jmcdonald Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 How do you make skins (uniforms) for chrs rather than whole models? I'm considering getting VBS1 and I'd like to know. Thanks jmcdonald Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WP33 Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 (edited) Amongst fellas here, you might want to talk to Parabellum about that. He's done a couple of addons with new units. You'll need a different set of tools, however. It's definitely not the same as Ghost Recon. Go here to see what he has to say on the subject. Edited February 22, 2005 by WP33 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
standalone Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 From what I have seen it is a lot easier to reskin an already existing model than it is to make a new model, just have to get the right tools and learn how to use them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabellum Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Overall, I think that making skins for Ghost Recon was much easier than making skins for VBS1. For one thing, if you're making new geometry for GR, you weight it and animate it right in Max. You see then and there how your character will look. With VBS1, there's a whole lot of guess work involved. There is no animation preview in the public release of Oxygen. Further, GR modding uses the standard T-pose, which makes tagging arms and the torso very easy, since everything is spread out. Both OFP and VBS1 use an ungodly pose where the arms are crammed up against the body, meaning that you have to hide portions of the body to tag things. All of the components are also listed in Czech, which means that you have to learn to recognize completely foreign words in order to successfully complete any processes in Oxygen. Needless to say, this increases the learning curve greatly. All things being equal, I think that modding for VBS1 has a much higher learning curve than modding for GR. Also, GR allows the use of two-sided textures. VBS1 (to my knowledge) does not. Therefore, if the inside of an object is visible, you'll see through it. This requires that you be more precise than in Ghost Recon. Another difference is that VBS1's skeletal system is slightly less complex than Ghost Recon's. That means that characters will not animate quite as smoothly as they do in GR. All that said, I think that making character models, kit, and skins for VBS1 is much more satisfying than in Ghost Recon. For starters, even the highest-detailed stuff that I did in GR would not measure up to VBS1's poly standards. Some of the up-close LOD's for my characters are close to 8k polys. That would kill Ghost Recon. As far as what you need for making VBS1 skins, you need at least the following: - PhotoShop or possibly Paint Shop Pro ---Some sort of reference photos or other viable means of new material - PAATool or TexView (preferably the former) - Oxygen - Oxygen's external viewer * - PBO compression/extraction utilities - Creativity - Patience - I say again, patience You man also need the following: - 3d Studio Max or Maya, depending on your taste - ODOL explorer - CHOFPSE script editor, for making CPP and SQS files - Some utility or a calculator for converting degrees to radians, if you want to make animated parts such as NVG's or goggles - A bit more patience * Oxygen's external viewer is not 100% needed - you can use Oxygen to make the models and watnot and then put them in-game without previewing them, but I don't like doing that. Just a bit more information, based on my personal experience and perception, take it for what it's worth: One more unfortunate (as I perceive it) aspect of modding for VBS1 is the residual inclusion of some aspects of the OFP community. You will be competing with people who are far more familiar with the engine and tools than you are. You will also be the new kid on a very big, very competitive block. Your work had better be top-notch, or, failing that, you'd better have a good marketing scheme (a la BAS) or you will quickly find yourself a nobody. You'll also have to deal with what I see as a major push by some of OFP's heavyweights to bring a large measure of standardization to VBS1. People will want to tell you how to do this, and how to do that. That's not to say that everything and everyone from OFP is bad. Not at all. Among other great benefits, being able to work with people who have a great working knowledge of the engine and its limitations is an unbelievable asset. The offset to the negative aspects of the community is that VBS1's developers are very friendly and helpful. Seventh, Earl, and others visit the forums somewhat regularly, and they always seem more than willing to answer questions. Seventh even gave my Ranger addon a once-over to help me identify any last-minute bugs and glitches. OK, I'll stop typing now. This will turn into a Master's thesis if I don't quit while I'm ahead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WP33 Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Very good post, Para. Sounds, fun, don't it J? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmcdonald Posted February 24, 2005 Author Share Posted February 24, 2005 @WP33 uhh.. yeah ... @Para thanx a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.