If you texture a unit you can get into a play test. So if you wanted to see how the game was coming along and actually wanted to help, texture a unit. Just be sure to call dibs on what unit you are going to texture.
THE BAD NEWS
Estimates are putting the PN done sometime in late June. The creator of the PN (me) has a very difficult time with photoshop/gimp. Which makes texturing a slow slow process.
THE GOOD NEWS
Scripting and animating the PN actually takes a relativity small time compared to texturing. Textures for CT are very simple, and I imagine for anyone who knows there way around Photoshop, easy to create. I mean the PN units use white, black, two shades of gray, and the occasional PN stamped somewhere on it.
So if people who are interested and want to see the game done faster. Post here please and i will supply you with more details.
Texturing a unit will get you into a play test!
Moderators: Moderators, Content Developer
Texturing a unit will get you into a play test!
Last edited by oksnoop2 on 25 Apr 2010, 19:45, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Help me texture the PN
well, its a heroic effort. lets hear some numbers! how many left to texture?
i would suggest dropping an example of a texture and a screenshot of said texture applied to a model for a subjective critique on here (if you'd like one)
i feel like im pretty speedy these days with texturing, i guess i'll give you an quick rundown of my process and see if you can glean anything of note.
-3d max-
once my model is finished and unwrapped, i use the "texporter" plugin to create a texture colored by face normals, at the size i want my final texture (512x512 for instance)
once i have the "texporter image" i apply it to my model as a material and set the self-illumination of the texture to 100 in order to remove shadows and other unwanted complications
-fireworks-
i use the vector path tool to trace around the edges of the texporter image, "filling in" the colored boxes with a basic panel color. i try to go one pixel outside of the texporter boxes to prevent my edges bleeding, but its not an exact science... check the texture on the model often to make sure you're getting the results you want. i prefer using vector paths to drawing a bitmap directly because instead of having to erase things when i make a mistake, i can just drag vertices around and resize
once i have all of a "set" of features with a solid fill (lets say... armored panels) then i put them together on a layer and apply effects to them as a group. that's the nice thing about fireworks, the effects are super fast to apply and manipulate
anyways just a quick graphic will make it easier to explain...
1st panel is just the flat textures. the different colors of grey are on different layers; each is a vector object
2nd panel uses a few inner and outer glow effects to give the appearance of dimension to the panels
3rd panel uses a few more complicated techniques;
-first i select the basic panels i want to enhance and copypaste them in place on a new layer
-i drew lines using the pen tool over top of the new layer, combined the drawn lines using "combine paths"
-next used "punch paths" with the lines and the box selected to cut up the boxes
-used "inset path" to shrink the top layer back after the cut to give a panelled effect
4th panel i applied tiling metal textures to the panels. it's easy when you have each "type" of face in its own layer, so if i wanted to change the blue-ish metal to something else, i merely click once on the layer to select all shapes of that type and change the texture.
is this the sort of suggestion you can use? paths and glows and that sort of thing are doable in photoshop IIRC, i just dont know the exact process.
and obviously this was only 4 steps... you could make it a million steps if you wanted to make a really detailed texture
and the nice thing is that you can just copy and apply effects... go back to the texture you've finished and copy the styles for the next one; there is a lot of re-using involved (which saves you time)
i would suggest dropping an example of a texture and a screenshot of said texture applied to a model for a subjective critique on here (if you'd like one)
i feel like im pretty speedy these days with texturing, i guess i'll give you an quick rundown of my process and see if you can glean anything of note.
-3d max-
once my model is finished and unwrapped, i use the "texporter" plugin to create a texture colored by face normals, at the size i want my final texture (512x512 for instance)
once i have the "texporter image" i apply it to my model as a material and set the self-illumination of the texture to 100 in order to remove shadows and other unwanted complications
-fireworks-
i use the vector path tool to trace around the edges of the texporter image, "filling in" the colored boxes with a basic panel color. i try to go one pixel outside of the texporter boxes to prevent my edges bleeding, but its not an exact science... check the texture on the model often to make sure you're getting the results you want. i prefer using vector paths to drawing a bitmap directly because instead of having to erase things when i make a mistake, i can just drag vertices around and resize
once i have all of a "set" of features with a solid fill (lets say... armored panels) then i put them together on a layer and apply effects to them as a group. that's the nice thing about fireworks, the effects are super fast to apply and manipulate
anyways just a quick graphic will make it easier to explain...
1st panel is just the flat textures. the different colors of grey are on different layers; each is a vector object
2nd panel uses a few inner and outer glow effects to give the appearance of dimension to the panels
3rd panel uses a few more complicated techniques;
-first i select the basic panels i want to enhance and copypaste them in place on a new layer
-i drew lines using the pen tool over top of the new layer, combined the drawn lines using "combine paths"
-next used "punch paths" with the lines and the box selected to cut up the boxes
-used "inset path" to shrink the top layer back after the cut to give a panelled effect
4th panel i applied tiling metal textures to the panels. it's easy when you have each "type" of face in its own layer, so if i wanted to change the blue-ish metal to something else, i merely click once on the layer to select all shapes of that type and change the texture.
is this the sort of suggestion you can use? paths and glows and that sort of thing are doable in photoshop IIRC, i just dont know the exact process.
and obviously this was only 4 steps... you could make it a million steps if you wanted to make a really detailed texture
and the nice thing is that you can just copy and apply effects... go back to the texture you've finished and copy the styles for the next one; there is a lot of re-using involved (which saves you time)
- Attachments
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- :P
- pnsuggest.png (1.47 MiB) Viewed 3258 times
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SanadaUjiosan
- Conflict Terra Developer
- Posts: 907
- Joined: 21 Jan 2010, 06:21
Re: Help me texture the PN
Hmm, I never thought of applying inner glow...
Re: Help me texture the PN
what are you dudes using to maek models
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SanadaUjiosan
- Conflict Terra Developer
- Posts: 907
- Joined: 21 Jan 2010, 06:21
Re: Help me texture the PN
We use Wings.
Snoop had to speed off to a family dinner before he could reply, so I'm going to take the helm in his place for an immediate response. It looks like maybe he wasn't clear, so I'm going to try and clear things up.
Snoop was asking for people to actually make some textures for him. The level of quality for our textures is, as I imagine everyone's noticed, very low, especially those for the PN. As he said, 4 colors and a PN stamp somewhere on it are the guidelines. Reason for this is that he has a hard time getting them done, and indeed getting them done quickly. I help when I can, but I have my own faction to work on and occasionally make more units for.
I don't think even Snoop knows the total unit count, but he predicted ~90 more.
By the way, thanks for that big post on your process. I'm afraid our low quality textures are an example of the extent of my artistic capabilities, but maybe I can someday spice them up with some of the things you suggested.
Snoop had to speed off to a family dinner before he could reply, so I'm going to take the helm in his place for an immediate response. It looks like maybe he wasn't clear, so I'm going to try and clear things up.
Snoop was asking for people to actually make some textures for him. The level of quality for our textures is, as I imagine everyone's noticed, very low, especially those for the PN. As he said, 4 colors and a PN stamp somewhere on it are the guidelines. Reason for this is that he has a hard time getting them done, and indeed getting them done quickly. I help when I can, but I have my own faction to work on and occasionally make more units for.
I don't think even Snoop knows the total unit count, but he predicted ~90 more.
By the way, thanks for that big post on your process. I'm afraid our low quality textures are an example of the extent of my artistic capabilities, but maybe I can someday spice them up with some of the things you suggested.
Re: Help me texture the PN
As for what's left to do, check the PN progress page. You may see lots of white but i can bust out wings models pretty quickly, it's this texturing business that's put the big slowdown on me. I will make a clearer chart here soon.
Re: Help me texture the PN
well i have no experience in modeling & texturing nor do i know how 2 work any software related to these subjects...
if you are willing to spellout a rather simple guide and a set of clear and straightforward instructions i'am more than willing to help(i will try and put in the time as well....)
i don't know how usable my stuff will be, nor am i interested in taking(any)credit for your mod
if you are willing to spellout a rather simple guide and a set of clear and straightforward instructions i'am more than willing to help(i will try and put in the time as well....)
i don't know how usable my stuff will be, nor am i interested in taking(any)credit for your mod
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ultrasonicsite
- Posts: 43
- Joined: 25 Feb 2006, 20:09
Re: Help me texture the PN
I can help model and texture, mostly model, but this will give me an opportunity to sharpen my texturing skills. I can use Blender3D and Wings3D (But it's a demo though right? So how would that work?)
Last edited by ultrasonicsite on 22 Apr 2010, 04:07, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Help me texture the PN
also, plz un-mod me....untill i have somestuff done first...
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SanadaUjiosan
- Conflict Terra Developer
- Posts: 907
- Joined: 21 Jan 2010, 06:21
Re: Help me texture the PN
What do you mean, un-mod? Sorry, just not sure what that means.nightcold wrote:also, plz un-mod me....untill i have somestuff done first...
Re: Help me texture the PN
sorry, wronge call....misstook what the bottem thing ment....(can u remove it????)
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ultrasonicsite
- Posts: 43
- Joined: 25 Feb 2006, 20:09
Re: Help me texture the PN
What do you mean? :Dnightcold wrote:sorry, wronge call....misstook what the bottem thing ment....(can u remove it????)
Re: Help me texture the PN
Texture Flow
Wings
Select whole model in Full Mode.
Click on Combine
Rename to: k__(unitname)__
Click on UV Mapping
Select Whole model in new window.
Switch to Line Mode.
Click on Mark Edges for Cut
Click on Continue  Unfolding
Right click texture area and select Create Texture
Make sure size is 2048 x 2048 (12mb)
Background  Color  White
Draw Edges  Black  Edge Width 0.5
Right click k__(unitname)__ _auv in Outliner
Make External
Save as PNG
Open in Photoshop Or Gimp.
Color. Tips:
Have colors on new layer
Keep colors consistant (use swatches)
Texture all panels that need color (even inside panels)
Save as PSD or XCF (for Gimp users)
Save as PNG  Non-interlaced (Don't change name)
Wings
Right click texture file in Wings  Refresh
Team Colors
Black Layer  Hide
White layer on team panels
Save as PSD
Merge all in Greyscale mode
Save as BMP (no name change)
Seperate objects for animation
Do stuff in upspring
Save, export as 3D Studio (Uncheck Top Option)
DXTBMP
Open PNG
Open folder with arrow on right side, select BMP. (Make sure it's the right one)
Save as Targa with Alpha (Don't change name)
Photoshop Photoshop Or Gimp
Open Targa
Resize to 512 x 512
Save
Send to Oksnoop2 or Sanada
PN Style Guide Lines
Black
White
a1a1a1 PN Light Gray
4e4e4e PN Dark Gray
Place PN in Arial Bold somewhere on the model
___________________________________________________________
Here are links to basic tutorials
http://springrts.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=13034
http://springrts.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=10612
I will link to some models shortly.
Wings
Select whole model in Full Mode.
Click on Combine
Rename to: k__(unitname)__
Click on UV Mapping
Select Whole model in new window.
Switch to Line Mode.
Click on Mark Edges for Cut
Click on Continue  Unfolding
Right click texture area and select Create Texture
Make sure size is 2048 x 2048 (12mb)
Background  Color  White
Draw Edges  Black  Edge Width 0.5
Right click k__(unitname)__ _auv in Outliner
Make External
Save as PNG
Open in Photoshop Or Gimp.
Color. Tips:
Have colors on new layer
Keep colors consistant (use swatches)
Texture all panels that need color (even inside panels)
Save as PSD or XCF (for Gimp users)
Save as PNG  Non-interlaced (Don't change name)
Wings
Right click texture file in Wings  Refresh
Team Colors
Black Layer  Hide
White layer on team panels
Save as PSD
Merge all in Greyscale mode
Save as BMP (no name change)
Seperate objects for animation
Do stuff in upspring
Save, export as 3D Studio (Uncheck Top Option)
DXTBMP
Open PNG
Open folder with arrow on right side, select BMP. (Make sure it's the right one)
Save as Targa with Alpha (Don't change name)
Photoshop Photoshop Or Gimp
Open Targa
Resize to 512 x 512
Save
Send to Oksnoop2 or Sanada
PN Style Guide Lines
Black
White
a1a1a1 PN Light Gray
4e4e4e PN Dark Gray
Place PN in Arial Bold somewhere on the model
___________________________________________________________
Here are links to basic tutorials
http://springrts.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=13034
http://springrts.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=10612
I will link to some models shortly.
Last edited by oksnoop2 on 28 Apr 2010, 02:48, edited 3 times in total.
Re: Help me texture the PN
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RDPXERTA
Be sure to call dibs on what you decide to texture so none does a double.
If you have questions just ask.
Be sure to call dibs on what you decide to texture so none does a double.
If you have questions just ask.
Re: Help me texture the PN
quicknote, what do you mean by "make external"
call dibs on light arm vec.....
call dibs on light arm vec.....
Re: Help me texture the PN
In Wings, you need to turn on the outliner. Go to window, it's to the left of tools, and click outliner, then right click the image file that appears in the outliner and make it external.
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ultrasonicsite
- Posts: 43
- Joined: 25 Feb 2006, 20:09
Re: Help me texture the PN
Do you have MSN?oksnoop2 wrote:In Wings, you need to turn on the outliner. Go to window, it's to the left of tools, and click outliner, then right click the image file that appears in the outliner and make it external.
Re: Help me texture the PN
I have yahoo, aim, and gtalk. and mumble
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ultrasonicsite
- Posts: 43
- Joined: 25 Feb 2006, 20:09
Re: Help me texture the PN
Everything I don't have :D
Can you do IRC?
Can you do IRC?