Deecon

Hey Crusader I have Gundam Senki and would be interested in playing online sometime. Shoot me a pm if your interested and we can exchange info.

If you look at a gunpla model you can see that the thighs are not connected to the waist. If you don't have a gunpla model I would definitely recommend getting one because they are great for reference.

Also I wasn't implying that your models detail was through the texture. I was saying that a low poly models detail should be from the texture otherwise its not going to be low poly.

As for the texture map. My point was not that you would have overlap. That is something that you can easily fix when mapping the texture. The problem is that you would not have enough space. What you posted is one shoulder unwrapped on a 1024x1024. Now cut that picture in half to a 512x512, which is the typical size of a low poly map, and try and fit the entire model unwrapped. You would lose so much detail that the skin would be one big blur.

Anyway you guys are welcome to the model if you like it but that's as far as im taking it. I was just trying to give some pointers to help the mod improve. However in my opinion the problem has never been getting the models built since Infinity and Sykes had plenty made. The problem was always about finding coders and people to actually implement the models in game. Unless you guys have a coder that I don't know about im afraid your just going to be repeating the same mistakes that were made before. But ive been here since the beginning and any hope there is for this mod to be completed im all for.

Ok let me try to address everything in your reply. First things first to switch out of smoothing and change to facets + Highlights, on the top left in your viewing boxes up were it says like perspective or front or left, etc. You want to right click the word and then go to Other>Facets +Highlights and that will put you in the correct viewing mode.

Now a quick note on the thrusters. My model does have the full backpack as well as the beam saber and back skirt. As for the 4 cone thrusters I think you need to check the reference again. The strike dagger has one large thruster on its backpack. Plus as for cone thrusters in general I don't think there is a single gundam seed unit that uses cone thrusters.



My model does lack the shield and gun but it wasn't meant to be a finished model it was simply to provide you with an example. However I could make both and still keep the model at about 800 poly's. While that 200 polygons may seem like its not that much multiply that by 50 units on the screen at one time and that's 10,000 poly's your computer now has to render unnecessarily.

Now while your model does currently look more detailed that is because mine lacks a skin. In a low poly model most of your detail is going to be from the skin. This is were the problems occur with your model. Its very hard to explain to you since you have never done the skin but I will try. Your model in its current state will not be able to be skinned and have it look even halfway decent. The main reason is what I described in my earlier post. You cannot use multiple objects to create a single piece like a shield. Physically you can, however when you go to skin the model you will not have enough space on the map.

So to fully explain this im going to try and explain a little about skinning a model. Basically what you are doing is flattening the model so that you can paint on the surface. Now on a low poly model we usually use a map around 512x512 pixels. Trying to unfold and entire model into 512x512 is not an easy task. But let me try to explain this visually



So take a look at the image above. Picture this as the map that the skinner is using. The objects unfolded on the map are the gray pieces on the shoulder of the dagger. On the left is the gray pieces on my model. On the right is yours. Now the red represents the part on your model the is covered by the shoulder. This is completely wasted space and you just cant have that on good map. Now multiply this by every part on your model that has something like this. You just cant skin your current model on a 512x512 map.

The other thing I forgot to mention in my first post was about how you did your thighs. The thighs on you model actually extend to form the abdominal of the suit. This will not work for animation. The abdominal and the thighs have to be separate pieces otherwise when the suit walks in an animation the stomach will be jetting out of place and the skirts will have no where to go.

So hopefully that better explains what I was talking about. Oh and its hard to tell from the image you provided if the proportions are better because of the angle its displayed. If you can show like a front view that would be better.

Hey Tenneko, so after looking over the model you sent me for a few days I have some pointers that will hopefully help you out.

Ok so first things first. The first thing I noticed is that your proportions for the model are a little off. When low poly modeling, getting the proportions down is crucial to the overall look of the model. For this I suggest use of reference and really study were every part should fall in relation to another part.

Next, when I opened up your model, in the viewing options you were using smoothing + highlights. My suggestion, although its more of a personal preference, is to always model with that setting off. Instead I recommend using facets + highlights. There is a good reason for this. When smoothing is on it is very difficult for you to see how your polygons are reacting. So for example, as soon as I turned that setting off I could see that your daggers face was caved in. These are the types of things that may look fine with the smoothing on but with it off you can pick up on a lot easier.

Next I want to go over your use of objects. The more you separate things into different objects the more polygons you are going to use. This will also create a nightmare for anyone who is going to skin the model because all those hidden faces need to be addressed. Ill try to explain a little better what I mean. A good example of this would be your shield. I forget the exact number but your shield is separated into about 8 different objects all pieced together to form one shield. Ideally the shield should be made up of 1 object. Now there are exceptions. For example any piece that will be moving for animation is ok to have separated. So for example the chest would be one object, the head would be one object, the shoulder would be one object, etc.

All of this is kind of hard to explain with out showing you so I decided I would create a strike dagger.



Polycount on this model is 728

Ill send you the file probably tomorrow and you can go through it and check everything out. Your also welcome to use it in any way you like. Hopefully it will give you a better understanding of what I was talking about.

Anyway you are doing very well, keep practicing and you will be a pro in no time.

Hey Tenneko, can you send me that strike dagger file. I want to check it out in max. Ill pm you my email.