[WIP] - My TA re-modeling and re-design

[Noruas]

I think it would look better with solar tile system if you got rid of the traditional straight line triangle flower and had stairs or zippers on the side. The V designs and boxes do not work together well, in my little worthy opinion



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instead of


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[Peet]

Hexagons might look nice.

[REVENGE]

I'd like to see a clean bluish-black reflective glass texture.

[Wolf-In-Exile]

I'm wondering if I can make a plane with alpha texture so I can bake the ground shadow on it. It'll look 2x better ingame without any perf loss.

Yes you can, just make absolutely sure your alpha blends smoothly at the edges and you have assigned enough tex space for it because low-res alphas tend to leave unsightly jagged edges.

[Cremuss]

Thx. I tried to take care of your opinions.

Second try :

http://fodb.darkstars.co.uk/files/sprin ... ngame4.jpg
Maybe too much noise and scratch on the solar panels ?

@ Warlord Zsinj : Yep, show me that tip

@ Wolf-In-Exile : ok thx

[Elkvis]

Sexy work.

[panzeriv2]

Cool! Only it looks abit too complicated.....

[Crayfish]

That's much better!

[clericvash]

That looks fracking awesome, it's so pretty!

[MR.D]

Specular map needs a little bit of work (green channel on texture-2), rest looks really good.

With the specular map, to help make the individual panels stand out better and give some more eye candy, make the borders between the diamonds on the panel less shiny, and use gradients or just really shiny areas just on the diamond spots.

Little details like that add alot to the overall look of a unit, and most times are worth indulging.

I still like my Solar redo, but the model and textures are kinda dated and semi-crappy on mine.

Cremuss you definitely made one worthy of replacing it, especially how it is true to ARM's original.

[Masure]

@Mr D

Looks really good when closed (and semi crappy texture in open state as you said but nm)

[MDV]

Cremuss, fusion pp's textures are really excellent! Your best remodel, I think.
But as for Solar Collector, I think that CA's model is better because it's more improve. I think that Peewee(rattle's), Bulldog's (and this Solar Collector) and some other models don't need new remakes, maybe some texture tweaking. It's a loss of time, imho.

[Warlord Zsinj]

Here's how the panelling method works. The trick is that it relies heavily on specularity to fake a diffuse texture that alters as the sun hits the panel differently.

(on the left is my texture 1, on the right is the same area in the green channel texture 2)

I wouldn't recommend doing the exact same specularity pattern I've got here, because it is not really suited to the arm solar. But the gist of the idea is that you keep your texture 1 very simple, very dark, with just hints of the underlying pattern, and then you paint most of the detail in very bright areas on your specularity map.

eg:
http://forums.imperialwinter.com/index. ... =570;image
http://forums.imperialwinter.com/index. ... =572;image

[TheRegisteredOne]

Thx. I tried to take care of your opinions.

Second try :

http://fodb.darkstars.co.uk/files/sprin ... ngame4.jpg
Maybe too much noise and scratch on the solar panels ?

@ Warlord Zsinj : Yep, show me that tip

@ Wolf-In-Exile : ok thx

Superior. No need to improve

[Hoi]

Could you show us a picture of when it's closed?

[Warlord Zsinj]

Thx. I tried to take care of your opinions.

Second try :

http://fodb.darkstars.co.uk/files/sprin ... ngame4.jpg
Maybe too much noise and scratch on the solar panels ?

@ Warlord Zsinj : Yep, show me that tip

@ Wolf-In-Exile : ok thx

Seeing as TRO has reminded me, for example, in the top right solar, where you can see a full sun glint off one of the panels, it is pure white. That surface shouldn't be pure white, because you have drawn in a non-flat diffuse texture, implying that the panels are faceted. You would see some areas in shade. By reflecting the non-flat surface on the specularity layer (painting in panel joint lines, if you want put a bit of a pattern on the panels), you will have a far more realistic impression of the depth on that surface.

[smoth]

Could you show us a picture of when it's closed?

click on the link under the picture. Wake the fuck up man!


Cremuss looks good keep going.

[Hoi]

Could you show us a picture of when it's closed?

click on the link under the picture. Wake the fuck up man!


Cremuss looks good keep going.

Lol I failed

[rattle]

Needs a better spec map as Zsinj pointed out, otherwise good.

[AF]

Lets remember that the sun is not always in the same position on spring maps so putting a shiny glint in the texture may look good on some maps, but on others itll throw up paradoxical lighting, like sun glints inside dark shadows.