First Hlaalu Building model completed

[jonrd463]

Hi all!

Just wanted to let anyone interested know that I've completed the first in what I'm hoping will be a series of models recreating the Hlaalu buildings from Morrowind to be used for Oblivion mods.

Here is a render of it.

Right now, I have no texture maps for it, since I don't have 3D Studio Max. I could UV map it with another program, but I don't know if that would work in Max, for conversion to an NIF file. If anyone with Max and the NIF exporter is handy with UV mapping, and wants to give mapping this model a shot, PM me and I'll send a copy of it your way.

-Jon

[Quentin Fortune]

:pop: Wow! That is awesome, jonrd (I hope you don't mind, if I drop the numbers). And I'm glad that you said "what I'm hoping will be a series of models" yourself. At least you know what you've done to yourself (how many Hlaalu buildings were in MW? 26? Plus the stairs ... and the walls and all the other stuff ... )

Ab-so-lute-ly stunning! Congrats man. Have a :cake:

I'm quite sure that you'll find someone, who'll be able to help you with the UV mapping and I might help out with the one or other texture.
I once made three sets of all Hlaalu buildings, all in a different colour to add more variety. Although it was only a simple re-texture job (although quite tedious) these textures are rightfully mine. I could modify them further mixing them with hi-res photos of sandstone and ... voila.

What do you think?

Again, great work

Greetings

Quentin

[jonrd463]

Quentin,

Thanks for the feedback! And please, call me Jon.

I really WANT to do all of the Hlaalu buildings and accessories, and I realize just how much there is to do. At least it's easier than trying Telvanni. I'm just going to work on them one at a time. If I finish, great! If not, maybe this will spark the interest of other modellers out there who will take up where the project leaves off.

As for texturing, any help would be welcome and appreciated. I'd also like to try making some textures myself, so the set would be a more complete package. The problem for me is actually mapping the UVs and creating a texture template that works for Max. Once that's done, it's just a case of pulling the UV templates up in Photoshop and doing the actual artwork, which I've no problem trying myself.

Even still, variety is the spice of life, and I know there's a lot of creativity out there. I'm trying to control distribution pretty tightly right now, so if you'd like a copy of the model, PM me and I'll attach it to a reply.

Thanks again!

-Jon

[Sunsetter]

EDIT: Nevermind I see, you're exporting for use in Oblivion..

[Razorwing]

Excellent work Jon!

Yes I'm glad Silgrad isn't in Telvanni territory

If the work seems daunting at times, think of it this way: once it's done, you/we can not only use it for Oblivion but also for Elder Scrolls V - so four years from now when you and we are psyched about ES V, you already have a complete library of Hlaalu culture in your pocket, ready to be set up Heck, even if your taste in games changes you can use the Hlaalu models you made for any game that can import them, so they'll be with you and usable for the your entire life.

And thanks for messaging me the source model. I converted it to NIF (no texture) and am attaching it to this post. I did some investigating in Max, and here's what I found out. The program tells me your model "has 1786 faces and is double sided.", and this is also clearly visible to the naked eye: your model has faces on the inside. Don't quote me on that though, I'm not an expert and might very well be wrong. If you compare with Bethesda's models, they are usually invisible if viewed from the inside. So I would humbly suggest that you delete any faces that the player would never see.

I ran your model through 3D Studio Max's optimiztion feature and got it down to 2008 vertices and 1130 faces, with it still looking exactly the same. I'll PM that file to you.

Ed.Rw 050722, 23:34 C.E.T.: Pre-release attachment removed pending the final release of the model.

[Quentin Fortune]

I fiddled a bit with Photoshop and this is what I came up with. a new set of textures for all the Hlaalu buildings (man, am I glad that they use only six ... and that you can use them for the interiors as well ).

It's based to the original when it comes to shadows and stuff like that, but it has a new colour, a new structure, a new pattern ... even if those things are hard to see.

So, if somebody with modelling skills would take care of them, please ...

Greetings

Quentin

P.S.: feel free to add your comments and suggestions and if you propose changes to the textures ... attach the 50? bill to your post

Quentin

[Razorwing]

They look really nice, Quentin! :goodjob:

Here's my three humble suggestions.

1) Could you hack an exterior building and attach your textures to it, then put together a plugin that adds the exterior to Silgrad, and upload it? It'd be really cool to check it out from inside Morrowind; that'd give a close approximation to how it'd look in Oblivion, I think.

2) DDS textures can't be imported into 3D Studio Max. They can be converted back to TGA with a tool, but it might be easier if you posted TGA?

3) Could you create bump and specular maps for the textures? Oblivion can take advantage of them, and they'll look even better. I think bump maps make the texture look 3D while specular makes it glisten, as if it was wet.

Find the enclosed payment for three (3) suggestions below. You are hereby and without further ado authorized to print out as many as you need. :]

[Quentin Fortune]

Hehe ... too bad that your authorization doesn't obliterate the laws in Germany, making this a No-No with capital letters and a lot of exclamation marks. But it's the though that counts. =)

1) Could you hack an exterior building and attach your textures to it, then put together a plugin that adds the exterior to Silgrad, and upload it? It'd be really cool to check it out from inside Morrowind; that'd give a close approximation to how it'd look in Oblivion, I think.

I will see what I can do later this evening. I'm going to a medieval market with friends this afternoon (I try to make some pictures ... and get new inspirations ) so for anybody who started to worry ... yes, I sometimes do relax.

2) DDS textures can't be imported into 3D Studio Max. They can be converted back to TGA with a tool, but it might be easier if you posted TGA?

I can save them as TGA files, no problem. But that's good to know, thanks for the hint.

3) Could you create bump and specular maps for the textures? Oblivion can take advantage of them, and they'll look even better. I think bump maps make the texture look 3D while specular makes it glisten, as if it was wet.

Erm ... I don't know, since I never tried. I'll check for a tutorial or if you already have a link or two, it would be too kind of you to post them here.

Glad you like them.

Greetings

Quentin

[Razorwing]

No, sadly my authorization only extends to certain parts of Silgradia. They'd make impressive beer coasters though... hmm... I'll have to think about that one

This bump mapping tut might work, and has a really cool picture that illustrates what bump mapping can do. It's a great way to make a model appear to have more polys than it actually does. For specular, perhaps this tutorial can yield some info; check the leaf at the bottom to see how specular maps make it glisten and shine in certain places.

[Razorwing]

I forgot to mention it, but just in case: bump and specular wouldn't replace the textures you made -- they are techniques that build on and enhance the existing bitmap textures you did. So the bitmap textures you made work perfectly and you can create bump maps now or later at your leisure, if you want to create them. I should also mentioned I haven't learned how to add bump and specular maps, so err don't feel stressed at all

I've attached a comparison shot between Jon's model and a Morrowind doorjamb. That can be fixed easily though.

Jon: I apologize I haven't replied sooner. As you can see your house is approximately the height of an interior set piece, slightly larger though, I'd say 260 points high opposed to the doorjamb's 256 points. If you resize your model four times I think it would be perfect. Three times is closer, but it's much better to be on the safe side rather than risk making it too small for players to walk up the arched stairs and such I think.

When I import a model (anything other than a .max scene) it becomes a single mesh. So even if you set up your house as individual pieces I'd still get a single mesh.

So, between Quentin making tga versions of his beatiful textures and you resizing and slicing up your excellent work, I take it I can't do much more from my end right now.