait for what the community will develop for ARMA 3. It looks like the game will be a lot more fluid and flexible for Custom Content. Using the Science Fiction mods is my favorite part of ARMA 2.

I don't think anyone is up for it but I would like to see this "Insect Pack" converted to ARMA 2 and the developer said "a few changes to the Config" and it worked fine in ARMA 2.

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=4150

I'd like to try to fix it but...is it hard to do this for someone that dosen't have any experience with configs/coding?

Have you looked at the 'Stargate' mod. There was or maybe still is a community for the mod, not sure. A set of nice island worlds (all in one map) and some decent other bits and pieces..

There's also 'Halo', various flying craft, batmobile, units, worlds, mech, well alsorts really. :)

A SciFi mission set on 'Klurs' island would be good as well, haunting place..

[don2k7 1]

i skinned these as part of an addon im slowly working on to go with the aliens marines and dropship (still wip)

think with the right map and some reworked building could create an arma version of hadley's hope, now that would be cool

[Leaulux 2]

Thanks bro, hope you make Addons/Reskins for ARMA 3 as well.