Plan for Weston Tracy
by Weston Tracy · 04/29/2005 (6:30 pm) · 15 comments
Greetings all. This is a quick update on the Modern Weapons Pack
It's been in development now for about three months...so that comes to...let's see...about one month of actual work. After the completion of the Urban Pack I was eager to get moving on a second GG pack. Now I'm right in the middle of this one, and I'm still pretty motivated. If I had my wish, I would be on this full time, and would of finished it up already, but it's probably better that it's a side project. The breaks between work have allowed me time to back off and come at each shape fresh. Often vital new solutions become apparent after a few days away. They just go unnoticed when one is buried in the details.
At this point the first 5 (of 10) models are finished. 4 are fully mapped, and 3 have shaders applied. Now that I've spent some time with TSE, the rest should move a bit faster.
It's been a bit of a rough ride getting comfortable with the process, mostly because neither the TSE show tool nor TSE itself are finished yet. I'm sure once they come together everything will be silky smooth. Specifically, I desperately miss the instant texture flush feature that was added to Dave Wyand's Show Tool Pro. I eagerly await it's addition to the TSE version.
So here are the first five: M4, Mac11, Bayonet, RPG7, Desert Eagle. Most of these are mapped and textured, but they're not quite finished, so I'm just showing geometry here.
Not pictured: AK47, FAMAS, Colt Python, Franchi SPAS, MP5.
After consulting the experts at GG, we came to a poly range of 1400 -1800 per weapon. All the models in this pack fall within that range. With this level of detail the modeling process has been slow going, but rewarding. I've used every trick I know to push the polys as far as I could...yet I still get that feeling...just a few more would add so much...it's tough to stay within the bounds.
The final stage, applying shaders, has required the most patience and experimentation. After many failed attempts I feel like I have a much stronger understanding of how cube maps interact with geometry, lighting, and masks. By doing little else, a carefully constructed cube map can create the illusion of just about any material. I'm finding that diffuse maps are almost unnecessary in many cases.
Below are stills of the Pistol taken from TSE Show Tool Pro. These are finished, with cube, normal and diffuse mapping. In future updates I'll include video to show off the shaders.
The Bayonet was my R & D shape...I tried a bunch of different treatments to build the stainless steal material. It's still not quite right, but it's getting closer. These two shots are also screen grabs from TST Pro - TSE.
I hope to have an additional update by the end of the month.
Please feel free to throw in any feedback. If you have any comments or questions that you'd like to address to me personally please send them here weston@ffdigital.com
-Weston
It's been in development now for about three months...so that comes to...let's see...about one month of actual work. After the completion of the Urban Pack I was eager to get moving on a second GG pack. Now I'm right in the middle of this one, and I'm still pretty motivated. If I had my wish, I would be on this full time, and would of finished it up already, but it's probably better that it's a side project. The breaks between work have allowed me time to back off and come at each shape fresh. Often vital new solutions become apparent after a few days away. They just go unnoticed when one is buried in the details.
At this point the first 5 (of 10) models are finished. 4 are fully mapped, and 3 have shaders applied. Now that I've spent some time with TSE, the rest should move a bit faster.
It's been a bit of a rough ride getting comfortable with the process, mostly because neither the TSE show tool nor TSE itself are finished yet. I'm sure once they come together everything will be silky smooth. Specifically, I desperately miss the instant texture flush feature that was added to Dave Wyand's Show Tool Pro. I eagerly await it's addition to the TSE version.
So here are the first five: M4, Mac11, Bayonet, RPG7, Desert Eagle. Most of these are mapped and textured, but they're not quite finished, so I'm just showing geometry here.
Not pictured: AK47, FAMAS, Colt Python, Franchi SPAS, MP5.
After consulting the experts at GG, we came to a poly range of 1400 -1800 per weapon. All the models in this pack fall within that range. With this level of detail the modeling process has been slow going, but rewarding. I've used every trick I know to push the polys as far as I could...yet I still get that feeling...just a few more would add so much...it's tough to stay within the bounds.
The final stage, applying shaders, has required the most patience and experimentation. After many failed attempts I feel like I have a much stronger understanding of how cube maps interact with geometry, lighting, and masks. By doing little else, a carefully constructed cube map can create the illusion of just about any material. I'm finding that diffuse maps are almost unnecessary in many cases.
Below are stills of the Pistol taken from TSE Show Tool Pro. These are finished, with cube, normal and diffuse mapping. In future updates I'll include video to show off the shaders.
The Bayonet was my R & D shape...I tried a bunch of different treatments to build the stainless steal material. It's still not quite right, but it's getting closer. These two shots are also screen grabs from TST Pro - TSE.
I hope to have an additional update by the end of the month.
Please feel free to throw in any feedback. If you have any comments or questions that you'd like to address to me personally please send them here weston@ffdigital.com
-Weston
About the author
Game artist. Lover of pixels. Co-Owner and Artist for www.blackjacketgames.com
#2
04/29/2005 (8:28 pm)
the image links aren't working bud :) 
#3
04/29/2005 (8:43 pm)
Just what I need ... will they include any scripts ... say for animating the rocket launcher etc...
#4
edit: One thing I just noticed. The magazine on that M4 is straight, when it should be curved. The only straight 30-round 5.56 magazines I can recall were on the first-gen FAMAS, and those weren't M-16 compatible. :)
Also, you'd better model a handgun other than that Hollywoodized, overly-hyped Desert Eagle. :)
04/29/2005 (9:26 pm)
These are looking incredible. The polycount might seem heavy, but it's really more or less on par with current-gen games. The detail you've managed to squeeze out of said polies, on the other hand, is top notch. In addition to the geometry detail, you've got some amazing-looking normal maps, which thankfully don't seem to fall into the trap of having everything look overly shiny. Great stuff all round. :)edit: One thing I just noticed. The magazine on that M4 is straight, when it should be curved. The only straight 30-round 5.56 magazines I can recall were on the first-gen FAMAS, and those weren't M-16 compatible. :)
Also, you'd better model a handgun other than that Hollywoodized, overly-hyped Desert Eagle. :)
#6
04/29/2005 (10:18 pm)
#8
04/30/2005 (2:28 am)
Very cool stuff :) I like the texturing on the models. Modeling is also very good :)
#9
04/30/2005 (5:26 am)
I like it! I guess the cube maps really DO make a huge difference... looks great.
#10
04/30/2005 (8:42 am)
very, very nice :) 
#11
04/30/2005 (10:39 am)
These are looking GREAT. :) Nice job, Weston. 
#12
Charlie and others, re: polycounts... I think this target range is perfect. Remember that if you want lower-poly versions, there are the LODs you can work from. This pack though is targeted for use in both TSE and TGE. For TSE, we want to provide people who are going for next-gen quality graphics with art assets to help them on their way. For TGE or lower-end TSE games, these models and textures can pretty easily be adapted to fit the rest of your content.
This will be the first (well, depending on when it's all done ;) content pack that comes with textures both for TGE and TSE, complete with materials and shaders designed for TSE. The higher poly counts of the base models means these weapons can be used in games with modern, AAA quality graphics and production, the alternative textures and lower-poly LOD models mean you can also save yourself a lot of time by using this pack for games with a lower art content bar.
So, I'm pretty excited about this pack. Besides Weston's incredible art work, I think this thing is really well-designed to serve a very broad range of games.
04/30/2005 (12:43 pm)
Weston, you're amazing man. :) Outstanding work.Charlie and others, re: polycounts... I think this target range is perfect. Remember that if you want lower-poly versions, there are the LODs you can work from. This pack though is targeted for use in both TSE and TGE. For TSE, we want to provide people who are going for next-gen quality graphics with art assets to help them on their way. For TGE or lower-end TSE games, these models and textures can pretty easily be adapted to fit the rest of your content.
This will be the first (well, depending on when it's all done ;) content pack that comes with textures both for TGE and TSE, complete with materials and shaders designed for TSE. The higher poly counts of the base models means these weapons can be used in games with modern, AAA quality graphics and production, the alternative textures and lower-poly LOD models mean you can also save yourself a lot of time by using this pack for games with a lower art content bar.
So, I'm pretty excited about this pack. Besides Weston's incredible art work, I think this thing is really well-designed to serve a very broad range of games.
#14
05/03/2005 (1:33 am)
Sheesh... looks very good!
#15
05/03/2005 (1:20 pm)
I was wondering how this was coming along. Its looking very good. I'm excited about getting my grubby mits on these fine shiny objects.
Torque Owner Charlie Malbaurn