It does look awesome Zip, the problem is can you see the detail when at Dota2 distance? It might need a bit of colour on the emblem depending, and maybe some baked shadow on the lower ends of the upper 3 spine pieces on the back. Spose it's just trial and error, you might even need some mossy stuff on it, the dota2 workshop seems hard to please
Yeah they're definitely harder to please than the TF2 community was. I think I'll mess around with coloring the Cthulu a bit so it's more visible at a distance and maybe some moss/salt stain. The normals are more visible than you'd think though at a distance. I'll get a screenshot of that tomorrow after I fiddle with the textures some more. People are always asking for a lot of detail in the textures though but you can't see it at all when it's high up. Most of the items are just solid colors and gradients.
Yeah, I was gonna say this as well, it seems that the armor just blends into itself a bit too much while clashing with the base model. Maybe bring in some of the color palette from the original model like the PDF they released suggests? I really like the Cthulu theme
Zipfinator
i would definetly put another color correction layer on top of your diffuse, to adjust the overall tone, so the colors suit slardars skin color more.
right now the armor feels kinda detached from him.
although this is a case where you should definetly check in game how it all looks with light and stuff.
im not doing shit until they release the dota sdk.
already wasted too much time trying to compile stuff without knowing if the result will even work in engine.
@Aivanov, I'll mess around with that. The reason I didn't do that originally is because it's pretty much crafted as a single piece of plate but if it looks better it doesn't matter.
@Spudnik and Goeddy, right now the armor's color is based off of the metal on his stock mace. I'll mess around with coloring it similarly to his body though because it does look a bit too contrasted.
Thanks for the paintover and refs Aiv. I have a layer of color var like that last ref but it wasn't that visible. I turned up the transparency on it so it's more obvious now. Here are a few color variations. Which one do you guys like best? I'm going to mess around with brightening the edges and symbol now.
Thanks for all of your help Aivanov and everyone else. Pretty much done now, just collecting the files to make the new .zip files. Does anyone know what the upload limit is? Or how to resize the VTFs when creating them? I tried using the resize function in VTFEdit but it doesn't want to work so I'm thinking of uploading the PSDs and VTF/VMTs but each PSD is about 6mb.
EDIT: Looked on the workshop and saw some submissions up to about 8.5mb so it should be fine to submit larger PSD files.
@Evil, I'm most likely done with this set. I've spent enough time on it and have other things to work on. Maybe I'll do another slardar set sometime that's more seaworn and barnacled. My logic for why this one isn't too worn is because it's his Guardian armor so he takes care of it. I did already paint some lighter tones though.
Here's the new images. Click on them to go to the workshop page!
Something that i've been working on. Probably for the Faceless Void or another hero if that doesn't work out. Still needs work around the guard/pommel and the upper part of the blade.
Something that i've been working on. Probably for the Faceless Void or another hero if that doesn't work out. Still needs work around the guard/pommel and the upper part of the blade.
Legit man, make it reddish and orange (fiery) and i could totally see this on doombringer
@pear I really like it, love the idea too. Drow's a personal favourite of mine and I love cool items for her! I think the hair may be too white though. I know that's her actual hair colour, but in game it's mostly hidden by the hood, so you don't have a glaring white beacon of light. It's one of the reasons I don't like the spiky hair she has currently as an unlock.
Added some runes to the handle of the Trident so it's not quite as simple.
@ZIp I like the rune design but i think that it would be nice if you add a little more or some other crazy desings in the body... I don't know i am concerned about how clear the player will see it in the WorldView as is it right now.
If you made her bold still better than the spikes in the store. that said , yours is good and I like it. Yep much better than earlier bright white version.
btw you are blocking the quiver section with hood being down.
I'm working on Drow too , so maybe my items will fit your hair in a set
Done some more work on this. Tested it with the Faceless Void's attack anim and he just struck with the side of the blade (his attack animation was meant for a mace), so that might not work.
Hey guys, this was a weapon I submitted to the workshop a few days ago but I guess I should post it here and get some crit.
The comments have been pretty helpful actually as I've been updating it the last few days.
Are people actually compiling there items by the way? I've only submitted an .obj and my texture.
Initially I compiled them but didn't try to get them working, with my latest weapon though I got it working, it takes a bit of figuring out. It doesn't really effect the way people vote though, and valves not gonna come round to it for a while I reckon, so you don't need to, however you can't really test how your mask1 + mask2 textures work unless you get it in an SDK like alien swarm.
Lookin good, just one question... when u modelled it the object was all one mesh? or sepparated objects But combined? also it would be awesome if those symbols irradiated light, does Source support EmmisiveMaps?
Lookin good, just one question... when u modelled it the object was all one mesh? or sepparated objects But combined? also it would be awesome if those symbols irradiated light, does Source support EmmisiveMaps?
The low poly is 2 elements, a hammer and a handle yeah, and the high poly I think 4 pieces. It does have emissive kinda, in the alpha of Mask1, it's currently on it already.
Updated based on various feedback suggestions etc. Slimmed the sides, reworked the texture. Changed the designs on the side and shortened the outrageously wide noseguard that use to cover Enchantress' outrageously wide nose. Added a proper normal map. Anything other suggestions before I update the workshop link?
EDIT: I'm probably going to lower the sides so the ornaments won't block vision of Enchantress' mouth.
I also finally got it to appear in a SDK Model Viewer, compiled it with TF2's item test tool. Can't get it to load in the CS:GO SDK though, even with compiling with the itemtest made .qc file. Oh well:
It's nice to see it looks nice with the source engine shaders. Anyone have any guides on how to get models compiled and working into the CS:GO Model Viewer?
Some cool stuff guys. @RossC while i like the overall helmet i feel it's a bit too obstructive, i think you could raies the bits covering the mouth a bit higher so you can see more of enchantresses' face. The little noby bits at the bottom in the mouth area look a bit out of place as well, a different type of detailing might look a bit better.
I had a question maybe someone here can answer.
Is it taboo to delete geometry from a character? I was thinking of doing some work for sniper but i wanted to get rid of his beard, but this is part of the base mesh of the character, so should I refrain from actually deleting polys? Or should I go ahead and do so knowing that at some point older characters will be revamped to allow for more intense reworks of their assets?
Hopefully have a concept to post soon, excited to get started on this stuff! Best opportunity for us artists with free time as far as I can tell
If you're planning to remove geometry Crazy it might be better to wait until they set up those heroes for items so you know exactly what will be able to be removed. I'm probably going to start just not messing with heroes that aren't ready yet other than concepts/ideas and make some items for the heroes that they're accepting them for.
Ah right on zip, good advice, I think i'll skip on sniper for now and brainstorm a new hero.
Definitely lots to consider when choosing a hero that isn't in the valve documents yet. It would be nice to have a list of heroes that are ready to have items made for them officially released , though for those of you with the dota 2 beta you can skip through heros in the customize screen to see who has items currently released and be sure those heroes are ready to be geared.
It would be nice to have a list of heroes that are ready to have items made for them officially released , though for those of you with the dota 2 beta you can skip through heros in the customize screen to see who has items currently released and be sure those heroes are ready to be geared.
On the Steam Workshop you can sort items by the various tags. I think those heroes that are 'taggable' are the ones that are ready, although some other heroes not listed are broken up, these ones are probably going to be the first to have items implemented. Although having said that, Queen of Pain is broken up and on the list, but has no customizable item screen ingame...
@Spaz: Really fucking sweet man! Can't wait to see the textures on that!
@Tortilla: Looks great, the only thing that's trowing me off is the 90degree rotated logo at the top of the hammer. Maybe you can come up with a different design for the top so it doesn't look as copy pasted?
@Spaz: Really fucking sweet man! Can't wait to see the textures on that!
@Tortilla: Looks great, the only thing that's trowing me off is the 90degree rotated logo at the top of the hammer. Maybe you can come up with a different design for the top so it doesn't look as copy pasted?
Yeah you're right, I wasn't liking it before but last night I touched it up. I'd added these bits and pieces but they just looked like noise on the model so I just cleaned it up. Spread out the symbols and removed some glowy bits too.
I think he could do with a white/gold hammer at some point, something I might try with a different model.
So, I've read and looked at most of your comments. I actually commented on some of your submissions on the workshop pages before I found this forum.
Zip- when you compiled your set, did each piece represent an item or is everything just one model? I'm working on a complete set and I don't want to waste the time of the community by separating each item. I would like to compile them all at once, which would include armor, gear, and a weapon. Also, are the sample images just including the base mesh, but not included in the submission? So people are including the base mesh in the screenshot to show their add-ons, but not including it in the zip. The zip just includes the finished smd compiled into a mdl/vtx/vvd vtf and vmt compiled from your diffuse, normal, and mask?
(Cannonfolder compile or GUIstudio MDL?)
1. Base Mesh
2. High Poly
3. Retop (Make Low Poly)
4. Unwrap Low Poly
5. Bake Normal Maps, Ambient Occlusion, Lightmaps etc etc.
6. Texture it
7. Skin/Compile/Config stuff
Normals maps with shared UV borders? What are you using to produce your normal maps? By using the STEAM UV symmetrical uv layout style, I'm finding problems generating normals maps that cover that shared border for a flawless seam. Again, I'm using Zbrush, so that might be an issue in itself.
As far as texture maps: color, mask, mask 1, mask 2, normal. 5 possible. One mask had nothing. Another mask seemed like it could be glow with its neon colors? Any clarification of the mask files would be helpful.
That is all I have for now. I will be sure to post pictures in the near future of what I'm working on.
@Sin, I uploaded all of my items separately because otherwise they wouldn't have all fit into one upload (With OBJs, SMD, QC, MDL, VTF, VMT, TGAs that are 4 times the resolution for all 4 textures). The images are just for presentation and don't have anything to do with how the model was compiled. It's just easier to see how the item would look when it's on the hero obviously.
I used xnormal to bake my normals from my high poly (Which I sculpted in Zbrush). Usually when you're baking you should move anything that's overlapping out of the 0:1 space. If you don't have your smoothing groups set up correctly and your render isn't synced you're going to get seams though. My items have seams too, they're just not very noticeable. Pretty much everything will have seams. You just need to UV it in a way where seams will be in a crevice for the most part.
As for the masks, check the first post. All of the information you need to develop items and fit them under the constraints of the model combination system is there.
Replies
Yeah they're definitely harder to please than the TF2 community was. I think I'll mess around with coloring the Cthulu a bit so it's more visible at a distance and maybe some moss/salt stain. The normals are more visible than you'd think though at a distance. I'll get a screenshot of that tomorrow after I fiddle with the textures some more. People are always asking for a lot of detail in the textures though but you can't see it at all when it's high up. Most of the items are just solid colors and gradients.
i would definetly put another color correction layer on top of your diffuse, to adjust the overall tone, so the colors suit slardars skin color more.
right now the armor feels kinda detached from him.
although this is a case where you should definetly check in game how it all looks with light and stuff.
im not doing shit until they release the dota sdk.
already wasted too much time trying to compile stuff without knowing if the result will even work in engine.
just my take.
Oh and dont hide the eyes. !
@Aivanov, I'll mess around with that. The reason I didn't do that originally is because it's pretty much crafted as a single piece of plate but if it looks better it doesn't matter.
@Spudnik and Goeddy, right now the armor's color is based off of the metal on his stock mace. I'll mess around with coloring it similarly to his body though because it does look a bit too contrasted.
You can keep the concept of it being made of single forged pieces by just simply making the trim/logo more weathered; something like this?
You can also probably add some more color variation by adding warm-colored tones and lighting, akin to this:
and
EDIT: Looked on the workshop and saw some submissions up to about 8.5mb so it should be fine to submit larger PSD files.
also fill the grooves with a lighter greenish tone:
http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00MCAaLSHqLopZ/Bronze-Sculpture-Antique-Imitation-RXBC030035-.jpg
As you can see bronze got corroded, and when polishing its hard to get into the deep grooves so it stays corroded at those places.
Here's the new images. Click on them to go to the workshop page!
Something that i've been working on. Probably for the Faceless Void or another hero if that doesn't work out. Still needs work around the guard/pommel and the upper part of the blade.
I have been pondering about an item for the workshop, I'l try to get a concept piece up for it soon.
e.g. courierer animation? thx
Legit man, make it reddish and orange (fiery) and i could totally see this on doombringer
@ZIp I like the rune design but i think that it would be nice if you add a little more or some other crazy desings in the body... I don't know i am concerned about how clear the player will see it in the WorldView as is it right now.
@Crazyfingers Yeaaaaa:poly136:
btw you are blocking the quiver section with hood being down.
I'm working on Drow too , so maybe my items will fit your hair in a set
any way right now i'm just making random stuff for BH and thinking of a way the put it together.
The comments have been pretty helpful actually as I've been updating it the last few days.
Are people actually compiling there items by the way? I've only submitted an .obj and my texture.
Initially I compiled them but didn't try to get them working, with my latest weapon though I got it working, it takes a bit of figuring out. It doesn't really effect the way people vote though, and valves not gonna come round to it for a while I reckon, so you don't need to, however you can't really test how your mask1 + mask2 textures work unless you get it in an SDK like alien swarm.
I'm thinking of making it darker, as some people have said in the comments, to match her armour a little more, but I'm pretty happy with it.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=77546361
this is so much fun!
What do you all think? will it fit with the theme of the game?
Hmm as long as you make sure it stays close to his palette and not overly samurai/ninja/pirate colours, then I reckon people will like it.
Looks like the most solid submission i have seen so far.
Lookin good, just one question... when u modelled it the object was all one mesh? or sepparated objects But combined? also it would be awesome if those symbols irradiated light, does Source support EmmisiveMaps?
The low poly is 2 elements, a hammer and a handle yeah, and the high poly I think 4 pieces. It does have emissive kinda, in the alpha of Mask1, it's currently on it already.
Thanks:)
I havnt submitted yet. I need to get a game code off valve first :S
Plus Thats only some zbrush concepting, I will start texturing and retopo soon.
Updated based on various feedback suggestions etc. Slimmed the sides, reworked the texture. Changed the designs on the side and shortened the outrageously wide noseguard that use to cover Enchantress' outrageously wide nose. Added a proper normal map. Anything other suggestions before I update the workshop link?
EDIT: I'm probably going to lower the sides so the ornaments won't block vision of Enchantress' mouth.
I also finally got it to appear in a SDK Model Viewer, compiled it with TF2's item test tool. Can't get it to load in the CS:GO SDK though, even with compiling with the itemtest made .qc file. Oh well:
It's nice to see it looks nice with the source engine shaders. Anyone have any guides on how to get models compiled and working into the CS:GO Model Viewer?
I had a question maybe someone here can answer.
Is it taboo to delete geometry from a character? I was thinking of doing some work for sniper but i wanted to get rid of his beard, but this is part of the base mesh of the character, so should I refrain from actually deleting polys? Or should I go ahead and do so knowing that at some point older characters will be revamped to allow for more intense reworks of their assets?
Hopefully have a concept to post soon, excited to get started on this stuff! Best opportunity for us artists with free time as far as I can tell
Definitely lots to consider when choosing a hero that isn't in the valve documents yet. It would be nice to have a list of heroes that are ready to have items made for them officially released , though for those of you with the dota 2 beta you can skip through heros in the customize screen to see who has items currently released and be sure those heroes are ready to be geared.
On the Steam Workshop you can sort items by the various tags. I think those heroes that are 'taggable' are the ones that are ready, although some other heroes not listed are broken up, these ones are probably going to be the first to have items implemented. Although having said that, Queen of Pain is broken up and on the list, but has no customizable item screen ingame...
@Tortilla: Looks great, the only thing that's trowing me off is the 90degree rotated logo at the top of the hammer. Maybe you can come up with a different design for the top so it doesn't look as copy pasted?
Yeah you're right, I wasn't liking it before but last night I touched it up. I'd added these bits and pieces but they just looked like noise on the model so I just cleaned it up. Spread out the symbols and removed some glowy bits too.
I think he could do with a white/gold hammer at some point, something I might try with a different model.
Zip- when you compiled your set, did each piece represent an item or is everything just one model? I'm working on a complete set and I don't want to waste the time of the community by separating each item. I would like to compile them all at once, which would include armor, gear, and a weapon. Also, are the sample images just including the base mesh, but not included in the submission? So people are including the base mesh in the screenshot to show their add-ons, but not including it in the zip. The zip just includes the finished smd compiled into a mdl/vtx/vvd vtf and vmt compiled from your diffuse, normal, and mask?
(Cannonfolder compile or GUIstudio MDL?)
1. Base Mesh
2. High Poly
3. Retop (Make Low Poly)
4. Unwrap Low Poly
5. Bake Normal Maps, Ambient Occlusion, Lightmaps etc etc.
6. Texture it
7. Skin/Compile/Config stuff
Normals maps with shared UV borders? What are you using to produce your normal maps? By using the STEAM UV symmetrical uv layout style, I'm finding problems generating normals maps that cover that shared border for a flawless seam. Again, I'm using Zbrush, so that might be an issue in itself.
As far as texture maps: color, mask, mask 1, mask 2, normal. 5 possible. One mask had nothing. Another mask seemed like it could be glow with its neon colors? Any clarification of the mask files would be helpful.
That is all I have for now. I will be sure to post pictures in the near future of what I'm working on.
I used xnormal to bake my normals from my high poly (Which I sculpted in Zbrush). Usually when you're baking you should move anything that's overlapping out of the 0:1 space. If you don't have your smoothing groups set up correctly and your render isn't synced you're going to get seams though. My items have seams too, they're just not very noticeable. Pretty much everything will have seams. You just need to UV it in a way where seams will be in a crevice for the most part.
As for the masks, check the first post. All of the information you need to develop items and fit them under the constraints of the model combination system is there.