SS2 list of broken and lowpoly objects that need fixing

[673faefd31c87voodoo47]

you have the same problem I had when I was stitching together the placeholder texture - the steel parts end up looking dull (but spoon looks ok). not sure what could be done. I like the "true to the orig" handles though.

worms don't look too wormy, need more worminess (assuming it's just a demonstration of the movement).


//the knife sharpener texture (the long gray one next to the blue handle textures) is completely wrong though, needs to be vertical metallic stripes, google images of a knife sharpener). it's one of few things I got right (and maybe the teflon coated spatula) - actually, let me attach my texturing attempt to this post, maybe you could draw some inspiration from the good parts.

[673faefd32027Marvin]

The worm animation is terrific in that it already looks disgusting, but the texture is off. Reminds me of a shower hose, not an organic being.
I'd make the smaller rings longer but also have that length be much more irregular. If possible, add a pulsating movement so that they grow and shrink in diameter. Needless to say, the texture should be closer to the original, orange and skin-like.

[673faefd32141Kaucukovnik]

So you call those textures placeholder ones and consider them in dire need of replacement, so bad you don't even show them, just because they still feel a bit dull?
Now I've wasted the time AND made a fool of myself. "Already got a better one and it still sucks!"

[673faefd32238voodoo47]

it's just something I've put together so we could include the new model in the first SCP release. it's sort of ok, but still far from what I would call proper - I'm by no means a texture artist.

[673faefd3239fKaucukovnik]

Oh well, here are the worms. Feel free to do anything with them if you find them good enough.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/denxwm5tnen2zaz/wormframes.7z

Good luck looking for proper assets.

[673faefd326ceRocketMan]

The color is much closer now.  Great work!  I think this is real progress and if you hang with it for 1 more iteration it'll be near bang-on.  Any way the number of frames could be increased (perhaps at the expense of smoothness) to draw attention away from the cyclic nature of the animation?  Otherwise, I think it's great.

[673faefd3286cZylonBane]

It looks like a Xenomorph orgy.

[673faefd32a80voodoo47]

unfortunately, I don't think the current design will do - if I may speak my mind*, they kind of look like someone's bathroom accident that went alive (and very flat). also, unless I've screwed something up when renaming, the frames in the download aren't looped. 50 frames might be an overkill as well (would become 100 if I were to loop them manually. I'm thinking ZB will get a heart attack if he sees someone pumping 20+ MB of textures into one animated object). attaching the textures in standard mod format in case someone wants to try (mtl'd to loop and animate smoothly).

I'm thinking for this to look better, it either needs less resolution to mask the flatness, or a model with at least some depth. and the worms need to visually resemble the originals more (more sleek, earthworm like appearance. and less brown).


*most people will say whatever is on their mind around here, so be prepared for criticism if something does not meet the expected quality level. it's not ungratefulness, it's perfectionism.

[673faefd32bfdRocketMan]

A model probably wouldn't work because it needs to move.  An animated texture wouldn't be convincing enough.  At least a textured worm piles gives you some freedom to make the worms move around.  This prototype worm design may be off here or there but it's a great initial attempt and I think it shows a lot of promise.  It could evolve into what's needed as long as we can properly identify which aspects need revision.

[673faefd32d2dvoodoo47]

agreed, but it will need more work. for example, the orig is literally a pile of thin worms in their own slime. the pile looks quite dense, and I think it would look ok if the model had a small bump in the middle. the new ones don't look like a pile - it's just a few worms on the floor.

[673faefd330bcZylonBane]

A generic "hump" model would be fine. It would require a texture without any transparency near the middle though.

50 frames might be an overkill as well (would become 100 if I were to loop them manually.

The MTL format natively supports ping-pong texture animation.

[673faefd331b1voodoo47]

right - updated the mtl, so now the package qualifies as a fully working mod.

[673faefd332f4Yankee Clipper]

I like the potential of this mod. Some criticisms (constructive, I hope):
- The full beaker in inventory has the old color.
- The world view of a beaker full of worms looks too empty, like there are maybe 2 or 3 worms in there if you are looking down at it.
- The worms no longer stand out so well against some surfaces. The worm pile in the room with the turrets and eggs at the start of Hydroponics is the one I looked at. I would have missed them if I didn't know to look for them.

[673faefd33556Djant]

right - updated the mtl, so now the package qualifies as a fully working mod.

So could you post it in the Mods subforum as a mod of its own? There are several small mods like this there, and this should give it more visibility and maybe allow some people to improve on it.

[673faefd338a0voodoo47]

Kaucukovnik needs to tell us whether he's planning to work on it some more. if not, I'll probably transfer it to mod subforum soon (while it could use improvement on the visual side, technically, it is a fully working mod, so there is no reason not to).

- The world view of a beaker full of worms looks too empty, like there are maybe 2 or 3 worms in there if you are looking down at it.

ah, that probably means the beaker is using the wormy texture as well. this will have to be resolved before this mod gets greenlit - either by making the texture closer to the orig so it would work for the beaker as well (preferable, but will require more work on the mod), or by renaming the new textures and changing the reference in the wormy pile model, so the new texture will not be used for anything else (I can do this). we'll see.

[673faefd33a57voodoo47]

ok, I've used a bumpy model (repurposed arachnid organ), and it's a vast improvement - I believe that with a properly shaped custom model (see A1), the texture made denser (meaning no ground visible through the worms, just like the orig texture), and the worms made thinner, this would look really nice.

Olfred, can you have a shot at the model? attaching the orig set. the trick is to make it so that only the part of the model that is always covered with worms would bulge out.

[673faefd33da0Olfred]

Oh, I already had something nice up my mind about the worms but never bothered to do it since we didn't have any texture artist.
I'll report back when I have something.

[673faefd33f1cvoodoo47]

the model actually improves even the orig texture, so there is really no reason to not make it.

also, a quick note: as you will be adding Z size/depth to the model, you will need to offset it to be a direct replacement for the orig - as the orig has Z=0, if the new model ends up 0.20 editor units (20 pixels) high, it will have to be +Z offset by half that size to accomplish that.

basically, the old model is 2.5x2.5x0, so if the new Z will end up 0.20, the new model should be 2.5x2.5x0.2 Z offset +0.1 (hope I'm getting this right).

[673faefd34067Djant]

The new worm textures have to be carefully changed to look good in beakers too. In beakers, the worms seem to go right out of the beaker while moving, and it looks really odd.

Oh, and here's a problem I spotted with the original texture worms in beakers. When the beaker gets overturned, there is a lot of z fighting between the worm textures and the bottom of the beaker. Can this be fixed? Is it a priority?

[673faefd34174voodoo47]

yes, as mentioned, the new textures need to be tweaked to work more like the orig to fix those issues.

also, it shouldn't be possible to overturn the beakers (not in SCP, anyway), so yeah, low prio.

[673faefd342dcSystem Shocked]

Decals float off of this 'Transmitter Tower' found in the Recreation Deck's athletics area, above the gymnasium http://i.imgur.com/aTA1Ykx.jpg   and   http://i.imgur.com/n3Jm0qM.jpg   and   http://i.imgur.com/GbWsFN1.jpg

Thanks.

[673faefd35a04Olfred]

@ System Shocked
Basically all the models have floating decals and looking them all up just consumes an immense lot of time for a way too small return of investment.
But if you go on and present me the model name including the archetype number for every model where it should be fixed, I would go on and fix them all.

As I'm not that heartless, here is a good start for getting to it.
And don't come up with any excuses or whining. I had to learn it as well.

Thanks.

[673faefd35c1aKaucukovnik]

My poor bruised ego is feeling all right again*, let's try a new worm pile.

Three domes, gradually shrinked and rotated. 120 triangles may be too much for this.
I have no idea how this is going to look in motion, and I wasn't sure at all how to set up the animated texture, so I did what the importer gave me - the filename without number. I'm pretty sure that's not enough.

I'm including commented blender file for the texture if anyone wants to edit and/or re-render it.

Next on schedule: beakers.


*I'm very well aware of your good intentions. I'm very much into consistency and against overly "wild" mods myself.

[673faefd35d96ZylonBane]

These are my concerns with this--

At 50 frames of animation for a 128x128 32-bit texture, we're looking at this tiny object consuming all on its own THREE MEGABYTES of video card RAM. That's, like, a lot.

The look of it doesn't match SS2's visual aesthetic. It's too shiny and high-contrast and biomechanoid'y.