Urban Improvement Project

[benpark]

I'm going to attempt to add some more urban buildings. I am making them so they can be easily abutted in the MM to create city blocks (to help overcome the limitations of the 2 squads per building issue). The first building done is the screen below (it still needs a little work on the texturing).

I'm going to do Soviet and German versions, maybe 2 each of the same model with differing textures (maybe shot up + fairly "clean"/winter + summer etc).

What are we sorely missing? I'm just getting fairly proficient at MilkShape, so complex shapes are still difficult (cars, etc.). Lamp posts are one thing that I may do, as they are "easy". Any other suggestions?

[RyanCrierie]

Um, how about a Statue of Lenin or Stalin? Doesn't have to be very detailed, just a generic "man in heroic pose" on a pedestal.

[benpark]

Alright, Ryan I gave it a shot. I did say that automobiles were overly complicated, so having me do something with a human form is pushing the envelope for me.

This is what I'm working on for ya (Dzerzhinsky):



He looks somewhat like a small child right now. Once I figure out how to do facial hair, statue style he may improve. Maybe not. It's a challenge.

[Mraah]

Very nice benpark!

If you want, import a soldier X file from the game and resize it if you have trouble with human figures.

[Mraah]

Benpark,

Also, you asked how to add a model to MM ?

Look in the Media\Mods\Benpark\German_Houses folder ... Place your new X and dds in there and add them to the resources.XML file.
Then, take a screenshot of your new X model in MS3D and make it into a 256x256 bmp and drop that into the Mapmaker\structures\German Houses folder.

Rob

[benpark]

I was going to import a soldier (and that would have been the smart way to do it), but I thought I would try it out the ye olde fashioned method.

So the MM doesn't use any additional entries to another .xml. That's good to know-thanks.

[benpark]

Older, wiser and more like Marx:

[Stridor]

Looks good ben!

[benpark]

The stuff I have so far (not yet coded for entry points). I think I will also do a news kiosk and some destroyed stuff to liven up the cityscape. Doing the textures for that car is going to do my head in...

[benpark]

One problem- How do you get textures that need to wrap around a cylinder read the correct way on both sides? Will I need to define the "faces", or is there an option to flip them somewhere else?





Just thought of another question- does an object that isn't a building require a "root bone"? Any other considerations to give things like this in the coding?

[benpark]

The buildings are all working and coded. This is how they can fit together.

The kiosk and the statue won't load. They probably need the frame bone to work, but I'll wait for an expert opinion before doing anything on that front.

I'm still getting my textures flipped. Odd.

[Prince of Eckmühl]

Those are really nice, benpark. [&o]

Good job!

[Erik Rutins]

Looking good Ben!

[Stridor]

Ben,

An object which doesn't have any mount points at all requires no bones. So if it is not working in PCK it will be for another reason.

Oh yeah, good stuff and quick!

Regards

S.

[benpark]

I've made 2 square end buildings to allow modular construction of city blocks.

I'll probably try to do some "government" buildings and maybe a few historical (Stalingrad/Kharkov/Berlin) buildings next. Nothing too large, though due to the 2 squad capacity (though modularity might allow some interesting design choices).

[Biffa]

Great stuff Ben! Actually I tried a statue of Lenin, not sure when most of them went up tho, anyway I completley messed it up and decided it was beyond my abilities, so kudos to you for being so brave and giving it a shot. [&o]

[benpark]

Thanks. It's not the most heroic looking thing, but it's a start.

The latest ones are for Stalingrad. I also made a destroyed house with mount points, but I struggled with it for hours (mostly the textures). Wrecked stuff is harder than the "regular" by far.

If I use an existing PzC model (in this case a soldier), do I need to put the PzC textures into my mod folder, or will the game know where to find them?



The sign is a warning that the area is under enemy observation. I'll do some other types/sizes as well.

[Stridor]

ORIGINAL: benpark

If I use an existing PzC model (in this case a soldier), do I need to put the PzC textures into my mod folder, or will the game know where to find them?

The game will know where to find them.

[benpark]

More.

[benpark]

I made this for a map that I a working on. It's the castle in Simontornya, Hungary (furthest advance point of "Operation Spring Awakening/Frühlingserwachen"). The wall (in the back) will be made up from modular pieces that can be used with the rest of the urban models I'm trying to finish up. I've left off all the fiddly stuff in the back, as no one will be climbing the stairs etc.

It is really pretty amazing that we can actually make structures that were present in specific areas. Does it matter? No. Combat Mission did a great job of making do with very few structures. But did I did miss sometimes being able to see, ferexample the grain elevator in Stalingrad rather than a bunch of factory buildings representing it.

Most of the stuff I've done is in the CM style- buildings that can be used modularly to create bigger structures or city streets. Once that's done (and if I have any time once my busy season starts up again), Stalingrad or Berlin is next up for specific treatment. It's also good to get more practice at this 3d modeling thing.