Page 1 of 2

Character Modelling Guidelines

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 9:20 pm
by paradoxnj
Ok. Here are some guidelines for modelling characters for use in the GDNET 4E6 Contest Entry:
  • No less than 2000, no more than 5000 polys for character models.
  • 1 Ogre Material is desired for performance reasons.
  • Models should look realistic. I am aiming for a Final Fantasy 8 character style at minimum.
  • Normal maps are encouraged
The list will grow as we continue. Ogre supports the following modelling programs:
  • Blender - Search the Ogre Wiki for the Mesh Exporter Script for Blender
  • Milkshape - Get the Milkshape Exporter from the Ogre Wiki
  • 3DS Max- Ogre Wiki again
  • Maya - There is a Maya exporter for Ogre somewhere
EDIT History:
10-25-2007 - Added Juutis' suggestion about realism.

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 10:22 am
by Juutis
What style are we going for? Like as realistic as possible... or a little cartoonish? It ain't gonna look good if there's a photorealistic human riding a My Little Pony.
1 Ogre Material is desired for performance reasons.
I tried to search the Ogre site for some info but it didn't help much. Does '1 material' mean that the model can have only one diffuse texture, and nothing else? Or can we add normal maps and other textures?

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 1:42 pm
by paradoxnj
An Ogre Material can be a combination of textures with shaders. Think of a Quake 3 Shader file or a DirectX Effect file. Check out the Ogre Wiki Entry. A material can contain one or more passes. Each indiviual material must contain at least one pass.

I added your suggested standard in the list above. Models should be realistic, but not ultra-realistic. I'm aiming for a Final Fantasy 8 look.

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 2:09 pm
by Juutis
Great. I'll start modeling myself as soon as I can. :)

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 6:52 pm
by scott
without an editor that can apply these things from a milkshape model its a little pointelss for me so until these effects and everything can be put on using RF 2 im not gona b any good.

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 2:13 am
by DaveC
I made a quick little sketch for a possible character, but seeing as how you mentioned Final Fantasy I quickly got some Anime influence in it, BUT since i only draw American stuff, it ended up coming out like crap lol.
(don't expect much from me, I tend to work myself up with these things haha)

SO yeah, i probably wont make this, just posting it as an idea for whoever wants it.

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 10:13 pm
by paradoxnj
Actually...it's not that bad. It's better than anything I can do. :) It might look different in 3D. Can you model and animate it? Just a walk animation for now. There is a bunch of free motion capture data floating around the net somewhere.

Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 12:18 am
by federico
I suggest you to steal the skeleton and the motion from a game like HL2 or FarCry. I know it's not strictly legal though

1) the theft isn't visible. Before the distribution of the game you can encrypt somehow the model
2) you can create a model with a 20$ app like milkshape good as a commercial one but, as a matter of fact, you cannot animate it at the same level
3) you're not going to sell the game

If you need horses take a look at Dark Messiah. The models and animations can be easily grabbed using the HL2 mod tools... the game has some great melee and sword fighting animations.

Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 3:23 am
by zany_001
i might do sum modelling once ive done the first basic bunnies for stealth bunnies.

Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 4:03 am
by darksmaster923
zany_001 wrote:i might do sum modelling once ive done the first basic bunnies for stealth bunnies.
oooooo ur making the magical stealth bunnies of doom???? yayyyyyyyyy

Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 11:30 pm
by zany_001
yah, ive finished a real basic model which the body took about 5 mins, but suks, for you to use for testing.ill animate it this satday.if i can.yeah.

Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 10:52 am
by paradoxnj
Thanks Zany!! :)

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 5:44 pm
by ericssin
well I'll do my best, starting now...

Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 2:24 am
by zany_001
np paradoxnj. and can ui use weight mapping?or wtever you call it here.

Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 12:25 pm
by vrageprogrammer
Can I help?
I'm good at modelling!