GLADE Team Project: Dark Magic

[laimis350]

I would like to join the GLADE team as a modeller or animator.
I have modest experience with blender, but if you give an example of the quality of work required I think I'll try and match that.
(As a newbie in glest modding I'll need examples.  )
I do understand how to animate, but have very little animating experience.

Thanks.   

[John.d.h]

Great to hear, Laimis.  We're always happy to see new volunteers.  For the quality of work, here is the Battlemage for reference.  He has 602 polygons, his texture is 256x256 pixels, and he is pretty much exactly the quality we're looking for.  We can use a few more polygons without too much trouble since computers have gotten quite a bit faster since Glest was originally made, but we really shouldn't go over about 800 faces.

If you think you can produce work of this caliber, feel free to have a try at modeling the Imp (click for concept art).  If we like it, we'll include it in the mod.  According to Modman (our concept manager), the Imp should be bigger than a human.  Even though it has wings, it doesn't fly.  It runs "how a dog would run with only two legs."

As a side note, you mentioned modeling and animation, but how are your texturing skills?

[modman]

Great post John, right now, I wouldn't have the patience, my brain is a marshmallow!

Yes, laimis, the Glade Team could always use more modelers (all within reason, of course.  I've found one person per unit is the max you should have), so it would be great if you would help us out.

You should of course probably have a little background with Glest, though, so you know what is appropriate.

[laimis350]

I would like to learn how to texture but the tutorials I have tried appear to be for an earlier blender, so I am utterly bamboozled. 
Thanks for giving me a position, I'll have a go on the imp. What I really wanted as an example is an untextured (wireframe) example though, as I need to know whether details like the face are merely textured or or modeled. (I told you I'm new!).

[laimis350]

I've had a go on the imp, but it isn't really easy for me. I would gladly model a building if you let me.
The imp is too organic. 

[John.d.h]

I finally finished the Blood Fountain animations.  I wanted to make the blood churn in a spiral and that was giving me a lot of trouble (the way Glest interpolates rotation distorts things a lot), so eventually I gave up and decided on a more sloshing animation.  Also, the Producing animation adds in some energy star thingamajigs.

Preview (animated GIF): Idle
Preview (animated GIF): Producing

Blend file, texture, and both g3d files: blood_fountain.7z

Edit: The team color is missing on the previews, but the bottom circle of spikes is in team color, as are the squarish ornaments and the stars (which are 75% opaque). /Edit

I would like to learn how to texture but the tutorials I have tried appear to be for an earlier blender, so I am utterly bamboozled.  

Were they referring to something called "UV face select mode" or something like that?  If so, that mode no longer exists.  Instead, you just select the faces in edit mode.

I've had a go on the imp, but it isn't really easy for me. I would gladly model a building if you let me.
The imp is too organic.  

Ah, I can totally relate.  I'm pretty good at making buildings, but people and creatures give me a lot of trouble.  The only building we still need is the Divination Crystal (click for concept image).  Buildings are generally around 900 faces, so you can use that as a guideline.  The concept image is basically just "food for thought".  Feel free to use your imagination.  If we don't hear back from the guy who modeled the Sheol Temple, we might need to have that redone as well.  He has a habit of making cool stuff but then disappearing without uploading it.

[laimis350]

Ok, had a go on the Divination Sphere and got a prototype. 
http://www.mediafire.com/?4vmwdmybfgw
It's a simple design, so ideas are welcomed.
 

[wciow]

Hi, I made a wyvern.

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[URL=http://img269.imageshack.us/i/wyvernshot2.jpg/][IMG]http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/2816/wyvernshot2.th.jpg[/img][/URL]

[URL=http://img137.imageshack.us/i/wyvernshot.jpg/][IMG]http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/1165/wyvernshot.th.jpg[/img][/URL]

[GlestNewb]

Looks good but I would like it if the tail was a bit longer

[John.d.h]

Ok, had a go on the Divination Sphere and got a prototype. 
http://www.mediafire.com/?4vmwdmybfgw
It's a simple design, so ideas are welcomed.
 

Hmm... it has a few hundred too many polygons and I'm sure you can elaborate on the design, but I think you're on the right track.  When you do the sphere, a much simpler one will look just as good in Glest, and we try to keep the face count pretty low since there will be a lot of models on the screen at once.  It looks like you used an icosphere with a subdivision of 4, correct?  I think 3 would be a better choice.  It looks just as good and has like a quarter of the faces, so you can make other parts of the model more complex.

Personally I think the ball would look better hovering above the base pedestal, but I'll leave that up to you since you're the one making it.  In addition, if you want to add some skulls and/or spikes and stuff like that to make it look more evil, that could really add some flavor to it.  That's just an idea, though.  Feel free to make it your own way.

Hi, I made a wyvern.

The model looks great, but the texture might look better if the transition between the scales on its back and the plain green weren't so abrupt.  Also, the plain green part looks so... well, plain. lol

Aside from that, is it finished?  It looks like you have at least the attack animation done, which looks great by the way.

[Loronal]

awesome this looks really cool cheers    to the glade team 

[laimis350]

I've reduced the face count, made the sphere float and added a few more spikes. I don't really want to add skulls, as I feel it might kind of destroy the pattern. My imagination isn't really impressive so feel free to modify as required.
http://www.mediafire.com/?wm0gzmrenzm
 

[modman]

Sorry I haven't been around much, guys.  I'm taking AP Physics, and it's hard already.  I also have other challenging classes.

I think I can upload Dark Magic tonight, and I'll include the new Blood Fountain.  Thanks John.d.h!

Overall, I think this project is definitely coming together!  Wciow, I think the Wyvern looks great.  Please allow me to download (Magic's Dragon is getting a little old as a placeholder for a much more powerful unit, ya know what I mean? ), and also include the Blend, because we might want to scale it down/up later.  But I do think that it could be improved if the snout were about a two-thirds the length it is now.

@laimis: Don't worry about imagination, that's my job!  Check out the concept art for crystal here.  On the picture, do you see the "sea horses"?  Well, sea horses aren't so cool as little demons, so could you make them demons?  I have concept art for the demons below.

http://www.andreasrocha.com/tutorials/devils_fountain/step6.jpg
The devils all look pretty cool, so maybe just use the three you can see...

//Edit:  Oops, I downloaded the old one before.  I just looked at the new one, and it is much better.  On the outside, though, there is four bigger "spikes" which are not directly under the sphere.  The model would be great if those were instead the demons I show above.

[modman]

Download Dark Magic v 6.0
(Try if hotlink doesn't work)

I have (finally ) got around to uploading the newest version.  This is version 6.0, and I'm terribly sorry to titi, and to all others who anticipated me uploading at an earlier time.

New models for this version include (off the top of my head):
-Gods Bane by Mark
-Dark Elder by titi
-Oblivion Portal by Mark
-Acolyte by titi
-Blood Fountain by John.d.h

In addition, I think that it only makes sense to delete off of the initial post everything included in a release.  For example, the titi's Sorceress is there, but it is also of course included in the release.  So I think it's just redundant to have it there.  I won't delete the links immediately, because 1) I think it's only fair to let others have input and 2) because I don't have the time right now.

[John.d.h]

Here is a screenshot you can use for the first post.

Observations from the latest version: The Dark Mage isn't included anywhere and neither is the Devil Machine.  The readme is outdated.  Some sounds seem to be missing.  The Dark Elder's morph animation isn't included in his xml.  The Gods' Bane is still using the old Fury model.

That's all just stuff within the release itself, nothing on the creation/development side.  Did we ever decide where the Dark Mage comes from?  Personally I think it would make the most sense to spawn him from the Sorcery Runes but maybe that's just me.  I know Fluffy modeled a Sheol Temple and there should be a Shadow Walker model floating around somewhere in cyberspace, but were they ever uploaded?

On the picture, do you see the "sea horses"?  Well, sea horses aren't so cool as little demons, so could you make them demons?  I have concept art for the demons below.On the outside, though, there is four bigger "spikes" which are not directly under the sphere.  The model would be great if those were instead the demons I show above.

Hmm... that seems a bit too complicated (not too mention high-poly, even if each demon only has around 200 faces), so I was thinking of something a little different.  I'll make a concept here in a bit.

Edit: Here's what I'm thinking of.  According to my estimates, doing this to all five sides should only add about 300 faces (the Tower of Souls' projectile is 52 faces and each spike should be about 12), which will leave the whole model at a modest 700ish.  It also seems to fit closer to the feel of Dark Magic, at least to me.  It isn't just a crystal ball; it's an *evil* crystal ball. 

[laimis350]

Modman,

Had a go at the demons instead of spikes, but, as I have explained before, I am terrifying bad at modelling people, creatures and organic things in general.

[Mark]

Well, I can relate.   Just give us a link to a picture of it so we can see it.

[modman]

Here is a screenshot you can use for the first post.

Observations from the latest version: The Dark Mage isn't included anywhere and neither is the Devil Machine.  The readme is outdated.  Some sounds seem to be missing.  The Dark Elder's morph animation isn't included in his xml.  The Gods' Bane is still using the old Fury model.

Humph.   That's what I get for not testing before I release it.  I'll check those things out.  But the reasons that the Devil Machine and Dark Mage are impossible to make ingame is that I just forgot to give commands to their respective producers.

What do you mean by the readme is outdated?  It was the last thing I edited before zipping it up. ???

And thanks John.d.h for the screen, but I need to get the new Gods Bane in there.  I'll put yours up for now.

Question: How many do you think is too many polys, John?  I was just wondering, because I think computers are more advanced than when Glest first came out, so they may be able to handle more.

Had a go at the demons instead of spikes, but, as I have explained before, I am terrifying bad at modelling people, creatures and organic things in general.

I agree with Mark, let's see the screenshot!  If it's too hard, we can revert to something easier, but you may be doing well!

[Fluffy203]

No offense guys i loved being on the glade team , but i am resigning lol well i really haven't been that active in it anyway , but still if you need anything ask , but for now i'm working on my own mod 

[laimis350]

Well, I have discovered the art of texturing and so I put it to good use.

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[img]http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/6571/screenshotglest.png[/img]
Already you may realize my new found skills aren't exactly good, but this is just an example.
I'm sorry it's hard to make out the shape using this texture, but download my .blend file (earlier on in this thread) and take a look.

edit: I forgot to tell you what this is about! It's the divination crystal were looking at. The ball bobs up and down for now, but,
then again, I'm not an animator (officially) so I'll leave that to somebody else.

P.S. I may not have much time for GLADE, because, as you can see, I am working on my first mod: the robot faction!

[Fluffy203]

do you want to be on the glade team? is that what you are trying to show off your skills for?

[-Archmage-]

Oooo we just got a preview of a new mod. I wanna play it.

[John.d.h]

So Laimis, does this mean that you're using the Divination Crystal model for your robot faction, or was that just for illustration purposes?

[laimis350]

No, I'm not using Divination for robots!  Robots aren't "divine" enough. Mark and modman requested a screenshot so I gave them one. I couldn't be bothered to create an entire new faction for a quick picture so I slipped the model into an existing faction, which happened to be "Robots". Well, not exactly.
I must admit I DO want to show off my mod-in-progress (despite it being 3 units so far), because it is my first mod and I am very happy about it. 

edit:

john d.h.
I have seen your new "evil" crystal ball and I love it. Keep it that way please. (Especially since I can't models skulls myself...)

[Fluffy203]

Here are the models sheol temple (which isn't greatly done , but rough enough =P) and the shadow walker not textured or animated http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=fc3e352c0e1cc1cfd5a101cf914073b4ecd43e0d3c327f9e