UT99 HD Weapons
polycounter lvl 8
So this is an update on this project I have been working on for a couple of years off and on. So many people have told me it's not worth it, that I shouldn't bother, but I think I have something here. Just not sure what to do with it now, since development of UT4 seems to be moving quite slowly and I am not sure if I can implement these as a mod or a standalone game or just use the marketplace. Between that and the criticisms of the project, I've become pretty jaded. But hey, let's see what polycount thinks... haha.
The idea was to bring the classic UT99 weapons through a modern-day PBR workflow, and then rig/animated/code them into the game. Possibly with mastered soundbytes and better FX.
I've always liked the simpler designs of the UT99 weapons. I am aware other people have tried remakes of these weapons, but I wanted to try bringing them through a PBR pipeline. Eventually, I hope to get all of them fully rigged, animated, and playable in UE4- I have the skills to do it.
I do take creative liberty when I need to, in order to sell more detail. But so far, I haven't gone overboard with the detailing. I honestly think most weapon designs have far too much greeble these days- I want to be able to tell I'm looking at a gun. I think the funnest part about remaking these weapons is figuring out how they ought to function and building around what I come up with.
The idea was to bring the classic UT99 weapons through a modern-day PBR workflow, and then rig/animated/code them into the game. Possibly with mastered soundbytes and better FX.
I've always liked the simpler designs of the UT99 weapons. I am aware other people have tried remakes of these weapons, but I wanted to try bringing them through a PBR pipeline. Eventually, I hope to get all of them fully rigged, animated, and playable in UE4- I have the skills to do it.
I do take creative liberty when I need to, in order to sell more detail. But so far, I haven't gone overboard with the detailing. I honestly think most weapon designs have far too much greeble these days- I want to be able to tell I'm looking at a gun. I think the funnest part about remaking these weapons is figuring out how they ought to function and building around what I come up with.
Replies
The Ripper is interesting because the blade that it fires is nowhere near the size that it should be if it were to fit in the cylindrical magazine below the gun.
I experimented making the disc fold up in order for it to fit in the magazine, somewhat like a folding shuriken. That didn't end up working so well.
I think what I'm going to opt with on the ripper ammo is to have the blades just extend from the center, while scaling outwards. With a little smoke and mirrors I think I can sell the look easily.
How should the ripper work? What I came up with, is that the two prongs above and below the projectile have magnets with opposing poles that slide along rails. The opposing poles keeps the razor hovering in place. When you fire, the magnets jolt towards the tip of the gun, propelling the razor forward before becoming demagnetized and letting the razor free.
The Shock Rifle is the first weapon I've retopoligized, UV'd, and textured.
I'm using Substance Designer 4.2.1 atm- and I'm finding getting the PBR maps from Substance Designer to UE4 to be a bit nit-picky. I know a plugin is being built to streamline that process, but since its beta atm I guess I'll have to wait it out. Right now I'm taking the roughness map that SD gives me and brightening it by 100% to give me a similar result in UE4. SD's parameterization is pretty awesome, but I think I need to invest in Painter or use Materialing to get the deliberate grunge I'm looking for.
Other weapons are guilty of this as well. You'll notice on the flak cannon in the game the numbers on the pistons read backwards. It's because it's flipped.
I took creative liberty here and built the translocator facing the correct way, while flipping some of the details over to the other side in order for it to 'read' somewhat like it used to in the game, so it looked familiar to players.
I would love to see a UT4 as a UT99 HD ^^
This is just my opinion and I know everyone won't share it. I'm sorry if this sounded harsh, but I'm saying this to help you.
I big problem for me is finding the right balance of greeble.
I personally love the industrial simple blocky look of the UT99 weapons myself- it's one of the reasons I started working on this pet project of mine. I'll admit I'm still learning on how to better detail my guns and make them look like they can actually function in the real world. There's no denying I need work there. But that being said, honestly I think most artists spend way too much time detailing their assets these days. There is such a thing as too much greeble, and a lot of artists cross over that line. I prefer simple over messy. I want to tell a gun is a gun the second I look at it, and not just see a mess of polygons.
Look at most modern guns even today. Most of them aren't super detailed. Most have clean sleek elegant lines. That's what I'm trying to do.
And i wouldn´t change the shape because its then no more a UT99 Weapon!
What do you want to reach with this weapons? Maybe to become a Weapon Modelerer for the new UT4 @ Epic?
I'm going to revisit some parts- like the grip of the enforcer, and the muzzle break of the shock rifle.
This part concerns me. I think these models are designed with limitations that existed in 1999 and the artists who designed them would probably do things very differently today. I recognize your sentimentality to the project and that's definitely admirable but if you're goal is employment in the industry, modeling weapons with so many restrictions does not help your goal.
If I may propose a suggestion? Whatever your style is, hone in on that. Show employers that you possess the skills they need. They pay you to collaborate with a team on a game with an already established style. Certain styles are trendy and that's what will get you noticed. Have you seen any of the guns from the borderlands series? The shapes are quite simple but everything is so well designed. Do something like that in your style?
I was recently employed as a environment designer on a game with a realistic style. I've never done hand painted textures but recently did a lot of research on the topic and would really like to try some. That said, my free time is spent researching techniques that will further my employer. It may not be "as fun" but damnit, I get paid to make video games! In the end, the juice is worth the squeeze.
The quality is pretty good in terms of technical level, but your weakness has always been and still is in design. You're a great modeler, but your work lacks finesse and always looks and feels too chunky.
What I'd recommend is trying to model some really curvy shapes. Check out http://www.yankodesign.com/ or another industrial design object, and use your modeling prowess to do some more well-designed objects. It will push your style and your skills to the next level.
Something like this might be a good choice for you;
Don't get me wrong though - I'm not saying to model curvy shapes because you can't do that or anything. I'm saying that you should model some well-designed objects, to increase your appreciation and understanding of beautiful forms and how to improve your own design ability.
Stuff like this;
or this;
...would also be good for you to learn from.
See more at:
https://www.epicgames.com/unrealtournament/forums/showthread.php?17997-CONTENT-DUMP-UT99-classic-weapons
As far as these not helping my case as far as employments goes... we'll see. I don't really care at this point though.
edit: nm they are loading now
Not much better, really.