Home Contests & Challenges Archives

Dota 2 Polycount Contest 'Q&A Thread'

2456714

Replies

  • Justin Meisse
    Offline / Send Message
    Justin Meisse polycounter lvl 19
    This isn't a question: if you feel the burning urge to say "go back to TF2!!! this is DOTA2!" or some variation there of, write in on your blog, a DOTA 2 forum or tell your therapist, but leave it out of contest threads.

    Everyone else, please report these types of posts, I will ban repeat offenders.
  • JackBauer
    Are we allowed to change the skin textures, or just the armor?


    Answer: You cannot change any existing textures. You should be creating brand new, additive 3D artwork and their textures for this contest. This is not a 'texturing' contest where you are to update the existing model textures.
  • Dark Acre Jack
    Qwiggalo wrote: »
    at 2:00 I also added a mask1&2 tutorial.

    Thank you VERY much for that!

    Does anyone have any tips for setting up a "proper" preview environment in Max for testing all the maps?
  • Ahoburg
    Question, if i create a set for a character like enchantress, what am i supposed to do with it? You can't submit them in-game yet
  • Qwiggalo
    Offline / Send Message
    Qwiggalo polycounter lvl 8
    Tekoppar wrote: »
    Is Antimage really included? He's in the list but does not have a guideline/model on the workshop. No Antimage is the only one missing in the workshop.

    http://www.mattwhite.us/files/antimage.zip

    Here ya go, I exported all his SMDs and VTFs and put them in a Maya file and an FBX and included all the SMDs.
  • TriggerHappyPuppy
    Hi. When I usuly submit items for dota 2 I newer submit any lod0 mesh becuse this text "If your item isn't highly visible in the hero's portrait, leave this blank and we'll use the in-game geometry instead." Is it the same for this contest or should I make an lod0 also for maybe render shoots?

    Answer: Valve has requested that you create multiple LOD's for your entry so you should do as the brief describes.
  • ChaosWWW
    Offline / Send Message
    ChaosWWW polycounter lvl 6
    If I'm making a full armor set for a character, does each piece have to integrate with the vanilla armor or not? (For example, if I modeled a seamless transition between the body and legs for my armor set, would I have to make the body also integrate with the default legs?)

    Answer: Whatever you create should work with the default setup of your chosen Hero.
  • MMKH
    Offline / Send Message
    MMKH polycounter lvl 11
    How do you apply the "mask" textures that are included with these models? I am previewing the Pugna model for instance using Marmoset Toolbag and don't know under which kind of material to add them. I would like to know more information as to how to create them too.

    EDIT: Nevermind, I just noticed the tutorial video above.
  • agentfx
    I see that Axe isn't listed on the Polycount page here http://www.polycount.com/dota2polycountcontest but you can download his info on the DOTA2 Requirements page here http://www.dota2.com/workshop/requirements
    Just want to make sure we CANNOT pick Axe? I had a good idea for him.
  • Qwiggalo
    Offline / Send Message
    Qwiggalo polycounter lvl 8
    agentfx wrote: »
    I see that Axe isn't listed on the Polycount page here http://www.polycount.com/dota2polycountcontest but you can download his info on the DOTA2 Requirements page here http://www.dota2.com/workshop/requirements
    Just want to make sure we CANNOT pick Axe? I had a good idea for him.

    All the picks and not picks are confirmed. I'm pretty sure tide, axe and so on are omitted due to the amount of items they already have.
  • Soldeus
    Offline / Send Message
    Soldeus polycounter lvl 10
    Is top10 limited to 1 "Winner Set" per user? Or is it possible for 2 item sets(2 different entries) made by the same user/s enter the Top10?

    Ex: A friend and I make an Anti-mage set, and then a Clinkz Set. Can both of them be at the Top10?

    Answer: If both entries are chosen by Valve as their picks for the Top 10, then they would both be winners.
  • I-ninja
    Offline / Send Message
    I-ninja polycounter lvl 5
    Do we get a polycount pin in tf2 for doing this?
  • bounchfx
    Qwiggalo wrote: »
    at 2:00 I also added a mask1&2 tutorial.



    Awesome! Thanks!
  • IchII3D
    Offline / Send Message
    IchII3D polycounter lvl 12
    If your hero was heavily influenced by something, such as if I was to make the Sniper look like a member of the 1813 British Redcoats... would that be classified as not being original? I have seen a few people commenting on other peoples work that it looks like something else... got me wondering.

    Answer: You can certainly draw inspiration from real-life designs etc. But its worth asking yourself if that is something Valve is going to choose.
  • Spudnik
    Offline / Send Message
    Spudnik polycounter lvl 11
    @Ichll3D
    I think that's kind of a grey zone. I don't think there's anything wrong with being influenced my one design or another as long as you don't simply copy it, but instead mke it your own. That's what the WIP threads are for, people can judge it from an outside perspective and tell you whether or not it looks "just copied". One thing is for certain though: you may not use copywritten material. (though in the case of historical armor you shouldn't have a problem with that)
  • tanka
    Offline / Send Message
    tanka polycounter lvl 12
    This is a weird question..

    Given that there will only be 10 winners, what happens with the rest of the items? Can we keep them in the workshop? Are they still eligible to get in game? Or if they lose the contest are they out for good?

    I'm only asking because I'm sure that this contest will draw more than 10 entries worthy of being in game.. And the current workshop situation is a lot different to when we had the polycount TF2 contest.

    Answer: Valve may release additional ones in the store at a later date, as they did with the TF2 Polycount Pack. I am sure, though, you could resubmit the items out side of the contest once the winners are announced if you are so inclined.
  • Tekoppar
    Offline / Send Message
    Tekoppar polycounter lvl 10
    I'm just curious, since most of the base models have parts of the armor still on them. Can we cover up those with the new items or are Valve super strict here?

    Answer: You can cover those.
  • Spudnik
    Offline / Send Message
    Spudnik polycounter lvl 11
    @Tekoppar
    If you mean making an item that covers up part of the base model, then yes you can. I might be misunderstanding you though so browse through the list of accepted items to see if you can find an example of such an item.
  • nele_s
    Offline / Send Message
    nele_s polycounter lvl 10
    The requirements state that the texture maps size should be 256.
    However, when importing the models, the texture maps on that model are 2k.
    Why do we have lower sized texture maps?
  • Spudnik
    Offline / Send Message
    Spudnik polycounter lvl 11
    @nele-s
    I think we get the originals. In game they're all sized down.

    It's really obvious on some heroes, look at Earthshaker's portrait and you'll see indivual pixels on the texture.
  • nele_s
    Offline / Send Message
    nele_s polycounter lvl 10
    @Spudnik
    hmm i guess it makes sense like that... thx!
  • Qwiggalo
    Offline / Send Message
    Qwiggalo polycounter lvl 8
    How come my profile has nowhere to put my Steam ID? Just AIM, Yahoo, Skype and a bunch of other messengers nobody uses anymore.

    Also your linkedin 'widget' doesn't seem to work, where it says paste everything but the linkedin.com
  • cesar11
    Offline / Send Message
    cesar11 polycounter lvl 8
    Are we able to use parts of the old model?

    Windrunner which is the model I'm using has her hair as her helmet and its a big trademark for this hero, without the hair i don't think she is recognizable. Am i able to reuse her hair for the contest or alter it a bit or do i have to recreate it?
  • Qwiggalo
    Offline / Send Message
    Qwiggalo polycounter lvl 8
    cesar11 wrote: »
    Are we able to use parts of the old model?

    Windrunner which is the model I'm using has her hair as her helmet and its a big trademark for this hero, without the hair i don't think she is recognizable. Am i able to reuse her hair for the contest or alter it a bit or do i have to recreate it?

    Yea you can, but you should try to change the hair style, it can still be orange.
  • Kirgan
    Offline / Send Message
    Kirgan polycounter lvl 11
    Thanks alot for the mask1&2 video Qwiggalo!
  • Pierate
    Offline / Send Message
    Pierate polycounter lvl 15
    Not sure if this has been asked but I have a question regarding models that make use of a seperate head, say Faceless Void, Slardar, etc. Basically, I want to know if we're suuposed to make entirely new heads for these heroes or if it's okay to make headgear that goes on top of this seperate head model? I suppose this goes for any hero with seperate models that appear to be part of the actual hero (Sand King's tail for example).
    This could possibly affect which hero I end up making items for :)
  • Selaznog
    Offline / Send Message
    Selaznog polycounter lvl 8
    If we make armour to cover up the armour on the original model, where would that armour go upon entry? For instance, Doom Bringer has default leg armour, and if I want to make new armour to go on top, where do I submit that/what are the limitations? (I don't see a slot for leg armour on the Doom Bringer page)

    Answer: I would suggest you create items for the slots available.
  • Erafic
    Offline / Send Message
    Erafic polycounter lvl 10
    Could we perhaps get a stickied poll in the forum? I'm a little curious since we have 49 or so heroes to choose from some definetively come off as more popular. Would be interesting to see in a poll just how popular certain characters are (perhaps if someone wants to work on a less used hero). :)
  • Spudnik
    Offline / Send Message
    Spudnik polycounter lvl 11
    @Selaznog:
    Technically, yes, you can make armor for the legs but you're going to have to attach it to (i.e. include it with) one of the other slots (belt or tail in the case of Doombringer would probably be best) which cuts into your poly budget. If the boly budget is not holding you back, by all means, go for it :)
  • D4V1DC
    Offline / Send Message
    D4V1DC polycounter lvl 18
    Erafic wrote: »
    since we have 49 or so heroes to choose from some definetively come off as more popular.(perhaps if someone wants to work on a less used hero). :)

    I would like to believe this is why the contest is being held to entice some to switch over to try and explore all characters and not just stick to Mr.populars..
    Spudnik wrote: »
    @Selaznog:
    Technically, yes, you can make armor for the legs but you're going to have to attach it to (i.e. include it with) one of the other slots (belt or tail in the case of Doombringer would probably be best) which cuts into your poly budget. If the boly budget is not holding you back, by all means, go for it :)

    Thanks I was wondering this myself, is this official word?

    nvrmnd I am sure I can't.
  • Kend
    Offline / Send Message
    Kend greentooth
    how do we submit multiple LOD's? do we just submit 2 different files for each armor piece stating which one is LOD1 and LOD0 ???

    Answer: This is covered in the submissions and Hero guidelines on the Dota 2 Workshop page./COLOR]
  • ZacD
    Offline / Send Message
    ZacD ngon master
    The Brewmaster zip download is missing the shoulder obj. There is a file named that, but all it contains is the weapon and off hand. Is there a way we can get this fixed, or does anyone want to try to rip it from the smd or maya file?
  • Jungster
    My question was how to begin modeling if your absolutely fresh and looking up the term speed modeling in google helped a lot.

    I have blender and found out how to generally load the model now, so I edited this post.

    Blender has an introduction set of tutorials which ends for a membership, so I suggest joining a dota 2 workshop group if anyone has similar questions and are overwhelmed by the amount of info at the start.
  • Mexican
    More of a forum question in general, but how do you change a thread title? My thread title is very very placeholder
  • JacqueChoi
    Offline / Send Message
    JacqueChoi polycounter
    Helpful link.. hopefully Adam can post on the first page:


    http://www.dota2wiki.com/wiki/Dota_2_Wiki:Model_Pictures

    Answer: Added - thanks Jacque!
  • Loren Broach
    Offline / Send Message
    Loren Broach polycounter lvl 10
    Anyone else having issues downloading the spectator client? I click the link for the install and nothing happens. Can anyone shed light on the situation? I have a lot of games on steam so it shouldn't be a limited version.
  • Spudnik
    Offline / Send Message
    Spudnik polycounter lvl 11
    @Kend:
    Submit through the game itself, it'll ask you for your lod1 and lod0 geometry which it will also preview (this is the only way to check how items will look ingame) before submitting.

    If you just want to preview, go through the steps just as if you were going to submit, but cancle it after it compiles and previews the model.
  • ellisq
    Whats a sketching program people use or this?
  • reverendK
    Offline / Send Message
    reverendK polycounter lvl 7
    to repeat an old question in hopes of a definite answer:

    Is the "face limit" just counting Ngon faces, or Tri's?

    I understand that on importing faces are counted as faces regardless of tri/quad - but I'd hate for people to submit things that are within import limits but off spec for the contest.
  • cesar11
    Offline / Send Message
    cesar11 polycounter lvl 8
    Getting an error in the DOTA 2 viewer "Couldn't find any bones in the wearable that correspond to bones in the hero model. Wearable items must be skinned to the hero's bones to be submitted"

    My pipeline.

    1. Import Hair SMD (Bones/rig)
    2. Import my Hair (Reset Transform pivot to 0.0.0/reset Xform)
    3. Apply Skin modifier to my model
    4. Add the Head Bone to my Model
    5. Export my Model (With and without bone)

    When i import it its just hovering there while the character is doing her animation, Textures are working fine its just not properly sticking to the bone, any ideas?
  • Kur4y4mi
    While I understand that the acceptable formats are .SMD (Valve's SDK I believe), .FBX (Autodesk) and .DMX (unfamiliar with this one), I was curious as to if there was an easy way to convert these so I can use the program Blender in order to create for this contest. I have been unable to find appropriate file converters for those file extensions in order to open and manipulate the files given by Valve. If anyone knows a workaround right off the top, or of another free program that can be used with these appropriate file extensions, please let me know as I am looking forward to submitting something. Thanks!
  • Qwiggalo
    Offline / Send Message
    Qwiggalo polycounter lvl 8
    reverendK wrote: »
    to repeat an old question in hopes of a definite answer:

    Is the "face limit" just counting Ngon faces, or Tri's?

    I understand that on importing faces are counted as faces regardless of tri/quad - but I'd hate for people to submit things that are within import limits but off spec for the contest.

    An N-gon is the incorrect term. N-gons have infinite number of sides, polygons have 4 sides. You are not allowed to have 5 sided faces.
  • Sharvo
    Offline / Send Message
    Sharvo keyframe
    Hello, sorry if this can be explained elsewhere, but what are the different lods for, for example;

    Weapon
    • LoD0 Polygon Limit: 500
    • LoD1 Polygon Limit: 350
    So say my weapon is 400, does that mean i need to do two LODs. Just noticed on other peoples threads that not many are worried about the initial LoD1 budget.

    I read the technical requirements but doesnt say much on what the two LoDs are used for.

    Sorry if this is a silly question.
  • RENDEREN
    Offline / Send Message
    RENDEREN polycounter lvl 8
    why isn't Storm Spirit in the list?
  • reverendK
    Offline / Send Message
    reverendK polycounter lvl 7
    Sharvo - it's my understanding that LOD1 is in-game and LOD0 is for the portrait/loadout screen
  • Caldria
    Offline / Send Message
    Caldria polycounter lvl 8
    A quick question - how far are we able to stray from the hero's established colour scheme. For example: Nyx Assassin's armour is majority dark red hues with some orange/gold trim, if we were to make and item set with more golds/sandy-browns etc. Would this be acceptable?

    Answer: Ask yourself this instead: Would it look good and is it something you'd be proud to submit for this contest? If yes, by all means, do what you'd like.
  • Frakenz
    is it ok to use game content for an item? I want to use an Alpha Wolf's fur and head on my set. (Alpha Wolf is a unit from the game)

    Answer: Your entry should be as original as possible.
  • Jetamo
    There are some new heroes being broken up for cosmetics, as you can see on Cyborgmatt's blog, namely Night Stalker and Razor: Are we allowed to make items for these heroes when the resources arrive?
  • latorril
    Offline / Send Message
    latorril polycounter lvl 6
    Am I the only one who noticed Dota2 is using CMYK over RGB to derive color pallets?
    I was confused about this at first. Is this just something I've been overlooking, or has it been common knowledge to use CMYK for a while now?

    I ask, because otherwise, I'd be picking the wrong complimentaries.

    Additive RGB:
    RED <-> GREEN
    BLUE <-> ORANGE
    YELLOW <-> PURPLE

    Subtractive CMY:
    MAGENTA <-> GREEN
    CYAN <-> RED
    YELLOW <-> BLUE VIOLET

    Here is a link or two to pages I read:
    The Real Color Wheel
    The Painting Guide - Color Wheels...

    I know it's a weird question, and probably the least of anyone's troubles, but I thought I knew about color, apparently - I don't know enough.
  • Spudnik
    Offline / Send Message
    Spudnik polycounter lvl 11
    @Caldria
    Concepts would help immensely here. Both for you and for the community in giving you feedback on the color scheme.

    @Frankenz
    As long as you recreate it yourself and don't copy-paste (All submissions have to be original)

    @Jetamo
    Not unless Valve explicitly states so. So far, the list is what we're allowed to use.
2456714
Sign In or Register to comment.