Ninja for HL2 Mod

HL2? i think you can go a few more than 2000 for that.

one crit so far: you could do with a few more loops around the joints, particually the knees which have none... or maybe one

thanks, yeah, my joints are pretty bad so ill have to work on those. by too high i mean for sillouhette so far rather than the model as a whole. I know you can have about 7000 for single player characters but im not too sure what you can target for multiplayer, so im aiming around 3500 for now

Im amazed at your ability to hide these polygons conundrum - even when i take into consideration the hands and face - the silhouette you have going there could be achieved with half that amount.

The mesh has some good weight it it - but livewire is right your joins and deformation areas need a few more loops. The best piece of advice i can give is set yourself up a biped and do some stress tests with a rigged version of the knee / foot / hip / elbow / shoulder etc to make sure its going to animate and deform nicely.

it might be because i give a tri count rather than a quad? if so its about 1078

erm what? if the tri count was 2000 then that's what you ned to concern yourself with. forget the quad count.

made a quick normal map test and this is how it turned out

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/conundrum/2004113044816_Ninja04…]

this is quick a texture i recently did any comments and crits are welcome

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/conundrum/20041213214613_Ninja07…]

it's very red. you need something that contrasts i think.

agreed, the deep red/maroon dosent offer enough in the way of contrast

thanks for the comments, point taken, i think ill darken it and then add some bluey purple tones in places

I dont necesserily think its the colours that arent working, but rather the lack of detial in the texture.
You said it was a "quick" texture, why is that? the texture is just as important as the model. If you want to impress the viewer then you'll need to put more into it.
Get some stronger folds on the cloth around areas of the joints/body moves. other little detials such as stiching, etc can also help.

well im thinking for example if you saw this character from a distance, itd be like a silouhette, everything blends together too much. perhaps thats just me though :P

That is a good point though moonunit, didnt really think of that :)

Makk: i entirely agree with your comments and suggestions on the importance of textures. though, its a quick texture because i (or possibly another team member as im not a particularly good skinner) am going to make an entirely new one. I model in lightwave but to put it into Half Life 2 i need to use softimage. As such i thoguht id make a quick test in lightwave to help exhibit the model better and because softimage is currently not working. Once i get it fixed there should be a proper texture made in XSI with a lot more detail.

Moonunit: i certainly will put more effort into finding more contrasting colours though

My personal oppinion is that while the texture colours on the quick texture are lacking detail, i think making them too contrasty or adding that little bit more colour to make him stand out a bit, defeats the purpose of what a ninja is.

I say stay with the duller colours, reds, browns or dark dark greys are perfect, and add simple but effective areas with details, logo embroidery on his robes maybe or perhaps some history on the materials hes wearing and wrinkles in the cloth around the usual areas.

Im no ninja expert - but in photos ( not that youd ever see a 'real' one in a photo ) youd see them with baggy and loose fitting clothes that do not restrict thier movement, so definately loosen his clothes up by painting some detail in the deformation areas.

Im not sure what hes wearing on his feet - but they stand out as something that needs some thought. Perhaps seek some pictures and reference material for what ninjas do. I think once you understand them a bit better youll be able to make a superior representation [:D]

Also when using normal maps - if your attempting to show of the normal map, use a lighting setup that has strong lightsources and shadow casting, show your model off!
youve put the effort in and normal mapped it - but in the textured render its almost unnoticeable at all.

/my 2 cents.