Hey all, been working on this for a few weeks.

When I started with modelling I thought Blender was going to be the real head-spin, but actually textures are!

Any how Blade Interceptor is my current project, so here are a few pics of my progress so far.







What do you guys think....

Reliquia....

Hey all, here would be a short video.



Feedback would be welcome

Reliquia....

Very nice.

I think you may need to up the spec map's brightness to give it a more metal look.
Maybe throw some scratches in the spec map so the shows in the light. this can be done by adding a layer in your paint program and making the scratches lighter then the rest of the spec map.

Maybe the _i for some glowing bits on it, like the exhaust port and some navigation lights, like planes have today.

I like it... very nicely done..

Great job

harry

Pirate Myke, HarryWever, thanks for the yor kind words and the feedback, it is much appreciated, especially coming from veterans like yourselves!

I will definately concentrate on the _S some more. All the textures are derived from a couple of pictures I took of a computer case and some saucepans around the house - which are much more shiny looking than they come out in the engine - and I was thinking that the problem with the textures being flat was just my photos!

The _I is coming

Again thanks for the feedback

Reliquia....

Hey all, back with the latest update to Blade Interceptor.

Revised the _S to give a metal look to the overall craft. Added scratches to the _S as well (thanks for the tip Pirate Myke ). Also added some dog fiight damage to the wings.

Revised the thruster centre, and removed the side bits from the thruster casing and opted to add detail via the Textures (the other parts looked too much like indicators on a motorcycle to me!).

Added some nav lights to the wings, and tail fins - they don't fully comply with modern air craft - but couldn't really do that because the model and textures are using mirror.

Also added some plates to the rear of the wings, and on the front wing around the gun, to simulate some kind of inspection plates - again opted to do this only via textures.

Also added the _I to give glow effect to the thruster center and back-plate, the nav lights, and also a little to the front and rear vents.

Here be some pics:








Again, some feedback would be much appreciated

Reliquia....

Hey all, here be the latest video of the Blade Intercepter showing the changes outlined in the previous post



Reliquia....

Amazing, when can we buy it

Very nice!

One thing I would have done differently, bevel the edges of the canopy, just by a multiple of one and only as little bit, then extrude the bevelled faces out slightly and texture them with the metal, that will give it a metal frame and struts and define it a lot more.

Hey all


vrg, still fiddling with a few things, but soon I hope. Glad you like it


Belidos, thanks for the feedback, will definitely think about that.

Back soon with a few more refinements I have been working on.

Reliquia....

Hey all, got some refinements to Blade Interceptor for you to scrutinize!

Revised the cockpit canopy for a little more detail by refining the edges of the frame and recessing the glass.

Revised the wing and body rivets to look like they are under the paint work, and gave them the appearance of sitting above the metal, (rather than looking like they were shot into the wing by a carpenter with a nail gun lol). They are only in the texture and use the _N to give a 3d look. Also removed the lines from the wings.

Revised the colour of the textures, thought they were too dark before.

Here be some pics:








And a Video:


Love to hear your feedback.

Reliquia....

Hey all, couldn't help myself:

Red or Blue Team!





Did this for fun, but quite like it. Although the store version will likely be the grey Team!

Reliquia....

Really great, special the coloured ones

looks sweet wish I could texture like that I'm pants at it :/ lol very nice craft, I do agree with Belidos about the bevelling on the wing ends tho or even add some rocket/fuel pods on them would look proper cool

Hey all, back again with Blade Interceptor update.

Made a few changes:

Added bevel to the wings.
Added missile launcher to wings.
Added wing thrusters.
Added landing thrusters.
Revamped the tail fins.
Revamped the main thruster.
Revamped the rivets and removed them from the N.

Hope you like the changes

Some pics:











And a video:


Feedback welcome!

Reliquia....

Big improvement on the last model,well done on that . I also like the figure where did you get him from .

Dave

Keep plugging away with Blender / photoshop or what ever software you use, the more time you put in the better you will get no matter what software you use. This is far better than one of my first attempts at modelling it was for a DB Pro competition were we had to remake a classic game and I tried to recreate a game called Hyperbowl which was a hockey game based around spaceships trying to shoot the puck into a goal, at the time I had no idea how to unwrap models and had at least 10 textures per model, so you are doing better than my first attempts. You a doing great just keep persevering with it, all us artist struggled at first but you are doing well.

Tip: Do a google / bing image search for what you are modelling whatever it is, believe me it really helps and collect as many reference images of stuff you want to include / just like on you model from the images you collected. This will help you detail your model and make it look more realistic but keep referring to them as you build.

Crit: Round off some of those sharp edges/ angles you have this will help to make it more realistic and have a look at few abient occulsion tutorials on you tube, this will help your model "pop". Do not worry about keeping everything in quads, if it works in the game engine you are working with then all will be fine at this stage. I like the fact you included the rivets something that upsets me when I see other work, just be careful and don`t over do them.
Not sure what software you are using for textures but if you really want to push yourself have a look at this: [href=YouTube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lJ33FqZGbQ[/href]

I really like the fact you took the time to make the camo line up in places, this is a really hard trick / time consuming process and seeing how this model develops in the future.

Just remember it isn't a race and take your time.

Hey all, thanks for the feedback - much appreciated.

@Dave thanks for the input. The figure is from the Sci-Fi pack.

@Frap thanks for the tips, and especially the crit. When I finished the first base model I thought it was really good (lol) but after the third revision I'm almost embarrassed that I showed it in public (lol). It's nice to get the 'well done' pat on the back, because that inspires one to keep at it, but it is really helpful to get the tips on what can help improve your work, because that is how we learn!

Thanks for the video link - I use photoshop, and really appreciate well set out how-to tuts like that.

The ambient occlusion - have watched a couple tuts (blender) but I will take another look at that. Not sure what you mean by keeping in quads.

Been playing with specular map since the revision 3, and I think it is a bit better now.

The main problem at the moment is the light mapper in GG really looks bad with this model, and I don't know if it is my _D, _N, _I, or _S that wrecks it, or if it is just the model itself.

Reliquia....

Quads = when you see your model in wire frame it should be built from four sided polygons, 3 sides are ok but any more than 4 its called an N-gon which are considered bad. Honestly don`t worry about this for now as your model will not likely break the game engine and crash it or make you game run slowly.
The advice I was given by a very experienced game art director that took me under his wing was that if it don`t break the game don`t worry about it.

Ambient Occlusion is is worth learning but again take your time, there are also a few tricks when using it. I always like to apply several layers one as is over laid and another layer blurred with a little opacity. I then create another one from the normal and then again overlaid which I find gives me the best results.

Yeah the way GG renders is a "little funky", I have no idea what the problem is but it is frustrating when you compare it to other engines.

superb ship. This will be a very useful asset to have

@Tarkus1971, thanks for the feedback.

Unfortunately light mapping leaves it looking terrible and I would think it would likely get rejected, so it is on the shelf at the moment as I have no idea how to fix it

Reliquia....

Please send me the model, I can see if I can fix the lightmapping issue, I've readied plenty of models for lightmapping so far. A PM will do.

Nice ship, and yeah send the file to Wolf