UGLY's Steamroller

[Rexy]

got it!

Hawk's tutorial linked to that app you were stumped on acumen - Source MDL Texture info.

It saved the day!

For some reason, VTFEdit preserves the original name of the imagefile that it's translating. Since the VTF photoshop plugin doesn't work on the 64-bit version i run, i'm left with having to use VTFEdit.

I imported a an image into VTFEdit called "SR_Quickout" and exported it as "steamroller.vtf" After the compile it was looking for "SR_Quickout.vmt" which threw off the whole texture seeking process. ugh.

If you ever have a problem with textures, you can always open your .smd with a text editor and discover what texture name is being used by the smd. Your vtfs and vmts need to use this texture name, minus the suffix, the .jpg or .psd or .png .tga or whatever you're using. The 2nd thing you want to do is make sure your qc's material line points to the right place.

You also don't even need the sdk running to compile as far as I know. I believe most of my compiling is done that way. I think the only requirements are that you set the game and engine version and have steam running. Correct me on that if it's wrong.

 

[UGLYdumpling]

ok, an update ... nothing final - no commitment to much of anything atm so fire back your first impressions and I'll take a stab at a revision.

some areas I've got on the brain ... the exhaust pipe and the driver's control area are unfinished/untextured. I'm trying some seam lines - are they too much? getting the glass right has been quite a challenge - still not happy with it.

On the rear wheel there's some sort of specular issue - ignore that plz. Should I put darker uhm, tar stains on the rollers? How shiney and chrome-y should that front grill be? Or do you think I should paint it red to match the body color instead?
And the side vents? too dark/dull?

thanks for your thoughts!

 

[Tekku]

Looks awesome like it should. I didn't read all pages, but will there be a blu version :?

 

[Acumen]

ah, that is shaping up really nicely !
are the "seam lines" these dark lines indicating some insets ?
i think i wouldn't use them to that extent. if any you could have modeled many of these insets right away. just painted they are too much imo. some here and there can really work well, but not all over the place on the red spaces.
also they really demonstrate the blurriness of the texture. with the huge tf2 paintstrokes one doesn't notice that, but such fine detail tends to make it really visible.

i absolutely would go for the tar stains you mentioned. i bet that looks rad
i wouldn't paint the grill red. in general i think you might run over your different parts again. you only have 2 base colors right now. and even if it looks like valve is very limiting to their palettes. they use many shades of colors and greys. it's pretty delicate but makes a huge difference in the end
in general you could darken the grey parts. it's very high in contrast overall and not too harmonic, imo. see how that bomb cart you took in has a kinda desaturated red tone and more beige-ish grey than actual grey ?
but it's just switching color bases around until you found the right mix. your progress is great so far !

 

[UGLYdumpling]

@Tech : yeah man. Blue, yellow and grey as well as this red version. The red one is my template and I'll pump out the rainbow once it's finished.

@Acumen : yeah, i know what you mean about the seamlines highlighting the texture resolution. The 1024 is pretty unforgiving in this way, but I'm gonna stick with forcing myself to output at this resolution to make it community-friendly. I'll drop the seamlines in the next revision (for my image update you'll have to forgive me cuz they're included in my screenshots)

I had a little back and forth with DaBeatzProject on Steamchat and he pointed out the wheels needing to be MUCH darker. So find attached my progress image. I think they're better now, yeah?

Once I get all the values of the different parts in harmony I think i'll feel better.
I know what you mean about the beige-e-ness and greyness that valve have put into their color palette. Deceptively complex textures in this regard. I constantly have to keep an eye on my saturation levels.

k, back to painting.

edit: wheels even darker than last revision.

 

[UGLYdumpling]

Figured I'd test out my color template theory. I work using Mudbox and it's got a wonderful layering system. Two toggles and I can swap out RED for BLU or YEL ... gonna put some time into the cab area (steering wheel, dials and levers) then post another update later on.

Hopefully I'm not boring folks with these micro updates ... figure it might interest someone.

edit: posted this in TF2MAPS.NET steamchat and a few folks suggested :

- I add some transparency to the windshield.

- More 'brushstroke' textures

- ...and a 'needs to be wider' suggestion (a little late to consider a radical change like that to my geometry...) hmm.

edit2: added a quick turntable, although semi-pointless since the reverse side (cab) is unfinished. meh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBJP5cVEcFc

 

[Mr.Late]

Looking very good indeed! I definitely use these!

 

[Acumen]

i think you need to get rid of the clouds look of your colored metal parts. the roller looks awesome, but the colored metal is too busy. it's really all about a paint stroke here and there. really basic color and some darker and lighter strokes varying in scale should do the trick. again, some tf2 reference material hunting via Crafty is such an enormous help. you get inspired enormously with just looking at how valve does their paint job on the dumptruck for example.

 

[Rexy]

I agree with Acumen here, the base look of the painted 'cloudy' areas you've made are a teensy bit distracting. The colors are not bad--but that could change upon how they look in the engine.

If you're using say cs5 you can paint directly onto the model so you can get brush strokes where you want them without the difficulty of trying to match up seams and paint strokes. But like Acumen said, try finding examples, the tf2 style is not completely easy style to replicate without first seeing and mimicking.

 

[Pocket]

Another piece of advice while this is still in progress. I noticed that the official vehicles have baked-in lighting that makes the whole thing look 3D even in a fullbright environment (such as Hammer itself). As in, the whole sides are darker than the tops and such. I'm not one to make a call on whether that's actually a good idea or not, but it might help this blend in with those props.

 

[UGLYdumpling]

Thanks for all the encouragement and advice fellas!
I've got a new version in the works. Nothing i wanna show off just yet tho.

I wiped off the 'cloudy' noise i was sketching in and have started anew.
Will likely take me a few tries to get this to look ok - i'm learning as I go as I've been away from this for a number of years. There the color theory aspect, the hand eye coordination - new toolset (mudbox) to name a few challenges I've got going on in the background.

@stevethepocket : yeah man, I've got an ambient occlusion pass baked in. Not too sure whether I want to bake in a directional light source tho - might make it harder for folks to integrate the prop into their levels if i do.

 

[UGLYdumpling]

small update: went on vacation with family. I'm back, but I'm kinda demotivated as I took on quite a bit with such a large model. I've started this texture over many many times now and I still can't seem to get the texture to feel right. ugh.

 

[Mr.Late]

You will make it eventually . Just put some rust around some areas and it will be okay.

 

[Boylee]

Can lend a hand with texturing if you want.

 

[Boylee]

Progress report:

I've been working with UGLYdumpling over the last couple of days to get some nice textures done, lawd knows this model deserves them. Anyway I'm proud to finally have something to show you lovely people. This isn't quite finished, there's still a little bit of tweaking to be done so shout out if there's anything you see that needs changing.

Without further ado, PICTURES!

 

[Godslayer57]

I think you have broken my Jaw and my Heart, I want to take them now . They are looking really good and polished , so what have you got to finish?

 

[Boylee]

Don't quote me but as far as I know dumpling only needs to do the LOD's and the collision mesh.

 

[A Boojum Snark]

The yellow wheels on the red one need to go. :/ Perhaps a shade of brown?

 

[SPHinx]

Those textures look great, Boylee!

 

[Loc_n_lol]

The yellow wheels on the red one need to go. :/ Perhaps a shade of brown?

I second that, it's the one thing that really puts me off in this picture. Good job otherwise.