863 replies to this topic

[Nazgûl]

Wow, finally I've got a model for Kataphrakts in SEE. I never could find FeudalKnight and his model he made for Expansions, but Freelancer Lauri stepped in and made this nice model for us. With a few hours of rather boring skinng of adding those armor scales I have this:



Imagine loads of these heavily armored horses and riders coming rushing towards your poor foot soldiers, hehe...

The skinning took so long though, that I'll have to wait and code them into game... hehe. Need some shut eye
Hopefully Lauri will add some minor details for a final version. Some anims are not functional atm either (rigging/bone problems), but I'm sure he'll fix that soon

[SovietSoldier]

good job Nazgul!

[Aragorn King Elessar]

Deadly I cant wait till the update, keep up the good work.

Thanks Lauri

[Arthadan]

Looks cool.

However, spears are far more useful for horse riders...

[Nazgûl]

Yeah, but all concept shots of Kataphraks show them with swords, so swords it is =)

[*Ranger*]

WOW great work, looks great, i dont think i have any critisism of it.

[Mordor Slayer]

Yeah, but all concept shots of Kataphraks show them with swords, so swords it is =)

But that kinda defeats the whole purpose of a heavily armoured cavalry unit... If you've got no spears, then the impact when charging is much less devastating. I vote for at least a toggle .

I suppose you refer to GamesWorkshop when talking about those 'concept shots'. Although I like some of their work, I wouldn't base everything on their designs.

[Lauri]

Quote

This is NOT to be read like Lauri's nice Easterling Cavalry is no good. This only means that they happen to not be exactly what I invision them to look like For SEE I need cavalry (Kataphrakts) that use swords and have a lot more horse armor.

I was just doing my job, and the one I have to Naz to start with, had a spear

[Nazgûl]

You forget the Gondor Knights ppl They are by most considered as the "heaviest" cavarly in Middle Earth, and they use swords. Besides, realistically... a spear is just one single spear, and I would assume that it would be quite easy to lose it in battle as it impales the enemy. Then you'd be without a weapon. Thus the medieval knights also fought with swords. The spear is only good for the initial attack, or until you lose it. The actual crushing is done by the horses and not the weapon.

[Mordor Slayer]

Of course knights used swords as second-hand weapons, but the spear was still very important . But to end this discussion, I just found this in an article on Wikipedia:

Kataphracts

The Easterlings were known for their unique type of cavalry known as kataphracts. These were Easterlings that mounted upon heavily armoured horses and wielded a scimitar and broad shield. They were notorious for their ferocity of their attacks and the sheer amount of defensive power that these troops could summon when they were deployed side-by-side. Some of them carried bows and arrows instead of a shield. Therefore, there were two types of kataphracts: cavalry shieldmen and cavalry bowmen, both also armed with scimitars.

Wainriders

The Wainriders were a confederation of Easterling tribes who were united by their hate of Gondor, fuelled by Sauron. Following the Great Plague which weakened Gondor, they started their raids in 1851 of the Third Age and attacked in full force five years later, defeating the Gondorian army and killing King Narmacil II. They rode in great wagons and chariots (which gave them their name), and raided the lands of Rhovanion, destroying or enslaving its people. Gondor gradually lost all of its possessions east of Anduin, save Ithilien, to them. The thirtieth king of Gondor, Calimehtar son of Narmacil, defeated the Wainriders in battle on the Dagorlad, buying some rest for his land.

However the Wainriders struck back in 1944, allying themselves with the Haradrim of Near Harad and the Variags of Khand. They managed to kill King Ondoher and both his sons, but instead of riding on to Minas Anor and taking the city, they paused to celebrate. Meanwhile, general Eärnil of Gondor's southern army had defeated the Haradrim and rode north to defend his king. He came too late to rescue Ondoher, but managed to surprise and totally defeat the Wainriders in the Battle of the Camp. Eärnil was crowned king a year later. After this defeat the might of the Wainriders was broken, and their confederation collapsed. It later turned out that their attacks were staged by Sauron to allow him to reclaim Mordor while Gondor's watch was diverted.

http://en.wikipedia....iki/Easterlings

So it's correct to give them only swords, and true to the lore (if Wikipedia is correct of course). Not that I don't trust your opinion, I just don't really like Games Workshop that much =).

[DIGI_Byte]

i though that was some thing lauri had lying around on his pc. i though i was modeling the new one, im lost now.

[Nazgûl]

Hehe, well we decided that you could give the Wainriders a shot These are the Kataphrakts. However, these babies still have some details missing though, so feel free to edit them if you want, unless Lauri wants to fiddle more with them =)

I'll send the models to you, if that ^ is the case. But please do start with teh Wainriders (the ones in chariots) if you like. There's only one model of them out there. It's in RJ, and can't use that one since someone that I don't know donated it to RJ. And secondly, that model is not really what I'm looking for =) Just check the Staff forums again, and you have the concept there: a toy and a MIA (missing in action) model from Expansions... Create something like that, and it will be perfect for SEE

[DIGI_Byte]

by the sounds of it luari isnt interested in modeling it anymore, and never was. well, that the impression i got in the model mission.

[Nazgûl]

Don't think that is the case, but rather too many projects at once...
I'll send you a PM about what I'd like you to do, if you should accept it =)

[DIGI_Byte]

i do and i'll do a way better job than that.... ugh thing with horse.

[Nazgûl]

Uhm, just don't compete with eachother please... Your both skilled, in your own ways

Anyway, here's the first version in game, meaning the codes are all working, in contrast to the FUGGIN Miners *outburst*. Once again, I did what I always do, use the Unit and Horde INI codes of the unit that the model is related to by bones. For Kataphrakts, it is Gondor Cavalry, and once again, it worked. So I reeeeally don't get why the Miners wont work. But that is for another topic though... lol. This means that any further polishing of the model will go directly in game without any hassle I even managed to figure out how to code the Kataphrakts to spawn without shield, and upgrade to it when upgrading to Heavy Armor, wohoo For some reason the Gondor Knights use another method for that (I guess the raw model has no shield), but whatever - at least I got it to work =)

Low armor to the left and Heavy armor to the right. And yes, the rider upgrades too...


Closeup of my skins...


Final version coming up later...

Edited by Nazgûl, 13 September 2008 - 04:12 AM.

[DIGI_Byte]

Well most 3D modelers naturally competitive against each other but also help each other, it sounds kinda funny but where like that.

[Grig]

A lot of modelers kinda like to sneak up on other modelers and drink their blood... no kidding... I've seen it happen

Rocking stuff in game, the new beta's are gonna rock

[DIGI_Byte]

A lot of modelers kinda like to sneak up on other modelers and drink their blood... no kidding... I've seen it happen

Rocking stuff in game, the new beta's are gonna rock

I can confirm that, i hunt down for new techniques to model better and faster right now im box modeling with some mesh slicing, it does its job but i feel its rather limited.

[Lauri]

by the sounds of it luari isnt interested in modeling it anymore, and never was. well, that the impression i got in the model mission.

Well hotshot... If I was never interested in modeling it, I wouldn't have ever done it, would I now?
And what I don't get, is the "ugh thing with horse"...?

And by the sounds of things, meaning your cockiness, it seems I aren't needed on the SEE team no more, so why don't I just quit?
I mean, if your going to just trash my work to please your image or whatever, I'm not going to bother working along with you
'Cause this is a mod, and we're on the same team... And teams usually don't compete to win it's stuff in-game...

Well most 3D modelers naturally competitive against each other but also help each other, it sounds kinda funny but where like that.

And I'm not like that.. I want something usable, and put my real effort in the skin I want it to look nice, and often I try to overdo myself.. Never others..

No Naz, don't take this as a resignation... Of course it isn't