TF2 - Polypack - Thomas Truong
Consider this a successful procedure!
The Original Post and Update Image:
Hello there, Thomas Truong here, long time lurker on Polycount, but not much of a talker. I've wanted to do some items for Contribute! for awhile, and this contest is just the motivation I've been looking for. I'm sure there are many other entries for this class, but that just leads to a better and more exciting competition, the class shall be tackling is: The Medic!
Being the first class to receive his set of alternative weapons, I feel he's been slightly neglected as of late. Also, having received said items so early; game play in tf2 has changed much since their introduction. I'll leave that hard thinking work that goes into game play balance up to them, but I hope to create several new objects that will eventually give the Medic player many options to consider for combinations, if not based on appearances alone.
As with many projects I have gotten involved with, I feel that clear, defined goals are necessary, in case I start to waver off my intended path.
Mission:
1). Implementation- Create at least three unique items (Primary, Melee, Hat) for the Medic that fit with his character, regional qualities, and/or setting. If time permits, I will create a new Secondary and Misc. Attachment.
2). Design- 95% of the development effort will be spent on making overall cool and unique redesigns of existing objects. The 5% will be spent on game play function, but its low priority, if not unnecessary. I'll let Valve take care of that segment if they are at all considered.
3). Presentation- Regardless of the result, I hope to have some nice industry quality renders to use in my portfolio, and get some good experience out of it.
By following these three rules along with the official requirements of the contest, I hope to have a fun and productive time with this project. I'm planning to complete at least one item a week at this pace.
Main updates will be edited into this first post, while you can find my process spread out through this topic. I hope to get a lot of good feedback and hope to help critique on other entries, being that this is such a big community driven thing, I can only hope that we can collaborate together to make some cool gear. Good luck to you all.
Last Updated: 6/27/2010
Info on each completed asset will go here, otherwise, scroll to your heart's content to find my next update.
RENDERS:
Primary - The Paramedic Parabellum Pistolbunker (P3) - 100% Complete
Melee - The Cat Cadaver Chimera Chopper (C4) - 100% Complete
Secondary - The Engineer's Ecofriendly Eclectic Ectoplasm Emitter (E5)- 100% Complete
OPTIONAL GOALS:
Hat - Undecided
Misc. - Undecided
Unnecessary Functions and Abilities
As the rules state coming up with the stats for the weapons is unnecessary, and changing them breaks the rules, but I did some for fun without trying to over power them.
In other words, Take it all with a Grain of Salt:
The P3 Primary:
Pros:
+Significantly higher damage (Still not an excuse to go Combat Medic)
+Less falloff
+Possible Melee attack with MOUSE 2 (Less damage then Melee Weapon)
Cons:
-Much smaller clip size (Possibly as small as that magical TF2 number: 6, per clip)
-Slower firing rate
-More recoil
Detail:
For those that prefer guns that rely more on accuracy like the Revolver or Ambassador. It has a lot of kickback and carries less, but it does much more damage and keeps Close enemies off your back without having to risk two seconds of valuable time switching to your Melee and adjusting your play style accordingly.
The C4 Melee:
Pros:
+Random Status Effect (a Gamble)
Bleeding - Target bleeds for a slight amount of damage per second and spies can be spotted even when cloaked
Attack Stun (Sandman) - Enemy cannot attack for a couple seconds, possibly the best of the effects for it allows for the Medic or a ally he's healing to kill the target.
Burning - A painful burning sensation like you are on fire, take fire damage.
Minicrit Target (Jarate) - Target is affected by Minicrits whenever he is hit
Heal Target - Rarely (1%) heals the enemy for 30 health or so.
+Slightly (5-10%) longer range
-Quite Slow Fire Rate (due to size and shape)
-Slightly Less damage done
-No critical hits
A weapon that relies on random chance as much as Critical Hits do. It's a gamble, but it can be a deter close range classes that want to sneak up on Medics. On the downside, it's even slower than the Kritzkrieg and it doesn't charge Uber.
The E5 Secondary:
Your Ubercharge bar has three segments in it. Each segment is equal to 33% of the bar. Each Segment is called a Level. Each hit with the Ubersaw will fill up 25% as usual. Think of it as a fighting game with a 3 Level Super Bar.
Pros:
+Leveled Ubercharge
LEVEL 1 - Medic and Target get effects of Bonk! in which they are invulnerable to damage but can be knocked back, and they cannot attack.
LEVEL 2 - Effects of Buff Banner on Medic and Target. Minicrit attacks guaranteed for Healie.
LEVEL 3 - Full Charge - Ubercharge effect with 25% less duration
Cons:
-Overheal lowered to 130%
-Healing Range lowered by 10%
So you can basically go into battle with both the effect of Kritz and Uber at your disposal without switching your weaponry at the expense of MiniCrits instead of Real Crits and a shorter Ubercharge (6 Seconds). And if you're about to get killed and you're at Level One, you can save yourself and a ally from death and the respawn timer wait, as well as make a distraction. It adds a different strategy for Ubersaw usage as well. It gives way to team communication as well as both you AND your ally have to decide WHEN to use it along with WHICH one to use and WHY to use it.
The lowered range and Overheal rate will make you rely on staying close to friends and getting that Ubercharge meter up, but you be getting plenty from the extra damage your allies will take with that Overheal rate.
Thanks for reading this very long tale of my development and good luck with your own entry.
Video: [ame="
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g4_infw3Ak"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g4_infw3Ak [/ame]
Poster:
The Original Post and Update Image:
Hello there, Thomas Truong here, long time lurker on Polycount, but not much of a talker. I've wanted to do some items for Contribute! for awhile, and this contest is just the motivation I've been looking for. I'm sure there are many other entries for this class, but that just leads to a better and more exciting competition, the class shall be tackling is: The Medic!
Being the first class to receive his set of alternative weapons, I feel he's been slightly neglected as of late. Also, having received said items so early; game play in tf2 has changed much since their introduction. I'll leave that hard thinking work that goes into game play balance up to them, but I hope to create several new objects that will eventually give the Medic player many options to consider for combinations, if not based on appearances alone.
As with many projects I have gotten involved with, I feel that clear, defined goals are necessary, in case I start to waver off my intended path.
Mission:
1). Implementation- Create at least three unique items (Primary, Melee, Hat) for the Medic that fit with his character, regional qualities, and/or setting. If time permits, I will create a new Secondary and Misc. Attachment.
2). Design- 95% of the development effort will be spent on making overall cool and unique redesigns of existing objects. The 5% will be spent on game play function, but its low priority, if not unnecessary. I'll let Valve take care of that segment if they are at all considered.
3). Presentation- Regardless of the result, I hope to have some nice industry quality renders to use in my portfolio, and get some good experience out of it.
By following these three rules along with the official requirements of the contest, I hope to have a fun and productive time with this project. I'm planning to complete at least one item a week at this pace.
Main updates will be edited into this first post, while you can find my process spread out through this topic. I hope to get a lot of good feedback and hope to help critique on other entries, being that this is such a big community driven thing, I can only hope that we can collaborate together to make some cool gear. Good luck to you all.
Last Updated: 6/27/2010
Info on each completed asset will go here, otherwise, scroll to your heart's content to find my next update.
RENDERS:
Primary - The Paramedic Parabellum Pistolbunker (P3) - 100% Complete
Melee - The Cat Cadaver Chimera Chopper (C4) - 100% Complete
Secondary - The Engineer's Ecofriendly Eclectic Ectoplasm Emitter (E5)- 100% Complete
OPTIONAL GOALS:
Hat - Undecided
Misc. - Undecided
Unnecessary Functions and Abilities
As the rules state coming up with the stats for the weapons is unnecessary, and changing them breaks the rules, but I did some for fun without trying to over power them.
In other words, Take it all with a Grain of Salt:
The P3 Primary:
Pros:
+Significantly higher damage (Still not an excuse to go Combat Medic)
+Less falloff
+Possible Melee attack with MOUSE 2 (Less damage then Melee Weapon)
Cons:
-Much smaller clip size (Possibly as small as that magical TF2 number: 6, per clip)
-Slower firing rate
-More recoil
Detail:
For those that prefer guns that rely more on accuracy like the Revolver or Ambassador. It has a lot of kickback and carries less, but it does much more damage and keeps Close enemies off your back without having to risk two seconds of valuable time switching to your Melee and adjusting your play style accordingly.
The C4 Melee:
Pros:
+Random Status Effect (a Gamble)
Bleeding - Target bleeds for a slight amount of damage per second and spies can be spotted even when cloaked
Attack Stun (Sandman) - Enemy cannot attack for a couple seconds, possibly the best of the effects for it allows for the Medic or a ally he's healing to kill the target.
Burning - A painful burning sensation like you are on fire, take fire damage.
Minicrit Target (Jarate) - Target is affected by Minicrits whenever he is hit
Heal Target - Rarely (1%) heals the enemy for 30 health or so.
+Slightly (5-10%) longer range
-Quite Slow Fire Rate (due to size and shape)
-Slightly Less damage done
-No critical hits
A weapon that relies on random chance as much as Critical Hits do. It's a gamble, but it can be a deter close range classes that want to sneak up on Medics. On the downside, it's even slower than the Kritzkrieg and it doesn't charge Uber.
The E5 Secondary:
Your Ubercharge bar has three segments in it. Each segment is equal to 33% of the bar. Each Segment is called a Level. Each hit with the Ubersaw will fill up 25% as usual. Think of it as a fighting game with a 3 Level Super Bar.
Pros:
+Leveled Ubercharge
LEVEL 1 - Medic and Target get effects of Bonk! in which they are invulnerable to damage but can be knocked back, and they cannot attack.
LEVEL 2 - Effects of Buff Banner on Medic and Target. Minicrit attacks guaranteed for Healie.
LEVEL 3 - Full Charge - Ubercharge effect with 25% less duration
Cons:
-Overheal lowered to 130%
-Healing Range lowered by 10%
So you can basically go into battle with both the effect of Kritz and Uber at your disposal without switching your weaponry at the expense of MiniCrits instead of Real Crits and a shorter Ubercharge (6 Seconds). And if you're about to get killed and you're at Level One, you can save yourself and a ally from death and the respawn timer wait, as well as make a distraction. It adds a different strategy for Ubersaw usage as well. It gives way to team communication as well as both you AND your ally have to decide WHEN to use it along with WHICH one to use and WHY to use it.
The lowered range and Overheal rate will make you rely on staying close to friends and getting that Ubercharge meter up, but you be getting plenty from the extra damage your allies will take with that Overheal rate.
Thanks for reading this very long tale of my development and good luck with your own entry.
Replies
I like to draw different quick shape silhouettes of designs I have in mind before I get started. It wouldn't be too hard to go back to the drawing board if folks don't like it, and it gives you some insight to my design process. It also gives makes making orthographics and kill icons easy. It's like killing four birds with one stone.
Syringe Gun
For my Syringe Gun (Primary) redesign, this could go a lot of ways. Looking at (Stealing ideas on) FPSBanana for Syringe Gun replacements, all I found were retextures and a throwback to the Scout's original Nailgun, so I guess that means I have to exert some actual creativity. These sketches will get much cleaner as we narrow them down.
I considered many alternative needle "magazines". The syringe gun uses a revolving drum, whilst the blutsauger ammo is hidden (one can assume it works the same way), both are loaded in through the back.
Some options sketched out were:
A curved box magazine like those used in period German Rifles.
A Tommy Gun like drum barrel.
A standard magazine
The syringe gun's regular one
As for a texture, I'll wait on whatever design turns out the best, but I like the interior glowing effect on the Medigun, I may just repeat a similar thing on the Syringe Gun, because incandescence makes EVERYTHING BETTER!
The designs are pretty subdued, with some looking more like other common weaponry in your average FPS. I don't know if I should push the shapes any farther being that it's the TF2 universe, or should I play it somewhat safe and stay close to the original's theme.
Syringes
Being that you can physically see a number of ammo, bullets, etc. in Team Fortress 2 due to the range of weapons being used, the syringes themselves need some kind of appearance as well.
The Blut's syringes I noticed resembled darts, so I drew a couple like that as well. I also could go the sci-fi route and make them much more cleaner and thinner looking if the Syringe Gun itself turns out that way.
All in all, Ill consider a crafty name after a design has been decided upon. Ill be back to post early low, poly block-ins (Maya) on Sunday or so after some more consideration and persuasion from you guys on what direction to take this. Ill start posting my concepts of the melee weapon in that post or the next as well.
Thanks for reading.
If you make a new needle gun try to pick a cool theme for your items that will let the silhouette REALLY POP because there's a couple others doing needleguns on these forums. You need to tell yours is big-time different right away.
In that regard, I'd say develop the sniper-sights idea (sort of like the metal ones on the Grenade Launcher of the Demoman) and the big drum sticking off the top (but make it a gas tank or strange mechanism to not mess with reload animations).
A number of you also liked the scoped pistol look of number 2, so I guess it could be a mix of the two. Just as long as it fit the same animations as Khthon puts it. I was planning on making the backloading cartridge system the same in any case.
It'll have to still be two handed as well, but due to the size of the gun and the chances of needles flying everywhere, it works for the Medic.
Messing Around
I started messing around with modeling the overall shape to get a feel of things, the model is not as complex as I though, although the polyflow on the original is very interesting. I can add a lot of "beveling" as well and still maintain a good polycount at the end. I added the drum barrel with a scope for kicks, but already, it seems to be rather unwieldly and not terribly related to the frail medic.
So I cleaned up 2 and 7 and combined them together to make something more akin to a Luger, while still holding the same proportions and placement of the Blutsauger. I'll make changes as folks see fit, but I'm liking the direction it's going.
Thanks for the responses so far, I'll be back soon with more to add.
P.S. Lol Death Dragon, I didn't even know that.
Also known as the P3 for short. Here's a unnecessarily long, but delightful tale of how it exists in the Team Fortress Universe: I revised the silhouette to emphasize the shape of a Luger more while keeping it distinct from the small, but jagged look of the Scout's Lugermorph Pistol Reskin, it's two handed size alone with make it more than a repeated design (almost more akin to a Sub Machine Gun). The texture will be a frankensteinish mix of old and new with a wood finish on the grip like many of the other guns in the game along with the steel finish the Medic's other weapons have, and a blue/red glow depending on the team, coming from the needles inside a slightly transparent glass magazine.
The circular arm action joint Lugers have intergrate in well to the action that shoves out the cartridge when the Medic has to reload, I'll explain that better when it's modeled. I added a Front Sight to the barrel to add to the shape resembling a Luger more than the syringe gun.
I managed to extract the Syringe Gun, and Blutsauger so I can build it to similar proportions without having to change up the animations.
A Process that took a little longer than expected. Spent an hour getting all the tools and drivers, only to find out some of them were already bundled with HL2: EP1, and then waiting 20 minutes for Maya to load the .SMD model data one vert at a time. Nothing like a good challenge though.
The green overlay is the Blut (The hole in front leads to a concave cone rather than another multifaced plane to save polycount and time, never would've guessed), but getting back on topic, the areas of red show things I'll have to consider when modeling it. I'll need to lower the forend Stock so the hand won't look like it's floating (but if it's an easy edit for Valve to shift the joints/bones upward, and it won't hurt my entry's chances of success, then I'll keep it the same), and the base might need a little restructuring, but I still want to keep it large to mimic a Luger Handle.
Was planning on Modeling today but got busy, but I'll get done with all of that jazz tomorrow. Texturing will come soon after, and I got several pretty good ideas for the Melee weapon, and hat around the corner. Through a brainstorm, I also got something for the Medigun too, but that'll have to wait until I finish the first three items on my priority list.
Resting at a middling 5000 tris, many of the edges have a nice bevel to them to avoid looking as sharp as a knife, and the circular objects actually resemble curves more that gons. Ill just duplicated one side over for now, and will texturing one side. As long as I avoid mirroring (which is usually not a problem with guns), it gives me a little more space to paint the texture.
As you can see, I actually found a solution of my problem in the prior post with the stock being too short. Instead, I replaced them with holders for extra Cartridges the Medic uses when reloading. So while itll stay in the same place, (Much like the Soldiers grenades during his suicide taunt) Ill imply he removed one while moving his left hand when reloading, uses it to reload, and, being a little obsessive compulsive, he replaces it with a new one. The scale works out pretty well in this case and it adds to the originality of the design. The hammer and action will work together shove out the magazine when its empty as with the Syringe Gun and Blutsauger.
The handle grip will have some kind of finish protruding from it on both sides like the American variant of Lugers and other handguns. You will also notice a very bayonet like needle coming from the front. While it can have a use, for now, it will be aesthetic for the purpose of this contest plus it looks cool.
I gave the barrel an oversized look to help the pistol shape, and the barrel syringe magazine resembles more of a revolver chamber rather than a rotating frankfurter dispenser.
Im happy with where I am right now and will be putting finishing touches on it sometime tomorrow. After that comes unwrapping and then texturing. As Swizzle points out in his article, a normal map wont be necessary since I dont have any complex reliefs on here, but a spec. map will look good. Ill try to make an alpha map for the glassy materials as well. I messed around a bit with set driven keys and joints in Maya, and it animates decently as well for a conversion.
Go ahead and rip this thing back to the drawing board, or give it flawless praise. Thank you for your time, see you guys later.
The main challenge is finding weapons that fit the animation. The Medic is stabbing in third person, and slashing upward in third person. So whatever hits the poor sap has to have a sharp point on the front side and bottom.
The handle must also be shaped like you're gripping reins on a horse.
I'm really interested in 7, 12, and 15 (The most original of the ideas), I marked them with Smiles below.
1). Original Bonesaw shape for reference.
2). Giant Needle as seen in first TF2 trailer. Not too different from any other ideas you seen so far, but it could be based off that. I like needles in my theme.
3). Needle Trident, Large gas canister affixed to a gas pump handle with Needles sticking out of it.
4). Doctor's Reference Book with a Ubersaw hidden inside. You don't want to
bother the Medic when he's at the library.
5). Variation of 4, with it being shaped more like Iron Knuckles.
6). Heavy's boxing glove attached to spring. I guess a large wind up time. The jigglebones might be fun and it works with the Medics (unofficial) attachment to the Heavy, may be more suited for a thinking man like Engineer though (Who is missing a glove anyway).
:icon3: 7). A early favorite, codenamed the Boneedlesaw or to keep in theme (the Big Bonesaw Bayonent of Bestowing Blights a.k.a the B5), a saw with needles along the underside of the base as well. I was trouncing with the idea of having it hooked up to the Medic's backpack as well (or are the liquids going in or coming out???) but some responses to Y_M's thread say it may be more trouble than it's worth. I also tooled with teh idea of having the shape of the Medic's head as a statue affixed to the top side of the base so if I pull it off right, when you look at it in first person, it'll look like you're holding the Medic's head and the spike on top is a Picklebab Picklehaube. Many have told me this was creepy. Technically a variant on the Ubersaw since that has a needle too, but... you can never go without enough needles. Hell, going into game function, but maybe each swing will give a random status effect (Jarate, Bleed, Burn, Mini Crit, Stunned, Heal, etc.)
8 ). Medic Head Biter. Although he loves taking a chunk out of others, he often puts himself first, this egotistical contraption takes a literal bite out of the competition.
9). Buzzsaw, similar to what Swizzle is doing and I tooled with the idea, but he came up with it first, so it's like his own baby. I'm not going to compete with that.
10). Chainsaw, something you seen often on FPSBanana, a chainsaw mod. If I plan on doing it, I'll mix it up a bit.
11). Mix of Lobotomy Picks and a Needle, long and stabby. May even move along a gyroscope.
:icon3:12). The Cat Cadaver Counterword Cutter, or C4. Made from the skeletal system of a childhood pet of the Medic... it's a literal BONE SAW. The Thoracic Spine have stabbing ribs and the clavicle's arms with rip things on touch. The Lumbar and Pelvis form the handle perfectly, and the Cervical spine is sharpened so the enemy will be choking up more than hairballs... from their throat. Another big favorite, I think this one is the most original and the way to go. It's a bit out there, but it's crazy enough where I can see it being hilarious and frightening in game.
13). Scapel Scissors. Self Explanatory. It's like the butterfly knife.
14). The Lance of the Legion (L2). Another needle variant that shaped more like a one handed lance or sword. Fits the elite view Medic has of himself and his motherland.
:icon3: 15). The Evoking Early Eagle Equator (E4). A relic from Germany, this blunt statue of an Eagle once stood as a national symbol for the Reich, as you see on a number of period flags and medals. The handle is the bird's talons, and the sharp beak and down are the dangerous things on this fowl.
So there we have it. I like the Letter/Number scheme I have going with the P3, so I'll follow through with that on whatever the choice shall be. Repeating myself here, but the more I stare at them, the more I'm liking 7, 12, and 15. Aside from a bonesaw just made out of bone (but same shape), I'm thinking those takes are the ones that will make this set stand out. But what do you guys think, and which one takes the cake?
Addendum on the Primary: A trusted professor of mine looked at the Primary Weapon and liked it a lot, although he says while the left side (Handle, barrel) is solid and full of detail, the barrel is missing that, and he's right. It's all Circles. This also goes along with what Khthon is saying.
I'm actually planning a pretty cool German Eagle shaped front sight, and I could add some more dohickeys to the front so I guess that's the next step.
Happy posting.
I'm surprised folks are liking 13. And turning them into Nunchucks sound even more awesome (Although making the animation is hurting my head, lol)
I could always combine two of them together as well.
A noticeable thing I've been seeing in Melee redesigns (no offense to any other guys and gals taking on Medic) is that they are all really flat along the X (or Y axis for those using anything other than Maya), and sharp rather than blunt (Except for Betty Hime's Herzbrecher of course). So something roundish will be a nice change. I could use 7, and give it a roundish cage design or make the 12 BONE saw and attach needles all over it.
Also just noticed Polycount posted me up in the Week 1 check in. Awesome!
A little sharp and undetailed around some edges still, but I'm in okay shape since I still have a good 3200 tris to use. The syringe cartridges that hang off the bottom in the side render are just placeholders since the occlusion is just mirrored from the main one, it just occured to me I can add in little notches that they hang off of too instead of it being a flat plane. The texture here is just base colors for now along with Ambient Occlusion, but I'll have that done fairly soon.
The ambient Occulsion is acting weird in some areas too (Too much shadow, not enough, etc.), I can handpaint it though. Am I right to assume that the AO layer should be set over the diffuse, or should they be separate files? I'll be getting it imported into the SDK as a reskin for the Syringe Gun/Blutsauger for some example renders soon after.
:icon_exclaim:And if anyone is an expert with Normals, I need some help.:icon_exclaim:
I'm having a little technical problem with the normals/smoothing groups along this some faces in maya. For some reason, regardless of the simplicity of the shape, the shadows go funky when I try to soften it. And if I try to readjust the hard/softness, It doesn't change back to normal. (However, undoing the action in the history right after I cause it reverts it). They have no History, they are all aligned correctly, and there are no (maybe a few) 5 or more sided poles.
Here's the Unwrap so far for anyone curious or into that sort of thing.
The Map is upscaled to 1024 for the time being so I can paint more accurately.
I'll be MIA all of today (Saturday) but I'll be back with hopefully a 99% complete version by Sunday night. Unless you have any more ideas/recommendations/advice, in which I would be thrilled to get and improve with.
For the melee, none of them really strike my fancy to be quite honest. I like the idea of a chainsaw, I like the idea of something spine-themed, I like the idea of something featuring an iron cross or a german eagle, but those particular silhouettes don't do it for me.
I would like to state for the record that it is entirely possible that I'm just too picky and that the model will show me who is the boss.
Go to the Normals toolbar and hit Conform. If you see any yellow highlighted faces, those are face normals that are going the opposite/wrong direction. Hit Conform again and it should flip all those to the proper facing side.
That should fix the shadowing errors.
I'm done touching this modeling wise. I changed up a few things since last time however. I added extra notches into the base of the gun so the Needle Dispensers have something to attach to. I increased the size of the needle because I realized that with the size I had before, there was no way a person could be hurt by it due to the overshadowing size of the Barrel. I realize at this point it now has a Pilebunker look going for it (You gotta Stake and Shoot). Due to this, I changed the name of the weapon slightly so now it's referencing three things in it's name.
The texture is fairly decent at this point, and the specular is on the way. I changed the color scheme of the magazine so it doesn't resemble the Syringe Gun too much in that area. I also added a little personality to the back of the Cartridge you see in the view model in the form of a marker drawn graffiti (similar to the Halloween Masks). This can be easily changed to something else or removed completely based on what you guys think. I picked a skull due to it being a common Nazi graffiti symbol. The ambient Occlusion pass got higher res, and gave an unintended effect of a gritty, greasy look to the bottom cartridges... I like it. I changed the front shield a bit as well and gave it the Team based color scheme to make it "pop" more.
There's a minor hiccup here and there of where the UV's connect, I can see 2 or 3 already, but I'll get them in the next update.
Also:
Khthon, did you have another color scheme in mind? I was thinking about gold for a little while, but that might be too flamboyant, and I feel that a more saturated, color based palette (Make the base be Red, Blue, etc.) may make it look more like a toy. For the appearance of the Flare gun that works, but I like the gray metal. Unless you had something else in mind, entirely.
Norron, I did this but nothing changed. All my normals are facing the right way. I actually had to fix some before the Ambient Occlusion already, otherwise they would come out as black. Thanks for the intent regardless.
Worked on two pages of sketches and revisions. I finally decided to mix the two ideas of #7 and #12.
It will be hard to picture, but bare with me:
It will be a bony cat spine with ribs. Attached to the Cervical top of the Spine is a huge needle (That's where the stabbing occurs), at the root of each Rib that doesn't immediately connect to the Sternum is a needle, the Sternum itself will be replaced with a huge buzzsaw. Along the back of the Spine are medical razors. This thing will have all the hurt of touching it like #7, and the outlandish "Bone"saw design of #12.
It sounds a little crazy but I was even considering attaching the arms of the cat to the spine (along with the Scapula and Clavicle) and making both arms hold tiny versions of the Medic's regular Bonesaw (Or a Bonesaw in one hand and a Ubersaw in the Other), it loses the original shape of the Bonesaw though and it might look a bit outlandish.
As you can see here, the style of TF2 means the shapes are simple, cartoony, and don't always fit the laws of anatomy (According to the shape of the condyle, the Soldier is speaking to a human shaped Upper Arm). So modeling it seems easy (on paper). But on the UV map, expect a lot of little tiny pieces with one flat base color, while the TF2 style shader handles putting it "in universe"
I scanned them at college... and then forgot to bring home the concepts. So I'll share them with you soon. Imported the Bonesaw model as a base and I'll be working from there.
I have two main ideas for the hat, but as usual, sketched out a number of concepts for you guys to mull over and shout your adoration for it.
Hope to post back soon and thanks for your time.
I really like the colors on the gun now. I like the graffiti. That will be visible in first person?
Yes, I plan for it to be visible in First Person as a touch of personality (A similar thing would be like that sticker on Sniper Rifles in Modern Warfare 2). I sort of posed the left and right most shots of the gun in the last post as you would see them from first person as well, minus a medic's hand of course.
I still need to add more edge wear highlights to the diffuse texture, it's looking a bit clean still in some areas.
The spec map for the Primary Replacement is on slight hold for the moment since, while it is important, it takes little time. Plus, I'm tired of looking at the gun.
So let's move on to the current main attraction:
As promised, here were so more sketches of it, refining the idea, very crazy stuff going on including expansions on the ideas you guys liked last week, and expanding on the final C4 BONEsaw, with ideas like attaching the cat's arms to the saw, with them holding a cute little mini saw in each hand, but that may be a BIT too crazy, my finalized block in as you'll see below is as eclectic enough as is:
And here's the very early block in, the image explains itself, literally:
I'm stuck at my job all weekend, but I think I can pump this thing out by Tuesday.
Thanks for reading, good luck out there.
Second Opinion now means a melding of ideas by different designers, reflected upon the weapons.
So let's go through the checklist.
Specular done, it pretty much looks like the render on the last page except parts that are supposed to reflect, now do. So that's finally out of the way.
Quite a bit of progress on this since the last time you've seen it, I hoppe it clarifies more to those that were confused about its approach:
Base colors only at the moment, although I don't think I have to add much for the bones, I may want to add more geometry around the tubing and such and add a simple alpha map to resemble, tubing.
Got a little careless with the poly usage, but I cut it close.
Not 100% sure on the color scheme, but if one of you feels it doesn't work, have at it. I should be done very, very soon with this part as compared to the Primary.
Took a different approach to UVs as well, this time separating each individual part.
And what some have been waiting for:
Engineer Image from tf2wiki
Due to time constraints, I went along with an idea a friend pitched to me long ago, it started as a used Panzerfaust Rocket casing and turned into a Medigun that recycles and reuses objects from each of the nine classes. Here's what he did:
While I won't be using everything piece for piece, I'll be using the main idea this tries to give.
I feel it completes the theme of frankenstiened weaponry as well. I may be going a bit more basic with this one, but reuse some of the original textures for parts of it (and adding a little wear and personal touch so I not COMPLETELY ripping off the originals).
So I'm funneling down a week of work into three days, but I think I can do it. Hope to be posting back real soon.
But here is the model, untextured:
I'll give you guys a sec to guess everything used to put this gun together.
And for the record, I remodeled everything from scratch, not a single vert was taken from an original source, although I did look at a bunch of reference over the last several hours. The con to that is the scale may be slightly off for a number of them, but we can write into the backstory that the things used to create this gun were factory mistakes, and the Engineer didn't want anything to go to waste during this war.
When I imported the original Medigun .smd in, there was this long tube in the back, I'm assuming that's the Cable to the backpack, am I right?
I used at least one item from each class and some even got two in. The Tri count is once again high, but considering that I replicated a number of silhouette recognizable assets from different weapons, it was to be expected.
Guessing Time is up:
Medic's Handles for the Medigun
Engineer's Lvl. 1 Sentry, Detonate PDA button and Antenna.
Sniper's Jarate and the battery with the two cables that attach to the Razorback
Pyro's backburner metal "head"
Scout's Bonk energy drink
Heavy's Minigun chambers, base, and Dalokohs bar (in the Jarate)
Spy's Electro-Sapper, now remodeled into a medigun "tuner"
Demoman's Whiskey
A Soldier's Rocket
Other things I thought about but, due to time or design choice, didn't include:
Scout's Handle for his FAN for the Bottom handle
Pyro's Axtinguisher Barbed wire around the whole thing
One Spy Watch.... somewhere.
Demoman's Sights on the Sticky Launcher.
Soldier's actual Rocket Launcher as a inner base.
tl;dr, the main thing that makes this Medigun different besides its mishmashed design is that it draws Energy from three other liquids besides the backpack in order to heal people. Those three liquids then turn into a team-centric colored liquid on the topmost vial above the Heavy's Minigun Base and aid in healing as well. The liquids happen to be Beer, Bonk, and Jarate mixed with Chocolate. I call it:
Crunkorate
I'll get done with Unwrapping tonight and will do all my textures tomorrow (or I should say today by the time I'm done typing). Easing into a close finish with me submitting them all in Sunday morning.
P.S.
Friend was messing around with Hammer and wanted to practice importing stuff in, I gave him the (at the time) almost complete P3 model (Missing proper specular) and he gave it a whirl in game. He said the temporary bones he placed in aren't 100% accurate (he's not a rigger or modeler) so ignore the thumb going through the backside of the gun, or the syringes coming out lower than they should.
(Although offering much creative critique and input, he didn't physically create or collaborate on anything for these entries to those worried about any possible rules I might have been breaking, he just imported them into the game for his own education about compilation.)
Is there any vectors or references of it? I only recall seeing it for a sec in the Original Team Fortress 2 trailer.
i could probably whip up a quick vector of it.
I'll still probably turn it into marker graffiti so no need to make it detailed nor that much of a rush since we're so close to deadlines anyway and I'm eager to just send it in at this point.
Still, thanks in advance for any help.
there you go
also anyone else who wants to use the tfc ^ logo above should feel free too. there's no high resolution images of it anywhere so if it helps y'all
feel free
I'll make sure to add you to the credits and thanks list when I'm all done for the assistance and the idea regardless.
haha it's going to be strange if most the people iv'e helped/created stuff for credit me
valve will see my name re-apear on most of the submitted items that use my kill icons haha :P
It was intentional I wrote the original as being E3, I also was thinking about rewriting the backstory slightly to referencing Portal 2 and the Sony Playstation 3.
As for the other shortened names:
P3 The name for a number of wartime aircraft
C4 C-4 is a widely used Explosive
E5 The first in a series of Entwicklung WWII german tanks
The Original E3 (as you pointed out) is short for the Electronic Entertainment Expo.
If I had more time to complete the Hat, it would have been a German Racing Helmet (or something more akin to the Red Baron) with some gadgets on it, and I'd call it the Aviation Adornment or something like that, the A2, which has easily over 10+ different uses in the Military.
Combine it with the Misc Slot (Another E or a S) and all of them (as I originally planned) would spell:
PEACE
An irony because all the shorthands above apply towards war.
or
SPACE
Related to the Space Race and Cold War.
But at least I can spell... PEC, with what I got.
You know that Medic... known for his PECs...
Lol, if I only had the time...
But to be honest, such a short five week deadline has made me very productive.
Although if I were just to do four, I guess it could also be EPIC...
Base colors complete.
I hope this makes all of the recycled pieces look recognizable.
All I have left to do is detailing the diffuse for the two weapons and the specular maps.
The texture is 1024 by 1024, so text for the BONK! and ELECTRO SAP-HEALER look artifacted, but I think that's as high I will go with the dimensions for this. Especially since it's double the soft-requirements set by the contest.
I'll try resizing it down, sharpen it up, and see if it works, but unlike the other two where I can sacrifice some detail, this will be a fun challenge.
Here it is:
<Render of Secondary, moved to first post of thread>
Planning to pick the Silhouette, the "item slot" render, and a Beauty shot from each weapon, and edit the First Post to something pretty and presentable after I'm all done with all three.
Planning to return and finish the Melee now, and then touch up the Primary a bit more.
Plus, I am also tired of so much GRAY METAL everywhere.