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Leveler redesign

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I'm trying to get into 3d modeling, but before starting of I thought that it would b smart to check if the thoughts I have got on existing models make any sense (obviously a 3d model thats considered "badder" by the majority is a waste of time and effort).
Here are my thoughts on the leveler which does not fit in with the light v. fac IMO:

1. There are 2 types of light vehicles: those with wheels (Dart, Scorcher, Leveler, Ravager and Crasher) and those without (Mason, Dominatrix, Wolverine and Impaler).
1.1 - Look
1.1.1 Wheeled vehicles have wheels that stick out either by just being visible or by defining the vehicles silhouette. [Leveler is exceptional.]
1.1.2 Wheeled Vehicles are darker, e.g. have more dark green parts than the mostly silverish non-wheeled ones. [Leveler is exceptional.]
1.2 - Mechanics
1.2.1 Wheeled vehicles are for general, face-to-to face battle, whereas non-wheeled are more specialized. [Leveler fits in]
1.2.2 Wheeled vehicles are faster [Except for the leveler.]
1.3 The Levelers gun is almost ridiculously huge.

As I said I basically ask for feedback - I am not implying that any work should be put into this, but I would like to know if ppl agree with me.
Also I would like to know if its small footprint and its "concentrated" appearance are important or if they're interchangeable.
Furthermore, I highly aplologize for not searching for the matter, I forgot before starting the post and now I want to get it out. If there's any bad language I apologize for that, too and highly recommend anyone getting upset about it to go away and read some other stuff.
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11 years ago
Look closer. All vehicles have wheels, except the Impaler, because it was added to the factory after I did my wheelification campaign.

The leveler gun is ridiculously huge because it has an insane DPS and AoE. It's a moving gun, that's what it's about, DPS. It's role is reflected by the model.

You want to help with this, add wheels to the Impaler.

You want something more robust than that, it depends on your skillset. If you are proficient with textures, clean up some of our textures: The thug is particularly drab. If you are not proficient with textures, there are a lot of units which do not have good wreck models, take the current models, warp them up a bit, put the wreck texture on them and presto, new wreck.

If you are highly skilled in all these areas, and want a serious challenge, I would suggest redoing the Juggernaut, nuke sub or carrier.
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I did not sort them by "they have wheels" only but by several things (as mentioned: texture, purpose, speed, "wheelness") and I still believe that its coming down to these two groups.
The point i wanted to make was that the gun is comic-style big; the other vehicles look more "realistic".
Read about the other to-do stuff a bit already; that unit just... stuck out a bit in my eyes, but if its not obvious to "the world" I'll probably start of with a smaller Project.

PS: Is this the right place? http://planet-wars.eu/ModelBase/Units.aspx
At this point, I cant really figure out how to get the existing models... (Probably googling with bad keywords)
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R3, you want to have a look there:
http://code.google.com/p/zero-k/wiki/Developing#What_is_in
http://code.google.com/p/zero-k/wiki/Development_Artwork
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11 years ago
I know that this is about modeling but why is the leveler so slow? I think it would be better if it were possible to use ravagers and levelers at the same time without the ravagers having to wait for the levelers to catch up.
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11 years ago
Because riots are supposed to be slow. Otherwise raiding would be impossible. Leveler might be slow compared to a Ravager, but it's fast as heck compared to a Warrior or an Outlaw.
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Skasi
11 years ago
All riots are slow. If they were any faster they would need a nerf in dps, range or hp, etc. which would make them weaker against raiders head on.


@ OP's 1.3: Huge weapons are the best thing about ZK! They make units easier to distinguish.

If you want to do some changes, I'd LOVE YOU if you gave the current Kodachi model wheels and the Scorcher model tracks so they can be swapped. The idea is to make the model represent hp and "tanks" have armor (like Scorcher does), while "vehicles" don't.
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Is the Artwork folder downloadable in one piece?
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11 years ago
You can download the whole repository (or just the folders you want) using SVN.
https://code.google.com/p/zero-k/wiki/Developing#Using_subversion

Once you have something finished, having SVN allows you to commit them to the source directly.
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11 years ago
As the developing page says, you can also get them directly from the repo website:
https://code.google.com/p/zero-k/source/browse/trunk#trunk%2Fmods%2Fzk%2FObjects3d
https://code.google.com/p/zero-k/source/browse/trunk#trunk%2Fmods%2Fzk%2Funittextures

It's a lot of esoteric file jumble, read this to talk you through it a little:
https://code.google.com/p/zero-k/wiki/Development_Artwork

You need upspring or objs3o to read the s3o format, and you will need a plugin to read the .dds texture files, which is available for gimp and photoshop.
https://code.google.com/p/gimp-dds/
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11 years ago
Wouldn't redoing Leveler break a lot of visual consistency? I think it is fine as is.
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11 years ago
quote:
You need upspring

It was not substituted by ASSIMP?
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FIrankFFC
11 years ago
hmm i just started thinking dosent zk leveler look like TA leveler or is somethink diffence whit them?
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11 years ago
I agree that raiding could easily become impossible if they were made faster, but currently there seems to be little variation in the purpose of different units in the same category (raider, riot, assault etc). I think that it would be good if for example the leveler was a fast riot but had less damage, meaning it could react quicker but it would be vulnerable to lots of raiders.

That may be a bad idea but I think it would be good if there were more variation between units in the same category.
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11 years ago
I think we should make leveler more special by making its levelling ability more handy to use. Tanks have one good counter to terraforming spam (tremor), so I think vehs need one too.
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11 years ago
Sponge, the unit you describe is the Mace. It sacrifices AoE for being the fastest riot in the game. The Leveler is fine, it's subtle (Vehicles are usually very subtle, unlike the 'whacky' bot facs), but it's high burst AoE is actually like no other riot unit in the game (Closest to Banisher, which tracks, can skirm and has way higher alpha).

The Vehicle are indeed based on the OTA ones, but most are only close enough to be called 'homage' (*cough Zerg Tyranids/Xenomorphs*) rather than derivative or infringing. The most infringey was the Weasel, which was why I turned it into a bike. The vehicles and tanks are a highly consistent unit set made by the same artist to a high quality standard.

They only need minor work if any (Wheelifying, maybe more work on the Dart since thats my hack job, etc).
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11 years ago
quote:
if it were possible to use ravagers and levelers at the same time without the ravagers having to wait for the levelers to catch up.


There a command that make all units move at same speed (leveler speed in this case). but i do not remember it...
Anyway if you have a big ravager army even if just by "random" shot them still kill most raiders atking it.
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11 years ago
I suppose the mace fits the description perfectly. What I don't understand is why hovers have such a problem with hills, since they hover surely slopes wouldn't affect them as much as other units? A button or a widget for a group moving at the speed of the slowest unit would be useful. Apparently the key is ctrl but others say its not.
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11 years ago
quote:
What I don't understand is why hovers have such a problem with hills

Because real life hovercraft have real bad issues with steepness. See, they have no brakes and very low friction on land, so they tend to. You know. Slide.
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