US 75th Rangers

[US 75th Rangers]

Still working away behind the scenes, progress is coming along nicely. Been getting things ready for the gear pack alpha release as well as trying to get some other assets possibly ready. Haven't had alot of time to post progress pics, so wanted to at least drop in and show off some of Sahio's recent works. I'm planning to get the WIP thread up soon, which will be a nice treat, as it will show some of the other gear that's been developed and never shown. Blows me away when I see how many new assets we have on the way....shaping up to be the biggest gear pack release ever in A3. 

 

These 2 items are among some of my favorites, and while they don't necessarily fit in anywhere particular, I'm sure people will still appreciate having these available. Something a bit different from the standard-issue stuff.

 

Spoiler

Some call it the Crye AVS/JPC killer...I just call it one badass plate carrier: 

 

 

[US 75th Rangers]

33 minutes ago, wsxcgy said:

sahio's output is crazy though. does he sleep? is he going to be okay?

 

I wonder the same thing sometimes, lol. Hell those pics only showed 2 of the vests he did...not even to mention the other one which wasn't shown. I was absent for 3 days, and he had 3 new models ready when I got back....mans a machine. I think he's just planning to move to China one day, so getting himself ready for a job there, lol. 

[US 75th Rangers]

Sorry guys, didn't manage to get that alpha release done yet, wasn't quite ready yet so I pushed it back just a bit. Don't wanna get too hasty and make a sloppy release, so just making sure the end product is up to par with what I'd like as a standard for the whole pack.

 

Also, even though I'm slacking a bit, Sahio still hasn't missed a beat. So here's a quick look at some of his newest additions:

 

Eagle Industries Land Combat Integrated Releasable Armor System (CIRAS-L)

Eagle Industries Modular Body Armor Vest (MBAV)

[US 75th Rangers]

M50 Gas Mask

Spoiler

 

[US 75th Rangers]

Haven't had much time to work on the mag panel for the AVS, but I did get some of it put together and adjusted the multicam colors for a quick test. There are 2 rows of the front panel that have varied alterations to the colors, they should be pretty noticeable. One row showing a lighter 'brown' multicam pattern, and the other showing the 'green' pattern. In O2 they both look equally great....but ingame, I feel they are still too saturated and probably the worst effect is the difference compared to the current uniforms. Anyhow, just a test, can always adjust things down the road. 

 

[US 75th Rangers]

Alright, it's the weekend and I'm working on getting everything sorted for the gear pack alpha release. As said before, this release will be very limited, so don't expect anything major. Mainly just meant to give a preview of things coming. 

 

Also, wanted to show some WIP pics of the item Sahio is currently working on. Figured I would give everyone an inside look to the modelling side of things, and may do this a bit more for other items as well. This asset is one that was somewhat requested, and thought it was a great item to be added (and one we overlooked). Even though this will also be included for the Ranger pack, I decided to keep the pics hidden to keep from flooding the page. I'll be editing this post with new pics as Sahio gets further along with it. So we would like to present to you, the M50 Gas Mask:

 

Spoiler

 

[US 75th Rangers]

7 minutes ago, road runner said:

and never use the Virtual arsenal to base your camo's off either, use Malden with no sunlight ( that was my personal preference due to limited artificial light sources)

 

Absolutely, the VA is not the place for judging lighting adjustments, much different than the lighting on the maps. You're spot on though, those pics were taken on Malden, even though some sunlight was present, I tried to keep it so it wasn't glaring right on them. 

 

13 minutes ago, Hvymtal said:

Just be careful not to do the camouflage too light; they may be quite pretty but overly bright uniforms are a tactical handicap, especially in Arma where lighting and shadows may not be consistent.

 

And I can most definitely agree with that statement, I'd prefer a texture thats too dark over one thats too bright anyday. Reminds me of all the retextures we've seen that weren't desaturated properly, making them visible from a distance and not blending well even in shaded areas.

 

Non-Ranger related:

Spoiler

Added an insignia area on the back plate, should be useful for certain applications:

 

[US 75th Rangers]

Currently getting our mag panel fit onto the AVS, see if I can possibly have that ready in time for the alpha. The magazines in it currently are just placeholders, gonna swap them out with the pmags before its done. We'll also have the triple M4 pouch flap as well, to add a little more variation. And going back to the talks about the darkness of the mcam, I'll do a test run on this front panel and play with the colors a bit to see what can be done. If all goes well and it looks good, we can carry that over. I just know if we alter it too much, it won't go well with the current Ranger uniform textures. Which I have no intention at all of messing about with Will's retextures, that opens up a whole new can of worms. But since we will have new uniform models along the line, if we're able to come up with something that everyone agrees with, then that could be done on those as well. 

 

[US 75th Rangers]

5 hours ago, Bitesrad said:

However, the textures seem very dark. Even with those brightness edited screens showing the goods off in game, it's still hard to make out details. Any chance you'll adjust the texture brightness in the future? It's one of the reasons I found the original pack a bit off putting. The texture and model quality was fine, but they just stood out like sore thumbs ingame due to being too dark.

 

25 minutes ago, wsxcgy said:

yeah, I've always felt their multicam on the uniforms and headgear was way too dark and desaturated. I generally use the look of the Multicam done by Sabre for RHS and Spec4Gear as a sort of reference for how I should have my multicam looking.

 

I'll see what I can do, afterall, this was only the base texture whipped together for UV placement. I tried not to spend a ton of time putting it together in the beginning because I knew I would be editing it afterwards. And no offense to anyone, but if I look at 100 different photos of mcam, almost every one of them is a different shade/hue/saturation from the others (then throw in the fact that there's different generations of mcam to make things even more complicated). Even Sabre's MCAM doesn't match perfectly to every photo out there. So where does this end? This draws us back into the endless battle of adjusting lightness/saturation settings trying to find that perfect match that everyone is satisfied with. Then hope that no one has different video/montior settings than mine, otherwise they will still say it needs changing. What looks good to one person, doesn't look good to others....yada yada yada. Arma's lighting can be a bitch to work with, since it oversaturates and brightens everything, so we do what we can to desaturate the colors and make them not pop out ingame, but this can also lead to it becoming too dark. I do agree, Sabre has the best textures around, but I'm not him and I can't hope to perfectly match his colors/hues (The guys a texture god). Add the fact that he possibly uses overlays for dirt/wear/desaturation/etc, makes it even harder. I know in a perfect world, all mods would have matching patterns between them, but unfortunately thats not the case, and we either try to make it match as closely as possible, or we do our own design with it...or beg Sabre to come do our textures. Add the fact that I also use ReShade in A3, so that already throws off what I see compared to others that don't use it (which also makes RHS stuff look overly saturated for me). I agree with both of you, that our textures are a bit darker than the standard patterns that are seen around the community, but I really don't feel like it kills the details or makes them stand out (I was able to see the details of the vest quite well ingame, even from a distance)...unless you're standing them next to RHS units or something like that. Almost feels like we're going back to the whole 'Ranger Green' scenario (Which stressed Hawaiian out enough to call for a break). Please don't take this as me bashing either of you for your comments, just trying to get an understanding of what needs to be done and the challenges that we're facing. I will make some changes to the patterns and see what we can do to make them more appealing, but I don't plan to spend too much time on it as I have sooo many things to do. Right now I'm more focused on getting these assets done and working ingame, then we can always come back afterwards and make tweaks to them. I guess in the end if people don't like the way things look, retextures are permitted. 

 

BTW, the pics I posted weren't photo edited in any way, apart from the border around the pics. Used the built in camera to snap the pics and I'm sure ReShade has much to do with the lighting that is seen there.  Colors/brightness settings have always been an issue with any mod out there, and it can be very hard to find that perfect balance, but we'll definitely do our best to make it right.

[US 75th Rangers]

And now for an early look at the Rangers new AVS:

[US 75th Rangers]

Okay, now that I have a little more time, I'll go over some of the details on the AVS. The base texture/UV mapping is done, for now, and I'll admit I got a little sloppy at the end doing the harness, only because I was so eager to get it done I was kinda rushing through things. So even though it may look great, the UV map is a mess and definitely will require some fine tuning afterwards. Same goes for the textures themselves, mostly the textures that have been placed on have been for referencing for UV placement. Some of the textures are final, just needing dirt/worn overlays, but many will be edited further to achieve the quality that I'm looking for. This is especially visible with things like the brightness/saturation of the straps/velcro/other misc smaller parts. So plenty of things that still need editing and fixing, but now that the base texture is complete, will speed up the process with getting the rest done as well as the other color variants. Which means we are on track for an alpha release of the AVS. Probably shouldn't be saying this, but I had planned on having it ready this last weekend which didn't quite work out. I'll be using the rest of this week to try and get things situated with it, and no promises, but shooting for this coming weekend for the first release.

 

Which leads me to another thing I wanted to make clear to everyone. One thing about Sahio pumping these models out, is it kinda gives the impression that things are almost done and ready for release soon, which is pretty far from the truth. Much of this stuff will take time to get 100% complete, and I don't want anyone getting their hopes up only to find out they may have a wait ahead, but one things sure...once it is complete, will be one hell of a gear/units pack. 

 

And finally, I wanted to mention how we will be handling the new models. As I mentioned before, once a base version of an item is complete, it will go into an alpha release for public preview. We will be attaching a version number to the models themselves, allowing us to easily keep track of changes made/needing to be made. So all first releases for any models will be considered alpha until the final version is released (v1.0). During this alpha phase, many changes will be made to the UV's, textures, RV's, and possibly to the models themselves, so not to be taken as final product for anyone looking to do retextures or modifications. With this first gear pack release, I am hoping to include alpha versions of the AVS, Safariland holster, Wrist Map, Throat Mic, and possibly a few other misc items such as shades, gps, etc. Some models may include alternate color/camo variants with their alpha, and some won't until final release. I wanted to do it this way so that the community will get to preview much of this as its being made, without waiting until the very end. 

 

5 hours ago, road runner said:

Pretty shit looking to be honest!!  

 

I see what you did there, nice one, lol. When I first saw the comment on the home page and could only see the first part, I was like really? Is it that bad? Thought it looked pretty good myself, lol. 

[US 75th Rangers]

No time for words, worked on this a bit later than I had planned. So have a look:

 

[US 75th Rangers]

On 3/24/2018 at 2:45 PM, Hvymtal said:

If I may be that guy for just a sec, may I ask that you include the red/black coloration of the bump, maybe not necessarily in the Rangers pack but... somewhere? It works quite well for civilian applications and there isn't currently much in the way of modern rock climbing/EMS/rescue lids. it is completely unrelated to the military stuff so I absolutely understand if you say no. I've just been having a thing for EMS and rescue ever since Laws of War released...

 

It's okay to be 'that guy' around here, because unlike some, we don't ridicule people that make requests...we actually welcome it. So yeah, I think we could probably squeeze in the red/black color variant for the bump helmet, would be cool to add in some SAR gear for some variety. 

[US 75th Rangers]

Spoiler

Ops-Core Fast Bump High Cut

Ops-Core Fast Carbon High Cut

 

Sahio after finishing these pains in the ass (but worth it):

 

[US 75th Rangers]

17 hours ago, broduz said:

I have to say I appreciate the consideration you give to fellow modders out there, Its a class act. Bravo, Sir!

I hope that you guys keep the same level of variation when it comes to your helmets (ie, with and without shemags and goggles etc.) that was a trademark of this mod IMHO.

 

Many thanks bro...duz. I've seen way too many shitty acts by other people around these forums and elsewhere that deals with using content they don't have permission to use. So with that in mind, we try to respect everyones work in the community, and do things the right way. Not gonna lie though, if we didn't have a modeller pumping things out for us, I woulda been hard pressed to let go of that other opscore model, lol. And as for the variations for the helmets, you can most definitely expect to see the same amount if not more. We will be doing some shemaghs and other various items to further increase the amount of variation options that are available ontop of what is already here. And now that we'll be doing hiddenSelections for the models, this will also give everyone the freedom to create their own variants, choosing exactly what they want.

 

11 hours ago, SSG Halverson said:

So for these sexy new helmets can we expect to see the newer helstar strobe being used? Or more of the mantis and MS2000 strobes?

 

Funny you mentioned that, because I have looked at the Helstar numerous times now, thinking about adding it to our model list. Still unsure though. We already have the Manta and MS2000 strobes done, so those are definite. So I guess we'll see, currently we are adding and doing models for things that are highly needed or necessary, so if we do add the Helstar, it will be a little later down the line. But then again, I do like adding things that haven't been done yet....so maybe we can bump it forward....decisions decisions.

 

6 hours ago, road runner said:

It might be worth moving this back into the WiP section and renaming it 75th Ranger V.2 , as it's more or less a complete overhaul of the original ??

 

In the beginning, I had only planned for this to be 'improvements' for the mod rather than a full overhaul. But I do agree with you, as things have progressed, it is turning into a full remake. As I've always said from the beginning though, no matter how much I change in the mod, I still intend to keep much of Hawaiian's work intact and available. I do believe we are getting to the point now though to permit a new thread. This would allow me to manage the page (updating the home page as needed) and bring attention to the mod overhaul. I think I'll wait until I have an update ready for the mod (full update, not hotfix) and then open up a new thread for the project probably labeled in the same way you mentioned...something like 75th Rangers v2. As well as starting a WIP thread that will cover all of the non-Ranger assets and other units that are also in development. 

 

And to everyone, thank you for properly showing your appreciation to Sahio and his models. Even though he isn't a member here, he does look over the thread from time to time to see how things are going, and the reactions people have made to his work. I'm pretty certain that your comments can be more motivating for him than me always telling him how great everything looks all the time, lol.

 

[US 75th Rangers]

So a few posts back I had displayed a pic of a Ranger unit which was wearing a new opscore helmet model that had been donated by another author earlier on in the mod. Well, unfortunately, we have decided not to use this model since we have been unable to reach the author, whom has been inactive for a good period of time. Even though permission had been given back with Hawaiian, that doesn't necessarily extend to any parties that may have access to the source files thereafter. So with respect to everyones work, we have concluded to pursue other options. The Opscore helmet has been an on/off debate for quite some time, thinking of changing the model...modifying the current one...and now we finally put that debate to rest. 

 

I am proud to present our newest addition: Opscore helmets. Completely new models done by our talented Sahio, which I must say, look outstanding. So far, we have 3 different models, with a couple more on the way. The current ones that are finished include the Fast XP High Cut, Fast MT Super High Cut, and the Fast SF Super High Cut. Lastly, I threw in a demo pic for another unit showing off the new helmet model. Enjoy.

 

Ops-Core Fast MT Super High Cut & Fast XP High Cut

Ops-Core Fast SF Super High Cut

Spoiler

 

[US 75th Rangers]

And now for one of our first laser-cut plate carriers:

 

Spoiler

First Spear Strandhogg Plate Carrier

 

 

Furthermore, we'll probably be doing both MBAV and SAPI cut plate versions with most plate carriers that come in these styles. This one still has some edits to be made for the SAPI cut.

[US 75th Rangers]

6 hours ago, ruff said:

Are the vests coming with battle belts with pistol holders?

 

I think that's a possibility possibly.

 

6 hours ago, BLACKOUT6IX said:

I'm even more hyped now that I know they will fit RHS uniforms

 

So what you saying, that our uniform models look like crap? JK. Yeah, no guarantees yet on a firm fit, but from what I've seen so far, shouldn't be too hard getting them scaled to fit both the vanilla and RHS uniforms. That pic was done using the model scaled to vanilla, and has only a few areas of clipping on the RHS uniform.

[US 75th Rangers]

Spoiler

Teaser test with AVS using RHS:

 

 

[US 75th Rangers]

4 hours ago, road runner said:

One thing you guys will need to do with regards to the holsters, is to either have them look perfect with addons, such as Rob Hammers, or the default BIS handguns, as the proxies are different in both cases, where one will look perfect, the other will be out of line, over scaling the holster might be some sort of compromise, either that, you create your own handgun pack, and have it as a dependency??

 

This is a good point, I haven't done alot of testing with all the different addon pistols that are available out there. So that's something I will look over and see what we can do with it. I would rather it be properly aligned for addon pistols rather than default (since there's hardly any default pistols ingame), but this all depends how many addons have it setup in a custom way vs how many use the default proxy. Maybe make 2 models to adjust for both....who knows. 

 

Seriously doubting a custom weapons pack from our side for several reasons. Sahio is fond and pretty damn good at modelling firearms, so I have no doubt he would be all for it, Eduardo is also keen to the idea. But for myself, too much work and not enough time. I'm already so packed with things to do with just the gear, I don't even wanna think about weapons/vehicles/etc. Personally, I would rather rely on community mods to cover these areas, especially since there are so many good packs out there. Maybe...just maybe....if we finish all this up, and everyone is still feeling spunky enough to have another go...we may start looking into those areas (since vehicle's aren't outside of Sahio's reach either). In the end, just all comes down to time. I'm working my ass off trying to catch up to all the models he keeps spitting out, while trying to follow up behind him doing everything else required to get them ingame, looking good, and working in the best possible way I know how. Never knew any of this stuff before I met Will and started working with him on things, that dude taught me alot. I guess we'll see as things progress whether more things are tackled or not.

 

(Now if, for example, some author out there that is familiar with weapons and the likes would like to get involved to do the work needed to get them working and polished up, that may be something we would be interested in looking further into.)

[US 75th Rangers]

6 minutes ago, NissanLawyer said:

Few questions, do you guys use a specific value when setting a distance between the vest and the uniform or do you scale by eye? Also, I see you guys have (what looks like?) a safariland 6354DO holster?

Are the coordinates of the handgun model when used with a hip holster, a fixed position set by the engine or is it determined by the modeler?

And lastly (not sure if this is the right place to ask) I know you guys are already doing a lot of work already, but is it possible to twitch or record the modding process, modelling, getting it game ready etc? 

 

Most of the positioning done between the vest and uniform is by eye, just seeing what looks best and most natural. The holster model was based off the Safariland 6004 w/light bearing and optic, but through textures and normals we can make it look similar to many of the 6xxx series. 

 

No, holster positions aren't fixed in any way, only the animation for drawing/holstering is (which can be altered with custom anims). Can be placed anywhere and still have the pistol show up in the holster as it should. 

 

Might consider streaming some of the work process at some point...dunno. My time frame to work on things is very inconsistent, so probably would be pointless until I have a day dedicated or something. But our modeller, Sahio, is always interested in helping and showing how things are done, so he would probably be up for doing it.

[US 75th Rangers]

2 hours ago, road runner said:

Just a little constructive criticism, I'd thin the front and rear panels on some of these new vests, SAPI plates are not that thick, mine are less than 1.5cm in thickness, and were standard issue to US Mil back in the day.
Also, are you guys going to make the LBT 9022 IFAK that seems more common worn on waist belts these days??

 

Appreciate it, trying to stay pretty accurate, so criticism is welcome. I'll make some small adjustments to some of the plates, see if we can get them a bit more standard. Gotta keep in mind too that we have to compromise a bit for the game, since the inside sits against the player body, we want to avoid clipping issues while still being wearable among different uniform types. But I'm sure we can work it within reason. As for the 9022IFAK, surely looks to be no problem.

[US 75th Rangers]

Spoiler

Sahio sent this over to me just as I was about to sign off, so had to whip up some pics.

 

LBT-6094A

 

[US 75th Rangers]

Don't want the Rangers feeling abandoned with all this other stuff, so threw together a quick demo for a Ranger unit using the assets available so far.

 

Some things to keed in mind with the photo:

- Nothings final

- The Opscore model is an alternate option we have to DaveGary's, created by another community author and was donated earlier on in the Ranger project. We are currently trying to contact the author to ensure it is still allowed to be used.

- Plenty of shit is misplaced, not properly scaled, and just all around out of whack, so don't take anything as even remotely complete. These demos are just to give an overall idea and inside look to what's coming.

 

[US 75th Rangers]

Got a couple more models to show you guys, Sahio is spitting these things out like he's working in a factory or something. But, I'm not complaining, as I'm sure no one else is either. 

 

Spoiler

Crye Precision Low Profile Chest Rig

 

 

Crye Precision Jumpable Plate Carrier 2.0 (JPC)