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New civ buildings on the works for openra

Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 12:22 pm
by KOYK_GR
i am in the processes of making new civ buildings, take a look and tell me you opinions.

Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 11:16 pm
by Inq
The bill boards look... odd. Too big I think, no shadow also.

I like the grey tower blocks.

Its always difficult to make buildings look natural because WW made the original's with so many inconsistencies - Scale, Angle etc etc

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 2:29 pm
by Dieter122
Any updates ?

Maybe pass the progress on to the OpenRA team so they can expand on the official tileset at least

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2018 10:21 pm
by zypres
Dieter122 wrote: Any updates ?

Maybe pass the progress on to the OpenRA team so they can expand on the official tileset at least
Can someone find him online or IRL and ask?

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 6:39 am
by CatGirls420
Yeah some of them stand out too much and don't blend in with the scenery and such. But they look great. Do they have any special bonuses?

Even if they are just no-bonus structures, I would love to make an urban warfare map with these :)

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 7:57 am
by KOYK_GR
Hey, sorry but thought that no one cared for those, because of no comments. But now that i know there are going to get finished.

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 10:01 am
by KOYK_GR
Well unfortunately i spoke with the main developer of openra pchote, and he was against the idea of having those in to the main game, what i can say? bad luck people! tho i will add them to my mod so you are all welcome to use them there.

And i quote so there are not going to be any misunderstandings


[11:27] <KOYK> hi all
[11:27] <Ltem> hi
[11:27] <KOYK> pchote if i finish those are we going to add them to openra? http://www.sleipnirstuff.com/forum/view ... 925#306925
[11:27] <@orabot> Title: Sleipnir's Stuff :: View topic - New civ buildings on the works for openra
[11:28] == feliwir [Elite17837@gateway/shell/elitebnc/x-lnlwettmtkpiocmd] has joined #openra
[11:28] <+pchote> I don't like the idea of adding new assets to the base game
[11:28] <KOYK> why is that?
[11:28] <+pchote> there are several
[11:28] <+pchote> first off, it aggrevates what is already an unhappy copyright situation
[11:29] <+pchote> secondly it dilutes the original game
[11:29] <+pchote> and in many cases (i'm not necessarily saying it applies here) the quality is noticably different, meaning that they don't integrate well
[11:30] <KOYK> copy right with who? you mean EA games?
[11:32] <KOYK> also there is a desert tile set on ra and a jungle tileset for td so i think we are passed the point of staying true to the original (decoretion wise) from the original game
[11:33] <+Scott`> we have, but making it worse doesnt help
[11:33] <KOYK> also if you are talking about copyright issues about those asset, i made them so we are ok
[11:35] <KOYK> ok but in the video scenes of the game, you can clearly see that there are citys involved in the war, so i think this could be an improvement considering that there is already one city building added to the game
[11:36] <+Scott`> the game itself wasnt set in cities though
[11:37] <KOYK> yes but that dosnt mean they dint want to add that at some point, i mean there is always a time line when you make games
[11:37] <+Scott`> sure, look at ts/ra2
[11:38] <KOYK> as we can see in red alert 2 for example
[11:38] <KOYK> yea
[11:40] <KOYK> to be honest take a look at some user maps that are using the only one city building that exist in ra multiple times so they can make a city like map, the problem is that they end up adding the same building over and over again, so having more buildings is going to be a better solution for them, and i am sure the players will appreciate this, dont you think?
[11:41] <+pchote> players would appreciate many things that are not realistic
[11:41] <+pchote> projects need to define boundaries on what they are willing to include
[11:41] <KOYK> is not realistic to have city buildings tho?
[11:42] <+pchote> not in the sense of project management, no
[11:42] <KOYK> so red alert 2 and tiberian sun is unrealistic is that what you are saying?
[11:42] <+pchote> i'm not talking about in-game realism
[11:42] <KOYK> oh ok
[11:42] <KOYK> well as i said if i finish those
[11:43] <KOYK> buildings
[11:43] <KOYK> so that means ill do that work
[11:43] <KOYK> fair right?
[11:43] <+pchote> no, because that then scope creeps further down the slippery slope that we are already too far down for my liking
[11:45] <KOYK> pchote i thought this was an open source game right? i mean is it your personal project? i mean what if the player base wants this?
[11:46] <+pchote> open source projects have maintainers who have a responsibility to shepherd the project
[11:46] <KOYK> and who points out who are the maintainers?
[11:47] <+pchote> the maintainers
[11:49] == quem [~frc@w188078.eduroam.gu.se] has joined #openra
[11:49] <KOYK> i see, well i tried, i don't want to argue more on this, i mean its clearly a person project and whoever got the key to the door owns the house, so point taken.
[11:50] <KOYK> personal*
[11:50] <+pchote> KOYK: sorry if this comes across harshly
[11:51] <+pchote> but coming into a project and insisting that they add your stuff isn't very nice
[11:54] <KOYK> well i am here a long time 7-8 years maybe? so i felt like a part of the family for some reason, and after the force "hind" situation the idea of "insisting that they add your stuff isn't very nice" never cross my mind
[11:56] <+pchote> I apologise if I misintpreted you and that caused offense
[11:56] <+pchote> *misinterpreted
[11:56] <+pchote> and I expect that the others will tell me to pull my head in if they fundamentally disagree with me
[11:56] <KOYK> its ok tho i mean about the harshly thing you said, to tell you the truth is better for me to add those to my mod and have the exclusiveness of those assets
[11:57] <KOYK> np

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:02 am
by SirCake
Hey, ELoyros - despite your assests becoming not official you can always finish your buildings and provide example yaml code to include them with a custom map.
So that would not be official but in your responsibility to publish and still map editors could use it.

Tbh they do really not blend in 100% with either RA or TD, (in my oppinion because they are too big, compare the tiny village buildings) and anything official should be at least as good as the original (so 110%). Also with redistributing artwork on the billboards that you didn't make yourself you are probably infiringing someones copyright. Stay alert.

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 6:28 pm
by KOYK_GR
Well the billboards are a side project and not the actual city buildings theme, and also exept from one all others are westwood images. And aside from that as i said the buldings are not actual finished, so there will be some rework any way. About the size well it depends i mean city buildings are large, take for example TS and RA2.

Re: New civ buildings on the works for openra

Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2020 5:18 pm
by Ronald
KOYK_GR wrote:
Mon Jul 17, 2017 12:22 pm
I am in the processes of making new civ buildings, take a look and tell me you opinions.
They look great. Keep'm coming!

QUESTION: What kind of tools are you using to
- Create the 3D models ?
-- Do you create your buildings from scratch?
-- Do you use templates created by others

- Render them into sprites / animation sequences ?

- Import your sprites into your own OpenRA mod(s)?

Re: New civ buildings on the works for openra

Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2020 7:52 pm
by KOYK_GR
Ronald wrote:
Mon Sep 28, 2020 5:18 pm
KOYK_GR wrote:
Mon Jul 17, 2017 12:22 pm
I am in the processes of making new civ buildings, take a look and tell me you opinions.
They look great. Keep'm coming!

QUESTION: What kind of tools are you using to
- Create the 3D models ?
-- Do you create your buildings from scratch?
-- Do you use templates created by others

- Render them into sprites / animation sequences ?

- Import your sprites into your own OpenRA mod(s)?
Hi and thank you for your kind words!
All the buildings I have made so far is by hand, am not using any 3D programs for those, even the animated ones(aside from the rotating ones).

As for units, and rotated (parts) of buildings like the antenna for my apolyton mod, I use sketchup to create them as it is easier and then export them into .dae format and import them on 3dsmax, from there I use a template given to me, some years ago from the user nolt (you should ask him aswell, for tips).

After am done with the frames, I export them and import them into shp builder, using a specific custom palette I made that uses only the player colors and shades of gray (for the metalic color that vehicles use) and light blue color for the windows of the unit, I removed all the other colors from the palette. PRO-TIP: most of them are used for terrain any way, and can make the unit look ugly, so its better to use only the colors said above.

from there I check the sprites for any visual errors and correct them by hand, for example the osprey sprite I made for apolyton at first had no gray color on its "belly" so I had to paint it by hand later.

importing sprites (.shp)into openra is kinda easy you can place your sprite into the bits folder (usually mods have that targeted by default in the mod.yaml) and then play with the rules, it help to use rules from the base game.

Though be careful with the shp builder as it some times can break your sprite, in order to avoid that, just re-open the shp file and save again.
Do not use\change the options/SHP type just leave it as it is (tiberian sun/animation) other wise it will break your sprite for openra.

Do not leave the first frame empty (color 1), if you have to though, just add 1 pixel of the shadow color (color 4) from the palette. other wise it will not work in openra.

Aside from the template I got from nolt, all other tips you see here are mine, gathered over the years, after series of painful tests and trial and error attempts, and I am proud to say that ive never stole any assets from any other modder or even asked for them.

And to be honest those tips I am giving you are very hard to see the light of day, usually modders keep those tips for themselves, but because I know from experience how hard and spirit breaking is to figure all that stuff (since there is not any real hint on what went wrong or how to improve those sprites), I am willing to share those tips, as it will cut down the time needed for creating them for some one who is new to openra modding.

But please if you find my tips helpful, do what I did and help around, I generally avoid posting stuff because its kinda boring, but I try to help as much as I can, even if its boring.

Here is the list of programs I am using:

3D:
sketchup https://www.sketchup.com/
3ds max https://www.autodesk.com/products/3ds-m ... quantity=1
(you can download the free version and register as a student or something along those lines. Disclaimer: I am a student!! :angel: )

2D:
RealWorld Paint http://www.rw-designer.com/image-editor
(easy to use as a general all purpose paint tool)

windows paint
(yes, many people don't take it seriously but it gets the job done when needed)

Other:
SHP OS Builder https://www.ppmsite.com/
(I use 3.38 beta)

OS Palette Editor 1.21 same link as above
(for creating new palettes or editing existing ones)

Thats it, I hope I did not forget any thing, also welcome to openra modding scene!

NOTE: For other people who might read this post, Golden Rule: never steal assets from other modders, make your own, or at least use the free ones online (not recommended, unless if you don't want your mod to be unique).

Maybe should make a guide at some point, for other modding stuff aswell.

Re: New civ buildings on the works for openra

Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2020 10:57 am
by Ronald
@KOYK_GR Thank you for this tools-list.