Game Art Mini Challenge #2 - Gate to a Tomb

[blankslatejoe]

Ok, so don’t post the finals here, wait for the final thread, correct? Alright then…

[glynnsmith]

Hey Dargon…i have a question about the beauty render…

i know we’re allowed to photoshop it, but are we able to add simple geometry that won’t affect or change out model, like a floor plane ?

or if the tomb gate / door is going to be embedded into a wall of rock, are we allowed to make the wall and comp it all together ?

bearing in mind this is ONLY for the beauty render…

cheers dude

G…

[alexyork]

Any news on ye olde Finals Thread?

[Dargon]

Hey Dargon…i have a question about the beauty render…

i know we’re allowed to photoshop it, but are we able to add simple geometry that won’t affect or change out model, like a floor plane ?

or if the tomb gate / door is going to be embedded into a wall of rock, are we allowed to make the wall and comp it all together ?

bearing in mind this is ONLY for the beauty render…

cheers dude

G…

I was going to say yes, but then I realised that a few of the challengers have incorporated the walls into the polycount and texture size. While this was at their own risk, and not nessessary, I think it would only be fair if you didn’t include versions with stuff that isn’t part of your count.

If you need the extra geometry to cover up your entrance, and have it show how you intended, then I suggest rendering any extra geometry grey with a wireframe showing, so it’s obvious it’s not part of the design, but helps ground the piece.

Any news on ye olde Finals Thread?

Sorry, I’ve been uber busy, what with writing tutorials, and packing house. It’ll be up soon.

[Hexodam]

To Hexodam:
If you want to export your model with vertex paint - YES.
And if you wana just render it in 3dsmax than - NO, you don’t have to.

thanks, clears up everything:thumbsup:

[rob-beddall]

hey!!

just to say that i’m in, but also…shouldn’t this be a sticky?
i was stressing just coz i couldn’t find it. never occured to me that it might NOT be a sticky hehe

cheers!!

[glynnsmith]

yeah…i was going to say the same thing…i thought it WAS sticky at some point…

it took me 5 minutes to find the damn thing and that’s only because i searched for it

STICKY !!!

G…

[Dargon]

Actually, has anybody else noticed that this forum is listed as topic title by default, instead of how it used to be, last post date? Really annoying, as this thing has slipped to the 2nd page, and posting doesn’t bring it forward. It’s going to be even more annoying in the next challenge, when it goes alphabetically after this one…

[alexyork]

Dargon I thought that was you that did that because my thread had like 20 posts and was dominating the rest lol. I thought fair enuff

I don’t mind this new system, but I do think the main topics should be post-based not time-based at least. Temp sticky maybe, so they are un-stuck when the challenge is over?

[glynnsmith]

i actually sent a query to the CGTalk Support Forum because i thought it had broke somewhere along the lines…i’ve heard nothng about it yet though…

i’m getting a little frustrated because i’ve had hardly any crits, apart from Alex and Lee3dee…it might have something to do with my thread being on the second page (EDIT: or at least it was), because my model is definately not perfect, and in need of some serious critage… :hmm:

anyways…i better stop grumbling and get back to work…

G…

[rob-beddall]

hey!!

can’t you just click on the last post header? doesn’t that put them in last post order?

or does it go back to normal afterwards?

cheers!!

hmmm, it seems to revert back to title listings. strange that. is there anyway to fix it or do we just have to wait for a moderator or someone to fix it?

cheers!!

[rob-beddall]

hey!!

having a few probs with this competition.
how about a mini step by step tut on how to get opacity maps to work in the viewport? (max6)
i can’t get the alpha from the targa to work at all. not even in renders or anything.

and is it possible to put a filter on the textures ingame (max) so that they don’t look so pixellated?

cheers!!

[glynnsmith]

The default view for that forum is to show the threads starting from the first one that was posted, as opposed to the most recent post. Most of the other forums display from the latest post, but some of the forums, such as this one and the gallery ones, display from first thread onwards.

i thought the latest posts always sorted first…

maybe not

G…

[blankslatejoe]

hey!!
having a few probs with this competition.
how about a mini step by step tut on how to get opacity maps to work in the viewport? (max6)
i can’t get the alpha from the targa to work at all. not even in renders or anything.

and is it possible to put a filter on the textures ingame (max) so that they don’t look so pixellated?
cheers!!

Yeah, I’m having trouble with that tga+alpha, I just created a mock version of the alpha as it’s own file, to work in the opac. slot like normal, with until I figured this out.

AS for filtering, I don’t think you can do it in the viewport, but if you open the render options (f10) you can toggle some antialiasing or texture filtering on or off for the rendering.

If the RESOLUTION of the texture is low in the viewports, you CAN change that…
Go to Customize>preferences>viewports>
In the Display driver box, choose your videocard to bring up it’s options. HEre’s were you should be able to set the size of the downloaded bitmaps. I set it on the highest I can and choose “match bitmap as closely as possible”.
Note: I’m using an Nvidia card, your options in that box might be a little different, but I think it’ll still be in there somewhere if you thumb around.

Goodluck!
-Joe

[blankslatejoe]

oooh… alpha transparency… loookeee what I just found fellas:

Dark horizon’s got a tut on it!
http://www.planetquake.com/polycount/cottages/horribledeath/tut-alpha.htm

-joe

[rob-beddall]

hey!!

woohoo thatnks for that link. i think i was going wrong by making the alpha visible in the viewport.
it all seems to make sense once you know how lol

and thanks for the other tip too. got me some smooth looking textures now.

cheers!!

[blankslatejoe]

no problem, glad I could help!

[rob-beddall]

hey!!

anyone know how to get vertex alphas to work? (max6)
i wanted to do some streaming light thingy and if i could get this to work thn it would save on texture space.

cheers!!

[ManiaX]

hi, i have a question:
rob_beddal suggested to use particles for the flames. i think this would be cool,
but is it allowed? because when i use particle instead of my planes, i had 8 tris left…
btw my thread is located at:
http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=170126

[Dargon]

hi, i have a question:
rob_beddal suggested to use particles for the flames. i think this would be cool,
but is it allowed? because when i use particle instead of my planes, i had 8 tris left…
btw my thread is located at:

I’ll have to say no, for the sake of the cometition, as it’s a bit unfair to the other competitors if I allow it over top of the restrictions, and nearly impossible to achieve if you do it within the restrictions. You can of course feel free to update this project after the competition with particles if you want.

My suggestion for the flames is to create a tilable flame texture with alpha, that’s fairly thin as far as how much flames are there. Then with the buildup of about 3 planes, each subdivided to have 4 quads, you can then use vertex alpha to blend out at the edges, so it fades out to nothing. Then you would animate the UVs to scroll upwards, completing the effect.