Tech High Quality

[jammyjamjamman]

I've been working on creating better models for the tech faction. So far I have only finished (at least almost finished) the castle, but there are 4 other models on the go Here's a preview:

Low quality texture:

High quality texture:

[Omega]

Looks interesting. I can't help but think the contrast seems a bit high, though. Would also go well with normal mapping if MegaGlest ever implements it.

[John.d.h]

I can't help but think the contrast seems a bit high, though.

My sentiments exactly.  I applaud the effort, though.  I hope you stick with it.

[Omega]

I hope you stick with it.

Oh, that reminds me, could you consider uploading your WIP regularly? So many mods are started and never completed, but the work is never uploaded, so can't be used in other projects.

[atze]

Really nice work, looks fantastic.  Do not be discouraged by others. A new faction takes time. Just do more and more. I'm curious, on the other stuff from you.

[jammyjamjamman]

Thanks for all the feedback and support  . Criticism is fine (as long as it's constructive and not abusive) and can be very useful. I see what you mean by the overly-high contrast. It doesn't match the rest of the Megaglest art style so well, so I'll see how it looks with a lower contrast + post the results. Also I was thinking of adding more ivy to the building as it's very hard to see the plant-life growing round the building.

Oh, that reminds me, could you consider uploading your WIP regularly? So many mods are started and never completed, but the work is never uploaded, so can't be used in other projects.

Thanks for the confidence you have in me completing this project  . (Joking) But yes, I can't guarantee for whatever reason that I complete my project work so maybe I could put my WIP into dropbox or something like that if you like.

[ElimiNator]

I don't think that looks even vaguely like the Tech castle, you should make your own new mod instead of a "High Quality" Tech.

[MoLAoS]

You added a lot of stuff to the castle that is more like fantasy victorian or harry-potter ish that Magitech. For instance the random wooden box window sticking our and the wooden towers and such. I'd hesitate to call it high quality as it is more like alternative art style. High quality Tech would be more like adding extra detail to the tech castle and a better texture rather than radically changing the design. The thing about graphic art is that so much of it is based on style preference rather than technical detail.

If you really want to redo the Tech models maybe call it Alternative Style Tech instead of High Quality Tech.

[jammyjamjamman]

Hmm... yes. I wouldn't say making a "fantasy" castle isn't following the magitech style, since it's already a fantasy techtree (eg. big wooden robots of death are certainly not from the real world). What does seem to be a problem.... is that you found the title to this project very misleading..... you were expecting the faction to have the same models except with more detailed textures rather than a complete change in art style, which I never really thought about. I was focusing on models that suited the name "tech" rather than copying the entire style of the original tech faction (except I did copy the fantasy-ish bit). If not keeping to the style and calling the faction "tech high quality" is too misleading or even considered incorrect by too many people, then continuing with this project under this name might not be possible.

If I was to continue the project under a new name, I probably turn it into another fantasy faction though, because I share the opinion that megaglest is supposed to have a variety of supernatural factions rather than sub-categories of tech.

You added a lot of stuff to the castle that is more like fantasy victorian or harry-potter ish

^^not quite sure that I agree with that comment since the main feature of this type of castle is conical towers.

[Psychedelic_hands]

Some Advices:

I wouldn't say contrast is your issue. It's that your textures have been sharpened too overly. Sharp textures are a good thing, but not so much so that its unnatural.

The wooden roof bits should be made of different meshes. Same amount of polys, easier to UV and model, and it will look a lot  more more natural because your grain won't all be going the same direction and the beams will look separate.

I notice you have some pretty large texture seams. A fun way to fix this is in Blender. Select your model(Often it's best to separate the mesh you're fixing) and go into Texture Paint ( In the same way you switch from object to edit mode) and use brushes like smear and soften to fix them up.

Fix these and I might have some more... But good work! you're on your way to greatness!

[jammyjamjamman]

I wouldn't say contrast is your issue. It's that your textures have been sharpened too overly. Sharp textures are a good thing, but not so much so that its unnatural.

I tried lowering the contrast and the results didn't look good. I hadn't thought about sharpness being a problem because I haven't directly increased the sharpness of the images (the sharpness was caused by heavy use of the bump-map tool). But thanks for this comment! This problem has been bugging me for a while.

The wooden roof bits should be made of different meshes. Same amount of polys, easier to UV and model, and it will look a lot  more more natural because your grain won't all be going the same direction and the beams will look separate.

I have slightly randomized the shapes of the roofs + re-textured the fames so they look like separate planks, and the results look much more natural.

I notice you have some pretty large texture seams. A fun way to fix this is in Blender. Select your model(Often it's best to separate the mesh you're fixing) and go into Texture Paint ( In the same way you switch from object to edit mode) and use brushes like smear and soften to fix them up.

I've already fixed this problem, but nevertheless thanks for the advice.

[jammyjamjamman]

Just a quick update I think the castle is now complete but feel free to share any other improvements



Other models are on the way!

[Omega]

I like the castle. Is the door on the right side of the image walkable? Presumably the large door on the left is, at least.

[jammyjamjamman]

The worker fits through 2 doors (front and left), and not through 2 (back and right). When I first made the castle, the workers fitted through all the doors, but the castle was far too big. So now it looks like 2 will have to be blocked off. :/

[ElimiNator]

Or make the doors bigger.

[Omega]

The worker fits through 2 doors (front and left), and not through 2 (back and right). When I first made the castle, the workers fitted through all the doors, but the castle was far too big. So now it looks like 2 will have to be blocked off. :/

That sounds good. The different doors look good in the image. Was just checking if they were walkable or not.

[jammyjamjamman]

Or make the doors bigger.

Unfortunately, not that simple. If I do that then the model would then require lots of re-texturing and there are other parts which would need entirely re-modeling, Although I have been thinking about doing this. the left-hand door was simple enough to re-size so workers can fit through it.

[-Archmage-]

Is this still in development? I'm thinking of starting development on an HD texture upgrade for Magitech.

[ElimiNator]

Yah! For MG "Refit".

[-Archmage-]

Yah! For MG "Refit".

Yea, a texture upgrade for Magic and Tech was in my plans somewhere, now I'm doing it!

[jammyjamjamman]

Yep, I'm still working on it, but I've just been on holidays. Also I like like the textures you've made for tech Archmage! gj . I'm also unsure about whether I'm going to keep it as a tech faction. 

[-Archmage-]

Yep, I'm still working on it, but I've just been on holidays. Also I like like the textures you've made for tech Archmage! gj . I'm also unsure about whether I'm going to keep it as a tech faction. 

Well have you added any units? And thank you.

[jammyjamjamman]

So far only the castle, the barracks, the worker and the soldier is complete(ish). but next week I'll need to gather all my models together since I'm very disorganised.

[-Archmage-]

So far only the castle, the barracks, the worker and the soldier is complete(ish). but next week I'll need to gather all my models together since I'm very disorganised.

I meant 'added' not re-modeled.

[jammyjamjamman]

Sorry I misread. The technodrome is to be replaced with a steam workshop where all the advanced stuff is made. Possibly also looking at making a trebuchet (stationary object). the worker is going to have a promote to technician option rather than having a produce technician option (the technicican will be used for researching and building the steam workshop and the aerodrome). I want the archers to have a promote to crossbowmen option (only handheld crossbows so not quite like with norse) and a promote to anti-air ballista (stationary object) option. I was thinking of separating builders, miners and woodcutters but I think this would over-complicate the game and make it drag on for longer which would not be so good for online play. I also want to add a steam jet propelled flying unit.