As Y_M mentioned about the jigglebones, there's no effective way of making something with this particular design work. I'm definitely not using jigglebones.
Y_M:
Having them too similar is definitely a concern, so I'm certainly going to work on changing up some proportions and things. I'm also considering using a different kind of grip and a single-finger trigger. I'd like to keep the wood and metal for the handle because I think it ties things together, but I'm looking into other suitable options. I may go with a rubber handle, or something wrapped in tape, or any number of other things. I'm still trying to flesh out the concept a little, so things are bound to change.
Norron:
I like that little guard as well, but I'm having a tough time making it work in 3D without adding things that will make the design overly complex or just plain ugly. I may play around with it more, but I doubt it'll be in the final model.
As for idle animations, I think I just want to keep this thing static. I'd like to do something interesting with animation, but I don't think it's worth the trouble trying to design something that would plausibly have animated parts.
Man of Popsicle:
I like it too, so I added it to the blockout.
EvilShadow777:
I'm trying to make sure everything's going to look interesting, so I'll probably be making a lot of changes before this is finished.
Been a bit busy with other things the past couple of days, so I didn't have a chance to update this.
Anyway, I built a rough blockout of the basic design and added a hand guard. I'm not terribly happy with how the guard looks, but I like the idea and I'm going to see where it goes once I play with it further.
I agree about the hand guard. It's at odds with the look of old medical gear which is all thick bars of stainless that have rounded sides and smooth bends. Maybe a front finger support or some more open and curvy shapes will work better.
as much as I like this model, it will clip through the hand if you're replacing the bonesaw, there isn't much space between the handle and that thing.
EDIT: Try rotating the two circle thing 90 degrees to save space
Norron:
A change was definitely in order, so I made it look a little more like the default bonesaw. I like it a little better this way.
Konras:
I've been thinking about what sort of things I might put on the glass. I think I'm probably just going to do a few simple measuring lines.
Fragus:
I'd already planned a rotate the plunger a bit, so don't worry.
Alrighty, I think this'll be the last rough before I start on the final model. I like the design and it fits in the medic's hand without weird clipping issues. I'm probably going to add a little detail to where the cylinder attaches to the handle to make it seem more attached and solid, but I think this is pretty well finalized.
I got the mockup in the engine to make sure everything is hunky dory with the proportions and clipping and whatnot. Everything seems okay here.
love the syringe dude
i dont suppose you can point some of us to a place that tells us how to get stuff in game can you? i know google is my friend, but if you have some off hand so i dont have to dig, that would be great.
Good plan testing out how the model will fit into the character's hand before going on to the finals. I should take a step back and test this with some of mine.
Looks great dude. Its weird but each time I see your models in the hands of the character it catches me off guard because I keep forgetting how big these things are meant to be :poly124:.
Hm. Maybe you should try and make a custom taunt for that needle. Just saying, because it seems valve only wants 1 taunt kill per class, and it'd be odd to see the medic play the needle like a violin.
Khthon:
Actually, it's inspired by veterinary syringes like this one. They're pretty similar, though.
duoxan:
Glad to be of help.
nrek:
Yeah, same here. I keep thinking the scale gets all funky in the import process, but then I realize that all the TF2 weapons are just gigantic.
Mico27:
Yeah, there are definitely some similarities there.
Some Jerk:
I don't actually need to do a custom taunt. Valve could simply use the bonesaw tauntkill animation for it.
Clusternate:
It's a replacement for the bonesaw.
Righto. I think the model's almost finished. I have a little bit of optimization to do, but that's all as far as modeling goes. Now I just need to get to the UV and texturing stage and that'll be it. After this, I'm probably going to work on a new backpack. I haven't decided on that for sure, though.
I like it! Im just not much of a fan of the back part... looks like a wind-up key. I would suggest to delete it or make it smaller. Either way, good luck!
8000 tris is a lot for a single small or medium sized prop. No matter how many bevels or curves I add to my items they are still way under 8k. As long as you are using all of your loops and verts and things effectively, there's not too much chance of going overboard. If you're just starting out you might have some problems, but as you go on you'll get better at keeping your tri count at a good number.
My point was supposed to be a "they're so small why would you bother, texture will do just fine" not an "ahh you're gunna go way overboard on tris" >.<
The Red Man:
I was trying to go for something reminiscent of metal syringes with holes for fingers, so that's where the design came from.
Y_M:
I modeled them so there'd be a nice amount of detail in first-person view. Any that weren't visible are now gone.
Khthon:
Thanks!
About the tri count: It's fine. I'm currently at 3104 triangles and that's way, waaaaay below the suggested limit. As I said above, the screws you can't see in first-person are gone, so it's no longer an issue (even though with the current tri count it wasn't anyway, but... you know).
ANYWAY. PICTURES.
I've got the UVs laid out and I've laid down some base colors. Now is be make time for brushy brushy!
A lighter handle would look a little better, although people won't see it much anyways. The container part of the syringe seems plain, maybe that will be made more interesting with textures though.
Is this going to a clean medical tool or more of a dirty battle-worn instrument of death?
A dirty/battle worn look gives more options for the textures etc.
I'm probably going to lighten up most of the texture significantly, so stay tuned. It's probably going to have a bit of wear and tear on it, but nothing major. Maybe a bit of blood on the needle.
Maybe one of the Source gurus around here can help me out with something. I've imported the model and it's looking all spiffy except for one thing; no specular. I can't get the $phong shader to work no matter what I do. I've tried copying entire VMTs from other suitable items, but to no effect whatsoever. $selfillum and the various flavors of alpha/translucency work just dandy, but I can't get specular no matter what I do. It's acting like it's flat shaded in the model viewer and it only receives ambient light in-game nothing directional.
Help?
Here's what my VMT looks like at the moment. I stole it from the axtinguisher.
And here's what it looks like in the model viewer:
I notice that the diffuse looks darker in the model viewer than it should. Could this be some sort of vertex map problem or something of the sort? Any ideas on how to fix this?
"$normalmapalphaenvmapmask" 1 //(If your specular is in your normal map. If not, remove this line)
"$basealphaenvmapmask" 1 //(If your specular is in your diffuse alpha. Specular maps embedded in basealpha work in reverse. Black areas are reflective and white are matte. If using this, flip the colors on your specular map. If not using this, remove this line)
"$envmap" "env_cubemap"
"$envmapcontrast" 1
"$envmapsaturation" 1
"$envmaptint" "[ 0.08 0.08 0.08 ]"
Not sure why your diffuse is darker in the model viewer. I've never had that problem before. Maybe it's an issue you're getting when you convert to VTF?
Woohoo! I was theoretically right about the problem.
Yup, that was actually pretty helpful. Mentioning the possibility of bad normals made me remember just how bad Modo's OBJ exporter is. Now that I know Blender is reliable in that regard, I'll use it for export.
Also, that thing is looking sweet. Stop making us all look bad please?
I think the colours mirror the ubersaw too much.
Try swapping the red for the middle-right orange here
And replace the brown-wood handle with the light-coloured metal of the bonesaw's blade.
I think that weapons should be fast recognizable from distance. (one reason is why they changed demoman's trage colors from team to orange). So it should not have the colors of previous medic mele weapons.
One more thing When I saw this model, I though that you could make his fluid container transparent like here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjDIhlPrfKU) and as far as it will stay cylindrical it could even jiggle to the sides (when you strafe) with no intersections
Anyways its a great design and model, good luck, I would gladly play with it
Y_M:
My plan is to stay awesome. Hopefully I can keep it up. And yes, that is what she said.
Clusternate:
I'm planning something similar to that.
xilefian, Mico27, Cheeezy, Konras:
I'm going to be doing a lot more with the textures, so don't sweat it.
Finally got this bad boy working in-engine with some pretty shader goodness. These textures are 100% WIP and extremely unfinished. They're nothing more than base colors and AO.
There are a couple of really gnarly seams I've got to take care of and I need to add a few tris here and there to take care of shading issues, but the end is in sight.
Replies
Y_M:
Having them too similar is definitely a concern, so I'm certainly going to work on changing up some proportions and things. I'm also considering using a different kind of grip and a single-finger trigger. I'd like to keep the wood and metal for the handle because I think it ties things together, but I'm looking into other suitable options. I may go with a rubber handle, or something wrapped in tape, or any number of other things. I'm still trying to flesh out the concept a little, so things are bound to change.
Norron:
I like that little guard as well, but I'm having a tough time making it work in 3D without adding things that will make the design overly complex or just plain ugly. I may play around with it more, but I doubt it'll be in the final model.
As for idle animations, I think I just want to keep this thing static. I'd like to do something interesting with animation, but I don't think it's worth the trouble trying to design something that would plausibly have animated parts.
Man of Popsicle:
I like it too, so I added it to the blockout.
EvilShadow777:
I'm trying to make sure everything's going to look interesting, so I'll probably be making a lot of changes before this is finished.
Been a bit busy with other things the past couple of days, so I didn't have a chance to update this.
Anyway, I built a rough blockout of the basic design and added a hand guard. I'm not terribly happy with how the guard looks, but I like the idea and I'm going to see where it goes once I play with it further.
I agree about the hand guard. It's at odds with the look of old medical gear which is all thick bars of stainless that have rounded sides and smooth bends. Maybe a front finger support or some more open and curvy shapes will work better.
http://www.hermes-one.com/images/LillyBottles.jpg
http://i.ebayimg.com/03/!Bkv13!wBWk~$(KGrHqMH-DMEs71t!jDkBLY0(16KgQ~~_3.JPG
Cant wait to see some engine screens
EDIT: Try rotating the two circle thing 90 degrees to save space
Thanks!
Norron:
A change was definitely in order, so I made it look a little more like the default bonesaw. I like it a little better this way.
Konras:
I've been thinking about what sort of things I might put on the glass. I think I'm probably just going to do a few simple measuring lines.
Fragus:
I'd already planned a rotate the plunger a bit, so don't worry.
Alrighty, I think this'll be the last rough before I start on the final model. I like the design and it fits in the medic's hand without weird clipping issues. I'm probably going to add a little detail to where the cylinder attaches to the handle to make it seem more attached and solid, but I think this is pretty well finalized.
I got the mockup in the engine to make sure everything is hunky dory with the proportions and clipping and whatnot. Everything seems okay here.
i dont suppose you can point some of us to a place that tells us how to get stuff in game can you? i know google is my friend, but if you have some off hand so i dont have to dig, that would be great.
http://www.fpsbanana.com/tutcats/212
For only three easy payments of twenty-nine ninety-nine...
duoxan:
I found these tutorials helpful:
http://www.fpsbanana.com/tuts/8747
http://www.fpsbanana.com/tuts/8746
Frump:
It's something I wish I would've done with the needlegun in the blocking stage. It would've saved a lot of trouble.
Reminds me of: [ame]
But it was never submitted obviously because of obvious reference.
Is this a Melee or a Gun?
Couldn't you just read through the thread? It's a melee. Unless you're talking about the syringe gun. Everything this page is a melee replacement.
Actually, it's inspired by veterinary syringes like this one. They're pretty similar, though.
duoxan:
Glad to be of help.
nrek:
Yeah, same here. I keep thinking the scale gets all funky in the import process, but then I realize that all the TF2 weapons are just gigantic.
Mico27:
Yeah, there are definitely some similarities there.
Some Jerk:
I don't actually need to do a custom taunt. Valve could simply use the bonesaw tauntkill animation for it.
Clusternate:
It's a replacement for the bonesaw.
Righto. I think the model's almost finished. I have a little bit of optimization to do, but that's all as far as modeling goes. Now I just need to get to the UV and texturing stage and that'll be it. After this, I'm probably going to work on a new backpack. I haven't decided on that for sure, though.
Other than that reckless move :P I like it. Will you have the uber-meter from the ubersaw inside it?
Look at the Ambassador, that thing is almost 19k tris and the screws are modelled in.
8000 tris is a lot for a single small or medium sized prop. No matter how many bevels or curves I add to my items they are still way under 8k. As long as you are using all of your loops and verts and things effectively, there's not too much chance of going overboard. If you're just starting out you might have some problems, but as you go on you'll get better at keeping your tri count at a good number.
I was trying to go for something reminiscent of metal syringes with holes for fingers, so that's where the design came from.
Y_M:
I modeled them so there'd be a nice amount of detail in first-person view. Any that weren't visible are now gone.
Khthon:
Thanks!
About the tri count: It's fine. I'm currently at 3104 triangles and that's way, waaaaay below the suggested limit. As I said above, the screws you can't see in first-person are gone, so it's no longer an issue (even though with the current tri count it wasn't anyway, but... you know).
ANYWAY. PICTURES.
I've got the UVs laid out and I've laid down some base colors. Now is be make time for brushy brushy!
Is this going to a clean medical tool or more of a dirty battle-worn instrument of death?
A dirty/battle worn look gives more options for the textures etc.
Maybe one of the Source gurus around here can help me out with something. I've imported the model and it's looking all spiffy except for one thing; no specular. I can't get the $phong shader to work no matter what I do. I've tried copying entire VMTs from other suitable items, but to no effect whatsoever. $selfillum and the various flavors of alpha/translucency work just dandy, but I can't get specular no matter what I do. It's acting like it's flat shaded in the model viewer and it only receives ambient light in-game nothing directional.
Help?
Here's what my VMT looks like at the moment. I stole it from the axtinguisher.
"VertexLitGeneric" { "$basetexture" "models\weapons\c_items\c_ubersaw" "$phong" "1" "$phongexponent" "25" "$phongboost" "5" "$lightwarptexture" "models\lightwarps\weapon_lightwarp" "$phongfresnelranges" "[.25 .5 1]" "$basemapalphaphongmask" "1" "$rimlight" "1" "$rimlightexponent" "4" "$rimlightboost" "1" "360?$color2" "[ 0.9 0.8 0.8 ]" "$glowcolor" "1" // Cloaking "$cloakPassEnabled" "1" "Proxies" { "weapon_invis" { } "ModelGlowColor" { "resultVar" "$glowcolor" } "Equals" { "srcVar1" "$glowcolor" "resultVar" "$selfillumtint" } "Equals" { "srcVar1" "$glowcolor" "resultVar" "$color2" } } }And here's what it looks like in the model viewer:
I notice that the diffuse looks darker in the model viewer than it should. Could this be some sort of vertex map problem or something of the sort? Any ideas on how to fix this?
"$normalmapalphaenvmapmask" 1 //(If your specular is in your normal map. If not, remove this line)
"$basealphaenvmapmask" 1 //(If your specular is in your diffuse alpha. Specular maps embedded in basealpha work in reverse. Black areas are reflective and white are matte. If using this, flip the colors on your specular map. If not using this, remove this line)
"$envmap" "env_cubemap"
"$envmapcontrast" 1
"$envmapsaturation" 1
"$envmaptint" "[ 0.08 0.08 0.08 ]"
Not sure why your diffuse is darker in the model viewer. I've never had that problem before. Maybe it's an issue you're getting when you convert to VTF?
So, false alarm. I figured out the problem: Modo's damned OBJ exporter is a piece of crap that outputs bad normals and vertex data like nothing else.
Never use it.
Also, that thing is looking sweet. Stop making us all look bad please?
No! NONONONONONOOOOOO!!! :poly105:
:P
How 'bout that?
Try swapping the red for the middle-right orange here
And replace the brown-wood handle with the light-coloured metal of the bonesaw's blade.
One more thing
Anyways its a great design and model, good luck, I would gladly play with it
Thanks!
Y_M:
My plan is to stay awesome. Hopefully I can keep it up. And yes, that is what she said.
Clusternate:
I'm planning something similar to that.
xilefian, Mico27, Cheeezy, Konras:
I'm going to be doing a lot more with the textures, so don't sweat it.
Finally got this bad boy working in-engine with some pretty shader goodness. These textures are 100% WIP and extremely unfinished. They're nothing more than base colors and AO.
There are a couple of really gnarly seams I've got to take care of and I need to add a few tris here and there to take care of shading issues, but the end is in sight.
an eye could pass trough that seringe o_x
looks great. nice clean shapes! really like the sillohette it creates in first person.
That is some kick ass work you got going there!
It's all looking great, keep up the good work!
lol wobly mouse