Posts by Sigma

  • Reference Photos: Ruger Mk. III Target Pistol

    I had some time today and recalled that I had said to a couple of folks here that I would take photos of my Ruger Mk. III pistol. So here is a sample photo. I apologize for the low quality on some of the photo's (cellphone is all I have) but it should be more than enough to produce a great 3d asset from it (I intend to ). I field stripped and took photo's of as much detail as I could muster. In case you decide to rig and animate -- this pistol has a bit of kick in the recoil and is a bit louder than some other .22 guns I have fired. The rear sight sits on a spring and is adjustable by the screw housing. All the pieces shown in the photo below are shown as they come out of the pistol except for the bolt (top right). That piece is shown from the top-down perspective for ease of understanding. There are more in the included .RAR file. I hope you enjoy and happy modeling.

    You can find all of the photos in the download link (RAR file)

    Here is the PDF of the owner's manual

    [Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/NBvnxX8.jpg]

  • THQ... Next Crytek?

    Quote from cashed

    blackdog Valve and Blizzard are different beasts. Valve has steam as a major revenue stream. And they both release on console. Why is Blizzard porting D3? not for tech reasons only that's for sure.


    Blizzard reasoning probably boils down to the D3 port being a tech demo for them to prepare Heros of the Storm for consoles to beat LoL and Dota 2 to market in the console industry section. First in, tons of money plus an already installed user base (not to mention those without the pc's to handle it). Online streaming built into the platforms. The shifting playstyles (in comparison). Makes sense to me on its face.


    As for CryTek itself -- while I am not familiar with their particular condition or market performance -- they have priced themselves attractively to "indie" mid-level studios and AAA studios compared with UE4. It will certainly be interesting to see the long-term reaction to these new price points as well as shifting government subsidies (I.E. Montreal) possibly leading to further strengthening of European developers. Conditions may in fact be better than they were previously for CryTek to reclaim some lost market share by incentivizing studios further in private deals.


    Found this tidbit for CryTek:


  • WiiU

    I've only come up with one basic game concept that maybe (and its a big maybe) would work (and only in the local multiplayer setting at that) is either a real time strategy or role playing game where-in the tablet player can actively place obstacles (think a dungeons and dragons GM for adding obstacles/narration and the removal of enemies tapping in localized New Super Mario Bros (I think that's the right one--played other night at my bar)) or commands to teammates ala Battlefield 2 (commander mode). Although this could be taken a step farther with games such as Flagship (that would be a pretty sweet setup) which should work both as singleplayer and internet multiplayer.


    It's awesome to have the tablet when I am rending out stuff and/or waiting for computer processes to finish and the g/f is watching TV because I can jump right into a game on the tablet while keeping an eye on the computer for errors. But that would be a niche use. :/

  • WiiU

    Quote from 3Dnj


    Yeap.

    In the begining of WindWaker you also wear blue until an NPC hands you the "hero" green attire, so one can assume this takes place in the first 30 minutes of the game.


    Same in twilight and skyward.


    Or, just as Nintendo execs spoke of -- they are going back and seriously considering all kinds of changes to try and move away from traditions with the series. Hell, that could be Zelda for all we know (damn adrogynous character design)... Maybe this game you play as Zelda rescuing Link.

  • E3 2014

    Quote from PogoP

    Gorgeous!


    [Blocked Image: http://a.pomf.se/rsfqks.gif]


    I feel like this is Nintendo's attempt at Zelda as a futuristic post-apocalyptic world. The explosions... lasers... and that... lightsaber arrow?! And yet... I am already warming up my Wii U (and my wallet) for the serious loss of funds I will endure.

  • The random model thread!

    Thought I'd share something I'm working on. Think I'm finally getting a little bit better hang of normal maps -- to which I owe gratitude to multiple people here for enlightening me. No textures yet (still finalizing the model and UV maps--making this for a mod in Source (1) engine). Full album can found here http://imgur.com/a/oKkY4. I would love some C&C if you are so inclined (but understand if you're not). Some obvious baking errors in there -- but I'm honestly unsure (seeing as this is the first semi-successful bake I have done) if they are a big deal without seeing a diffuse on it.


    [Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/oW1h2kW.png]


    Just for the giggles I tossed what I have done on this into Unreal Engine 4.


    [Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/sztuHkd.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/lu2Z2Mf.jpg]

  • Help with making a UV map for a geosphere

    I'm working on a similar type of object right now (a complicated sphere). Since you are using max I would try and get my stack to look like this and I would split the beams (as 1 UV island group) from the interior dome/triangles (2nd UV island group) and then offset the triangles into your random stacks to get the mirroring effects you want:


    Unwrap UVW

    UVW Map Modifer --> Spherical mapping selected

    Editable Poly


    Then just adjust the vertices on your UV until happy. Alternatively you can split the beams like Em' is suggesting and mirror those across your UV space in a random pattern for the triangles to get the random texture look I think you are heading towards.


    One final alternative -- if the engine you are shooting for allows and you do not require close-up and personal views of the dome, you could just normal map it onto a low-poly cube with spherify applied, collapsed, and then UV mapped. This is what it looks like the MW3 team did when I google searched the dome. The beams themselves appear normal mapped whereas the lattice control points for them (the n-gons on your model) are an actual mesh element instanced across the model.


    But I am not the best by any means and am still learning lots so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

  • WiiU

    Regardless of the confusion--I have been playing Mario Kart pretty much non-stop in my quest for a perfect rating on all of the grand prix races (mixing in Wolfenstein when I feel robbed by a succession of 5 attacks taking me from 1st place to 6th in the home stretch (you've been warned--that Luigi death stare is not there for nothing)).

  • What's going on with your life?

    Thought I'd share something non-parental/relationship related. Basically (still waiting for specialist to look at it) broke my knee over a week ago (basketball). Have been walking and working on it. 1 week to go before a specialist sees it. Guess I have an excuse to sit on my butt and do nothing but gamedev/3d in the evenings now though! Yahoo!

  • The random model thread!

    Quote from RedYager

    Thanks Psychicken, you're right about the seat looking flat, I think the wood overall could be improved a fair bit. Including the stool its 1084 polys, here's the wireframe


    [Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/EGOuypd.jpg]


    I also made the mistake of mirroring the stool leg closest to the piano, hence it looking darker


    Separate all the piano keys so I can play! Nice normal map on there btw. I like how clean this is.

  • Amateur Video Game Development - Cost Questions

    It's really dependent on a great number of factors.


    Since you are a finance/accountant type person some basics you need to consider after you have your design document are what is the average amount of time your artist(s) will spend on an asset (you probably will not know this until well into your alpha build or yoru upscaled beta), multiply that by the number of same type assets in quality (special assets will take more time) and multiply that by the amount you expect to pay your artist. Do not forget to include things such as marketing, advertising costs, license fees, software purchases, normal bills (i.e. mortgage, car payments, utilities, etc. . . if not doing on the side), etc. . . amortize your cost structure over the period you expect to break even (if you are generating revenue), and then when you have your basic budget built, double that amount (at least). THEN you will have a loose idea of what the cost would be.


    As far as feasibility goes, expect to work hard and long and learn a LOT while you are doing it. Do not expect to simply be the "ideas guy" your first time out either unless you are paying contractors to do the job (in which case you need to be even more detailed in your budget, contracts, ip rights, etc. . .). Is it doable? Absolutely. But don't expect it to be easy.