Authentic Model Improvement

[NightFright]

It's going in the right direction, but the model seems to consist of 3 frames instead of 1 and has some kind of "pulsating" animation, at least when I look at it in q1mv. The original fireball.mdl is not animated. And it's a projectile used by the dragon (final boss).

Regarding the lavarock/-ball, fair point. No idea why they added the same model with different names, though.

Oh, and two more things about the Vore:
- Should be de-tittyfied
- Idle animation (standing and breathing) should be added - Seven did that for the original model

I have optimized Chillo's Vore model we are currently using by removing one needless animation called "base", renaming the idle animation from "stand1" to "idle1" and deleting the second (unused) skin. It shrank model size by over 300 KB, it's something. If it's supposed to look like in Seven's model, the idle sequence should have 9 frames.

[osjclatchford]

yes i did mean lavarock... sorry.

still working on fireball...

just fyi, that lavaball is the same one I'm using as the lavaball for id1 (environment and chthon's missiles) I suggested porting it to soa's lavarock as, as far as I can tell, soa's original lavarock.mdl is an exact copy of id1's lavaball.mdl

see a comparison pic of all three here: https://www.mediafire.com/view/0gz5l...LAVAS.gif/file

this lavaball should be ideal for both (with a simple namechange for soa). it is indeed tilted (as on the original lavaball/lavarock) but instead of being a faceted chunk its rounder.

*edit*
here: http://www.mediafire.com/file/abaum5...eball.zip/file is my offering as a fireball replacement.
pic: https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/00...yeviyo7zzg.jpg
generally a smoother and rounder deardrop shape (not tested in game as I have no idea where or when it occurs (never played doe))

[NightFright]

You mean lavarock (fireball really looks a bit too different).

In general, these are usable, I guess. Not a lot better than the originals, but at least more symmetrical and with a bit more curves. Lavarock.mdl is normally a bit tilted to the side, which makes sense since it's probably used as a projectile, but other than that, these two are OK for SoA.

Other than that, should the two plasma cells and/or the Empathy Shield get done in the forseeable future, I would wait until their completion and then a new release would make sense. It will actually pretty much be the biggest version we have ever managed to compile, and this time even with some exclusive content!

[osjclatchford]

here are some replacement models for the prox and lavaball projectiles for soa if you want:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/iq5pb...dels2.zip/file

both edited from the ad lavaball...

*edit*
(just rename the lavaball to fireball)

[NightFright]

I have reviewed the missing SoA and DoE models and updated the to-do list accordingly.

Changes:
- Player model variations added
- Empathy Shield (empathy.mdl) back on the list
- Props/projectiles added (SoA: lavarock.mdl, proxbomb.mdl / DoE: fireball.mdl)
- Removed anything that's either done or not needed

The three props models have very simple geometry (in fact, they are all balls/spheres, just different sizes and textures) and should be easy to do. Maybe even existing models can be edited and reskinned.
I now also believe that SoA's Empathy Shield (empathy.mdl) could/should be remade after all with a rounder shape (still not a "OMG original mdl is so fugly, it needs to be remade" case, rather "nice to have").

[osjclatchford]

Well, maybe you could add a few additional edges here or there, similar to the shell or nail boxes which just add small dents.

If you look at this image, I could imagine the shiny white parts to stick out a bit, like small bulbs, also that gray circle part in the front and the top might have more structure as well (red parts could be some sort of wires). A lot can be solved through the skin, so I think you don't need to add a lot of polygons, just a few additional squares might already do if the skin is upscaled as well.

for the ammo I'd personally avoid upscaling the skin, just stick to more poly on the model. as with the health and ammo we have already.
just fear it may begin to look out of place with the other models... with powerups and enemies it seems not to matter too much, depending on how faithfull the skin is. but i'd be happy to be proven wrong on this so, yeah, surpirse me! LOL

PS: Horn and belt look flawless ingame, no fullbright pixels at all.

indeed they do.
In my experiance its messing with, yellow, orange, red and light blue thats more likely to cause issues with fullbrights...

[NightFright]

Well, maybe you could add a few additional edges here or there, similar to the shell or nail boxes which just add small dents.

If you look at this image, I could imagine the shiny white parts to stick out a bit, like small bulbs, also that gray circle part in the front and the top might have more structure as well (red parts could be some sort of wires). A lot can be solved through the skin, so I think you don't need to add a lot of polygons, just a few additional squares might already do if the skin is upscaled as well.

PS: Horn and belt look flawless ingame, no fullbright pixels at all.

[Tea Monster]

Yeah, I wanted to give it a bit of extra dimension.

I've checked the BSP files and they are basically boxes. If I get Phredreeke to ESRGAN the skins, are you happy with that?

[NightFright]

This one turned out really nice again! The belt buckle turned out to be a bit thicker now, but that happens inevitably if you want to make the surface more articulated. Very faithful, nice poly count, seal of approval given.

Updated the todo list (post #769). The last static models are now the two DoE plasma cells, but they are bsp. After that it's only animated stuff, especially monsters. The bosses might be tempting, especially Armagon which is even a two-part model. After that awesome Shub, I don't doubt it's doable.

[osjclatchford]

its a beut! really nice model and skin man!

[Tea Monster]

Hmmm. I've found a new importer/exporter that works with the latest version of Blender. Yayyy modern Blender! It could have made some liberties on importing it? Weird, and if so, will need to be watched for other tom foolery.

Again, Phredreeke ESRGANed the skin for me. Many thanks!

This is going to need to be looked at for full bright pixels. I've sealed up the gaps and removed the sealed off faces. This exporter has retained the 'rotate' flag, which is nice.
Link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4q4yti854i...scale.zip?dl=0

[NightFright]

As far as I can tell, the belt doesn't have a feature like that. If you collect it, gravity is lowered temporarily. You are not visually wearing the belt, though. It's just a powerup like the ring, quad etc as far as I can tell. Eventually it "runs out of power", but that just means you drop back to the ground. Ingame message is "anti-grav is failing" with a sound like it's shutting down, running out of juice. Sure it doesn't have any visual impact.

It does have some blue/white fullbright parts at the front (or is it the back?) and the bottom which indicate some kind of energy field generator or something. Compare with the wiki image.

I never noticed that the belt is not entirely closed, but if it's like that, there is no deeper purpose behind it. To me it always looked like a closed circle, but I need to examine the mdl closely in q1mv.

*UPDATE*
Yepp, it's definitely closed on both ends. No gap anywhere.

[Tea Monster]

I'm asking as the ring is actually in two halves, complete with interior faces. I'm loathe to remove an actual feature of the model, even if it isn't used.
I'm wondering if there is an animation where it breaks up if not used, or if the player dies or it's power expires.

[NightFright]

I am not sure if I understand the question. The model doesn't change, no animations. Just a rotating circle with skin, like the ring.

[Tea Monster]

Does the Beltup separate into sections at any time in the game?