Comments - sockhead

No I don't :(

I realize I'm responding many months late but I felt compelled. Hope all is well with you.

What type of hard drive is it? I have had two drive failures more recently that were the result of faulty firmware. Firmware being more of a software issue than a mechanical malfunction the data was not lost merely not accessible. In my case, the company responsible was at fault for the defect and repaired the issue free of charge leaving my data fully intact and readily accessible once fixed. I don't want to get your hopes up but do a search for your drive's model number see what you can find. If more people express a similar problem you can be sure someone is complaining. Keep up your spirits!

Aghhhh, that's terrible. Is that data absolutely non-retrievable?

Thank you, it took many minutes of googling.

Yeah you did... oops

I would have to agree with qeloqoo. There is not enough variation for the actual scratches themselves. The nice references that the individual above placed on his comment show that the wear of the actual AC is more than just scratches but shows abrasion of the metal, scrapes, subtle burns or stains and the loss of paint and colour at the edges and the sharper angles. Another difference is, these scratches appear to be to have subtracted from the base colour as they are all white. The photos show that much of the scratches their are dark in shade and added colour to the texture instead of take away. It is as if now, the scratches add a pattern such as stone to the AC instead of making it seem weathered from battle. Good progress none the less.

Good that you have found some sort of assistance. Does John have a separate moddb of his own we can view?

Tribes is still alive! Kind of anyway, look up Tribes Next. It's basically Tribes 2 but with community support so that people can actually host servers now. You can at least see 150-200 people playing all servers considered. There is also another game based off tribes called Fallen Empires: Legions. It is a game you play in a browser (don't be scared) but surprisingly polished. I think IA is revamping their site at the moment so no play is allowed.

Yes your right, all AC games have them skating. My concern was not directed to the video in particular but to Armoured Core in general - that is why I feared the tomatoes. Admittedly, it has always looked cool but I have never been able to rationalize how they still have feet when they are done darting about. What I imagined is that whenever one would want to "skate", they enter some sort of hover mode so that they are slightly elevated above ground kind of how the manta is by default but when done boosting return to grounded posture. The problem I see with that is transitioning from "hover mode" would be hard to animate considering you have to go from running speed to "skating" seamlessly. Does that make sense? Anyway, it is not much of a big deal just a peeve of mine.

I did think of something else though. Ever play a game of the Tribes series? I have been playing it forever (still do). When the original game came out it introduced a lot of firsts primarily the first to have Z-Axis movement in an FPS that I am aware of least. Some other things included use of vehicles and deployable assets to defend or attack. Most of these things were copied later by others; I'm thinking of the wretched Halo game - yes, I said it, don't murder me. All players were equipped with jet packs and there were three classes to choose from: light, medium and heavy. A customized load-out could be chosen for each and the base of each team were inventory stations reequip or change classes completely. Any ideas?

We are in full agreement. Great to see some movement to these beautiful models.

When you showcased the UT3 video for study I noticed some really interesting things that you discovered that could be used to benefit the project. In the video, it showcased the manta vehicle moving about and it reveals some potentially good things to "steal" from what UT3 did as respects movement as I'm sure you are well aware. The dynamic changes in speed and posture that the manta undergoes seems very similar to how an AC would be moving besides of course the *cough* missing legs thing... If you stick a core and some arms on top of that thing (of course with a head the other things) you have animations for the movement of an AC with hover based legs. I still think that those principles still apply to an AC with actual legs. Probably, everyone has already discovered these things but I haven't posted any long and drawn out comments lately.

Everyone is going to shoot me but something that somewhat bothered me when I watched an AC boosting on ground is that they were basically skating. After a long 'skating' session those feet should have been scraped away to the kneecap. I will hide while you throw the tomatoes or whatever fruits and vegetables you have before replying.

I think at this point, no. Simply to direct attention on the game's primary elements. The game is already very unique in comparison to anything competing with it on the PC or even on consoles besides Armoured Core itself which is the muse of this project. For that reason good implementation of those features does put it leaps and bounds ahead of everything else. Integrating good voices into a game is difficult to achieve without enough resources to do so. I think for you, doing this all or for the most part on your own, would pose obstacle that does not even need to be approached. At least not at this point. In the end I think you answered the question yourself, I quote: "I don`t have time as a luxary" This being the case, I see keep attention where it is due for the moment. Should time permit it would be a lovely addition the list of good things going for your project. Ohh but I do love a good story and writing them too *hint hint*

I'm sorry to hear what's going. I hope the situation improves for you. Is their any particular area that you need assistance in? Even it is just brainstorming, anything!!

I already miss the other arms...

I figured it was just a premade animation, I guess I felt productive by critiquing :P

It all looks very good. Have you adjusted the proportions already as the animation video looks pretty much spot on size-wise. On the animation, I felt the torso's sway lacked subtlety. As the shoulders dipped it appeared to be a bit too emphasized. To me it is most noticeable on the opening step but it smooths out after that. As this is a walking animation I, I wouldn't expect to see it much as the ACs are always running save for cut scenes or overweight load-outs. That's it for now, I will spare you my horrendously long comments for later :D

If it would help, I do have Last Raven and I believe I have already progressed far enough to build the AC pictured. Obviously a picture from my camera is not as good as having it on your console but if it would assist you or save time let me know.

As far as your scale issue I did notice some things that I hesitated to comment on before. Reason being, I have no actual comparison that I have looked at recently to say whether you have hit or missed the mark.

From my perspective and without comparing to the actual game, the arms seem quite large especially when compared to the legs. Perhaps it is just the illusion given by the forearm extending beyond the elbow joint but it does seem itself long besides bulky. The core seems sized well and proportioned when viewed with the arms so I think the legs may "mainly" be at fault if we are to blame something. My one gripe with the core was initially the width as it seemed, fat, for lack of a better word. Then again, that looked like a heavy core to me so I expected it to be a little, obese. With the legs, they seemed spaced a bit too far apart. Making them longer and with a bit more thickness may solve this.

Be warned! Everything I said is by referencing my failing memory of my play through of Last Raven and my understanding of human proportions. I am not aware of a standard for robot proportions so this being a biped AC, humans were my best option.

Perhaps this is too early but have you already of thought of how the adjustable colour scheme is to be integrated into the textures or the model?

Absolutely beautiful with those arms. You seem to be perfecting your trade ever more and more. I feel bad because I want to give you some constructive criticism but you are making it kind of hard.

I just realized but the boosters are not modeled into the core are they? Also, what is the name of that core part? I seem to vaguely remember seeing it but I'm not sure.

I trust your standard of quality, not to worry. You just work so fast it is hard for me to keep up.

I'm impressed by the low poly models and initial texturing. Very good. The test of the low poly legs made me happy as well. The scale for a biped AC compared to the player perspective shown in the test scene appears to be a bit larger in comparison which is nice. I wish it was a tad larger but I'll live. As it is, I suspect it will make modeling for the environment much easier given a few extra polys. For me It was always easy to get distracted by some of the world objects such as the cars, buildings, street lights and such that just looked somewhat goofy or displaced. There was a disparity in quality from the AC to it's surroundings that was too noticeable. Understandably, that difference is always there regardless the game but it was too lax from my (maybe vain?) perspective.

You know what it means if you fell asleep at the keyboard right? Rest sir! Good plan so far and the low poly test AC looks good to me. It seems awkward somewhat but I'm sure it is because I'm not used to seeing an AC in the static posture. There still are some books on ebay though probably not what you originally had in mind. One listed as a "mechanical guidance" book has some fairly good content at least in the preview given.

Wow, already offering to beta test?! Well don't forget about me!! The first AC game started it for me also but I was cheap and rented when Blockbuster was still in business. I started to purchase them with Master's of Arena and onward. Unfortunately I've only played AC4 in passing; No PS3/360 T_T

I've been playing Tribes forever, didn't know. Maybe I've been in a cave or something. Not a game breaker though I'm just not a fan of the default models.

Was this a common problem in ET:QW? Just curious.

Yay, looks great on your new tests. I like the ideas you plan to implement so far. As a suggestion, UT3 itself gives a nice example for transitional texturing such scratches and what not in the vehicles. It is nice reference in my opinion. My only gripe with it is that at the end of the day when a vehicle explodes it looks absolutely cooked to death. Somewhat overkill but interesting.

That's logical but if this follows the trend of Tribes, everyone should have a coloured indicator on their head anyway. Is this feature not being retained? I don't recall from the video and it's not coming up any longer for me.

Good to hear. The karasawa looks nice also. I would probably agree with that as well. Just do the tinkering you are doing till you are comfortable with it otherwise it would be hard to continue if you feel like you are compromising your standards of quality in anyway. Maybe my hopes are too high but AC on the PC (Insert your game here) would be untouchable if done well - graphics, game play etc... Were you doing the texturing on your own as well?

Looks good! Keep it up.

If I read the site correctly it said currently no support for skins/models is offered or planned. Is that correct?

Part 2 of 2 (My rant is over)

The comparison the video shows looks fine to me but it would be nice to see at least one part fully textured for example's sake. It seems somewhat unfair to do a side by side from high to low especially considering how significantly you are being forced to reduce your count from. Obviously, your high poly will always look better so a comparison on that note alone is not helpful. My recommendation would be stick to one or two parts first making 2 or 3 low poly meshes as test alternatives. Focusing on one part will no doubt be easier and quicker but if you do two then you won't get spoiled with the familiarity of one object versus the challenge in variation of two. With that down, texture them to firm completion then evaluate the results as a finished work. Now you can ask yourself: 'How closely does this resemble the AC part?' not just how close is it to my high poly. In the end, a low degradation from the high to the low poly does not furnish you with a desirable product but the one that most closely resembles your intended goal does. That is my suggestion(s) anyways. Don't take me too seriously though just because this comment is so long. Are you a visitor of any particular art/modeling forums. I might recommend cgsociety, epicforums or polycount (in that order) to name a few. The people there are so much smarter than me with working examples and not just text like me.

Take your time and above all Have fun :D

(Excuse my terrible spelling/grammar even though I don't have a good excuse)