meshcarver

ATTENTION PLEASE READ: As I'm getting constant questions/emails/posts etc about why is this taking so long and when will it be released, I thought to give a brief outline of reasons here which will save me time by not repeating the same tired answers again and again and make me look like an old moaning git. :) I started this thread at the end of 2012, and so people assume that this has taken a full three years to develop and there's no map yet. In reality, I have worked possibly only six months of actual 9-5 hours on this. There have been entire chunks of months were I haven't even been able to touch it. For example, I won't be able to work on this at all for another whole six weeks very soon. RL issues such as working long hours and then personal stuff by necessity creeps in and on average I'm left with a 10 hour development cycle on a good week. More than likely those 10 hours will see me extremely tired and bleary eyed at the end of a long day sitting in front of the PC all over again to boot up NOVA ZONA and whittle away at it. This is time I should really be spending zonked in front of the telly, reading a book or just lying in bed. But, if I don't grab that time for NOVA ZONA, it literally will not happen. I know everyone who mods is in the same boat, but some people somehow have/find more free time than others but this is the best I can do in my current situation. Hey up..! I thought I'd start a thread about my plans for making a large S.T.A.L.K.E.R. inspired island for ARMA, called "NOVA ZONA". Right now, I'm more or less at the very beginnings of this project, but have a couple of assets to show for an idea of what I'm doing and a brief overview of my plans that I've posted on my Dev Blog. I'll update this thread post at a later date when I have more to show. I should also mention that this is being made with ARMA3 in mind, so I'm throwing in a few more polys where I think it could benefit, and giving the textures a bit more love, to future proof it so to speak. I'll just say thank you to the people, too many to list here, that've already helped me at this early stage both in the forums and through PMing aswell. Cheers guys!!! This ARMA community is unmatched for enthusiasm and input. :D Here's the link to my blog if you want to follow this mod, as it's got loads more information in general and descriptions of each WIP: http://www.meshcarver.blogspot.com/ ...also, I'll welcome ANY input and suggestions/advice people have to offer, as I know there's a few S.T.A.L.K.E.R. fans out there. ;) I look forwards to showing more images as this island develops, and here's a link to an up to date set of WIP (I stopped updating this since I now need to create a bloody Yahoo account to log back in- sod 'em!): http://www.flickr.com/photos/86890612@N02/with/9226156431/ And here's a couple of concept/mood pieces I did to give more of an idea of what this island will look like on the ground: http://www.meshcarver.com/screenshots/NOVA%20ZONA%20CONCEPT%2001.png http://www.meshcarver.com/screenshots/NOVA%20ZONA%20CONCEPT%2002.png And the logo: http://www.meshcarver.com/screenshots/NOVA%20ZONA%20LOGO.png Marc

Hey all, I've JUST started the process for a new island, and want it to basically be more for the ARMA3 engine than ARMA2- it'l take sometime anyway! What I am wondering though, and hope someone can give a pretty solid answer, is will ARMA 3 provide us modders with a really good way to create and integrate small/large underground areas..? I mean even organic (caves) and structured ones like bunkers/silos etc..? Any info is appreciated chaps, Marc

Looking great guys- keep up the good work! :) Fantastic to still see STALKER mods coming out..! Best wishes for it.

Hi guys, thanks for your comments- its always nice to hear people still like NOVA ZONA. @ St.Jimmy- Cheers dude @ KevsnoTrev- Aye man, Das Attorney really pulled out all the stops for The Designators. He got a lot of mileage from a simple idea and kept on developing it as ideas came to him. I'm really glad you liked it, but for some reason I can't post a response to your comment on the Youtube page mate, there's no option to? I did try, just so you know..! ;) @ 13isLucky- Thanks man, aye- I really miss working on it and am pretty damn pissed I just can't afford to spend more time on it that would be worthwhile at the very least. @ Kyle_K_ski- Dude..! :) Glad you liked it mate. Aye, I tried to make them very spindly and angular looking whilst keeping them thin, sort of just like cut metal- pretty unwelcoming designs to approach. When you walk right up to one, it can feel quite intimidating. The babies are the worst imo- I was testing them out in a village just as the sun was going down and all's I could hear was the crying and screaming of babies and little children..! I didn't see any, I turned tail and ran out as it's just such a horrible sound when it's in that context. Anyway man, hope all's well with you and yours- take it easy Kyle. @ Beaar- Yeah man, hopefully at some point but I don't hold out much hope for it. @ HorribleGoat- Thanks man. As I say though- it's nearly impossible for me to devote any meaningful time to this sadly. For those who are interested, or just like the Stalker aesthetic, I've done another concept piece, this time of the effects of one of the many Anomalies you can find on NOVA ZONA. First off- this is an attempt to try to copy as closely as possible the composition, lighting and atmosphere of John Sweeneys piece he did for his Digital Illustration Theory and Process 1 tutorial, which you can find on his excellent Gumroad page. I like his clear explanations of presenting his methods and also love the finished piece, so I decided to try to mimic almost every step of the process, even creating and rendering out the lit basic geometry at the beginning even though it wasn't really needed in this case. Being a fan of Stalker I thought it'd suit a NOVA ZONA themed pass so tried to change the surface materials and foliage etc to better fit that world whilst trying to stick to his placement of objects etc. I have tried to put my own "spin" or "twist" on it if you like... ;) This unfortunate Stalker has triggered a Sticky Twist Anomaly, which hoists sentient beings up in the air, then proceeds to rapidly spin and twist them until they get so strung out they simply turn to vapour. NOVA ZONA "STICKY TWIST" ANOMALY

Hi guys, I thought I'd post one last video before putting NOVA ZONA on the backburner, as the work Das Attorney has done in bringing the Designators to life is absolutely top notch and deserves to be seen. We've worked together for a fair few weeks, and he implemented exactly what I had in my head for the Designators and more. He created new ideas and suggestions along the way that have added a lot more layers and ambient effects to their behaviour than I can show in a single video, but hopefully you'll get the idea of how they act from this short video. RULES OF ENGAGEMENT WHILST IN A DESIGNATOR INFESTED AREA: All staff entering this site must be authorised All staff should have Designator awareness training Obey all posted signs and do not deviate from your original plan Assume all Designators are active Maintain minimum distance of 25 meters from each Designator Do not at any point stop moving, make a noise or discharge your weapon Always use a buddy system and abort in the event of any visual or aural disturbance Never turn your back on a Designator- maintain visual contact at ALL TIMES If my situation changes in regards being able to spend time developing NOVA ZONA again I shall let you know... For now, thanks for your interest and all the comments I've received guys, it's all appreciated and helped keep me going.

Guys, I've decided to put any further development of NOVA ZONA on hold indefinitely. I won't go into details, just to say that there are a few factors that led me to this very tough decision. I'm sure if you follow this thread then you'll be aware of my situation and the priorities behind it. In the remote chance the situation changes, then I am open to picking it up again but for the foreseeable future it's a dead end for me. I'm going to be spending any free time I have creating Environment Concept art and so will still be producing images and ideas for NOVA ZONA and developing the concept further. I am not letting NOVA ZONA go as it's a massive passion of mine which represents years of work and so I'll continue to develop it as my own idea and see where it takes me... Please feel free to check in on my blog and Artstation page if you like. I will also continue to post relevant images here for those who are interested. I am very grateful to all the people who helped with suggestions, ideas, inspiration and just comments who've taken the time to post here, email me or spoken to me over Skype- it ALL helped keep me going and it wouldn't have got this far without you. These past few weeks I've been working on bringing the Designators to life with Das Attorney who has been immense in creating the scripts necessary to realise what I had in my mind for them. I'm currently uploading one last video that will hopefully give you an idea of what he achieved, but I can't do it all justice as there are so many different elements to it. A lot of their behaviour and ambiances are directly from his own suggestions and enthusiasm for NOVA ZONA, so what you'll see is the result of all his hard work alone and I'm very grateful for his time spent on this. I'll link the video here when it's uploaded guys.

Hi Kyle, Great to see you back man..! Aye, I'm trying to hint at an organic design with some of these structures to add to the otherworldliness, and it's quite difficult without it becomming too over blown in that regard. I'll make sure to keep it all in check though, and I've got some really freaky buildings the Island Authority constructed planned too- again, using real life ref... It'll be awhile before you see them though because of RL stuff. Thanks for your comments mate, glad to see you're still interested..! :) In the meantime, Das Attorney is doing absolutely top notch work on bringing the Designators to screaming tortured life... The guy is tireless and has bags of enthusiasm for them so I really look forwards to making a video showcasing them in their (un)natural habitat..! It's a very enjoyable process with a LOT of back and forth, testing new ideas and so on and Das Attorney brings a lot to the table with scripting, fresh suggestions and ideas. I have high hopes for Designators... they are the embodiment of everything that is wrong with NOVA ZONA and they have made me jump and shout out like a kid a fair few times now..! :)

Hey up, I'm sort of asking blind here, as I've as yet STILL to actually properly place any object in regards map creation- but I've read somewhere that you can add little invisible "snap" points to your objects for the purposes of accurate placement, is that correct? If so, is it possible to add more than one snap point, and then when in the process of placing/rotating etc could you toggle between them? Also, once you've placed all you objects, can you delete them before packing your map? Cheers guys, Marc

I hope things pan out to your satisfaction Nuxil, just keep popping back to see how all this ends up man. I myself do not feel happy about it either and have given reasons why on the Server Monetization thread. (Edited as I have too many threads where I've commented on this now and should just concentrate on creating stuff instead tbh... this topic could become a time sink for me lol)

Hi guys, quickie update here. This is what's apparently called a "Quencher"..! I really like the silhouette these things produce, and they're quite large too which is a good combo... These will sit over the many railway lines on the outer perimeters of Industrial Areas, as they were used to "quench" the hot metals and outpourings that were transported to slag heaps by train buses back before the Event when it was still known as Border Island. Anyway, here's a few shots for you: ++ QUENCHER 01 A ++ ++ QUENCHER 01 B ++ ++ QUENCHER 01 C ++ I need to mention that as things currently stand in regards BIS's trial and testing of Server Monetization (And related issues) that I am not at present prepared to release NOVA ZONA once it is completed. Granted this is some way off, but in the event things stay as they are I thought I should make it clear here guys. I am going to continue with the development in my own limited free time as per usual, in the hopes things pan out for the better. Please continue to use this thread as a discussion about NOVA ZONA only, and if you want to engage on the Server Monetization discussion please contribute here, where you will also see my comments as I will not be responding to any questions about this here as I hope you'll understand.

Hi guys, All this is splitting hairs I think. Look, if one section of the community can make money and another can't then that's a community I am advising myself to step away from at this time in regards releasing anything I make. Yes, that's a simplistic take on it and previously it was mentioned some don't like simplistic takes on this, but it IS what it basically comes down to, no matter how you dress it up... As it is right now, I would need my head examining if I released all my work into this arena. I've held my thoughts on this but am now past caring what people will think of me or say. Sorry, forgot to mention, Badhabitz thanks very much for your reply mate. I DO do this for fun and because I feel a very strong need to, I LOVE it and the subject matter but I can't stand the idea that others will unscrupulously benefit from my hard work with no real threat of being punished and on top of that that another part of this community now has the OPTION open to them to benefit if I allowed it whilst the remainders do not have that option available to them. And I couldn't wipe from my mind the thoughts that somewhere out there people are making cash from it either, I couldn't mate and why should I? PS: Jackal, thanks for the heads up mate, I've just posted on that thread too, and it's fantastic to know that there's at least a possibility of modmakers and content creators being rewarded for all their collective 100,000s of hours work for this whole community soon maybe. I see that as a huge step in the right direction of acknowledging just how much effort and sweat is involved in creating content for this great game by people who want to see it made better and more varied and thus bring in more fresh souls.

Fantastic post Kiory. I know from experince there's a deep rooted feeling of "money is evil, money is wrong" in and around the artistic community that has historical roots too. I shall try to find some relevant links and post them here as they also state why it is an incorrect assumption and point to the contrary that money does indeed help individual artists grow in skill and confidence- it helps give them a solid lifestyle platform from which to produce more work and more selfworth with the service they are providing. This ultimately results in more and higher quality work for everyone to enjoy. The old notion of "artists just do it for fun, it's just a hobby drawings pretty pictures and there's no reason to make money from it" is pathetic and demeaning. It's f%^*#}g hard WORK..!!!! I'll leave this for now with a part of a quote I found searching for the above mentioned links: "Being a professional artist means, above all, taking your art seriously. Let’s face it, we create our art because we want and need to. We don’t do it for the money, but we also have to realize that without the money, we won’t have the time or energy to create our art." Found a brief reference to the "starving artist myth" but cannot find the whole post I originally mentioned up to now. "The Starving Artist Myth Many artists have bought into a romanticized notion that art is somehow more legitimate if it is created by poor people. This notion was popularized in the mid-19th century by the writer Henri Murger, who wrote Scènes de la vie de bohème a famous French novel about a group of poor artists living in the Bohemian quarter of Paris. The book was wildly popular and it became trendy to be a poor artist. Over the last 150 years, Murger’s ideas became entrenched in popular culture, and artists hold to the notion that art is a product of the financially unsound and morally superior."

@ Sniperwolf- You're mincing words there and I just can't be arsed getting into a he said she said thing here. I don't have the time. I'm pissed off that the OPTION is there for server hosters to legitimately make $$$ now, whereas it's not there for people who spend time making content. That right there has already divided the community into sections if you ask me. I mean, how hard is that to understand..? And yes, it would piss me off that even given my permission they can benefit but not myself or all the content creators themselves yes..! Of course it would, it's unbalanced in the extreme and I don't think it's unreasonable to think that. Why would I create a metric shit tonne of content then give it away for free to a load of people who stand to make $$$ from showcasing it..? Why would I even consider such a ridiculous thing? Could you or someone please tell me why I should consider spending my time to line someone elses pockets as that would really open my eyes. I'm getting some zzz's now but look forwards to this tomorrow lol- it's saddening but interesting to read..!

I really should have researched more before taking on a modding endevour for ARMA then... If I knew back then that this area "was always like this" ie: abuse of the system has always been rampant and ineffectively dealt with, then I perhaps would have given it a second thought before starting or at least of going public with my project or even looked for a more suitable platform. Perhaps I'm now taking this more seriously because it's what I do professionally (now getting on 17 years) and this particular project, NOVA ZONA is very very dear to my heart. It's not something I do lightly and when I decide to do a project like this I won't go about it half arsed which is why I also won't be half arsed about all these possible consequences we're discussing here gents. Aside from that, each and every angle I look at this new development from it still sticks in my craw that some members of the community have an option open to them to monetise whereas another section of members do not, and what really sticks it in and breaks it off is they can benefit directly from hosting the others work if permitted to do so..! I mean, come on..!?

Good post Kju. There are valid points but it still doesn't alter present reality for my position personally. As it is right now, I've decided I just can't release my map (in development) publicly as the thought of other people benefitting from all the hard work and sacrifices involved just sickens me and feels extremely unjust. I could probably continue development but in its original form- for my own enjoyment and experince. I think I should take some time out to decide what I'm going to do with what I have so far. Right now though after finding out about this subject it feels like a stomach punch. I hope there's a satisfactory conclusion to all this.

Yes, exactly the point I'm trying to make. I mean come on man, WHERE is the motivation for mod makers in this situation..? Also, do you think it's unreasonable to hold my point of view? I'm genuinely interested in your thoughts on this. Here's another way to look at this: monetization for Server Owners has killed my enthusiasm to continue with this mod as a flip side to your point of view. There has to be a middle ground in this mate- atm it is an exceedingly off putting situation for "some" content creators/mod makers I think. Also it's probably worth me pointing out I would personally have no issues whatsoever with paying someone for their hard work if I was interested in using their mod/addon, no problem whatsoever as long as it was done all above board and "official". Like it or not, it seems (I may be wrong) there is a business model involved here and as content creators and mod makers we are being associated with it, and as such should take an active role in its influence. I appreciate your reply man, it's an interesting thread this one..! :) PS, has there been an answer to this yet..? Actually,this guy is hitting all the points of issue: ..and again, this is worth quoting and I'm in full agreement with his stance:

Thanks for the reply Kju. I really wouldn't have the time to be policing my own situation like that though when I think about it. It'd be a constant struggle if it was happening on multiple fronts too wouldn't it? Plus, it sounds like a nightmare just waiting to happen... It seems exceedingly strange and perverse that the people who do all the work of creating content to appeal to the masses and help keep them interested in ARMA and in doing so bring in new blood too cannot be rewarded for their efforts, whilst people who take this work (legally or not, again if my understanding is correct!) can benefit hugely by charging others to actually play it..?! If I ever found myself experiencing that kind of situation with NOVA ZONA I would be utterly disheartened and for sure would cease any further work on it. In fact, as I've now read through this entire thread, I'm convinced it would be completely brainless of me to release anything I've spent time creating into the wild, and so by not doing so would be the first and most effective step I can take in stopping the "process" of others trying to cash in on my work before it starts- I admit I am really scared of seeing my much loved and hard fought for work (time and effort) in the hands of people who use it to benefit themselves financially. That would finish me off- it's the worst thing I can envisage happening, even worse than losing all my work to a faulty PC or similar. This is another subject maybe, but shouldn't this be the other way round too? I can't think why, if server owners can monetise their situation, that the actual contents creators and mod makers can't have the option to do the same? It doesn't make sense to me. I know I'll take a lot of flak for this maybe, but weighed against the possibilities I've made above I simply don't care- as those possibilities represent the WORST outcomes for me personally. If I had an "officially structured" option to monetise my efforts too, like the server owners do, then I would personally find that to be a HUGE motivation to carry on and make it the best quality I possibly could- plus it would reward me more time to actually spend on the project anyway and thus BI would in this case find themselves with MORE content produced by me..! As it stands, I just don't see the point of working on something, releasing it, and then seeing it make money for others whilst I'm left to police those possible situations myself, respond to requests of fixes and updates from the community and try to convince myself I made the right decsion by releasing it in the first place. What a horrible situation that would be...

Guys, Sorry if I misunderstand this (not my area at all..!), but say if I released a full new map tomorrow, NOVA ZONA, does that mean if someone sticks it on their servers they can then charge people to play on their servers using said map? And in doing so make cash from using my work? I know BI seem to be saying only if I give permission for them to do so, but surely it's next to impossible to stop people from hosting a map/mod if they really want to and then charging for it? Is that a correct assesment of what's happening now or have I got it utterly wrong?

Ahhhhh, ok..! I understand now thanks for the answers guys. Suffice to say I'm glad you decided to continue with this..! :)

Guys, I don't mean to compare or insult anyones work here at all, but is this a simillar tool to the X-CAM? I'm asking out of pure curiosity as I'm not very knowledgeabke on this side of map making yet, but could someone let me know any differences between the two packages there may be please? I genuinely don't know the full extent of what these tools are capable of as I get "lost" in the many acronyms of the ARMAverse..! Either way, it's looking damn fine and I'll continue to track its progress until it's time for me to start placing objects...! :)

That sounds perfect Silola, I will try to watch all your tutorials the first chance I get..! :)

Holy sh*t, if this is for creating Terrains then it is by FAR and away the single most anticipated mod tool coming out for me... Your approach of releasing Tutorials videos (That are amazingly clear and well presented) is also most welcome. Keep up the fantastic work man..! :)

@AngelWingGamingJacob- lol, hopefully the Designators will have something to say about that... ;) @Das Attorney- cheers matey, looking forwards to any updates you've made to "those which shall not be named"..! Even at this stage I don't get tired of scaring myself with the Designators scripting- great work! @BadLuckBurt- Aye man, it's pretty big. For nearly ALL of my structures I'll use a Multimat as I've heard they're the most efficient way to map buildings etc. I think the limit for texture slots for a MultiMat is 4 slots, and for this structure I only used 3 textures @ 1024*2048 as it is very tall with a lot of unique areas when you get up close. @serjames- The other Chimney types I'll be doing will have ladders yes man, but I might do a variation for this one with a ladder upto the mid section, then "break" the ladder runners as it's an overhang and would look crazy for a unit to climb the top part I think...

@ TokyoIndia- cheers dude, you should be happy as I've got a couple of piccies to show right now as it happens..! ;) @ PurePassion- Thanks very much for reminding folk it IS a work in progress, muchly appreciated mate. :) Well, here's another update, this time of an Industrial Chimney Stack. I'll be doing five variational Chimney Stacks to scatter across the island in the many industrial areas, all based roughly around RL designs from ref photos I've got. This one I'm really happy with- the original design was about half this size (This one's about 45 meters tall..!) and its main feature was that lovely flared top section so it forms a sort of huge high overhang if you stand underneath it at the base- quite an overbearing structure which is what I like, again with the large forms high up overhead which will be a "signature" of NOVA ZONA. I've taken a bit of artistic license with this one too, adding those strange circular vents at the top and all those little holes too to remove it slightly from the norm. I won't be going too far with details like these, just enough to push it "out there" a little bit... I've also added some large industrial tiling at the base where the little side pipe joins the bottom- something that's quite a feature in the STALKER games and always looks nice and creepy to me..! Anyway guys, here's an overall shot of the form and a close up of top and bottom. To give you an idea of scale, on the bottom, that concrete base up to the tiling is 1 meter tall: ++ CHIMNEY 05 BOTTOM ++ ++ CHIMNEY 05 TOP ++ I might do another Chimney Stack variation next too, they're good fun and don't take too long..! Take it easy guys.