meshcarver

Hi guys, Thank you both for your advice..! Yes, I'll absolutely pre-plan the islands layout then, to minimise hassle and will place down the huge wall beforehand- good advice, thank you. As far as Ai goes, to a large extent, it's out of my hands. For what I'm planning I really don't see the AI being able to fluidly walk from wall section to wall section, although they MAY handle one section well..? We'll see... Yes, I'm planning a fair few variation pieces, some thicker than others and even "catchment" areas built into the wall, as well as things like stairways, gantry, corridors etc. It'll all add to the variety. But to clarify- if I place a section of wall down with its base at 5 meters and the terrain at 5 meters it will be flush to the ground. But, if I move the terrain around it up by 2 meters say, then I'll lose 2 meters off the visible bottom of the wall yes-it'll retain it's "own" elevation, regardless of the terrain around it?

Hi CP, Thanks for your feedback! With terrain slope, I'm hoping to counter that by smoothing out the terrain once I've placed the wall objects- this is possible right? Even if the terrain undulates between 1-3 meters along say a 100 meter stretch of ground, surely it's easily possible when placing the wall objects to all be at a certain elevation- thereby ensuring accurate height placement for walking..? In effect, "pushing" them into the ground a few meters so long as the vertical aspects of the wall match up?

Hi all, Just ordered this a few weeks ago, expecting it any day now..! :) http://shop.ehobbyasia.com/gandp-viper-airsoft-aeg.html I'm relatively new to airsoft, but always wanted to get into it more seriously...

Hi Atsche, Ahhh yes, I get you mate thanks. Indeed, the way you can make Geolods really basic is great. It's even better now as things like ragdoll/handthrown collisions will be handled with a separate Physx Lod, so it's now possible to make the Geolod even more blocky and basic! Cheers man!

@MistyRonin- Cheers man..! Aye, I'm really trying as much as possible to push the forms to create something more or less opposite to Altis. These structures are just being slightly exaggerated by me so it already looks as different as possible, but once I start to do more Stalker "modified" structures and Anomaly warped assets, it's really going to look a lot different from Altis hopefully, a bit more "other worldly" is what I'm after, just enough to unhinge the atmosphere... Also, if you go back a few posts, there's some ingame shots of the House 05 mate. @Atsche- Hi matey, Thanks for the comments, but could I ask you to please elaborate when you mention "save/use selections/components only" etc? Do you mean overall, keep things simple like doors/ladders/lights etc? Or the poly construction of them? For an example, that Metal Warehouse 01 I've just posted has 10,500 trus in it or 6,500 verts in it. Is that ok? Bearing n mind it's a pretty big structure... Also, with "using resources" do you mean the standard ARMA3 ones please? Thanks again Atsche, Marc

Hi all, sorry it's been awhile, but this one is quite large and extensive. Add to that the way I'm building all these structures is sort of modular in so far as it'll allow me to easily chop and change for those ever important variations so it all adds up to the process length. I've really tried to keep this as generic as possible looking, as I'm going to be using it (And various layouts of it) a lot across NOVA ZONA- some will have one floor, other will be really low with a slightly raised roof section etc to add variety. Again, I'm trying to get across a really strong form with these building- the silhouette is mostly key to do that and with this one I wanted it to almost read as a "church" or place of worship with its outline (Like NOVA ZONA's God was "Industry" or something equally as cheesey lol...) , hence the really tall peak to it which is staggered up by three floors. Entrance is gained through a small wooden door at the front, or through two large double doors at the back for vehicle access when it was functioning. The first two floors are accessible by creaky wooden stairs, and the third floor is only reached by a rusty ladder up to a precarious wooden platform where you can snipe and scope to your hearts content. http://www.flickr.com/photos/86890612@N02/10619815563/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/86890612@N02/10619540675/ The round green units inside are meant to be in the same aesthetic as the Stalker games, so I've tried to keep them functional looking but slightly otherworldly at the same time- like something you wouldn't really see in the real world. So you're not entirely sure what they were... The whole building is meant to be a sort of "Fermenting House" for some sort of grain or crop (Or is it..?), and that is the translation on the front too- unless one of our resident Ukrainian speakers here would like to correct me please..! ;) That's the main difficulty with doing this island- I want to try to cover all the bases like Laboratories/Factories/Admin/Houses/Stalker made Structures etc, but in doing so will have to create "average" approximations of each class- I can't get too specific otherwise the pattern will be too recognisable each time you see the same building. I think this is a problem for Island dev in general, just part of the challenge..! You have to be really selective about what you choose to put in. Things like populating the buildings with smaller objects will come later and will hopefully break up the repetition... fingers crossed..! Here's two interior shots too: http://www.flickr.com/photos/86890612@N02/10619585496/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/86890612@N02/10619589156/ Anyway guys, thanks for reading this and also thanks for the PMs I get too- it's really kind and helps keep me going with this..! Also, if there's anyone in the know or a BI Dev who is checking this out, could you PLEASE let me know if you see any potential for problems with these structures I'm making, as I'm trying to keep each to under the magic (50 meter) size, but I'm more concerned about things like how many polys/verts etc for each kind of LOD. Is there a guide for that yet please? I don't want to go over it with all these detailed planks of wood and holes in the walls etc...

@OP- I'm working on a new island, but it's gonna be some time away man. It's based on the STALKER aesthetic/atmosphere: http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?142308-Large-S-T-A-L-K-E-R-inspired-Island Anyway, it may be of some interest, or may not...

Aye mate, I wasn't being funny about it, I just thought to stick my oar in as it were! ;) Btw, love your Star Trek mod..!

You could still use the MUILTIMAT couldn't you, so to have 4 textures but one Section..? That's what I thought with what Mondkalb says in his Multimat Tutorial, that's the point of MultiMats? http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Mondkalb%27s_MultiMaterial_Tutorial It's basically how I'm doing all my structures/buildings for NOVA ZONA, using the MultiMat with 4 texture sheets each on average.

Hi Grimwald, Hey, thanks for the shoutout mate..! ;) I've left a comment on your Youtube play through, so am really looking forwards to the next instalment of DAPs STALKER mod..! Keep it up DAP and good luck with the next update!

"It's getting dark in my YT playthrough and it'd be silly to keep stalking in the pitch black of a foggy Namalsk midnight. :-)" Actually mate, I'd love to see you do at least one torchlight night time play through! :)

Hi guys, first, mods; I hope this is ok to post here as it's a part of a PM I got from the helpful Redstone who appears to have been sent to help us modders..! :) I have recentl;y been concerned about when making my models with planks of wood and little "intricate" parts that to get a good compromise between the unit(player) and hand thrown objects such as hand grenades working together I had to make the GEOlod so thick it was starting to become unweildy and I come close to slowing my project down to a stop tbh. The issue was a game breaker for me in terms of creating Stalker based assets... BUT, Redstomne recently sent me a PM to explain in more detail what should be done for things like HAND THROWN and RAGDOLL objects for ARMA3. I'll paste the relevant part below which is GREAT NEWS: "Re: Hand grenades bounce off GEOLOD? Hi, that's very simple. Bouncing and colliding with geometry lod is correct. These hand thrown objects has physx simulation. When the model has only Geometry lod, physx uses it instead of Geometry Physx lod (4e13). Solution which we're using is the following. For human players' collisions we use Geometry lod; and for physx ( HAND thrown objects, ragdoll ) we use 4e13 lod, which is more detailed. " So, it would appear that the dreaded thick GEOlod walls problem is solved in some regards! I still think there should be a minimum thickness for it to avoid clipping, as even when it's 25cms thick for me, I can still "V"/"Step" though it visually even though he doesn't compete the movement to outside the wall... Also, sorry id this is old news- but it is new to me and I thought it best to share it. Cheers, Marc

Hi all, I'm making a huge radio tower, and I want to have a single very long ladder running up through its center. There are two floors, so I was wondering if it's possible/would work to have the ladder with a choice of getting off on the first floor or not, and if not then carrying on up the ladder to the top floor where Unit will get off? Is this a workable solution please? Cheers, Marc

Hi again Lappihuan..! Lol, I give you 10/10 for persistence..! ;) Aye man, I've seen this is a community with a strong ethic of supporting each others requests and that's fantastic- but as you say, there are some out "there" that are not so understanding shall we say..? I absolutely detest people who take others work as their own (I've seen it more than once in the games industry, even use other peoples work in their portfolios..!), or that use others hard work for benefit. Anyway, I am getting off track here, sorry! I really do hope NOVA ZONA will work out as I am planning, but it'll be at LEAST another year I bet. I don't know if you're familiar with the modding aspect of the ARMA series but it's quite a monster in it's own appealing way lol... For every object you see, there's at LEAST 6 that you do not- some of these are nearly identical to the one you see but have to be made up of convex objects to fill the space. It is a hell of a LOT of work and hats off to the others here that've been doing it for years now. Tbh, the main reason I'm still working on this is that I'm trying to adopt the attitude that it's a hobby, it's for personal enjoyment etc. As soon as I start thinking differently it becomes tiresome at points and is literally a feat to turn on the computer knowing what needs to be done that day. The payback is when I "finish" an object, post it and then get feedback, good or bad- it's all feedback which means someone's interested and it really gets me back on my feet. ;) So, again, thanks for your input matey and I hope I don't disappoint with what I said before..! Oh and edit: Indeed, Namalsk opened my eyes to the potential that ARMA has for creating a Stalker themed world- it's a fantastically atmospheric piece of work.

Hi matey, sorry Lappihuan, that was my bad explanation lol..! ;) I understand you meant at the same time, but atm I've no plans to really. I might release them say a year or so after NOVA ZONA comes out but we'll see... I take nothing but good from your comments man, it's very flattering of you to enquire about it. If I do release any other things alongside map release, it'll probably be scripted Anomolie placements and things like that. I hope that's ok, and I know you're not trying to talk me into anything..! :)

Hi Lappihuan, thanks very much for your comments mate, and I also play through scenery in my mind when I'm trying to create these objects. I play through all these little engagements and tense situations in my head that I also can' t wait to see fully realised- the difficulty is for me to stay on the right track..! ;) As far as releasing these as I do them for the proposes of anyone using them in the Editor, I've no plans to as it stands man, sorry. I think (I'm not sure, as the thread is quite long now) I've addressed this valid point before elsewhere, but if not, there's a few reasons why I just want to release this as a full map- at least, initially... This is 100% a personal/passionate project for me, and I'm sinking 75% of my personal time into this too. It's something I've always wanted to do. The original intention, which still stands, was to make JUST a map, and not release objects as because if during development I start to see all these other maps/missions/servers etc with my stuff, gradually more and more in them it would really water down the whole experience for me. I don't think the full release of my map would have as much interest/impact then either- people would already know what to expect in a way. It's weird, I originally started this out JUST for myself, (I wasn't going to release or even announce it!) and it had begun long before I made an announcement here. I'm VERY new to this modding scene so hopefully can be excused if my mindset isn't in parallel with other more experienced modders out there. As far as a release time frame goes, and as MUCH as I hate hearing it in ref other games, ahem, *DAYZ SA*, it'll be ready when it's ready mate..! It's just literally impossible to say because there's so much still needs doing, and I KNOW other things will pop up and surprise me and knock me back months at a time... Really sorry if it's not the news you want to hear Lappihuan but I'm grateful you've taken an interest in it all the same...

Cheers again guys- looks like I'll have to give it more thought..!

Ahhh... I don't know now lol... So confusing for me. Really, I'm after a strange name like that, but I also want it to sound catchy too, and being a native English speaker, I have trouble even trying to pronounce Prykoronnyi Ostriv..? Thanks again though..! What about Chornyy Ostriv or Staryy Ostriv? (Black Island or Old Island.)

Damn, I really got to go now, but finally- Cordon Island in Ukrainian is Ostrov Kordon yes..? I mean, all the native Ukraine/Russian people would recognise that for Cordon Island yes? Sorry to bang on about it lads... ;)

Guys, thanks for your help with this, but can I ask- as I'm trying to go with Ukrainian translations, would it matter if the odd Russian one slipped in there..? I mean, would it reduce authenticity or make it less "realistic", or from days gone by could place names/signage still be in Russian so you'd end up with Ukrainian and Russian writing in NOVA ZONA..?

Thank you again man- so does "Ostrov Kordon" translate into "Border/Cordon Island" yes?

Hi NeuroFunker, Thanks for your input mate. After talking to a few people of Russian/Ukrainian background, I decided a while ago to go down the Ukrainian language translation path. Now ALL this is new to me so I really would appreciate if you could translate it for me as you would yes. I am looking to name the island either: Cordon Island Or Border Island I'd appreciate it if you could translate that for me? Cheers man..! :)

Hi Grimwald, aye man, I am thinking the same thing as you about "Kordonu Ostrovy". I like the sound of it and it doesn't take it too far away from the whole Stalker feeling either. I'll more than likely go with this name for the Island, prior to the Incident... :)

Hi all, this one is more of a request/ideas post. I'm now needing to nail the name of the Island where NOVA ZONA is set before the Incident occurred. The reasons for this are I'll now be adding the name to assets like the abandoned school and the hospital etc... also, it'll appear in old faded signs and posters from times before it all went to hell. The name of this map will still be NOVA ZONA, that won't change at all, but this is just to give the location more of a background/setting as obviously the island wound't have been called Nova Zona before the incident anyway. Bearing that in mind, I'm trying to come up with names what will either complement the theme of this map, eg; "Black Island" and will have an underlying meaning, or will be in direct contrast to it, eg; "Sunny Island". Upto now, after going through Google Translate from English to Ukrainian these are the ones I'm most happy with so should give you more of an idea as to what I'm looking for if you fancy adding any of your own ideas: Old Island / Staryy Ostriv Border Island / Kordonu Ostrovy Bare Island / Holi Ostrovy Grey Island / Siri Ostrovy Black Island / Chornyy Ostrovy Circle Island / Kolo Ostrova Enclosure Island / Korpus Ostrovy Sector Island / Sektora Ostrova Window Island / Vikna Ostrovi Cross Island / Khrest Ostrovy Curtain Island / Zavisa Ostrovy Omega Island / Omeha Ostrovy Ok, cheers guys and I'd love to hear any names you can come up with.

@Abs- thanks man, you might be waiting awhile though..! Hope you're patient..! ;) @Emoglobinski- I would show them but I haven't gone through the process of putting them all in yet mate. I'm concentrating on churning them out so I have a huge library of models, and then when that part is done I'll start to methodically get them in game one by one. It's a decision mainly about productivity, but also because by then there SHOULD be better tools for ARMA 3. Yes, I've been aware of Survivarium more or less from the start, but as soon as I heard STALKER 2 was cancelled and the team reformed to make Survivarium and laid out it's ideas for it, I was completely disappointed lol..! Even seeing some game play videos is a massive let down to me mate. The individual assets and graphics are absolutely amazing looking, but, I don't know what it is- they seem very "small" in some way- like in that new video they released about that team running at a sniper it all seems very "toy town" somehow- I can't put my finger on it. Maybe because I was expecting huge Stalkerish irradiated landscapes but instead it's small-medium sized bites of areas..? I don't know man, hopefully it'll be fantastic but I think it's basically what we've already seen in other games sadly... :( Thank you for pointing me to it though Emoglobinski.