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meshcarver

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Posts posted by meshcarver

  3. Posted

    *awakes from slumber*

    Guys, I'm slowly chipping away at this in the wee hours when I can- I've done another house structure, made adjustments (The Island Authority has their say in the "plumbing" on Border Island) to an pre-existing house and am midway through another structure atm.

    My question is this- is there currently anyone still interested in this enough to want to see progress shots? By that, I mean in the modelling software view port? I won't be sticking them ingame this time around as I need to concentrate utterly on just modelling the bastards because of time constraints.

    Or is it simply taking too long..?

  4. Posted · Edited by meshcarver

    Hi,

    As I want to be able to have a set of objects to build various say, factory layouts around my map, I will be building sections of piping, sections of factory high walls and different factory buildings.

    Now, some of these will obviously be enterable (buildings), so what's the situation when it comes to pushing say a piping object up against one of the factory walls? Or say, pushing two different buildings right up against one another?

    As long as I don't block a doorway, is this ok? I mean for players maybe catching on the edges of GEOlods or something?

    Can I put little snap points into the model to make this totally accurate too?

    Also, I'll be modelling some of those lovely STALKERish pipelines that go all over the map, so I have decided to model them in two parts- the base and the actual pipe. This way I can place the base down, then put the piping onto it and rotate it to any direction- is this fine to do, sort of "floating" the piping on top of the base? I mean, will it fall off or something if you see what I mean?

    Guys, if there's any potential problems with any of this stuff, I'd love to hear about it...

    Marc

    PS- also, thinking about it, BI routinely push rocks through each other to form huge rock face areas etc, and there's no flickering of visual mesh- so is this also an accepted way to do things, for say a set of piping being pushed through the side of a factory wall?

  6. Posted · Edited by meshcarver

    Hi guys,

    damn, so much info- thanks..!

    I'm ok as far as the FIRElod info goes, I know that,but it was more about heights/player walk overs/jutting lengths of fences up against each other to make make longer sections of fencing etc- is there anything to bear in mind about modelling them when it comes to that?

    I mean, obviously I'll have to model the "end" piece of say a solid brick wall/fence, but do I then just butt up another of the same model right up against it to make a longer fence? Do you see what I mean.? And, in this case could the player become stuck/glitched on the "joining"" part?

    These are the kind of questions I'd love to hear answers to.

    While I'm on it too- how about rocks? If I would like to be able to model rocks that can be placed/sunk at ANY rotation, wouldn't they need a ROADWAYlod all over them? If so, how does that work?

  8. Posted

    Hi guys,

    I'm going to start doing sections of walls and fences soon, but apart from the height for vault animations/walk overs (Is there a guide to these heights and what they are too?) are there any other factors that need to be taken into account when creating these pieces?

    How for instance, if you want a lowish stone wall, would you model the LODs if you would like it to stop players from walking through it, whilst if you pushed it down into the terrain a little, then they are allowed to walk over it?

    Thanks

  10. Posted

    Hi guys,

    I'm trying to find time to now just plough through modelling all the assets I'll need for NOVA ZONA- and so I've decided to take the minimalist approach and JUST model and texture say, a house- but, I will not at this point do the time sink LODs like 5-7 versions of resolution lodding for example.

    Now, if I do this, then place all these (Unreslodded) structures onto a new terrain, when I DO eventually make the reslods, will I have to hand by hand replace all of the structures or can I simply update a "database" of my structures somewhere that'll update all of them across the terrain?

    Sorry for the daft question, but if I'm ever to make NOVA ZONA a reality, I believe this is the most productive way for me to do it as I will see more visual progress faster this was and that helps me keep my motivation up as time is so f&*(^g scarce...

    thanks lads,

    Marc

  13. Posted

    @ Misty Ronin- cheers dude, I am trying to find time for it mate.

    @ Fennek- Hey man, thank you for your suggestions and those links..! :)

    It's intentional that they look almost alien (Can't believe you noticed..!) as the closer the player gets to the centrer of NOVA ZONA, the more detached from our reality it will get for them visually and in other ways. Believe it or not, I did actually draw in a few separators/fuseboxes but decided it broke the flow of all those curves and round bends so left them out.

    The theme of this area is spheres and curves mostly, with those horrible organic growths slowly ingesting all the dead wildlife and human life that strays too close or doesn't get out in time...

    Even the little weird bobble headed plants are spheres you see? I want the player to feel like he's trespassing somewhere almost alien to Earth.

    In this way, the centre will be in sharp contrast to the majority of the island where things will look suitably industrial don't worry..!

    @ Shurka- Cheers dude, I have a STALKER Wiki linked on my iPad for ages now and have come up with a lot of new Anomalies, but thank you all the same..!

    @ Soolie- Lol, cheers dude..! I just wish I could dangle it a lot quicker mate (That sounded so wrong on so many levels...) as if it's frustrating for you guys who want to see this happen, how do you think it feels for me..? This having to manage my time malarkey is killing me... concept art is where I need to focus right now I'm afraid as it will pay the bills.

  14. Posted

    Hi guys,

    @ Alex-X-xSQ- Thanks for the advice man, and you'll find below I've tried to explain a little about the reasons behind NOVA ZONAs demise so to give people a better understanding of what they can expect and why. Also, yes, I do have a design document of sorts- my beloved notebooks..! :)

    @ Defunkt- (Lol avatar as always..!) Aye, Kiroy is a fantastic creator and a good guy- if I ever did edge towards wanting to form a team, he'd be one of a few I hold in high esteem for sure as there are some extremely talented and enthusiastic creators in this community.

    Saying that, Kiorys post explains very well how I feel about the whole team thing and we do have our own projects and we want to keep it that way mate.

    @ Koiry- well said man. :)

    Anyway, after eeking away at this, I've finally got my new concept piece done... this one is showing a typical scene you can expect to encounter if you're ever unlucky enough to find yourself in the vicinity of ++ THE FEEDERS ++

    This area, which should measure about 3kms by 3kms can be thought of as a perimeter around the centre of NOVA ZONAs affliction, and is directly linked to the incident that unfolded to create a New Zone on the once relativity uneventful Border Island (Kordonu Ostrovy).

    If you did manage to somehow pass this "perimeter", your life would be almost immediately on a count down as there is yet no known way for living beings to survive for more than 20 minutes in the actual Ground Zero of NOVA ZONA... hence, there is a lot of interest and exploration attempts to pass THE FEEDERS as who is to say what you could find where few have managed to tread and return..?

    The vague similarity to a Concentration Camp is intentional- I visited the Dachau Concentration Camp a few years back and was struck in all sorts of ways, but the visual appearance was absolutely horrific to me.

    As for the relevance of the actual spheres themselves- lets just say that there are exactly as many of them as there were civilian inhabitants on Border Island... each one represented a once living person, now long dead.

    Where you see a full single sphere- that was an adult.

    Where you see clusters atop each other or otherwise joined- that represented a family unit.

    Where you see a half sphere- that was an infant.

    So from this hopefully you can begin understand the horror of what the Border Island Authorities were actually involved in, and believe me- it's not even close to revealing the enormity of what they were doing over a very long period of time- that part you will have to discover for yourselves.

  15. Posted · Edited by meshcarver

    Guys, a bit of a personal requset here as I need your advice with something in regards the backstory to NOVA ZONA.

    I'm currently working on another concept piece, but this one is utterly relevant to why NOVA ZONA is the way it is- and, in that regard I should probably need to explain what the concept is showing, but in doing so I'm afraid I'll be "telling too much" at this early stage and am also weary of the idea getting reproduced elsewhere... You know what the internet's like and I've put a hell of a lot of time and effort into creating the backstory...

    So, would you guys like me to describe what the concept is showing when it's finished, or should I keep my trap shut?

    Or, should I water down the description maybe?

    Otherwise, it'll just be a concept with no real idea for you of what it's showing...

    Any feedback is welcome chaps, and yes, if I get the chance once this one is done, I'LL BE BACK ONTO ACTUALLY MODELLING NOVA ZONA AGAIN..! Whoopie f%#}[^g doo, it's about time...

    Also, in regards kind and advice orientated posts about creating a team, I'm at the point where I'm just going to write an "automated response" reply guys...

    Please don't take it bad, but I was talking to Kiory yesterday about how I am getting emails almost daily asking me to form a team and I like to reply to every email I get but this is just wasting time now, so I'll just post the pre-written response back from now on...

    While we're on the subject, you should check out Kiorys new video for his upcoming map Boreas, he knows his stuff and it looks amazing...

  18. Posted · Edited by meshcarver

    Hi guys,

    a slightly off topic post here in a way, as I'm carrying on with learning concept art and decided to do one inspired by THE LAST OF US as I've never played it but have seen enough of its development artwork to really want to have a go myself.

    From seeing various screenshots, I really liked the way their artists tried to convey a sense of nature reclaiming the earth after mankind has gone and also that the apocalypse doesn't necessarily have to be a grim and desolate wasteland all the time- there could be little pockets of beauty and graceful decay if you were to look hard enough.

    Again, I'm trying out different techniques here, having first done a very basic model and light pass and used that as the basis for starting the paint over:

    Inspired by THE LAST OF US

    Anyway, back to NOVA ZONA stuff..!

    @ RedPhoenix- I do hope so if I ever get a chance to work on it.

    @ serjames- Indeed man, it's a rare game were the actual graphics match the concepts but the lines are blurring more and more these days... but thanks for the nice comments dude. :)

    @ James2464- I will man, cheers.

    @ WarriorJ- Hi mate, aye the response from the community has been fantastic and utterly motivating. I can't in all honesty devote any meaningful time to this lately because quite simply my work really does have to be in a form were I can actually get by off it..!

    NOVA ZONA is utterly dead time in that regard- it takes up a hell of a lot of time,energy, resources, money and all the while detracts from my learning new skills to futher my career, namely- concept art.

    It's not a case of being overwhelmed as such, as I could happily produce all the assets required myself- it's just that TIME (money) is in short supply so I have to micro manage where I spend that time.

    Sadly, NOVA ZONA is never going to win in that battle as it's not going to pay the bills of which there are many.

    As far as taking on a team, please go back a fair few pages to see a lengthy post I made in response to a simillar idea that argues why I'd really not prefer to go down that route at all mate.

    @ Russianboy- Good afternoon good sir..! :)

    Your English is fine by me mate, no problem.

    There's no actual map to test yet..! As of my last workings on NOVA ZONA I was still producing assets.

    @ Pepe Hal- Ahhh..! A nice breath of fresh air in that post Pepe thanks..!!! It's just refreshing to hear that someone knows there's no Beta or "playable map" yet lol...

    Again aye, I AM motivated to hell and back for NOVA ZONA, but time is the boss here guys...

    Saying that, my next concept art peice will be of NOVA ZONA, in an area I've developed (at least in my sketch pads!) called "THE FEEDERS"... it is not an area to be taken lightly. ;)

    Anyway, always a pleasure to see there's still some interest in this stalled project guys- it's hugely motivating and keeps the fire burning...

    I'm grateful for the time you take in posting here, so thanks.

  19. Posted · Edited by meshcarver

    @ LinuxMaster9- hey thanks man! Nice to know NOVA ZONA is someones wallpaper down in Mississippi, a fantastic place! I drove through there on my way to New Orleans to see in the Millenium! Happy days..! :cool:

    I haven't started the actual Terrain yet, a long way off. I have made all the assets I've shown but am finding it exetremely difficult to find time for this in general... A few pages back you'll find a long post that explains why but it's a bit depressing lol.

    @ rzon- Damn man, thanks very much! My confidence isn't very high with all this as it's a step I'm trying to make to get back to my roots of actual drawing and I really really enjoy it. The competition is pretty high I believe, yes... So all these concepts I'm doing will help the process and they'll pay off with RL work too in the long run which is the most important.

    @ Pepe Hal- Wow, I really hope so..! It's bloody nice to hear some positive feedback at this stage as I'm trying out so many new methods and learning as I go... I'm going to do one next completely inspired by The Last Of Us concept work, so no NOVA ZONA for that one- a bit of diversity and a challenge to try to fit it into thst particular universe...

    @ Alex-X-xSW- Gee shucks dude... thanks very much indeed..!

  20. Posted

    Alright lads,

    sorry I haven't answered your comments yet, but I've been super busy again blah blah... :(

    @ Alex-X-xSQ- Thanks Alex, that's a nice compliment man! :)

    @ rzon- Cheers bud!

    @ Electricleash- Thanks man, and aye, I've seen his work before mate- fantastic stuff! Such good imagery and atmosphere in all his work, he's a proper artist.

    @ Shurka- Hey, cheers for those links man, appreciated! I'll give them a look once I get the chance! :)

    In my free time I've done another concept piece, this time going for a slightly more "saturated" look and taking inspiration from some of the AMAZING concept art created for The Last Of Us (Which I haven't played as don't own a console, but I utterly appreciate the quality of it).

    As I'm still just learning this concept art stuff, I'm trying my hand at some different methods to see the kind of results you can achieve.

    With this one, I roughly modelled out the scene first, dropped a few lights in and rendered it out and used that as a base to start painting over. The main advantages of this method is you can obviously nail your perspective spot on from the off (I adjusted the lens also, to be a bit "fisheye"), and you can tweak the light sources until you're more or less happy and then go from there.

    I was trying to create another atmospheric piece, this time of an interior that subtly hints at an Anomaly down that big round tunnel- hence the greenish blue glow.

    During the process I had all sorts of variations of anomaly drawn up, but the more in your face they were, the less convincing they seemed to me- I even had loads of greenish yellow gas pouring out of the entrance but it seemed too over the top for what I have in mind for NOVA ZONA...

    I even sketched in a Stalker, pressed right up against the wall under the light to show him trying to summon the courage to turn the corner but it made it look too "gamey"!

    Anyway guys, I hope you like it and the good news is I THINK I'll be freed up soon to start working back on churning 3D structure etc out again... it's been f&*^%$£g so tough to try to not think about NOVA ZONA for so long... my sweet sweet baby... ;)

    ++ IN THE NEW ZONE, EVERY SINGLE CORNER IS A POTENTIAL DEATH TRAP ++

  23. Posted

    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.

  24. Posted

    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 ++

  25. Posted

    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.

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