meshcarver

Hi chaps, @ Varible- Hey, glad you like it man! Truth is, it's gonna be a good while before I'm freed up enough to start working on the ACTUAL (As opposed to churning out concepts) development of NOVA ZONA again. It's a heady combination of RL work and preparation for the art class that's now eating up my time by necessity. I'm not complaining- just telling the facts. Oh, and just for the record, I'm NEVER doing 16 hour days again... f&^k me... @ Malcom86- Cheers dude. I made a post ages ago about the "wildlife" I'm wanting to create for this island, but I'm leaning more towards the subtle type of anomaly or entity than to all out monsters. Saying that, people are perfectly free to create their own and spawn them into their game..! ;) @ Richie- Thanks man, nice to know you'd consider it for a wallpaper..! @ LinuxMaster9- Believe me, I'd have to loved to have been able to enter but having close to zero hours time to dedicate to it since the contest was properly announced it would have been futile and rushed mate. Catch 22... but yeah, that cold hard cash would free me up for a good few years of development on this... :( @ Atsche- Hey man..! :) Thanks for saying and I'm glad you get some feels out of it..! Good luck with your project and remember, any questions- just ask mate. @ Defunkt- (Lol, your avatar get me EVERY time mate!) Goddamn man, if only I could give this 24 hours a day attention I'd do everything to ensure it was as close to AAA as I could make it. Even though there's the huge issue of lack of undergrounds in RV4, it's still the engine of choice for me because it has so many other pluses when it comes to trying to emulate a Stalkerish feel... Thanks for your compliments and confidence in it too, appreciated. @ aliascartoons- Yeah man, I've got plans for Anomalies and more. Also, I'm planning to keep them mysterious and something to be extremely careful of just like in the book.

Damn guys, sorry it's been awhile... I've been utterly busy so have not got anything new to show you unfortunately. But, I do have another concept piece as I'm trying to enrol for a class early next year and have to build up my folio a bit so I stand a better chance of getting in- and with that in mind, I can at least try to skew my new folio pieces towards NOVA ZONA development, so as to kill two birds with one stone as it were... I hope you like it, and it should give you an idea of the scale of landscape I am going for. ++ MARK THE DAY OUR GLORIOUS RECEIVER WAS RENT ASUNDER, AS IT HEARKENED THE BEGINNINGS OF A NEW ZONE ++

Hey up, Does anyone please know what the width of each ladder rung is, as the units have their hands spaced apart at the sides now when climbing ladders. Also, what is the distance between rungs, or is that one not important? Cheers, Marc

Hi Shurka, Hey, thanks for your pointers and advice man, appreciated. The thing is, I am so bogged down with work I am unable to dedicate any time to this project right now. Some days working have been 16 hours long so you can imagine how far off my radar NOVA ZONA is sadly- I almost try not to even think about it as it causes me too much distress and gets in the way of my RL work which right now is where my head needs to be to do a good job.

It's never going to die DAP- it's too good. :)

Congratulations on your release..!

Hi guys, well, it looks like I've ran into a potential show stopper for me..! :( Apparently, you can't have objects over 20 meters in any dimension, is that correct? I've modelled a huge tall tower,about 60 meters high, with two floors and two ladders connecting them. I haven't actually added the ladder memory points yet, but when I spawn a unit 55 meters up and he lands on the top floor, he 95% of the time runs around it fine and bumps off the geolod etc. But, sometime when I stop and turn on the spot he drops straight through the roadwaylod to his doom... Could anyone please explain if this is linked to the 20 meter limit thing (Is that just for ARMA2, or can we have more in ARMA3?), or something else possibly? The model is drawing visually fine, and the firelod is working all over correctly. Someone mentioned to me that I'd have to go the proxy method route- does this entail JUST chopping up the roadway and geolods, NOTHING else..? If so, would it be a problem in regards the ladder memory points? I don't think it would if alls I have to chop up are the roadwaylod and geolods? Anyway, I'd really appreciate anyone's experience on this- it's taken the wind out of my sails a bit... cheers, Marc EDIT: Worth mentioning!!! I just reproduced this EXACT same bug/glitch on one of BISs radio towers too! I climbed the ladder up the tall one to the little platform about halfway up it, then walked for a bit and just fell through the floor..!?!?!? Also glitched through the floor of one of those little green lookout posts, top floor, I fell out the corner..!? Why would that be please?

Hi guys, At the risk now of over using some structures, I've taken three shots of the same scene to again show how much the atmosphere can change on NOVA ZONA- I haven't got time to create any new structures right now and won't have for the next few months so this'll be it for awhile unfortunately. Either way- I hope you like them... ++ TO RISE WITH THE SUN ++ ++ DIMINISHING RETURNS ++ ++ NO PLACE SACROSANCT ++ ++ SEEK SHELTER WHEN THE SIREN SOUNDS ++

@jonbuckles- hehe, no problem man, you'll just have a really long wait is all... @CaptainObvious- indeed sir, indeed... Just wish it wasn't so damned all encompassing lol. @stephsen- I searched for it since I saw Dsylecxi playing around with it and eventually came across this mate: setFog array Hope that helps..!

@AngleWingGamingJacob- Cheers man, glad you like it in the rosy glow of dawn for a change..! I couldn't resist putting a counter in there though to show the contrast of scene between day and night. :) @CaptainObvious- Aye, I have plans to create specific altered lifeforms for NOVA ZONA, like little facsimiles of butterflies and insects etc that are a product of the blight that's slowly spreading over the wilderness. Some of these will be subtle- others, not so. ;) Hey man, no worries about the Patreon thing- I wasn't holding up much hope for it anyway and the idea followed by the post was born of desperation more than anything else as it really gets me how little time I manage to get for this project. Actually, this is probably a good time to tell you I've knocked the idea on the head- no Patreon Account for me- it's back to work as usual. I do have a very strong vision and passion for NOVA ZONA yes, but RL is RL mate- I'm not going to compromise on that one..!

What a difference a day makes, twenty four little hours... Two shots with two purposes: One to show the difference a single day can bring forth whilst traversing NOVA ZONAs many splendid environs. Two to answer numerous requests by certain unnamed individuals seeking sun soaked Zones. (Ie: "Why is it always f&*$£!g raining in NOVA ZONA..?!") ++ IN THE LOFTY HEIGHTS ABOVE THE NEW ZONE, THERE ARE SOARING ANGLES THAT BREACH THE CLEAR DAWN ++ ++ IN DARKNESS SHEER, TRAPS AND SNARES WITH HEIGHT WILL INVADERS CLEAR ++ The "++" quotes above and below are taken from a guide that will accompany the release of NOVA ZONA: "SURVIVAL BY MEANS OF DECEPTION THEN EXTRACTION FROM THE NEW ZONE" ++ THIS PLACE EXISTS TO KILL YOU ++

Oh my sweet baby Jesus... this is fantastic man..! :) When the day finally dawns that I can start placing object in NOVA ZONA, it is with this tool that I'll do it- really really impressive Silola..!

@jonbuckles- That's the plan mate- ideally I'd like it to be for people what STALKER 2 was anticipated to be (As we all felt that loss when it was cancelled), and given it's going to be in the ARMA 3 engine there's the bonus of multiple ways to implement your play styles; some people will simply set up missions themselves and go SP, others will create all sorts of elaborate MP frameworks for people to just try to lose themselves back in the Zone and survive... and bearing that in mind I'll have to make it large enough for that to be possible. All this will take time, and I have bags of motivation so as long as I can see there's also verbal support from the community and STALKER fans etc that will help spur me on. I'm just about to start some more RL work that will last at least 3 months, with some days being in the region of 16 hours long- you can do the maths on that one as far as time set aside for NOVA ZONA goes. I'm not bitching, it's my choice to work as priorities are just that, but it's the primary reason development seems to be non-existent for both myself and you guys at times- I hope you will understand and don't doubt my motivation. I have the rest of today free so I'll try to do another screenie of some structures you've already seen ingame, a fair weather one this time for variations sake. Thanks for your comments jonbuckles. :)

Hi MikeTim, I'm really determined to finish NOVA ZONA in its entirety, and once that's done and dusted I'll more than likely wrap all the structures up together in a big bundle and release them for you to use how you wish.

Hi man, Aye, I know what you're saying, but if something is going to kill off NOVA ZONA then it won't be motivation or boredom- it'll be a hugely stretched out dev cycle over many years I reckon. Working in little snippets of time here and there is an atrociously difficult way to try to create something. You never feel like you're making huge gains and there's a feeling that runs parallel to it that you're somehow "falling behind" the curve. The only benefit of working with others is speed- yes, it would be faster but that plus is negated by the compromises I'd have to make to accomodate taking a number of people onboard. And, arugbly I'd spend most of my time trying to draw up concepts and descriptive briefs etc to get across my ideas and plans for them- leaving me LESS time myself to create the things I love- it'd turn into a "managing people" situation extremely rapidly I think. I'd rather find another solution mate but I seriously appreciate your suggestions. :) PS; I'll reply to your PM when I get a chance, cheers!

Alright guys, I'll try to address these 5 responses as best I can. @All3n- Well that's very kind and up front of you man, so thanks. :) I really hope I didn't come across as whiney or a special case here- I am very aware of the sacrifices modders make to get their work out so it's not like I'm going through anything unique with this mate-I just cannot find time to carry on with it is all, hence the wall of text post. As far as laying out a detailed (to your satisfaction) business model at this early stage, I've not got that far because at this point, I'm simply putting the feelers out to see how the idea of a Patreon Account would be received as is. However, to try to explain a VERY rough description, my intention with NOVA ZONA is first and foremost to create a 90-100% custom map. I will be using as few of BIs assets as humanly possible- none ideally. In addition to this, I will create a selection of modules specific to NOVA ZONA (for things like Anomalies, minefields, transmissions, wildlife etc) for you to place in the editor and tailor your own missions. So hopefully you can see this project goes a little way beyond just making a map- there will also be individual entities that come along with the package. I plan to release two final versions of the map- the main one with all Anomalies and wildlife already populating the island so it's "alive", and another "lite" version with no such modules placed, a sort of "normal real world map" if you will. Well All3n, I hope I've answered your query sufficiently- and if not let me know or we can even Skype about it if you want as it's a valid point. @Das Attorney- hey man..! Well, to put it simply at this point I don't know yet! I do know I'd like NOVA ZONA to be as independent as it can be whilst being as compatible as possible in all regards. I have no plans to make it a tricky beast to utilise in any fashion so it shouldn't be a problem to use it how you'd like to- I'd love it not to have any dependancies at all. I'm glad you like how it looks at this stage, as I've got some big plans for it to enhance the atmospheric vibe too... ;) Does that answer your question man? If not, let me know! @Defunkt- firstly, your Avatar is top notch, cracks me up every time I see it lol. I know exactly what you're getting at man, and it's something I considered at a very early stage of development as it happens- to create the assets and terrain in parallel with one another. The main reason I didn't go down that route was incase I ended up with too many loose ends as I went along- I like to keep things nice and neat; mesh flows, UVs, development plans too! I was concerned that if I bit off too much from the off then I'd have all these half finished structures randomly placed on a badly thought out terrain. But, as what you're saying differs slightly in that NOW might be a good time to start then yes, I do see the positive in that. My concern would still hold as I like to tick things off as I do them, but it would show more visual progress, agreed. And on top of that, I'd have my own terrain to test structures on too... No more Altis with full on bad weather lol. ;) I'll give it a lot of thought, and thanks for your input man. @goutofashion- hi dude, and thanks for you suggestion. Changing this project from solo to team based has come up before- in these forums, in PMs and also in emails sent from all over the place- all of which come with offers of help and wanting to be "on the team". There are a LOT of keen and kind people out there it seems which is nice to know. Here's the "but"..! But, this initially started as my own project a few years back, and was something I had always wanted to do for myself as I've spent 16 years in the games industry doing exactly what I was told- so this is like a very strong catharsis for me personally. It's also one of the main motivators- "my own project" at LAST! So, coming from that angle, I've got a very parental attachment to this project (which I wasn't even going to make public initially!) as it is also a means for me to do something entirely as an individual for just once. In short- I've spent the best part of 16 years working on a team with all the benefits and problems it brings, and I just wouldn't be genuinely happy having to share this project out amongst a team, awful as that sounds! Another reason would be the "diluting" factor if you like. Everyone has their own visions and ideas about what makes something cool or unique, and it'd be a huge concern for me to have to reel peoples minds in if they wanted to implement their own takes on what I needed doing, almost like mission creep I suppose. I've been a lead artist before and I'm not comfortable telling people what to do, let alone having to criticise them! (And lets not even get into that "thing" were your junior artist is light years ahead of the lead and everyone is fully aware lol..! XD) I appreciate you putting the idea out mate, but to put it into practice would defeat my reasons for starting in the first place. I hope I've explained it well enough, but if not, PM me up or reply here and I can try to elaborate. :) @Lightspeed_aust- hi man, cheers for your comments. Aye, "ask ppl for coin" is not something I do lightly, as I hope you realise from reading my initial wall of text. I really hope I made it clear enough that at this point I am merely putting the idea out there so you guys can let me know how you would feel about it if I finally did go with that route- if I didn't make that clear then I apologise. For the record, I really can't see this being a workable option either, but as that wall of text was sitting in a .txt file on my desktop for a month, I thought I'd finally bite the bullet, post it, and then see what transpires. Ref your quote: "I also note that this thread is almost two years old and there's nothing tangible yet."- EXACTLY..! That's because I can't find the time to work on this project to anything remotely like even 15 hours per week. Which in turn is the reason for my posting the wall of text- to put feelers out to see if the idea could attract interest. If I had been working on NOVA ZONA 9-5 for the past two years then you'd arguably have it installed on your machine right now in some working form mate and both you and me would be happy. (Hopefully!) I also pointed out that I haven't put anything tangible out yet in any case and suggested plans in how I could remedy this. I enjoy doing this immensely, but would like to be enabled to put more than a few hours in at the end of each night ideally so as to ultimately get it into your hands a lot quicker. Anyway, I hope that's addressed your comments and thanks for taking the time to post here, it's appreciated. @sttosib- hi man, and thanks for mentioning about kju's thread. Could you possible PM a link as I've spent ages looking but cannot find it. Yes, as I said above, I was not and am not holding out much hope that this could work in any meaningful way. Even if it did, there's a lot of responsibility that'd go with the territory too, and as I said, it's not something I'm entirely comfortable with but I am sort of getting a bit desperate here- I've just got a feeling NOVA ZONA is not going to happen at this sluggish rate. Anyway, thanks very much sttosin..! Ok guys, thanks again for taking the time to post here and feel free to add some more thoughts! :)

Hi guys, Please keep it coming- I'll wait until I get more thoughts on this and when there's a sizable amount I'll reply to each one in turn, otherwise it might get messy and disjointed. I appreciate the feedback, good or bad.

UPDATE: I have decided not to go ahead with this Patreon Account idea, but will leave this post here for the record as is: Hi guys, This is a very difficult post for me to write, and I'm not comfortable with the subject at all so I think it best to jump straight in with it. As some of you will have already read, my circumstances regarding development of NOVA ZONA are less ideal than they could be- I am not able to devote anywhere near as much time as I would like to developing this Island and making it as high quality as I think it should be both for this community and myself. By far the biggest stumbling block I have is simply time. Yes, there are enough hours in the day, but they are by necessity taken up with RL work to pay the bills like anyone else. I have been getting hampered and tired out by having to grab 3 or 4 hours whenever I can which is normally late in the evening after an already full day working flat out in front of my computer on RL working commitments. An immediate effect of this is because development time on NZ is so fragmented and sparse, continuity and quality suffer, as well as the main knock- progress not made through simple lack of time. In light of this, I would like to take this opportunity just to ask for your thoughts and feelings on an idea I am carefully considering and I will listen very carefully to your replies and act upon them. Over the past six months I have asked a lot of my friends and colleagues about this issue and sought out their advice and ideas. In doing so, I have finally reached an admittedly less than ideal conclusion that in able to free up more time and ultimately get it into your hands a lot quicker, I simply need to have an alternative source of funds. So, at this point I would like to ask you what you would think if I started a Patreon Account in the hopes of getting funding for the development of NOVA ZONA. I have to make it absolutely clear I have not yet made up my mind about this- that is the reason why I think it best for everyone if I merely put the idea out to you guys first and foremost. Equally as important is to let you know this would not be for profit or to "make a quick buck" as money for its own sake has always meant nothing to me. And, if you don't like the idea or think it dubious please let me know. At this point I am simply trying to gauge your thoughts about it- good or bad. The main point is that if I could displace the need for RL work commitments by seeing if I could raise enough funds to enable me to work full time on NOVA ZONA, then I would be in a position where I could think about going ahead with creating a Patreon Account. Conversely, if I found that I couldn't cover those funds- then there would be simply no point in making a Patreon Account as I would still have to commit to RL work anyway and in effect there would be no difference from my current situation of trying to grab a few hours late at night- and in that case development would continue in exactly the same state it is now and everything stays the same, no harm done. Additionally, I am acutely aware that up to now, I have not released a single Addon/Mod to the community, and so to suggest I'm thinking about starting a Patreon Account seems like it will attract hostility for multiple reasons which I fully understand and am prepared for, but again- that's why I'm merely asking about this right now and not just going ahead with it. Hopefully, you can see the sincerity in that approach. I think hostility would be increased by the very nature of this project, as it'd be quite a long time before you will get the completed NOVA ZONA in your hands to do with it what you wish. I realise I am asking to see if I could get funding for something that won't materialise in its entirety for a long time guys. In an effort to counter this, I would make full use of the Patreon rewards model and would think up and welcome suggestions you guys would have about how I could continually reward funding milestones and give something back to the community in return - the most obvious one would be releasing some individual buildings/structures/assets as and when they're complete or on a timely basis- and I would even consider taking direct requests for building designs and tutorial requests etc which will increase the input from the community at large and would have a direct effect on the development of NOVA ZONA without me having to compromise my vision for it. Other ideas about rewards are being drawn up in the unlikely event I don't get absolutely burned down here. Ok, I will take a step back now and I genuinely look forwards to hearing what you guys have to say- but please try to keep it civil gents, it's taken me a month to actually summon the courage to post this here and it's not something I do lightly. Marc

Lol... XD Well, I will always accommodate ideas mate... ;)

@ScienceGuy44- hey man, thanks for dropping by! :) Yes, there is a very strong story and series of events responsible for the creation of NOVA ZONA- and I'm actually refining some specific notes right now(!) about a certain period of time in the islands history. I'm taking this aspect of development very seriously as I believe it'll have a direct influence on the appearance of NOVA ZONA as you will experience it- and it will also help me to give an actual meaningful form to the geography too. It is a layered story comprised of tragic events over many years, one after the other until the island itself cannot contain the accumulated effects and so a NOVA ZONA is declared and (eventually) abandoned. I'll leave it at that for now as the story is still in flux, but that is the general gist of it- I hope that answers your question mate. :) @TokyoIndia- hi man! I have "plans" for the flora and fauna of NOVA ZONA so hold that thought..! Lets just say that this won't be your typical natural environment...

Very very well done Rydygier- this absolutely deserved to get Mod Of The Week mate and all the exposure that goes with it. Pilgrimage is indeed one of the best mods I've played. It's fantastic to see hard work and effort rewarded like this. Congratulations sir..! :)

@LinuxMaster9- hey man..! :) Well, if it can be done then I'll certainly try my damnedest to make it happen as the natural environment is one of the main aspects of importance when it comes to creating an immersive atmosphere on NOVA ZONA. Seeing trees seemingly reacting to the ferocity of a storm or gently swaying in a light breeze would be fantastic- I'd assume it's a simple matter of having a few more animation states linked to the current weather factor? All that is in the future though mate- but yeah, if it can be done then I'll try to implement it. Also, yes, I'll be giving the classic STALKER reeds some extra love so you'll be seeing more fidelity close up when you're walking through a patch in a swamp.

I would really appreciate a YES or NO answer to this: Once this is released, would X-CAM be the way to go with creating new maps? Either way, it is bloody impressive what you have going on here... I've just got my fingers crossed it can be used in some degree to populate maps with everything from trees to buildings... :)

Looking really good Argument..! :) We need so many more Russian structures for ARMA3 so I'm keeping a close eye on this..!

Hi guys and girls, Just to let you know, I'm now tweeting from a hidden location in NOVA ZONA with the name: @meshcarver