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TF2 - Polypack - Ruskeydoo

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Big Chief Hibernating Bear


Big Chief (hat, 794 tris, 2x256x256 textures, red and blue)

4735210521_2ce530cded_b.jpg

Look like a bad ass.

Gatling Gun
(minigun replacement, 6790 tris, 512x512 texture)

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The Gatling Gun is taken from an alternate time line where Custer took the gatling guns of the 20th infantry with him during the battle of Little Bighorn. The Gatling Gun was captured by the Sioux while crossing the river at Medicine Tail Coulee and Custer was still defeated by Crazy Horse's charge on Custer Hill... I mean wasn't that obvious?

Idea for stats: Gatling Gun

Buff!
Has an "Overheat Meter" which fills up when firing and once the gun overheats you have to wait for the bar to clear before you can start shooting again.

The overheat is to make it so that the heavy has to make difficult decisions about when to fire and does not become too effective at range.


Peyote (sandvich replacement, 1711 tris without bite, 1649 tris with bite, total 3360 tris, 512x512 texture)

4735014085_45b3f0aee6_b.jpg

Taken by shamen to commune with the spirit world and strengthen their animal totems.

Idea For Stats: Peyote

Some kind of buff?
Drugs you for the duration of the buff.

When thrown down for friendlies it heals 50, when thrown down for enemies it heals 50 and drugs for a short time (how bad the drugging is can be tweaked to balance the item)?


Bear Claws (fist replacement, 4898 tris, 2x512x512 textures red and blue)

4735754814_b415dfe146_b.jpg

If you didn't know that Native Americans would strap animal claws to their fists when preparing for combat then you didn't study history right. There was this one guy whose animal totam was a fish and he had flippers strapped to his knuckles. The other shamen avoided him at parties.

Idea for Stats: Bear Claws

Knockback effect
Bleed

Reduced damage

So it will usually be used as a hit and run (once you've knocked someone back they can run away from your heavy ass). It can also be used to get environmental kills and if you get someone in a confined space you can give them a good mauling as you swat them around.


Warpaint (misc, 2x1024x1024 texture replacements red and blue)

4735880796_3968e6684a_b.jpg

When combined with hats other than the Big Chief, warpaint will make the heavy look like a football hooligan.

Buffalo Steak

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Made last minute in an awful hurry. Got an email from Brandon Rhinehart on the 5th of Dec. Playtesters had flagged that some might find a guy in a native americal Head Dress eating some Peyote and going on a rage killing spree a bit racist. Fair enough. So the option was to either add someone elses edible or for me to make a replacement in the next three days. I obviously dropped everything and rushed through a design. Valve tweaked a few things on the model which I submitted such as making the bone more defined and generally better. I intended to do this myself when I had the time, but no complaints here.


25 May 2010 - The Project Begins

I've been 3d modelling for a while and last week I decided to work out how to make stuff for TF2. Couple of days ago submitted my first (very simple) hat

This update comes out and POW! I'm thinking I might as well jump on this bandwagon and push my skills a little further.

The starting point I'm going to be using for this competition will be from a dicussion I was having with my clan mates last night. That an American Indian head dress would look awesome on the heavy. The Heavy (my main class, 620 hours) loves Amercana (hound dog, football helm) so the head dress works but getting stuff thematic might be tricky.

Then it struck me that serendipity was on my side. The original brass gatling guns are from the same cowboys and Indians setting as the head dress.

Thus the "Big Chief Hibernating Bear" item set is born.

Third item I still have no idea about so I'm going to start throwing ideas around with my clan-mates on The Bar Room Heroes forums and see what we can come up with.

On an unrelated side note in RL I'm a prop maker/artist and I have some interesting projects on the go, so I'll post some pictures of those as I go along too.

Replies

  • Ruskeydoo
    26 may - Day 2

    Very hung over having gone to see my friend Pete's band. Head dress production continues. Interesting challenge as the number of polys scales rapidly once including large numbers of feathers. Will post some pictures later today.
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    Alpha's will be your friend in keeping that poly count down to a reasonable level.
  • Ruskeydoo
    Thing is, I don't really like alphas in TF2. I think due to the slightly simplified cartoony visuals of the models in TF2, alphas would lose that sense of solidity... I'm not managing to convey this well but I think you get what I'm saying. I'm going to try without and see how it goes...

    First mock up is done, polycount coming in at 656, though the skullcap section is just a shell and needs an inside

    4641913818_7183651791.jpg
  • Rhinokey
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    Rhinokey polycounter lvl 18
    heres some inspiration, from our ongoing tf2 thread in pnp pyrohat.jpg

    hjd used alphas an they worked great, tho since theres already a sweet chief headdress perhaps you wanna think of something else? unless you dont care about duplicates
  • -Job-
    Love this hat, very nice work.
  • Ruskeydoo
    Rhinokey wrote: »
    heres some inspiration, from our ongoing tf2 thread in pnp

    hjd used alphas an they worked great, tho since theres already a sweet chief headdress perhaps you wanna think of something else? unless you dont care about duplicates

    That is nice texture work! :) Though I would wonder if the alphas might look a bit out of place when panned around in world? As far as duplicates go I now have two other strong ideas for items in theme, so I'm going to stay running with this... And you know what the big factor is? I'd like to see it on the heavy not the pyro!
  • Ruskeydoo
    4643920685_86999f88ec.jpg

    Modelling pretty much done.

    Ethos:
    Through the process I've come to some general aesthetic conclusions of how I'm going to make TF2 additions in future and texture this one. As opposed to making the hat stand out from the player model I'm going to try to make the item look as much an integral part of the existing model as possible. Kinda obvious I know (and slightly ridiculous that I'm saying that while putting an American Indian headdress on a Russian) but it was a minor revelation to me that, construction wise, I'm not actually trying to make something that people notice.
  • Ruskeydoo
    4644565215_10bffbb838.jpg

    Head dress is getting there... few things need cleaning up but definitely getting there.
  • BANG!
    Love these hats, keep it up!
  • Ruskeydoo
    Ok back from weekend stag do

    Recap

    Theme: American Indian, Bear Shaman.

    Items

    Hat: American Indian Headdress
    Primary: American Indianified gatling gun from the period
    Melee: Native American fetish style bear paws
    Secondary sandvich replacement: Peyote cactus
  • Ruskeydoo
    4660680925_da954d4654.jpg

    Larger version:

    http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1290/4660680925_da954d4654_b.jpg

    So the headdress I had a pretty good mental image for... Other Items will need more thought. General gist with the gatling gun will be to make a kind of vintage minigun. A little more sleek and light looking than the regular though I reckon the basic layout will remain similar. In two minds as to how I'm going to texture it? Might try the shiny brass but I think it might be too much.

    4660725631_69e85318f0_b.jpg

    WIP shot with ghost of original minigun for ref. Not greatly enamoured with the way the handle connects to the semicurcular ring. ideas?
  • dickless
    Love the minigun. I don't know if you can animate but if you added a handle to the side which spins when you rev/fire the minigun it would look (even more) awesome.
  • Karkasmolenklok
    Loving the oldschool gatling gun idea. If you can add all sorts of old-timey firearm accoutrements with the handle and whatknot it's going to look utterly legit (in an albeit slightly steampunk capacity, but still awesome)
  • christermime
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    christermime polycounter lvl 8
    Have you thought about replacing the TF2 logo on the headdress with the heavy icon? The TF2 logo seems kind of out of place, i'm not sure it actually shows up anywhere on any of the in-game models.

    Really nice work so far, the gatling gun is a great idea.
  • Karkasmolenklok
    The TF2 logo fits in so well that I didn't even notice it at first, frankly. Geometric designs are the way to go when it comes to Native American stuff, especially the rosettes there which are traditionally beadwork anyway (making geometric patterns more common to begin with)
  • Ruskeydoo
    @ dickless Would love to get the crank handle in but I'm learning a lot of these skills on the fly and adding animations to the mix seems like asking for trouble. After the deadline I'll probably revisit the concept and work out how to animate a crank handle (I'm not under any illusions that I'll win but I'm using the deadline as a self ass-kicking mechanism)

    @ Karkasmolenklok I'm intrigued but don't have a mental image of what you mean. What kind of old timey stuff were you thinking? pix?

    christermime So the thought process behind adding the TF2 logo to the headdress was that it's kinda abstract; When I was looking at all the real native american headdresses theres never anything figurative on them and I had this round face to fill so it seemed appropriate. Though I do agree that it looks a little out of place. I might try messing around with colours to make it less striking as the TF2 logo.

    On that line of thought anyone got any input on texturing the feathers to fit in with tf2? They need something but I dont want them to end up looking too detailed.

    Edit: what Kark said :)
  • Karkasmolenklok
    Ruskeydoo wrote: »
    @ Karkasmolenklok I'm intrigued but don't have a mental image of what you mean. What kind of old timey stuff were you thinking? pix?
    Hmmm, I suppose I'm thinking along the line of wood and brass elements, stuff that looks a bit less like it came out of a modern factory and more like hand-crafted old-world stuff, with engraved silver elements and the like back when something as expensive and high-end as a gatling gun would be adorned with opulent bits to show it off. Really, the pics already posted of those gatling guns are great for this.

    Maybe some things like instead of the handle being this
    ae3e40883c0ac88abd35ce8bc82c5868_heavyhandle.jpg

    have it be something more like this

    ae3e40883c0ac88abd35ce8bc82c5868_phonehandle.jpg
  • Luxy
    If you do that, actually use a telephone please. It would be awesome.
  • Ruskeydoo
    Issue with using a telephone part would be getting it looking chunky enough to go with the rest of the minigun. I'm also thinking though I want to keep the improvised weapon look of the original (a minigun ripped from a fixture and juryrigged to be a hand held weapon). I want the whole thing to look quite vintage and classy... think a renovated museum piece
  • Karkasmolenklok
    I was thinking more like a preposterous legacy weapon, like something the heavy's grandpappy used as a cossack to mow down the napoleonic french.
  • Khthon
    So your theme would be Old West then?

    The gatling gun could really stand out with brass parts/steam power.

    D-407.jpg
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    Steamer.jpg
    Steam-powered_fire_engine.jpg
  • Thatguyoverthere
    Add links, don't spam like 10 giant pics. Of which the copyright one and the folded Apache are pointless.
  • raptor
    very nice, keep the minigun project is the first one i see ^^
  • Ruskeydoo
    As it happens I play banjo in a steampunk band and also make steampunk sculptures. Which probably contributed subconsciously to the concept. However I think combining steampunk and TF2 would be a little bit too much of a stretch. Also my other items are kinda wacky so this is the one that going to reign them in.

    Anyhows latest wip shot

    4664504702_221c295c7a_b.jpg

    Turns out this kind of thing takes a long time. Who would have thought?
  • Karkasmolenklok
    It's seriously too bad there's only going to be one winner, I can see so many things I friggin' love being made here.
  • Baby Stomper
    It's seriously too bad there's only going to be one winner, I can see so many things I friggin' love being made here.

    I thought I recalled someone saying something along the lines of "There will be as many winners as there are fantastic entries"
  • Karkasmolenklok
    I thought I recalled someone saying something along the lines of "There will be as many winners as there are fantastic entries"
    If that's true then holy shit
  • ParingKnife
    Have you considered turning the drum 90 vertical? Also, perhaps a look with ingrained images like the ambassador would work out :)
  • Psyke
    If that's true then holy shit
    pretty sure valve stated on july 12th the winnerS will be annouced..why would they do 3 classes with new items and leave the rest?

    it's gonna be 1 winner per class i belive
  • Karkasmolenklok
    Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. This is one of three or four heavy entries that I love.
  • Psyke
    Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. This is one of three or four heavy entries that I love.

    well it's a matter of waiting and seeing

    if one of the others fails, there's a chance it'l be in future updates, the real thing to worry about is the

    9 hats and 18 new bloody weapons
  • Karkasmolenklok
    Yeah seriously, biggest friggin' update ever.
  • Snowloss
    For the 'Hand Crank' people have been talking about, I think they mean something like this. Which, if you had time to animate it, would be as they say "sick nasty".

    Very interesting update so far. Digging the head dress.
  • Khthon
    Wow, you're from the Clockwork Quartet!? That's amazing. I'm posting in a thread with a minor deity of DIY hipsterdom!
  • Steve Schulze
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    Steve Schulze polycounter lvl 18
    I rather like your band, Ruskeydoo. Is there any other music I could listen to besides the two tracks on your website?
  • Ruskeydoo
    @ ParingKnife Given serious thought to drum orientation. Came to the conclusion that though the vertical drum looks a bit kooky it is distinctive and distances the design from the original minigun. As regards ambassador syle images, we'll see how much time I have nearer the deadline (I only learnt how to unwrap UVs while making the headdress!)

    @
    Snowloss handcrank would be "the shizzle" but I have no idea how long learning animations would take me so I'll hold off for now

    @
    Khthon I have yet to work out wheter the steampunk scene is incredibly pretentious or humble... Maybe both?

    @
    Jackablade Big release planned for late Summer. Dont just listen to the songs though, download them and share them. We're releasing everything we will ever do on creative commons licence.
  • Ruskeydoo
    There's been a development on the big chief headdress. I had this idea about levelable hats. The problem about levelling things is that whatever mechanic is introduced people will find ways to abuse them to get to the top level. The solution I've come up with is CLASS DEDICATION HATS (capitals in bold! hows that for emphasis!) which level depending on how much time you spend playing a particular class as opposed to others


    4665546517_4b85c8393c_b.jpg

    What people collect is the 'Native American' hat for the heavy. The form that the hat takes depends on how often you play that class compared to others. The Warrior is displayed for those who heavy does not appear in the top 3 played classes. The Brave is given to those players whose second or third most played class is Heavy. If Heavy is your most played class then you get the Big Chief.

    The effect of this will be to display who 'mains' as a particular class. The reason this cant really be cheated upon is that if hats such as these are released for each class an individual can only ever have one hat at top level.

    Maybe something extra for the true hardcore who have more that 50% total playtime with a particular class.
  • Khthon
    Well, I don't think they'll implement it, but it's an interesting idea. You could submit them sort of the way Valve has the '3 levels' of hat stacks - The Modest Pile of Hat, The Noble Amassment of Hats and the Towering Pillar of Hats.


    So they could all be in the game anyways.

    Not sure if anyone would wear Warrior - maybe if it had one feather and Brave had 3 or 4.
  • Rogue Trooper
    For the handcrank, why don't you make it so the heavy had to add a motor to it so as to turn it. I think him having to do a little improvisation to make it work would add some character to the gun.
  • Guitbox
    I really like the new minigun. Its got a good silhouette and has a lot of contrast with the old one, while still looking like "a minigun".

    Wasn't expecting to see the heavy with a headdress, but you seem to be making it work.

    Cool Beans!
  • Hotdogbunker
    That's a fat indian lol
  • Ruskeydoo
    Ty Guitbox. The real challenge with the gatling gun is going to be how to texture it? I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to make shiny brass work in the TF2 aesthetic. Cross that bridge when I get to it...

    In other texturing news:
    4666807129_016802b8e3_b.jpg

    Pretty much got the red version down... next step is to work out how the hell I get this in game to look at it.
  • Psyke
    isn't the shine part of the vmt?
  • Ruskeydoo
    Spent most of yesterday trying to get my model to compile correctly as an mdl file... and failed. If anyone has any particualr insights into what I might be doing wrong, my symptoms are described here:

    http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1150532#post1150532

    tried pretty much everything I can think of and I'm out of ideas :(
  • Ruskeydoo
    Is this a good idea?

    4677895105_fb8097ec8a_b.jpg

    So its been bugging me that there is no powersource for the rotating barrel and that the ammo feed didn't go in the right part of the gatling gun. If I implement these changes then the gun is actually 'realistic'. What I mean is that all the parts of a real gatling gun are there in a plausible formation with the additions to enable the heavy to wield it. Would need to work out an aesthetic for the engine and I'll have to be careful with the polycount if I go down this road.

    Thinking further I cant have the drive chain open at the back. Lots of polys and animation issues... got a solution though:
    08337.jpg

    Think I'm probably going to end up doing this... think I'll work on something else for a while and let this idea ferment.

    and hey if I did this then theres room just above the engine to put a release hatch for the spent shells. If you look at the existing minigun when its shooting, the shells just emerge from nowhere.

    I know I'm getting overly hung up on functionality but I'm very much in the form follows functions mindset ;)
  • Khthon
    The engine idea is really neat. Before you get too into the model can you put up a comparison with the default minigun?
  • Ruskeydoo
    Completely not my idea! Rogue Trooper suggested it a couple of posts up in this thread. I didn't think that hard about it at the time but I think it got lodged in my head

    4679139302_0db1f2a805_b.jpg

    and some motors. The actual motor I'm going to be basing it on is one that my dad had attached to a belt sander I remember from when I was a kid... but I don't have a picture of that

    4678446503_4a6d9d28d1_b.jpg
  • Karkasmolenklok
    The blue one in the middle is my personal favorite
  • Khthon
    Maybe you could have something below the rotating barrels like extra ammo boxes or a compressor or a jiggle boned loose bipod/tripod?

    N_425_harris_bipod.jpg
    bipod1.jpg
    tripoda.jpg
  • Snowloss
    I really REALLY like the look of that model so far...
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