Darth InSidious' WIP

[jrrtoken]

I've also done some work toward a more corroded skin, as per Pastrami's suggestion, although I don't feel it's worked very well so far.

I really the love the new model; it's definitely more, erm, intimidating, if not extremely authentic. Of course this is Star Wars, so historicity has never been the focal point in design.

What I mean is that, to get from A to B, there are multiple options open to you, and occasionally, certain actions will cause certain consequences. The upshot of all this is that it will not, I hope, be possible to play through all of the content in the mod in one run-through, which I think is very important.

 

Another thing you will be assaulted by in packs is skill and ability checks. These will actually serve a purpose, and there will, I hope, be no dialogues, at least in the main plot, which have redundant options (i.e., ones that lead to the same line). I make no promises that the lines will all be radically different; that is the aim, though.

I see that Alpha Protocol has had quite a considerable effect on the design.

 

Sounds great so far, though. :0

[Quanon]

Aha, an update

 

Looks like you still got a lot of work DI.

Its nice though you aim for something more "new" dialogue-wise.

 

Lets just hope TSL works with you on this and not against.

Models look fantastic, so do the skins. Can't wait to take a swing with one of those blades ^_^

 

Oh, and did you detach your model like you mapped it. That solves 90% of texture troubles on weapon models in the game.

 

1) Model weapon

2) UVW map

3) Bake map into model (convert again to Mesh or Collapse)

4) Start detaching to element

5) Export and have a test run

Not always, but most of the time.... just like TG said. Smart kid

 

 

CHeers and good luck!

[Miltiades]

Great that you're moving combat a bit to the background, and that you're giving more attention to quality dialog and meaningful choices (I didn't expect anything else from you, DI ). In line with what TSL tried to accomplish, I think, combat wasn't the most exciting part of the game, and it worked wonders. I, too, sense a hint of AP.

 

The Khopesh does look better, I hope you'll get the rest on the same level of quality. I'm not too worried about that aspect, however, as far as I can see, the focus is mostly on the narrative, and I'm sure you'll excel there.

 

Good luck, you'll get there someday.

[Sith Holocron]

It's always nice to see a Rhen Var update.

 

Haha, indeed. Unfortunately, though, I imported the wrong way round, and I was too lazy to reimport. Besides, it's a double-bladed model. You can wield it either way. >.>

 

I had a thought on this yet I'm afraid I'll sound like an incompetent when stating. Well here goes nothing . . .

 

In the game - if I recall correctly - you get some sort of penalty if you wield a sword or lightsaber in the off-hand. Would it possible to have the off-hand (left) wield the khopesh with your original pictured position and the normal (right) hand with the new pictured position as RedHawke suggested?

 

I imagine that a Khopesh would look perfectly at home with those Stargate skins that I've seen previously.

[Darth InSidious]

Yay SsoG.

Unfortunately, I don't think I can add the sparkly effect. Glad you like it, though.

 

It definitely looks... interesting. But I agree, it doesn't exactly look on par with the original...

If "interesting" means "mouldy", I agree.

 

Did you remember to detach the polys? (even on the handle)

Quite possibly not. >_>

 

 

A cool touch that you can barely see?

Re-read T7's lightsaber texturing tut.

 

I haven't played it yet, and I looked at it. Whats going to happen to me?

Well, when you do certain bits of the game will be less cool the first time around. >_>

 

Seriously, that sword looks very good.

Thanks.

 

Would that happen to be the hood from Kreia's model?

Yes.

If so, I believe that the arm texture for one of the jedi robes uses an edited version of that, so I'm sure you can get pretty close using that little part of the texture.

They look the same shape, but the Kreia texture appears to be slightly different in shape.

 

Ah, something I thought was missing from the game. I didn't quite like how you use a skill in a dialog a few times in the whole game, and it leads you to the same conclusion as if you didn't have the skill.

Yes, it is rather pointless. >_>

And I too would like to see some unique dialog every time I play through the mod.

I can't promise every line will be utterly unique, but certainly there will be a degree of variance and difference in the direction of conversations. This will probably be most evident in the key NPCs. Whether or not it becomes a feature of less important dialogues remains to be seen.

 

dead guy laying in snow? the plot has thickened.

I use oxo cubes.

 

If he is laying in the snow, I'd say maybe make a custom dead-guy skin that'll make him look a little... icy. Because if hes dead enough to have his spine sticking out, he should look bluer and a lot colder...

I'm not sure I can say any more on that without revealing too much, but suffice to say that I have my reasons for leaving it as-is.

 

I really the love the new model; it's definitely more, erm, intimidating, if not extremely authentic. Of course this is Star Wars, so historicity has never been the focal point in design.

Well, yes and no. The design varied a fair amount in Egypt, and some representations are more pointy, like this one, while others survive looking more like the model further up the thread. I'm wagering they weren't originally painted black, though, so your point still stands.

 

I see that Alpha Protocol has had quite a considerable effect on the design.

Haha. Actually, bits of this were written before much was known about AP. I blame synchronicity.

 

Sounds great so far, though. :0

Thanks!

 

Aha, an update

 

Looks like you still got a lot of work DI.

Yep. As always. >_>

 

Its nice though you aim for something more "new" dialogue-wise.

Well, it gets annoying when there's five dialogue options, four of which are the same and one of which is "I'll be going now"...

 

Lets just hope TSL works with you on this and not against.

Touch wood...

 

Models look fantastic, so do the skins. Can't wait to take a swing with one of those blades ^_^

Thanks!

 

Oh, and did you detach your model like you mapped it. That solves 90% of texture troubles on weapon models in the game.

 

1) Model weapon

2) UVW map

3) Bake map into model (convert again to Mesh or Collapse)

4) Start detaching to element

5) Export and have a test run

Not always, but most of the time.... just like TG said. Smart kid

It seems not... Fixed now, though.

 

CHeers and good luck!

Thanks - same to you!

 

Great that you're moving combat a bit to the background, and that you're giving more attention to quality dialog and meaningful choices (I didn't expect anything else from you, DI ).

Well, the game does have plenty of easy as it is - particularly towards the end. IMO if you're going to have combat it should be memorable and in a vaguely sensible place in the plot.

 

You can get away with a certain degree of casual violence in, say, a fantasy setting, but I think in sci-fi, generally things should be a bit more plausible.

 

In line with what TSL tried to accomplish, I think, combat wasn't the most exciting part of the game, and it worked wonders.

Well, that follows in the tradition of Planescape Torment - great dialogue, but really horrible combat...

I, too, sense a hint of AP.

I'm flattered.

 

The Khopesh does look better, I hope you'll get the rest on the same level of quality.

That's certainly the aim, although at present it's taking a back seat to other, more pressing matters like the main plot.

I'm not too worried about that aspect, however, as far as I can see, the focus is mostly on the narrative, and I'm sure you'll excel there.

Hehe, thanks!

 

Good luck, you'll get there someday.

Hopefully someday soon. >_>

 

It's always nice to see a Rhen Var update.

Thanks!

 

I had a thought on this yet I'm afraid I'll sound like an incompetent when stating. Well here goes nothing . . .

If you don't ask, you won't find out...

 

In the game - if I recall correctly - you get some sort of penalty if you wield a sword or lightsaber in the off-hand. Would it possible to have the off-hand (left) wield the khopesh with your original pictured position and the normal (right) hand with the new pictured position as RedHawke suggested?

I could release it with two separate items - one facing in each direction, and probably one with an offhand bonus, although I'm not sure - I don't actually remember if that's a possible item bonus. That's about the best solution I can think of, to be honest.

 

I imagine that a Khopesh would look perfectly at home with those Stargate skins that I've seen previously.

You're very kind, but Q and 90SK's work is hugely superior to mine...

 

Just a quick update today. Not much has been happening with the mod visually lately, so I'm afraid there's not much to tell in that regard, but I thought I'd post a picture of the (now-fixed) second khopesh in-game:

 

 

Share and Enjoy!

[Exile007]

Oooh, shiny blades *makes note not to lick pointy end*

 

On the note of your dialog update, very interesting. I don't even remember your skills really coming into play often in TSL, besides slicing the computers for less spikes. So I suppose there will be a reason to worry about how high our skills are?

 

Great note about the combat too, I agree that it should be a memorable occasion.

 

Suggestions: Make the combat more than a "Master Flurry-Master Speed-Heal-Master Flurry-Master Speed" type fashion. The opponents should have specific strengths and weaknesses that match their personalities and character. Boss fights should definitely be challenging, but not overwhelmingly difficult, don't let the player lose interest after a full three minutes of hack-n-slash. If a boss fight is too easy, then the player will definitely be "wtf-like."

 

Example: Sion upping himself about how much stronger he is than the exile, and then being driven to 1 HP in three rounds? Give me a break.

 

If you can get a player pumped up for combat in TSL, then you've definitely gotten a new dimension into your mod.

 

^ My two cents.

[Quanon]

You're very kind, but Q and 90SK's work is hugely superior to mine...

 

When looked upon from certain point of view.... I'm trying to redo the mask to be more faithfull to the real movie props. So far no luck those things are curved like hell and I loose oversight on the whole model... urgh, feel like a noob now

 

... but I thought I'd post a picture of the (now-fixed) second khopesh in-game:

 

Oooh, it worked! I love the look of handle and the curve of the blade is pure awesomeness. You got to love those egyptian designers

 

I do hope your mod does contain a sort of babe and new steaming hot like liquid lead romance

[Darth InSidious]

Oooh, shiny blades *makes note not to lick pointy end*

If I put this model into K1 separately, I will make sure to include a warning against attempting to eat the models just for you, Exile.

 

On the note of your dialog update, very interesting. I don't even remember your skills really coming into play often in TSL, besides slicing the computers for less spikes. So I suppose there will be a reason to worry about how high our skills are?

Well, dialogue will certainly rely on more than simply [Persuade] options. I did consider forcing the player to roll each skill check, but it would be out of keeping with the rest of the game. Generally, though, the planet is going to be designed with higher-level characters in mind, so you'll need a fairly high skill value just to get the dialogue option to appear.

 

Great note about the combat too, I agree that it should be a memorable occasion.

Hehe, thanks. It's not exactly the game's strength, after all...

 

Suggestions: Make the combat more than a "Master Flurry-Master Speed-Heal-Master Flurry-Master Speed" type fashion. The opponents should have specific strengths and weaknesses that match their personalities and character. Boss fights should definitely be challenging, but not overwhelmingly difficult, don't let the player lose interest after a full three minutes of hack-n-slash. If a boss fight is too easy, then the player will definitely be "wtf-like."

I certainly agree with all of that. I do intend to build combat-NPCs with care, so they don't just have 99 for ever stat and eight-trillion HP.

 

Example: Sion upping himself about how much stronger he is than the exile, and then being driven to 1 HP in three rounds? Give me a break.

That had a plot point behind it, but I can see where you're coming from.

 

If you can get a player pumped up for combat in TSL, then you've definitely gotten a new dimension into your mod.

I'm afraid I'm not a miracle-worker.

 

^ My two cents.

Very welcome, Thanks!

 

When looked upon from certain point of view....

Many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our point of view. Your skill as a modeller isn't one of them, though.

 

I'm trying to redo the mask to be more faithfull to the real movie props. So far no luck those things are curved like hell and I loose oversight on the whole model... urgh, feel like a noob now

Well, those are difficult shapes to get right, anyway. The planning for a model like that must be insane!

 

Oooh, it worked! I love the look of handle and the curve of the blade is pure awesomeness. You got to love those egyptian designers

Thanks!

 

I do hope your mod does contain a sort of babe and new steaming hot like liquid lead romance

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SCENE: INSIDE AN APARTMENT, RHEN VAR.

[A holovid of two droids is playing]

Ped-3: Oh, N1-Kin, hold me. Hold me like you did on Kessell.

N1-Kin: Oh, Ped-3. You're so beautiful.

Ped-3: It's only because I'm so in love with you.

N1-Kin: No, it's because I'm so in love with you!

 

Will that do? I tried to make it as Mass Effect-y as possible.

 

Well, I know rapid updates aren't exactly common in this thread, but since I fixed this earlier today (hurrah for Bank Holidays!), I thought I might as well post it. It's an update of the mod in post #132 in this thread.

 

I've redone the (Light Side) skin for two reasons, mainly: first, so that I could get a higher-res texture for the it, and second because it allowed me to solve the issue of unreal gloves... sort of. The screenshots don't really show the second element, though, and it's still a work-in-progress, of course, so the skin is still far from final. It's closer-to than it was, though.

 

The picture had to be taken somewhere relatively dark, because I have yet to fix the alpha channel on the metal parts. At present it glows in the sun rather too close to the burns-out-your-eyeballs range. >_>

 

 

[Exile007]

If I put this model into K1 separately, I will make sure to include a warning against attempting to eat the models just for you, Exile.

I feel so honored.

 

99 for ever stat and eight-trillion HP.

Obsidian style!

 

That had a plot point behind it, but I can see where you're coming from.

True, but given the fact that the PC knew that Sion would be a final boss from Peragus, I guess I expected more.

 

I'm afraid I'm not a miracle-worker.

 

I've redone the (Light Side) skin for two reasons, mainly: first, so that I could get a higher-res texture for the it, and second because it allowed me to solve the issue of unreal gloves... sort of. The screenshots don't really show the second element, though, and it's still a work-in-progress, of course, so the skin is still far from final. It's closer-to than it was, though.

 

Looking good! But for some reason I just can't really get into the cloth on the chest plates. It just seems sorta unrealistic. Maybe replace the chest plate with pieces from the Star Forge Robe?

[Marius Fett]

But for some reason I just can't really get into the cloth on the chest plates. It just seems sorta unrealistic. Maybe replace the chest plate with pieces from the Star Forge Robe?

 

I agree with Exile on this one. It's a great reskin, but the cloth on the chest just doesn't do it for me. ^_^

[redrob41]

Show spoiler

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Looking good! But for some reason I just can't really get into the cloth on the chest plates. It just seems sorta unrealistic. Maybe replace the chest plate with pieces from the Star Forge Robe?

 

I agree with Exile on this one. It's a great reskin, but the cloth on the chest just doesn't do it for me. ^_^

 

At the moment, it looks to me like tan fabric has been glued onto the metal plate, rather than a cloth under tunic showing through holes in a piece of metal. Maybe you could add a bit more edge shadowing. Also, I think that the shape of the holes is overly "designed" and doesn't look very functional (at least on the abdomen and clavicals; the back shoulder blades look fine). Perhaps if the chest plate ended at the rib cage, and then there were leather straps joining it to the belt?

[Darth InSidious]

My apologies for the huge delay in responding - my computer died the day of the last update... which, it seems, was September 1st. It feels like it was more like September 1st 2005, but that's another story...

 

For those who are interested, my graphics card died, and what with my computer being a laptop, that proved somewhat... fatal. What with one thing and another, it took over two months to get a new laptop.

 

To add to this, I've had a pretty full schedule these last few months, too, and so even if I'd been able to, I'm not sure I really had the time to work on Rhen Var or any modding really. I don't really right now, but I needed a break, so I did some updates on a few projects I was working on before the (second) Great Collapsing Hrung Disaster.

 

Now that things are semi-up-and-running again, I feel I can actually give you an update. And, you know, answer your questions/points/verbal abuse.

 

I feel so honored.

You should. I haven't taken a mod request in over four years.

 

 

Obsidian style!

No-time-to-balance-style, anyway. The overpowered items that litter the game make it a bit difficult to balance things as finely as I might like, but I'm hoping for combat to be challenging and a little varied. I've no idea how that'll work out yet, though, so...

 

 

True, but given the fact that the PC knew that Sion would be a final boss from Peragus, I guess I expected more.

Yeah, that's true. He is rather weak on gameplay, but the game's strength generally is more in dialogue and story than the combat and levelling.

 

 

You're crushed, I know. ( )

 

 

 

Looking good! But for some reason I just can't really get into the cloth on the chest plates. It just seems sorta unrealistic. Maybe replace the chest plate with pieces from the Star Forge Robe?

On reflexion it does look rather crap, yeah. I'll try fixing that when I have the time for proper skinning. I'm also hideously out of practice at the moment, so anything I do will look horrible beyond beleif.

 

 

I agree with Exile on this one. It's a great reskin, but the cloth on the chest just doesn't do it for me. ^_^

*shrug*. I thought it looked quite cool at the time, but I can see what you mean. If/when I get round to editing that skin again, I'll definitely rework the cloth panels.

 

At the moment, it looks to me like tan fabric has been glued onto the metal plate, rather than a cloth under tunic showing through holes in a piece of metal. Maybe you could add a bit more edge shadowing. Also, I think that the shape of the holes is overly "designed" and doesn't look very functional (at least on the abdomen and clavicals; the back shoulder blades look fine). Perhaps if the chest plate ended at the rib cage, and then there were leather straps joining it to the belt?

Thanks for the tips! I'll give that a go over Christmas, and hopefully have something to show for it, though I think you rather overestimate my ability.

 

So: updates. The main plot for Rhen Var is now essentially finalised in all details, although I've yet to pass the final documentation in front of the Official Censor for approval/tweaking/other.

 

Progress on the plot front is moving forward, however slowly. At the moment it's just waiting on my having time to actually sit down and write dialogue. Or rather: write good dialogue. I could write some sucky crap, but you wouldn't want to read it, and I don't want to write it, to be honest. Be warned that stat and skill checks will abound. You should also pick dialogue options with care; some may lead to less favourable outcomes.

 

On the visible-stuff-you-can-crit front, I've mainly tweaked a couple of models I was working on previously, but didn't finish before my old computer died.

 

Item one on the agenda is a Jian, or traditional Chinese sword with a straight blade. Not the most complex model in the world, but a nice design; hopefully this one shouldn't take too long to skin, although I have plans for the guard area. This might make for a better short sword; I'm undecided at this point.

 

Next up is the Sword of Gith, again; this time a shot in-game. I did try and skin this, but I'm so out of touch it came out pretty ugly. Hopefully it'll look better in the v2. I think the current scale is probably about right for it.

 

Finally, I found I was in the middle of reskinning my landing pad module. I have no idea whatsoever why the floor is white here; presumably that was something I was in the middle of working on. 'Twill be fixed in time, rest assured.

 

Share and Enjoy!

[twk4858]

Finally, I found I was in the middle of reskinning my landing pad module. I have no idea whatsoever why the floor is white here; presumably that was something I was in the middle of working on. 'Twill be fixed in time, rest assured.

 

Heheh. Looks likes, and the name of the image implies that it's snowing. All you need to do is apply a bunch of snowcaps to the other objects and put up a christmas tree!

 

Happy holidays.

 

twk

[Darth InSidious]

Heheh. Looks likes, and the name of the image implies that it's snowing. All you need to do is apply a bunch of snowcaps to the other objects and put up a christmas tree!

Thanks, twk. I think it's just a lighter floor texture that's showing slightly too brightly. I will be doing a proper snow texture for the floor and the rooftops later, though.

 

Happy holidays.

 

twk

Same to you!

 

Small updates today. First, I've done some preliminary skinning on the Sword of Gith. It's by no means complete, and the hilt in particular needs a lot of work, but I reckon it's worth showing, nonetheless:

 

 

Also, I've replaced that floor texture with a new one on the Landing Pad. I will eventually replace both with a more snow-covered one, as well as putting more snow on the rooftops, etc, but for now, this will do:

 

 

And for the sake of comparison, a picture of how it used to look:

This one must be from about 2006, though annoyingly, Photobucket doesn't record upload details. It appears in a post from December 12th 2006 on page 1 of this thread (!), though, so it must be from around then. I like to think the new texture is quite an improvement, but perhaps my tastes have just changed.

 

Crits, suggestions and comments on both of these updates are, as always, more than welcome.

 

Finally, I leave you with some previews of the Exile's upcoming interpretive dance performance on Korriban:

 

Share and Enjoy!

[Trench]

Nice work on sword! Can't wait to see the finished product.

(Is it just me, or does the guy in one of the pictures above have a bullseye on his privates?)

[Quanon]

Good looking sword model!

 

NWN2 here I come again!

 

Whats with the snow? Is that Rhen Var on the surface.

Good texture job, the concrete blocks/obstacles are really "crisp" looking.

 

Boy, you really need to release this someday

You're killing us little modders with anticipation!

 

That should be a capital crime! You're such fiend DI

[Sith Holocron]

Regarding the snow topped mountains: is there a chance of a higher-res background?

[Canderis]

(Is it just me, or does the guy in one of the pictures above have a bullseye on his privates?)

 

 

Point and shoot my man, point and shoot.

 

On topic- great work! Can't wait to see the next area!

[Lord of Hunger]

The Sword of Gith looks pretty dang awesome, so I'm looking forward to the fully textured version.

 

Glad to see you're making so much progress on Rhen Var. Good reusage of the M4 Landing Pad module.

 

I agree with Sith Holocron on the background, mostly because it's a reuse of Telos, but for not it works quite well.

[Darth InSidious]

Nice work on sword! Can't wait to see the finished product.

Thanks!

 

(Is it just me, or does the guy in one of the pictures above have a bullseye on his privates?)

To the pure, all things are pure.

 

Good looking sword model!

Thanks! Praise from the current model-master means a lot.

 

NWN2 here I come again!

You really need to finish it and play MotB, Q...

 

Whats with the snow? Is that Rhen Var on the surface.

Yes. It is, apparently, a snow planet.

 

Good texture job, the concrete blocks/obstacles are really "crisp" looking.

Uh, those are default textures... but thanks anyway.

 

Boy, you really need to release this someday

 

You're telling me?

 

You're killing us little modders with anticipation!

You, a little modder?

 

That should be a capital crime! You're such fiend DI

 

Young fool. Only now, at the end, do you understand.

 

Regarding the snow topped mountains: is there a chance of a higher-res background?

To be quite honest, it's not something I consider a priority; If I'm still not sick of the whole thing on the other end of having implemented all the plot content I want in the game, as well as the various models and textures I've got in mind for it, then maybe I'll fiddle with terraingen to come up with a better background.

 

At present, though, like take-off and landing videos, it's very much a low priority, I'm afraid. That's not to say it won't happen; but it's not something I feel is essential for me to release the mod. In all honesty, it's probably a lower priority even than adding take-off and landing vids; difficulty is part of the reason (partly because I won't simply double up/mirror the current skybox textures), but it's also not something I think is particularly important.

 

I'd hope to keep you rather too busy to spend time staring at the sky, anyhow.

 

Point and shoot my man, point and shoot.

Oh, that's just mean.

 

Fire at will.

 

On topic- great work! Can't wait to see the next area!

Thanks! That might be a while, though; the next area in chronological sequence is quite large and involved. I may do a new area reskin sometime soon, though, of a less immediate area that nevertheless will be a fairly key feature on Rhen Var. So stay tuned!

 

The Sword of Gith looks pretty dang awesome, so I'm looking forward to the fully textured version.

Thank you!

 

Glad to see you're making so much progress on Rhen Var. Good reusage of the M4 Landing Pad module.

Thanks, though it's taken a fair while to get this far.

 

A piece of advice for all prospective and current storyline modders out there, by-the-by, which I can't stress enough: plan everything. If you leave it vague, when it comes to time to do it, you won't, or you'll come up with something on the spot which is sub-par. Learn from the mistakes of your predecessors.

 

I agree with Sith Holocron on the background, mostly because it's a reuse of Telos, but for not it works quite well.

Well, to my knowledge almost all the textures in the area reappear elsewhere in the game, even if it's simply on M4; there are one or two which are my own tweaks, but for the most part it's just reuse, really. It'd be nice to scratch-build a skybox, but it's also the most difficult to pull off convincingly. While it'd be nice to have something 2048x2048, I'm not sure it's really necessary, to be honest, or something I feel capable of. You won't be spending huge periods of time on the landing pad, regardless, though you may be back and forth a bit.

 

Now, onto updates: my new computer is proving a little temperamental, so until I get it fixed, these may be less than regular. Nevertheless, a small update on the Sword of Gith. There aren't very many pictures of the thing online, and it seems that not many people have tried to model it, which I think is a bit of a pity; nevertheless, those that there are show little red jewels set into it, which I've been experimenting with.

 

I'm not very happy with how they've turned out, so any advice or feedback is welcome:

 

 

And since I seem to be including a random shot at the moment, here's a slightly random shot from TSL:

 

 

And because it's not Christmas yet and I'm old and prickly about things like that, and unhappy at all these people enjoying themselves...

 

Happy Fourth Week of Advent, dammit!

 

O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum,

lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum:

veni, et salva hominem,

quem de limo formasti.

[jonathan7]

Looking good; as I said earlier, the sword looks great, I'd add some more "grain" to the hilt, and possibly darken the blade. The red jewels, just at the moment look a bit like a random dot in the middle of the blade; the ones on the hilt work a lot better, I think - though you may want to make them bigger; functionally, I'd imagine having jewels in the blade, could cause it to be weaker anyway, so you may just want to remove them.

[Darth InSidious]

Looking good; as I said earlier, the sword looks great,

Thanks!

I'd add some more "grain" to the hilt, and possibly darken the blade.

I've tried adding a bit more grain, but it doesn't seem to have made much difference, to be honest; I'm going to have a go at giving the hilt a more mottled look like the khopesh blade (q.v. post #146), which should make it look a bit less flat if all else fails.

 

The red jewels, just at the moment look a bit like a random dot in the middle of the blade; the ones on the hilt work a lot better, I think - though you may want to make them bigger; functionally, I'd imagine having jewels in the blade, could cause it to be weaker anyway, so you may just want to remove them.

They did look a bit funny, yes. When I finally got a look at the weapon model in NWN2, it turned out there weren't any on the blade in the game, so it was just some rather misleading concept art making things more complicated. There are still more than a few on the hilt, though...

 

Five months later, and a lot later than I had planned, my computer seems to be fixed, and I've had a bit of time to do some work on Rhen Var. Not as much as I'd like, but still.

 

First, the Sword of Gith:

 

As I said above, fiddling with grain levels on the texture hasn't produced much of a discernable difference, but at least the blade looks less ridiculous without red dots all over it. I'm still not happy with the jewels on the hilt, but also not sure on how to move forward with them, so they may remain as they are for now. This weapon is frankly too fantasy-esque to go in Rhen Var, and is more of a side-project, so I'm a bit less concerned over it.

 

Next, I don't think I've posted any images of the jian model with its first-pass skin on it, so here's a brief shot:

 

 

I may need to fiddle with the model a bit more before it looks right, but it looks fairly OK for now, I think.

 

For the moment, the focus is on dialogue-writing and plot implementation, so updates may be fewer and further between for a while, at least. I don't want to give much away on the plot, and it doesn't really lend itself to screenshotting. Nevertheless, when I do have something visual to show, I'll be updating the thread.

 

Finally, another plot "spoiler" for the mod:

This screenshot does not affect your statutory rights.

 

Feedback, suggestions and tips (particularly skinning/texturing advice) are, as always, most appreciated.

 

Share and Enjoy!

[redrob41]

As I said above, fiddling with grain levels on the texture hasn't produced much of a discernable difference, but at least the blade looks less ridiculous without red dots all over it. I'm still not happy with the jewels on the hilt, but also not sure on how to move forward with them, so they may remain as they are for now.

 

Perhaps if the jewels weren't circular? Four point diamond/star shape might work better as jewels. I don't know how large or detailed your texture is, but if the jewels were faceted, and didn't have the white shine right in the middle, it could look less like spots. Are the jewels modelled, or just on the texture? In photoshop, I like to use the pillow emboss, since a little shadow in the right places would make the jewel look set into the gold, rather than glued to the surface.

 

How well does the Jian model work with two hands on one sword? Otherwise, very nice.

[Quanon]

Cool, a update from the greatmaster himself

Hopefully things go smoothly for you know.

 

No doubt its going to be an awesome story you planned out.

So... looking forward to that!

[Gargoyle King]

Great to see your still working on this DI, that's real dedication - i can't wait to try out the finished product.