EB-Twitter updates Discussion

[nazgool]

It took me more time than I thought but here it is - reconstructed triple-disc cuirass Hope you like it.
Only some less complicated stuff left me to do so i hope soon i'll start assembly work and texturing

[Roma_Victrix]

HELL YES! NAZGOOL POSTS FOR THE WIN. Don't be a loser. Come join the rep train and rep him right now!
BEEP! BEEP! REP TRAIN COMING THROUGH, MOTHERER!

The Romans/Italic triple disc armor you have for this model is amazing, the detail on it is just superb. You even have that Hellenistic period mosaic wave pattern lining the edges of the connecting plates on either side. Fantastic. I love all the other raised relief decorations and connecting rings/chains. Just incredible!

[nazgool]

Thx for kind words, sir! I'm glad you like it.
I tried to do my best to reproduce this one

[Roma_Victrix]

OOH! Those are nice. I love artifact pornography like that. Early Republican or just ancient Roman bronze armor gets me all gooey inside and revved right up. Makes me wanna rebuild Carthage just to level it to the ground again with a healthy dose of salt.

So thanks for sharing those!

[charlieh]

@nazgool: My compliments on the reconstruction. The attention to detail really brings it to life. Thanks for sharing.

[Hellenikon]

Outstanding work! The attention to detail and the fidelity to the original pieces is just so impressive, it makes the rusted armour come to life in all it's glory.

[Rad]

Give us the late Illergete Spearmen and there won't be trouble!

[moisesjns]

Nice work! i also love the illergetes and their return! i was missing them so much.

[Roma_Victrix]

Hmm...the new late and heavy version of the Illergetes after the upgrade armor are cool and everything, but I just don't like their shields at all. The older shield designs were way better in my opinion, way more colorful and interesting looking. Just a thought!

[Septentrionalis]

Come join the rep train and rep him right now!

Rep train joined and I have to say that it looks pretty amazing. Just please allow me a n00b question; what is that modeling used for?

[nazgool]

Thanks for the kind words. I really appreciate that it gives me power to continue my work

@Septentrionalis good question. all of these presented elements consist of tens of millions of polygons (hi-poly mesh) while more complex units integarted for EB have "only" 15-20k polygons (low-poly mesh). Levies or simpler units even 8k polygons.
Most Eb units were created in the old way. Simple low-poly mesh was created in blender or 3d studio and then we painted the texture. Painted as a picture is GIMP or PS. All elements edges, fastenings, seams, bulges all of that was painted.

With hi-poly model you can render a lot of diffrent kinds of maps that gives you the exact structure of what you carved. You put a material texture (bronze, leather and so on) on it and you have a ready triple-disc cuirass texture whitouth painting all of these elements.

We can also bake a high quality normal map which is used to add details without using more polygons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_mapping
Of course the final effect depends on the engine and texture size and other things but i hope effect will be quite good

[Razor]

Thanks for the kind words. I really appreciate that it gives me power to continue my work

@Septentrionalis good question. all of these presented elements consist of tens of millions of polygons (hi-poly mesh) while more complex units integarted for EB have "only" 15-20k polygons (low-poly mesh). Levies or simpler units even 8k polygons.
Most Eb units were created in the old way. Simple low-poly mesh was created in blender or 3d studio and then we painted the texture. Painted as a picture is GIMP or PS. All elements edges, fastenings, seams, bulges all of that was painted.

With hi-poly model you can render a lot of diffrent kinds of maps that gives you the exact structure of what you carved. You put a material texture (bronze, leather and so on) on it and you have a ready triple-disc cuirass texture whitouth painting all of these elements.

We can also bake a high quality normal map which is used to add details without using more polygons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_mapping
Of course the final effect depends on the engine and texture size and other things but i hope effect will be quite good

Without doubt, you have skills and it does look good, and yes, you can have a lot of details, but I'm not convinced that it's very useful for a game such as M2TW. It's a lot of work that you need to put into and most details will get lost when you resize the texture and have to use low poly models. It can be useful for creating certain normal maps, but overall I think M2TW isn't really the game for this method, unlike say Rome 2.

[nazgool]

Without doubt, you have skills and it does look good, and yes, you can have a lot of details, but I'm not convinced that it's very useful for a game such as M2TW. It's a lot of work that you need to put into and most details will get lost when you resize the texture and have to use low poly models. It can be useful for creating certain normal maps, but overall I think M2TW isn't really the game for this method, unlike say Rome 2.

Thanks .

Yes, I am aware of all restrictions of M2TW engine and it's age. For me it is a learning process to raise my abilities in 3D/2D area. As an old member of EB I decided to use the opportunity and still help the team and at the same time learn new things.
First of all, I will reduce the number of variants (to 3-4) to save more room for textures. This should improve the quality of textures and details. This method was partly used by Alin to create Marian Legions, so this unit should not be worse than those one, and in my opinion these are the most beautiful units created for EB so far .

I'm also planning to use these models to create pose figure for 3d printing and some cool renders. There are many interesting ways to use their potential. Once I will gain practice in the whole process and finish my tasks for EB, will try my luck with Warhammer Total War or other modern TW game.

[Rad]

New Celtiberian unit looks great! Will it be available from the start?

P.S. Once again, I gotta ask. What's with the spola style mail armor?

[Lusitanio]

Yeah, they look really good.

I hadn't actually noticed the punic casemates publication until now. Since I know almost nothing on the famous Barcid casemates, could someone explain more about it? I'm really curious on what archaeology says about it.
And Ariovistus, the wall textures look awesome! So beautiful! How do the shooting walls work in the game?

[Marvzilla]

Not quite sure if I like the retexture for the Morigaizoi, I understand that its needed due to historical accuracy but the new textures etc. almost always on the new units looked worse, to be frank. For example the hands on the older units could be a mixed bag but some were done great, with detailed fingers and a closing fist. The new ones at times just have the spear glued to the half open hand. Other problems with the weird lighting on helmets, clipping issues, somewhat bland in comparison to older units and so on.

Love your work guys just voicing my opinion.

[Roma_Victrix]

"A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. Famous Barcid casemates well attested by the archaeology and now represented in EB II."

What? I think you mean arrows or ballistae or something. There were obviously no guns or gunpowder during Classical Antiquity when our mod is set. The choice of wording here was unfortunate to say the least, or not fully explained so as to be entirely misleading.

[Rad]

Not quite sure if I like the retexture for the Morigaizoi, I understand that its needed due to historical accuracy but the new textures etc. almost always on the new units looked worse, to be frank. For example the hands on the older units could be a mixed bag but some were done great, with detailed fingers and a closing fist. The new ones at times just have the spear glued to the half open hand. Other problems with the weird lighting on helmets, clipping issues, somewhat bland in comparison to older units and so on.

Love your work guys just voicing my opinion.

I like it. The original version was too heavily armored in my opinion. This one is more colorful, the shields and clothes are awesome. I am still waiting for my detailed in-game zoom test, but I think I can live with the hands and other details.

In my opinion, the quality of units has improved overall, but some details keep getting reproduced wrong due to the use of older work as a starting base.

[jany248]

Morigaizoi is new units or reworked old one?

[AriovistusSuebus]

What? I think you mean arrows or ballistae or something. There were obviously no guns or gunpowder during Classical Antiquity when our mod is set. The choice of wording here was unfortunate to say the least, or not fully explained so as to be entirely misleading.

Yeah, ok, mea culpa. no guns, balistae.