GLADE Team Project: Dark Magic

[MadElf]

Sorry for like disappearing here, I'm on holidays on Brazil so it will take some time until i get everthing working again.

So, in the next few days i wont be posting here much.

[modman]

I was kind of looking for a simpler feel to the Devil Machine, kind of like a clockwork feel, but a clock that was made by barbarians/neanderthals.  So thick pieces of wood, and a few moving parts would be nice, but not too many moving parts.  I kind of knew this unit would be controversial, because it doesn't exist in any other games.  But that's a good thing.  Maybe I'll do a crude Blender piece for it, but be warned, I suck at modeling; I'm only doing it because a model is worth a thousand+ words.

[titi]

The sourcery  ... it was really a lot of work (about 10 hours? ).
 I hope you like it!

here is a fully playable glest unit for magic:
http://www.titusgames.de/darkmagic/sourcery/sourcery_glest_unit.zip

here is the blender file:
http://www.titusgames.de/darkmagic/sourcery/sourcerymodel.zip

[-Archmage-]

nice job

[Mark]

Yes, titi, very nice job on the sorceress. 

[modman]

I like all of the animations, but especially the attack and produce and die ones.  I will add a particle proj in addition to the bats, but I didn't think modeling the bats was necessary; oh well!  The models are very nice, as in keeping to your standards of excellence!

The producing animation was somewhat surprising, but I guess it's good.  The spinning head thing I thought was more of a horror thing than a magic thing, but it was in The Exorcist.  Either way, it's a great job, titi!

Since I have a good number of models now, I'll start on the XMLs now...I'll use placeholders for the models not done yet.

[John.d.h]

The Sorceress looks good, as does her attack.  I'll take a look at the animations tomorrow when I'm back on my own computer.  As for the Blood Fountain, I got the animation looking good in Blender, but then when I export it to *.g3d, it goes crazy and looks awful!  It might take me a little while to figure out how to fix it (I have a hypothesis of how to do it, but haven't tried it yet), but I think I'll go ahead and upload the static model when I get a chance.  I'll TRY to have a full set of animations done and uploaded before I leave for my trip on July 3rd (because I certainly won't be doing any work while I'm there) but I can't make any promises.  I would upload the static model from my flash drive right now, but I think this computer is too old to have a USB, because I certainly can't find any!

July 17 is a hard deadline for me as the foley artist because no one is contributing in the form of concepts or sound files, except a little by john.d.h.  I realize that it is my job to do this, but if i really just pound them out they will have to be the way i like them and because of the lack of help i am recieving, exempt from criticism.  Case in point:  Tell me what you think they should sound like or help me by making some sounds yourself if you have a specific idea.

Now that we know the Sorceress has a bat projectile, it should be pretty clear how that should sound.  The Devil Machine would probably sound like gears and clockwork.  For the Sorcery Runes or the Divination Crystal, maybe something like the ringing sort of tone you get when you run your finger around the edge of a wine glass.  I'm really just guessing here.  The Foley Artist's job is possibly the most abstract, so it's probably the one for which I'm the very least helpful.  We don't necessarily have to have all of the sound effects done to make an initial release since we can use a lot of Magitech sounds as placeholders (a sword sounds like a sword, you know?), so just do what you can and maybe we can add the rest in a second release.

This brings me to my next concern: voice acting!  How are we going to get all the voice sounds done?  Is there somewhere online where we can get a whole bunch of them for free, or are we going to make them ourselves?  No offense to anybody, but we've only got a couple of grown men here (and no women at all!) and I don't think all of the units should sound like 12 to 15 year old boys.

[titi]

12-15 year old boys usually have something like mom and dad
Probably they can help us a bit??
My friends and neighbors are already voice actors in my other mods, probably the can do it again.
But I think voices/sounds are really the last thing we should work on.
We should focus on models,xmls and gameplay balancing first.
When all this is done, we can show our voice actors what we want from them! This helps them a lot to identify with their model
and gives much better voice recording results.

@modman:
Yes a presetup of dark magic would be a nice thing!
The bats already have a particle project, but I didn't put too much work in creating the xmls.
Do whatever you want with them. (Hint: the starting point and animation start time in the particle project of the bat attack is quite good yet! )

[Omega]

I managed to make a wide variety of voices for military using just two people. The technique is to use audacity's 'change tone' plug in, which can make a voice deeper or higher. It is so handy I could make myself sound like an evil wizard with a booming voice or a young girl with a high pitched voice, all from the same sound clip.

While its not a substitute for real voices. it is still a handy alternative for when you have limited voices, or if you don't want to mix your parents up in these kind of things...

[titi]

Omega can you give me a link to the audacity plugin?

[Mark]

12-15 year old boys usually have something like mom and dad
Probably they can help us a bit??
My friends and neighbors are already voice actors in my other mods, probably the can do it again.
But I think voices/sounds are really the last thing we should work on.
We should focus on models,xmls and gameplay balancing first.
When all this is done, we can show our voice actors what we want from them! This helps them a lot to identify with their model
and gives much better voice recording results.

I wish!! My parents would never do that.   :'( :'( :'(  I have modman for that.  But titi and John.d.h. are grown men, so they can do sounds that are humanoid, and i will record the ones that are for the monsters.

I managed to make a wide variety of voices for military using just two people. The technique is to use audacity's 'change tone' plug in, which can make a voice deeper or higher. It is so handy I could make myself sound like an evil wizard with a booming voice or a young girl with a high pitched voice, all from the same sound clip.

While its not a substitute for real voices. it is still a handy alternative for when you have limited voices, or if you don't want to mix your parents up in these kind of things...

The sounds that are concocted in audacity are lower in quality and don't sound authentic.  They should merely be used as placeholders.  But for some things audacity really does work magic.  Anyone who doesn't already have it needs to get it if they plan on making unit sounds any time soon.

[Omega]

It should be preinstalled. (at least in mine, which is v1.2.6). Select the audio, the go to effects menu. Choose 'change pitch' (I said tone earlier, my bad). Higher percent is high pitch, lower percent is deep pitch (low).

As for quality, I am more than happy about them, as long as I remember to save the wavs as 96kb/s or something. I don't like huge files, and I am not one to need high quality. As long as something sounds remotely realistic in sound, I could care less. Music is a different thing (prefer 96 - 128 kb/s in mp3 format). Don't worry about quality of sound as much as music. Sound's focus should be what is being said, and the understandability of this.

I've had much success with the plug-in, and have managed to trick my parents into thinking someone else was talking once! Got a good laugh over that!

[Mark]

Omega, i know how to use audacity!  Unless you are a genius, the sounds made in audacity are simply inferior to the real thing.  Pitch edit just makes them sound unnatural, but i am sure that there is some feature that can fix that.

[Omega]

True, they aren't as good as the real thing, but they're good enough for me, and they are plenty fine for voices in Glest. This isn't a project by some multi-million dollar corporation trying to make the videos in their games, nor is it an animation studio making the next big disney flick...

I'm unmoved, but feel free to do what ever you wish for your sounds, after all, you're the one doing them!

[Mark]

Yes.  They are good enough if you can settle for less.  But i prefer to have things done better.
 

Here is an alternative concept for the balrog.  I am thinking of changing the name to gargoyle.  It is a creature called malphas from a free RPG game called Savage.
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?zyzuwr2ymgq

[modman]

I have made a new version of the faction diagram, version five.  I have updated the first post as well.  New features include glows, which actually mean something now.  I made a key also.  Also, I have accounted for the Oblivion Portal, which produces units, and the Divination Crystal, which researches.

[gameboy]

whoa! this going good!!
maybe the gargoyle could change to stone and deal a weak attack in exchange for higher HP.

BTW I'm sorry I've not done anything lately, something came up, but expect the Pain Tower in a few days.

[John.d.h]

"Gargoyle" to me sounds like something smaller, maybe man-sized, like an actual gargoyle statue.  Maybe I'm wrong, but I was thinking the Balrog was supposed to be a huge, powerful unit like the Behemoth.  I'm not too particular about what we call it, but I'd just like it to be consistent with the nature of the unit.  Maybe "Gargoyle" is more fitting for the Imp, since it's supposed to be a regular-sized unit that's fairly strong on its own.

Here's the static Blood Fountain model, in a 7zip archive.  I'm on one of the university computers and it won't take a screenshot properly (everything just goes black), so I'll try to get one from my laptop tomorrow.

Mediafire link
Filefront link

maybe the gargoyle could change to stone and deal a weak attack in exchange for higher HP.

Sounds a little too much like WC3 if you ask me...

I have made a new version of the faction diagram, version five.  I have updated the first post as well.  New features include glows, which actually mean something now.  I made a key also.  Also, I have accounted for the Oblivion Portal, which produces units, and the Divination Crystal, which researches.

If you're going to keep track of which units are finished on the faction diagram, the colored glows probably aren't the best way.  It's kinda hard to just glance at the picture and see "okay, this unit and that unit are done, this other unit still is in progress, and this one over here hasn't been started".  I think a simple list or table is better for that.  Plus, wouldn't you have to update the diagram every time a unit gets finished?  Seems awfully tedious to me.  Maybe you can just change the font for the unit name where you have the model links.  For example...

Sorceress
Glest Models (Finalized)

Shadow Walker
Static Blend Model

... where italics symbolize partial work, and bold means totally finished.  I think that would make it easier to tell at a glance what was done and what wasn't.

True, they aren't as good as the real thing, but they're good enough for me, and they are plenty fine for voices in Glest. This isn't a project by some multi-million dollar corporation trying to make the videos in their games, nor is it an animation studio making the next big disney flick...

Not having funding is no excuse to do a half-ass job.  Besides, with Military you can garble the voices to make them sound like they're coming through a walkie-talkie, and have them sound as crappy as you want.

But I think voices/sounds are really the last thing we should work on.
We should focus on models,xmls and gameplay balancing first.
When all this is done, we can show our voice actors what we want from them! This helps them a lot to identify with their model
and gives much better voice recording results.

That's a good point, and I agree.  I made the voice sounds for one of my units for Sun and Moon before I did the model, and then I felt like the voice didn't really fit anymore, so I see what you mean.

Oh, and I took a look at the Sorceress' animations.  I really like the attack, and the summoning was hilarious.  Those are both definitely top-notch.  The death looked a little abrupt (she goes from standing to kneeling in the blink of an eye) but other than that, all the animations are quite good.

[titi]

for the gargoyle:
http://images.google.de/images?hl=de&um=1&sa=1&q=gargoyle+&btnG=Bilder-Suche&aq=f&oq=

@omega: Ah "pitch" is what you meant. Thats something I know ( and used before ), but you cannot change the things too much with it, or the sounds start to sound unnatural.

@johndh: If the sourceress falls too fast on her knees, its maybe a problem of the animation playback speed. Did you look at it ingame with my presetup unit for the magic faction?

[gameboy]

isn't the dark mage model completed?

[John.d.h]

Here's the image of the Blood Fountain that I said I'd get today.  Sorry it's so dark; rendering is not my strong point.

isn't the dark mage model completed?

I'm almost sure it is, unless there's an animation we're missing. ???

If the sourceress falls too fast on her knees, its maybe a problem of the animation playback speed. Did you look at it ingame with my presetup unit for the magic faction?

Not yet.  I'll take a look tonight if I have time.

[Omega]

I think the model is dark because you rendered it in blender using a camera, didn't you? Rather than doing that, either use some sort of screen capture tool (on windows, snipping tool is pre-installed, linux you can find something at download.com). Or if you want a proper view, there's a button while in the 3d view that looks like a picture. It is in the tool bar, and will take a snap of the current window part, adding in the background as well, with no lighting needed.

@titi: the death animation seems fine to me...

Not having funding is no excuse to do a half-ass job.  Besides, with Military you can garble the voices to make them sound like they're coming through a walkie-talkie, and have them sound as crappy as you want.

Heh, maybe you're right, except that they sound pretty good to me. They sound as natural as digital sound gets in my opinion. Of course, my hearing isn't that good...

[Mark]

Welcome Glest Artist.
Maybe you will help us model, pretty please?

Amazing blood fountain, John.d.h.  I am really happy that models are being accomplished.  Tonight i am going to tackle the Alliyp sounds.  Wish me luck!

[modman]

whoa! this going good!!
maybe the gargoyle could change to stone and deal a weak attack in exchange for higher HP.

I hope you guys understand why I don't want to change names until EVERYTHING else is done.  I know it was my decision, but I want to keep the nature the same as the Balrog's; it will he high in HP, armor, and attack damage.  What I had in mind was what Mark posted, because it would have the same nature as the Balrog.  Sorry for using you as a example, though gAMeboy.

Oh, and I took a look at the Sorceress' animations.  I really like the attack, and the summoning was hilarious.  Those are both definitely top-notch.  The death looked a little abrupt (she goes from standing to kneeling in the blink of an eye) but other than that, all the animations are quite good.

The animations are fantastic, no doubt, titi.  I saw the Sorceress animation at normal speed, and, yes, she does fall pretty quickly.  But when you slow it down to the right fall speed, the bats fly around at a nice pace.  Thus the animation is great!   Oh, and also I'll do the new styling things to keep an easy interface on the initial post.

isn't the dark mage model completed?

The model is done, but in the archive I only found dying and attacking animations.  I also need walking and standing, unless I missed one...
//EDIT: I found the other animations on the fourth page, so the Dark Mage is done, modeling wise.

Hi guys I'm ben a little about me is that I work for warcraft. I create models for them. Its a bit confusing creating models for glest lol. I'm a Glest fan but anyways out of all the models I created. I gotta say I am amazed about the dark mage model. I'm very impressed. Its awesome! Anyways GO GLADE TEAM!  Keep up with the good job!

Thank you for the great regards, Glest Artist.   This group is for modelers who know Blender well, though, so that we can create and finish factions efficiently.  But we are always looking for helping hands, so we will appreciate any work you create!

Not to sidetrack things, and not to be obsessed about dates, but I would estimate this project is finished in late August.

[Omega]

glest.110mb.com should teach you what you need to know.

The modelling tutorial isn't that good, but you say you already can model, so the exporting information should be handy!