Forum posts

Hey dustbunny, that decked out P90 looks like the SC-2000 (Is that right?) from Splinter Cell.

Ah, thanks for the clarification guys. You are right I didn't know what a smooth group was. I looked back on one of my dusty memories from before I was really into modeling and I saw in my head a tutorial on making a car using smooth groups -_-. I was obviously wrong, or I saw the word and made a wrong assumption but either way, I now know what a smooth group really is.

But check this out

3ds max has its origins in the mid-1980?s program called ?CAD-3D? written by Tom Hudson on the Atari ST computer. It and other Antic software products were culled together and ultimately became the 3D Studio product line developed by the Yost Group and Autodesk. 3D Studio evolved into 3ds max in the mid 1990?s. Due to this historical evolution of the software, 3ds max still uses the 1980?s concept of ?smoothing groups? to represent the smoothing on mesh objects rather than the more ideal, accurate and modern ?vertex normals? method. Smoothing groups are just an approximation of the original smoothing information contained in the source CAD model. Smoothing groups have problems representing the original smoothing for CAD objects which share smooth and abrupt angles within the same mesh model and on the same set of triangles. The problems will manifest themselves as ?black bands? as well as visible seams along triangle boundaries. In addition, 3ds max has inherently had problems rendering very thin and long ?sliver? triangles which are common from data obtained from meshed CAD solids data. Several suggestions are available. First, for the problematic mesh model in question, select it inside 3ds max and apply a ?Smooth? object-space modifier to it; enable the ?Auto-smooth? and optionally enable the ?Prevent Indirect Smoothing? checkboxes. Alternatively, what you need to do is break apart the problematic mesh model so that the parts which are smoothed and the parts which have abrupt angular changes are in two different mesh models; this latter suggestion is rarely, if ever, required to be done. Even though 3ds max uses smoothing groups it still does provide ?32 bitmaks? per vertex (internally within its database) and thus provides some good freedom to approximate the original vertex normals of the CAD data with the new smoothing group flags per vertex; this should be compared to Lightwave which only has a single smoothing cut-off angle per-material-per-mesh object and thus has much less freedom to recreate the smoothing properly. - Updated: October 19, 2004

I got this from http://www.okino.com/faqs_output_dir/12.htm

It looks like I have to mange something other than smoothgroups to make this look better.

I will have to look more onto Phong and Lambertian shading, because XSI from what I am seeing does not have Gouraud shading, But It might be floating around on the internet somewhere for XSI. Once again, thank you guys for your compliments and critiques. I like it here because on other forums I either get "ZOMG AwEsOmE" or very little feedback, and you guys just do it up.

Ah, I get it now.

Come to think of it, I should have known becuase I knew someone who used to say all but perfect.

I'm using XSI 5.0

But it seems like using smoothing groups on a render would be immoral for a model that is to be used ingame.

And I've got to say, my rotoscopy image dissagrees with those of you that say my proportions are off. The thickness my be off, But I don't think that's what you guys were talking about.

I'll get the more recent renders up soon.

I smell my shoes. The got wet two days ago, Never been the same since.

It is for ingame. I can post up the wires when I get home.

And also I accidentally uploaded the wrong render, In my more recent one the bottom is smoothed out. I have modeled that extruded white part running around the outer edge (Like where the power switch is). And I also have the buttons on the right extruded little bit more.

I am planning on getting a good texture on this thing and I was also going to mess around with render materials on it too. Just for experience. Like how the buttons have a glassy outside but the actual black part with the shapes on it are on the back face of the button.

Also, I don't know how much I like General Vivi's PSP. He took the lazy way out when making the buttons and he just got the overall shape down. but not all the faces on the PSP are flat like that.

And thanks Jobabob

Proportions seem alright to me, what parts are you talking about exactly?

My dad installed linux on my modeling machine a little while ago, and he wouldnt let me use windows for a few weeks. So to get started modeling again I made a PSP.Whaddaya think?

I didn't know you modeled Elon. But Yes, I am proud of my model, I do not like getting strait edges on a curved figure like this. Plus as much as I like the model, I also like this render because it is one of my first to use ambient occlusion. My first was a render of a model I made long ago in fact some of you may even recognize it. Especially you Haboi

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/dreamlandkirby/abdf.jpg

Accept me up scotty.

aw man, Habboi, you've made me jealous. I'm going to try to recreate that, I will fail, but the experience will be priceless.

Oh, and madcow, can I see that picture you were talking about?

Rofl, there is an HL2 font?

To Half Life 2There is a little crick at the top of it, but I didn't notice it till after the render was done, and it took over an hour on my crapmachine.

I swear, if you guys saw the wireframe you would laugh. I think I'll post it in a day or two.

I wasn't joking when I said this, It is really a bad model. It seriously took me less than half an hour, from finding reference to texture.

The reason that I posted this is because I decided that I would make a Five-seveN but I decided that there were other things that I would rather be modeling. So I just stopped, But most of the outline was there, so I slapped the reference picture on a as a texture. (Mortal sin, I know) And because the picture had shadowing on it, it kinda looked like it was the render adding the shadows. I was taken aback, so I figured that I would show you guys what a self shadowed texture can do for a model that you will only see from head on. Seventh-Monkey was right, I could have just used to reference model from that angle, And I practically did.

Now here is the long awaited model XD

The model is embarrassing. But the texture kinda makes it looks alright. It's not alligned right in the front, but I don't mind, I didn't want to continue after like half an hour.I swear, if you guys saw the wireframe you would laugh. I think I'll post it in a day or two.

I know of a good one.

Right here :).

I made some Nightvision goggles for Robbery: source Check them out yo.They are based off the Cobra: Wirlwind Goggles. I wish that my polybuget was higher though. This model lacks alot of detail that I would have loved to add it, especially around the lenses and on teh handles.

I am a modeler, but I have FULL understanding of Source SDK and the original hammer. I prefer to model though, the rewards are sweeter, and I am better at it.

Haha, milkshape is cool, I'd never go back to using it though. That is my very first modeling program, I had some sweet spheres and Kirby models going on that program, the the complexity and hardcore of XSI pulled me in.
I've gotten sufficient at modeling so now I'm working on rendering, which you couldn't do in milkshape, I've even touched base an keyframe animation and curve animation so in a year or so, you'll see, I'll be making little movies

It's funny that you say that xyos, Because these aren't even rendered. I'm having some really crappy problem with this model that doesn't allow the textures to show up during the render. So these were taken directly out of XSI. In the one with the hair you can even see two of the light sources

wait I have one more thing I would like to show.

that is... meand just for fun.as you can see my glasses are plastered to my face, but I'll either edit them out or just make another texture without my glasses on.

This is a kinda old picture, but its up on my photobucket already so I'll post it.

My current desktop still looks like this, but it has a silvery theme now

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/dreamlandkirby/Capture9-25-2004-9.jpg

Which is better than the way it looked before. The blank spots are where other game shortcuts where

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/dreamlandkirby/117a2c15.jpg

Sup guys. I've been modeling for a little while now. But I decided To take up rendering on the side, because its loads of fun. (and really hard, for me at least) and here is some of the stuff I came up with, The models in these are mostly primatives and low-poly stuff but I think I'm making progress

I guess this topic might serve as a look into an aspiring renderer/modeler's life and progress, if one day I become famous you can say, "Hey, I knew this kid when he was just starting!" Because everyone knows that cg artists get famous all the time -_-

I made a few versions of this picture but I think I like this one best. If I felt like rendering it again I would make it much brighter, but hey, I'll just make my next ones better.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/dreamlandkirby/goodlookingspeciaghl.jpg

Other people seem to like this one alot too.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/dreamlandkirby/goodlooking.jpg

I made this one but I don't think that it turned out right (The render that is, I like the model) The global Illumination isn't powerful enough but it's nice and accurate, you can see the light bouncing off the one of the rear legs and hitting the floor. For those who don't know, global illumination sort of traces light waves and their color and lets it bouce around affecting different surfaces

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/dreamlandkirby/Wafflechair.jpg

Here is what that first render looks like like without global illumination, This is an earlier test render of it though, so one of the models is different.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/dreamlandkirby/2ea05503.jpg

Here is the final one of the day, I like the red circle in the back

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/dreamlandkirby/televisionshigh.jpg

I've still got a while to go untill my stuff starts looking photo-realistic, but I am proud of what I have made

nobody can die faster than me!

well if this is going to be a nice centerpeice object, then you will want it to be very high. like 8-9 thousand. This includes interior. If it were just exterior or just interior it would be much lower.

Well I could be interested. But it depends on a few things. First of all, how much work would it be, I am currenty on the Robbery: Source team as you probably know, and it consumes alot of my modeling time. But not all of it, so I would have lots of time to make props for something else. But I'm not sure how much I would be needed because I cannot texture for beans. I could supply a UV map for a texture artist though.

I cannot get in contact with you untill after this upcoming saturday because I will be chillin in Florida. But you can contact me on Gtalk as Dreamlandkirby@gmail.com or on xfire as Stoopdapoop. I am also stoopdapoop on Aim but I am almost never on.

thanks guys

and yes I make props for source. I can really only compile props for source too. I'm having much trouble getting my v_models to compile and position properly. But much like everything else, once I do it once, It'll be easy after that.

Also I cannot give this model out just yet. It's for the Robbery Source mod. Right now some funky stuff has been happening with our website, reloaction problems and problems with getting our domain up, so our updates and stuff are up to date at all.
But once we get our official start we'll get stuff out to the public again.

You guys can check out the old stuff at
www.gametribe.org/robberysource/news.php

Maybe you can even sign up and make a post or two, Just to keep moral high

Thanks guys. When I put a floor underneath it it looked pretty good.

I will slap together some cues (right use of the word?) and some balls (Eww) and see how it comes out. But that comes after vaction

Oh and this is a bad angle, The balls come out of that little hole on the side closest to the camera. If you look hard you can probably see it.

And yeah, I can make my renders smaller from now on. Should it be 800 by 600 or 640 by 480?

Hey guys. I made a pool table but I don't know what I want to do with the legs. Any suggestions?

the current ones are plain and sorta ugly

Thank you, thank you

I don't remember how long it took me to make it because I made it a while ago, But I'm guessing 6-8 hours. I tried to keep the polycount managable as you can see by some of the edges.

But I did make this model to be used ingame, so I took all steps to make sure it looks just as good vertex lit as it does rendered. Well... not as good and it was rendered in XSI.

I made a model of a Beretta 92 FS. Just wanted to know what you guys had to say about it.

Poo, I meant that I was mapping HL2 DM

Sorry about that, it was a major mistake on my part.

One more question, when I compile I get a message saying "Failed to lead the launcher DLL: The specified module could not be found."

How can I fix this?

Hey guys, I just want to make a retarded map, I have a bit of exirience with modding hl1, but I was wondering how I add spawn points for dm players on a normal small map. There seem to be a few info entities that seem like they could be it.

The log says

"hlcsg v2.5.3 rel Custom Build 1.7 (Dec 9 2002)
Zoner's Half-Life Compilation Tools -- Custom Build
Based on code modifications by Sean 'Zoner' Cavanaugh
Based on Valve's version, modified with permission.
Submit detailed bug reports to (merlinis@bigpond.net.au)
--- BEGIN hlcsg ---
Command line: C:DOCUME~1HorseyMYDOCU~1zonerhlcsg.exe "c:sierrahalf lifevalvemapsplant"
Entering c:sierrahalf lifevalvemapsplant.map

Current hlcsg Settings
Name | Setting | Default
--------------------|-----------|------------------------
threads [ 1 ] [ Varies ]
verbose [ off ] [ off ]
log [ on ] [ on ]
developer [ 0 ] [ 0 ]
chart [ off ] [ off ]
estimate [ off ] [ off ]
max texture memory [ 4194304 ] [ 4194304 ]
priority [ Normal ] [ Normal ]

noclip [ off ] [ off ]
null texture stripping[ on ] [ on ]
clipnode economy mode [ on ] [ on ]
onlyents [ off ] [ off ]
wadtextures [ on ] [ on ]
skyclip [ on ] [ on ]
hullfile [ None ] [ None ]
min surface area [ 0.500 ] [ 0.500 ]
brush union threshold [ 0.000 ] [ 0.000 ]

Using mapfile wad configuration
Wadinclude list :
[zhlt.wad]

0 brushes (totalling 0 sides) discarded from clipping hulls
CreateBrush:
(0.00 seconds)
SetModelCenters:
(0.00 seconds)
CSGBrush:
(0.03 seconds)

Using Wadfile: sierrahalf lifevalvegfx.wad

• Contains 0 used textures, 0.00 percent of map (7 textures in wad)

Using Wadfile: sierrahalf lifevalveliquids.wad

• Contains 0 used textures, 0.00 percent of map (32 textures in wad)

Using Wadfile: sierrahalf lifevalvespraypaint.wad

• Contains 0 used textures, 0.00 percent of map (14 textures in wad)

Using Wadfile: sierrahalf lifevalvehalflife.wad

• Contains 4 used textures, 80.00 percent of map (3117 textures in wad)

Using Wadfile: sierrahalf lifevalveptg!.wad

• Contains 1 used texture, 20.00 percent of map (4 textures in wad)

Texture usage is at 0.08 mb (of 4.00 mb MAX)
0.06 seconds elapsed

--- END hlcsg ---

hlbsp v2.5.3 rel Custom Build 1.7 (Dec 9 2002)
Zoner's Half-Life Compilation Tools -- Custom Build
Based on code modifications by Sean 'Zoner' Cavanaugh
Based on Valve's version, modified with permission.
Submit detailed bug reports to (merlinis@bigpond.net.au)
--- BEGIN hlbsp ---
Command line: C:DOCUME~1HorseyMYDOCU~1zonerhlbsp.exe "c:sierrahalf lifevalvemapsplant"

Current hlbsp Settings
Name | Setting | Default
------------------|-----------|------------------------
threads [ 1 ] [ Varies ]
verbose [ off ] [ off ]
log [ on ] [ on ]
developer [ 0 ] [ 0 ]
chart [ off ] [ off ]
estimate [ off ] [ off ]
max texture memory [ 4194304 ] [ 4194304 ]
priority [ Normal ] [ Normal ]

noclip [ off ] [ off ]
nofill [ off ] [ off ]
null tex. stripping [ on ] [ on ]
notjunc [ off ] [ off ]
subdivide size [ 240 ] [ 240 ] (Min 64) (Max 512)
max node size [ 1024 ] [ 1024 ] (Min 64) (Max 4096)

BSP generation successful, writing portal file 'c:sierrahalf lifevalvemapsplant.prt'
Error: Exceeded MAX_LEAF_FACES
Description: This error is almost always caused by an invalid brush, by having huge rooms, or scaling a texture down to extremely small values (between -1 and 1)
Howto Fix: Find the invalid brush. Any imported prefabs, carved brushes, or vertex manipulated brushes should be suspect

--- END hlbsp ---

hlvis v2.5.3 rel Custom Build 1.7 (Dec 9 2002)
Zoner's Half-Life Compilation Tools -- Custom Build
Based on code modifications by Sean 'Zoner' Cavanaugh
Based on Valve's version, modified with permission.
Submit detailed bug reports to (merlinis@bigpond.net.au)
--- BEGIN hlvis ---
Command line: C:DOCUME~1HorseyMYDOCU~1zonerhlvis.exe "c:sierrahalf lifevalvemapsplant"
>> There was a problem compiling the map.
>> Check the file c:sierrahalf lifevalvemapsplant.log for the cause.

--- END hlvis ---

hlrad v2.5.3 rel Custom Build 1.7 (Dec 9 2002)
Zoner's Half-Life Compilation Tools -- Custom Build
Based on code modifications by Sean 'Zoner' Cavanaugh
Based on Valve's version, modified with permission.
Submit detailed bug reports to (merlinis@bigpond.net.au)
--- BEGIN hlrad ---
Command line: C:DOCUME~1HorseyMYDOCU~1zonerhlrad.exe "c:sierrahalf lifevalvemapsplant"
>> There was a problem compiling the map.
>> Check the file c:sierrahalf lifevalvemapsplant.log for the cause.

--- END hlrad ---
"

I don't know If I am asking for help in the right way or providing the right information but can you guys help me?

The map is a large map, I had a smaller version of the map then I mad it WAY bigger by extending the walls and such, there are no leaks to my knowledge either.

Hey I Have read the elevator tutorial, can you create a map that shows a elevator that spins as it moves (assuming its possible) or that turns the elevator 90 degrees at a info_path?

But that may be a wast of an example map, I suppose I could just be told

hey, thanks alot you guys are pretty damn helpful.

But there is still one question left unanswered

How do get the max viewable distance to work? Am I the only one having this problem? I haven't yet tried to run a compiled map through half life (opposed to pressing F9 in hammer) I think I'll do that next.

bah! one more question I'm sorry folks.

My maps have these odd lines that look like texture repeat lines, they done show up when I'm editing the map in hammer and the light sources seem to cast odd shadows on them does anyone have a solution for this?This is picture of what it looks like (taken on the gravity shifter level from this map vault)

where can one find this null texture, i searched for it in the browse thingie, to no avail.

I run VIS during the compile and my maps are indeed big enough for the fade I have selected, (roughly 1/8 the length of the map in units)

Oh and thanks for the cycler info.

One more question, If I have a sprite will the cycler_sprite function allow me to add it anywhere? say on the branches of the tree?

Hey when I set the max viewable distance parameter in the map properties tab, it doesn't ever seem to take effect. I know that the distance is measured in units so I didnt make the number too low or too high. Is there any way to fix this?

Another question I have is, If I make a model, of lets say a tree. then I properly format it, how do I get it into the game. I read the key tutorial and I was wondering if it is good practice to put it in the same way they did in there. (some kind of monster entity)