Fraps is the best recorder there is, but you need to re-encode the videos. The question is if you have the patience to make high-quality videos or if you are willing to make lower quality videos faster.
And yeah you'll need HD space. I have a 1.5 terabyte drive dedicated to fraps alone. Video editing is a demanding business... and re-encoding is very slow on old computers.
The Actor will be pointing to a model entry in "Models" in the data editor, not directly to an actual model. There's a value there, within an entry in that tab, that you want to change to point to your new m3.
Here's what mine looks like...
So the exact process I went to make a new Zealot that uses the Rockflayer graphic is to duplicate the Zealot with all necessary entries, including his normal and death models, and then go through the entries to that new Zealot Copy and then change his m3 reference to the rockflayer one.
I'm afraid I'm not a programmer so I can't directly help you, or I would. :(
Anyways, for the animation menu for renaming, what I'd envision is to basically take what you've already got, where it's listing the animations you want. Then you can have a second column beside it where you can set the name they'll be renamed to when exported. Sc2, like wc3, only "recognizes" certain animation names. So in the event of exporting with AttackUnarmed, they do not play in sc2.
So the menu as you have it currently lets you check boxes next to the anims to have them exported. The addition could have a second column directly beside that, which lets you set the name that animation will have when it's converted. You'd just type it in.
Like..
- Stand
- Run
- Walk
- AttackUnarmed - Attack
- Hover - Stand
- Fly - Walk
- SpecialUnarmed - Spell
ect...
I hope I'm clear enough. I can make a really basic mockup in paint if you want. :)
This is wonderful progress! I still think it would be cool if you could rename the animations you have chosen on the export. Otherwise if I say export a dragon with the flying animations I still have to bring it back into 3ds max to rename all of the animations to "stand", "walk", ect. otherwise sc2 won't recognize them.
Also, would it be possible to have the exporter able to select a Normal and Emissive map as well? As I would like to create and apply those to the models which would again require 3ds max to achieve otherwise. (To clarify, you could simply tick two options in the m3 dialogue, and the exporter will simply assign those textures to the material, so the model will look for, in this instance, RedCrystalDragon3_Emissive or somesuch, with the user can then make outside of WMV and import with everything else.)
Keep up the good work, looking forward to future updates.
I can't seem to get the textures to work in the editor but I'm sure it's something stupid I'm overlooking... (/e Nevermind, got them to work... I think (Nevermind, I somehow managed to not copy the mutalisk even though I copied the mutalisk))
And yes I'm on windows 7 64-bit and it works fine.
I'll start modeling some arctitecture but I'd be lying if I said I had any experience whatsoever with modeling buildings, let alone citadels/towers/walkways/ramps ect.
Maybe I can find some Greek/Roman buildings to hackjob into this...
/edit
I began modeling some extremely basic low-poly first gen tech architecture. What do you think? Think you can make proper collision for them? Because the real stuff will be a lot more complex...
That's a start - what did you do, modify the collision sphere or use the terrain object method?
Immediate concerns include walking over ceilings and over ledges. So basically it's what I expected so far - single-level compatability with quirks. Can you think of any way to easily fix those?
Well the style looks nice but i dont think its good for a computer nor the engine. The models are very very high poly when u have to mass it
I don't know what you mean by "mass". These would never be under control of the player and cannot be built. I have already addressed everything else in the post.
Gahennas are an upper tier of demon within the Underworld. Acting as The Great Destroyer's captains and admirals, they manage a fleet separate from the traditional Demon Fleet. Although their forces are smaller in number they have direct access to the coveted Hell Forge and an enormous amount of technology. For every evil mind there has ever been across the dimensions of time, they have benefited from its thoughts. Every tyrant, every murderer, every warmonger.
Gahennas warships are built out of a crystalline substance that is heavier than Steel but produces immense regenerative and conductive properties. Their vessels range in size from a few kilometers to several hundred kilometers. Most of their ships predate the battle for Olympus and are considered relatively outdated. The newer ships tend to be more difficult to construct, resulting in fewer number of newer, more advanced warships.
Gahennas ships are runed in crimson words of the Old Order, the tongue of the Gods. They can unseal these runes to temporarily access supernatural powers.
In-game Mechanics and modeling notes
Traditionally, larger Gahennas ships would only appear in very few number. A Battlecruiser would be around the size of the screen, and prevent air units from clipping into it. As a result, Gahennas ships are intended to be very high detail. While most individuals are terrified of putting anything higher than 5k polies into the game I have been experimenting with ten times that for quite a time in a variety of engines.
I build a high-detail mesh with the intention that, one day in the distant future, I'd find someone able to UVW and texture them. This individual could then take the high-detail mesh, most notably the Greeble, and create a high-detail normal map out of them and yield a significantly lower poly model.
That said I am fully prepared to put 200k poly meshes into the game. What bothers me is not the performance of polies, because polies don't impact performance nearly like they used to in 2001 and I have a very powerful machine, but rather how I'd go about rigging the turrets. Several ships, both modeled and in concept, have a large number of turrets and it does not appear that sc2 supports pitch rotation on turrets or multi-component turrets. In fact, I have no idea how sc2 even tells what weapons use turrets, or how turrets even are accessed for movement purposes! The time investment and method behind turrets is my only concern with these models.
Of course if it turns out the polycounts end up effecting the game in ways I didn't predict (wc3 had a weird vertex limit I never ran into normally, but if you played Don't Move The Panda you'd hit it eventually) I'll have to compensate which I am prepared to do if necessary. I doubt that will be the case, though.
All models and gameplay concepts are for private campaign concepts and would not be published or released.
Starscourge Drone
Polycount: 604 quad
Deployed in large numbers by a variety of Gahennas warships, the Starscourge drone is a small two-hundred meter automated vessel equipped with a Phazon bolter. This weapon deals significant damage to targets of all manners. It produces an anti-gravity matrix around its hull, granting it extreme levels of speed and maneuverability. However, Drones typically have a minimal engagement range from their host before they suffer a power drain.
Armed with Phazon beam weaponry, these 5km frigates engage at moderate and close ranges, sweeping targets with searing, hellish thermal blades. They will also have point defense weaponry that target fighters and subsystems. A direct impact from the ship's special ability, a Phazon pulse, will destroy a Terran BC in one hit without defensive matrix. The beams will do an estimated 25-30dps to atmospheric/space targets and 200-300dps to surface targets. The Frigates are Deep Jump capable and carry compliments of fighters and shield drones.
I created the Frigate model by using Symmetry on the Starscourge drone. The core component hull will be used for another ship later down the line, and was extracted from a moderately updated variant of the Carrier using symmetry as well.
The Frigate will be updated further with small guns and detailing sometime in the future.
Eradicator
Polycount: 1.5k, unupdated
Eradicators are new-generation 20km destroyers that focus on single-target damage. They fire Hellfire lightning from their wings which collect along the front of their forward driver. This can produce either a series of rapid pulses that do large burst damage or a short-lived beam that slices through enemy targets in a sweep. The vessel is also armed with gravitic pulse launchers that impact enemy ships with waves of kinetic force that decompresses their hull and damages internal components. They are exceedingly difficult to harm as their crystal composition has been modified for improved regeneration properties. However, they possess no shields. They make up for this added weakness through high mobility.
This is an old model from 2008. My first model in 3ds max (I used Maya previously). I'll update it after the Carrier.
Gahennas Battlecruiser, Meteor Hammer type
Polycount: 75k quad
Essentially "cannon fodder" for the Gahennas fleet, these 80km monsters were used to engage artifacts forged by the Gods in the battle for Olympus. Most of their weapons are oriented around engaging objects of large scale, but they possess a sufficient number of smaller weapons (Most I can't model due to my entry-level modeling skills) for engaging smaller targets.
Gahennas ships are runed in words of the tongue of the Gods, which can be used to unlock supernatural powers that bolster their existing powers significantly. Gahennas ships are black, intensely runed in the tongue of the Gods and the tongues of the Underworld. They bear the Bladed Claws of Cerberus, a symbol and banner representing a lesser tier of the Gahennas sect. The ship is commanded by a crew of twelve that oversee operations in an enormous throne room. All Gahennas have fed upon the soul well of tyrants, warmongers, traitors and other figures involved in war crimes of some form. They bear the knowledge of all past military engagements between mortals that resulted in the loss of life. Although brilliant, Gahennas of these castes are often needlessly aggressive.
Operational specs
Gahennas Battlecruisers produce limited propulsion power, relying largely on their massive jump drives to assist them in achieving desired firing angles and advantageous positions throughout the battlefield. A Gahennas Battlecruiser is capable of jumping every thirty seconds, ten seconds when its seals are unlocked. They only jump this often when engaging dangerous opponents, otherwise simply allowing their shields to soak up attacks from aggressors (especially small ones). Their technology is considered fairly outdated by current standards, but their brute power is more than a match for most mortal fleets on their lonesome.
The interior of the Battlecruiser is much like those of other Gahennas ships - entirely comprised of Hellfire crystal. They are highly regenerative and are capable of producing a vast amount of energy when they self-destruct or are heavily damaged. The engine output offers little maneuverability but strong acceleration. They maneuver through space folding (when unlocked) or Hellfire particle emissions, granting them the ability to create and manipulate gravity waves.
Defensive features include a maddening psionic aura that manifests from their direct link to the underworld. This will overthrow the conscious thoughts of individuals within a billion kilometers and have significant subconscious effects in the range of an entire star system. The spirits of the damned are in particular adept at creating hallucinations, visual and auditory, that disrupt the functions of mortals. At close range the spirits can physically manipulate the world around them, such as shutting down brain activity completely, opening small gateways for lesser demons to emerge from (inside ships, planets, ect.) or completely overthrowing entire fleets and turning them against each other.
The ship's shielding is described as impressive but not overly powerful in comparison to the Quantum barrier fielded by the Dreadnaught and other, more specialized classes. The Battlecruiser invests more heavily into weaponry and its jump drive. However, its armor is notoriously hard to damage with energy weaponry of any nature. It is reactive to kinetic energy, but fragments when the reactivity is exceeded, opening weak points for future attacks before they regenerate.
This vessel features factories for multiple types of drones, averaging a kilometer in size each. They range from defense-oriented machines that intercept light-speed projectiles to inhibitor drones that disrupt electric and psionic activity in enemy vessels, making them easy prey for point defense.
Demons also have this lovely tendency to drive their vessels into those belonging to other fleets. Their drones are no exception to this methodology.
Offensive specs
The Gahennas Battlecruiser is equipped with a stellar-ranged Meteor Hammer cannon that fires a Hellfire shard - a crystalline object - at low speeds. The shard accelerates exponentially as it travels until it partially enters subspace, parting the ether of space with a preceding psionic wave that makes it relatively easy to detect. This crystal does not explode on impact, but ruptures subspace enough to release large amounts of Hellfire particles that can be used for any number of devious purposes by third parties; usually other demons. The heat and radiation released is fatal to most defenses and should be avoided.
Secondary weapons include two sets of revolving Chains of Cerberus Hellfire-based beam weapons that produce overlacing waves of psionic energy as they fire. These frontal-arc weapons are vastly ineffective against small targets but can completely immobilize anything they hit. They were pivotal in effectiveness against weapons forged by the Gods.
The vessels sports two Hellcrack lightning cannons that are empowered by the storms of Hell. They channel a current across their primary target into nearby secondary targets. This current is amplified by the presence of Hellfire particles, which are generated by a number of means including its contact with matter - even that of allied ships. The current exists for a split second before reacting, a reaction that is exponentially intensified by aforementioned factors. This reaction rips apart molecules through a release of psionic energy and splits the remaining atoms it reacts with. The platforms containing these weapons are controlled through psionic energy and can move around the vicinity of the main hull. Incidentally, they can also ram targets within this range. Delightful!
To engage opponents in a moderate range the vessel has a number of Soulsplitter torpedo launchers. Each launcher has twelve drivers for standard Soulsplitters and a primary driver for Greater Soulsplitters. These glowing spectres will hunt ships for an extreme distance once they have locked onto their soul energy, thus their name. Once in close distance the torpedoes will split into a dozen new projectiles and impact with terrifying force.
For closer engagements the ship is equipped with Talons of Cerberus 6x beam cannons that sweep space with grievous claws of crimson flame. The ship has multiple Lava Knuckle pulse-beam turrets that fire thermal lances to cut through stragglers.
For even closer engagements the ship holds multiple hangars of specialized Gahennas fighters and bombers as well as a multitude of generic point defense weaponry.
Engagements
Gahennas Battlecruisers are considered fairly weak in overall engagement capabilities within the Gahennas Fleet as they lack a dimensional core as well as "God powers" outside of their seals. However, they were produced in large numbers and make excellent general combat units. The powers unlocked by their seals are not completely understood.
The presence of a Gahennas ship encourages lesser demons to fight harder and will attract hordes of smaller ships immediately upon its arrival.
Notes
Due to geometry instancing the presence of multiple Battlecruisers would have virtually the same impact as one (Tested with 68k (according to max) Hyperion cinematic model inside editor, over 3 dozen of these did not drop my fps). However, what concerns me about these is my less than favorable tests of splitting missiles. 26 vikings shooting one missile each that splits into 12 shortly before impact causes a very noticeable performance loss. I can compensate for this by having the torpedo batteries fired in staggered volleys to prevent CPU munching. Despite this I would probably have no more than 5-6 Battlecruisers active at any given time, for they would be serious performance killers with all of their bells and whistles combined (drones, fighters, effects).
However, the lack of vertically turning turrets means that Lava Knuckle cannons would not be able to target surface targets without looking really weird. Same with the beam cannons.
I suspect by turning Greeble into normal map you could reduce this model to <20k quads.
Gahennas Carrier - UNFINISHED
Polycount: 5k
This is the unfinished update to another 2008 model, the Astral Carrier. At 120km in length, these ships are beasts used to assault entire dimensions of mortal civilizations. A single Carrier could match and defeat the entire Protoss military force at their peak. It performs these feats by constructing ships like the Crusader-class at very fast rates, and deploys hordes of strike craft and various drone types. When it unlocks its runes it can externally construct ships as large as the Eradicator.
Carriers are equipped with Dimensional Drives, which allow them to pierce the boundaries of dimensions at will. They are highly advanced, highly difficult ships to build, and the loss of even one hurts the Gahennas greatly. Thus, Carriers are more likely to disengage rather than risk severe damage. They can provide jump points for their escorts or constructed vessels, and act as beacons for lesser demons to flock to. Their armament includes beam and lightning drivers, plus madness-inducing psionics that reach for a significant distance. Even drawing into the same system as one is a great risk.
Notes
The model has a very long way to do, especially design flow with the wings. The model will see a lot of changes and upgrades before it is finished. I expect a final polycount similar to the Battlecruiser, but this ones details won't be so easily turned into normal maps. Due to its hangars, it will always be an intensive unit to put in play, and I might end up limiting the majority of its abilities mechanically to prevent a massive overflow of units while maintaining the epic level of its engagement abilities.
Hero ship concepts
I used Symmetry on the BC and came up with these two concepts for Hero-type ships. These Battleships would be epic vessels, not only as units but as projects to model. Unlike the Crusader I can't just use Symmetry and call it a day - these models would need enormous amounts of editing to make game-ready. For starters their polycounts, especially the right one, are much higher and with weapons would reach unacceptable levels even for me. Rendering times with raytracing on these is absurd. Secondly, adhere to Armageddon and Gahennas mechanics fluff, the right ship would blow itself up in a spectacular overload if it tried to fire its forward guns due to the immense energy channeled by its drivers (the blades/spikes).
What's more likely to happen is I'll merge these two designs and make a single vessel out of them, redesigning the detailed portions from the ground up to significantly reduce polies and allow myself to keep the new weapons relatively detailed.
Their scale would probably remain the same as the Carrier, due to the limitations of the Hell Forge's abilities. Only one demon ship is really any larger than the Carrier, which is the Ark of Nightmares, a Gahennas flagship created by The Great Destroyer himself. Since it was created by a God, and a very powerful God at that, it exceeds the limitations of their construction abilities.
For reference, this is the 2008 model of the Ark of Nightmares. It is the model that will change the most during my updates, and will probably be the last one I try to update due to its immense complexity and level of detail. Because the final model would be so massive and highly detailed I cannot foresee putting it into the game very easily.
Okay, that's enough making your computers sweat in fear for one morning. I cannot UVW or texture, but one guy did texture a few of my models in the past. I'll post those now. These are all very low poly, but I'd prefer to update their models as well if I were to put them ingame. Additionally, his skins rely heavily on 3ds max material settings and a color correction plugin which of course would not work for sc2.
Gahennas Dreadnaught Hero-type Flagship 12k poly iirc The Tiamat, a universal destruction superweapon under control of the Demon Fleet. The gentleman custom modeled this but again it would need major reworking to fit into the game. Oddly enough, without turbosmooth it isn't actually that high poly, and could easily be optimized into a very low range <20k. Onslaught Crusader, another Demon Fleet flagship. Has a special ability called The Grand End of Time. Orbital platforms fire Hellfire beams and use psionic impression to protect the host. Can project a Quantum Barrier to become virtually impenetrable to conventional weaponry.
One of the buildings is actually supposed to fly around the air while you are on it, defending it from attacks and such. I think that is well outside the scope of the engine though. It sounds like my citadels and such are also outside the scope of the engine as the complexity involved in simple bridges would be compounded a hundred fold by my map-sized cathedrals and towers. If that's possible, I don't know. I'd rather have just made a single gigantic model, imported it, then built the rest of the map geometry around the model instead of cutting the building into a thousand different pieces and placing pathing blockers every two inches. Something tells me I'd hit a doodad limit long before I ever got it done.
This method could potentially be used for single level stuff though. Just... not sure how it'd handle something on the scale I'm thinking of.
This is really promising. A ui like that NiN's importer has that allows manual selection of meshes and animations to use would be great. Perhaps something that lists the existing animations of the m2, and allows you to rename them on a per-animation basis and import those. For example, I'd want to use the FlyingGrab animation and then the typical flying melee animation of the NorthrendDragon for its melee attack, and the FlyingSpit or somesuch for its spell animation. While in other instances you'd want to the surface variants of those.
Another thing. Maybe I'm just stupid, but since it names every texture ChangeableTexture, would not importing multiple m3s converted through this method overwrite old textures?
0
@BuuGhost: Go
Fraps is the best recorder there is, but you need to re-encode the videos. The question is if you have the patience to make high-quality videos or if you are willing to make lower quality videos faster.
And yeah you'll need HD space. I have a 1.5 terabyte drive dedicated to fraps alone. Video editing is a demanding business... and re-encoding is very slow on old computers.
0
Total silence suggests one of two things;
1 - This is totally impossible.
2 - The answer is so horribly and painfully obvious that everyone is too busy giggling at me to enlighten me.
In either case I'm screwed.
0
@rbeal74: Go
The Actor will be pointing to a model entry in "Models" in the data editor, not directly to an actual model. There's a value there, within an entry in that tab, that you want to change to point to your new m3.
Here's what mine looks like...
So the exact process I went to make a new Zealot that uses the Rockflayer graphic is to duplicate the Zealot with all necessary entries, including his normal and death models, and then go through the entries to that new Zealot Copy and then change his m3 reference to the rockflayer one.
http://a.imageshack.us/img541/630/23034831.jpg
I can be more specific if necessary. :)
0
@chuanhsing: Go
I'm afraid I'm not a programmer so I can't directly help you, or I would. :(
Anyways, for the animation menu for renaming, what I'd envision is to basically take what you've already got, where it's listing the animations you want. Then you can have a second column beside it where you can set the name they'll be renamed to when exported. Sc2, like wc3, only "recognizes" certain animation names. So in the event of exporting with AttackUnarmed, they do not play in sc2.
So the menu as you have it currently lets you check boxes next to the anims to have them exported. The addition could have a second column directly beside that, which lets you set the name that animation will have when it's converted. You'd just type it in.
Like..
- Stand
- Run
- Walk
- AttackUnarmed - Attack
- Hover - Stand
- Fly - Walk
- SpecialUnarmed - Spell
ect...
I hope I'm clear enough. I can make a really basic mockup in paint if you want. :)
0
@rbeal74: Go
You need to assign a modeldata entry to use his m3.
@joecab: Go
Yes... why wouldn't it be?
0
@chuanhsing: Go
This is wonderful progress! I still think it would be cool if you could rename the animations you have chosen on the export. Otherwise if I say export a dragon with the flying animations I still have to bring it back into 3ds max to rename all of the animations to "stand", "walk", ect. otherwise sc2 won't recognize them.
Also, would it be possible to have the exporter able to select a Normal and Emissive map as well? As I would like to create and apply those to the models which would again require 3ds max to achieve otherwise. (To clarify, you could simply tick two options in the m3 dialogue, and the exporter will simply assign those textures to the material, so the model will look for, in this instance, RedCrystalDragon3_Emissive or somesuch, with the user can then make outside of WMV and import with everything else.)
Keep up the good work, looking forward to future updates.
I can't seem to get the textures to work in the editor but I'm sure it's something stupid I'm overlooking... (/e Nevermind, got them to work... I think (Nevermind, I somehow managed to not copy the mutalisk even though I copied the mutalisk))
And yes I'm on windows 7 64-bit and it works fine.
0
Ok, I threw together an extremely basic piece of composite geometry to try pathing out.
http://a.imageshack.us/img205/3087/aoabirthplatform3.jpg
This can basically be the advanced test bed if we find out this kind of thing is possible or not...
I look forward to copying and pasting particles everywhere, btw.
0
I'll start modeling some arctitecture but I'd be lying if I said I had any experience whatsoever with modeling buildings, let alone citadels/towers/walkways/ramps ect.
Maybe I can find some Greek/Roman buildings to hackjob into this...
/edit
I began modeling some extremely basic low-poly first gen tech architecture. What do you think? Think you can make proper collision for them? Because the real stuff will be a lot more complex...
http://a.imageshack.us/img443/5237/doughaxe.jpg
The small passages will be about big enough for two Thors to stand side-by-side.
0
@xcorbo: Go
That's a start - what did you do, modify the collision sphere or use the terrain object method?
Immediate concerns include walking over ceilings and over ledges. So basically it's what I expected so far - single-level compatability with quirks. Can you think of any way to easily fix those?
0
I don't know what you mean by "mass". These would never be under control of the player and cannot be built. I have already addressed everything else in the post.
0
Gahennas are an upper tier of demon within the Underworld. Acting as The Great Destroyer's captains and admirals, they manage a fleet separate from the traditional Demon Fleet. Although their forces are smaller in number they have direct access to the coveted Hell Forge and an enormous amount of technology. For every evil mind there has ever been across the dimensions of time, they have benefited from its thoughts. Every tyrant, every murderer, every warmonger.
Gahennas warships are built out of a crystalline substance that is heavier than Steel but produces immense regenerative and conductive properties. Their vessels range in size from a few kilometers to several hundred kilometers. Most of their ships predate the battle for Olympus and are considered relatively outdated. The newer ships tend to be more difficult to construct, resulting in fewer number of newer, more advanced warships.
Gahennas ships are runed in crimson words of the Old Order, the tongue of the Gods. They can unseal these runes to temporarily access supernatural powers.
In-game Mechanics and modeling notes
Traditionally, larger Gahennas ships would only appear in very few number. A Battlecruiser would be around the size of the screen, and prevent air units from clipping into it. As a result, Gahennas ships are intended to be very high detail. While most individuals are terrified of putting anything higher than 5k polies into the game I have been experimenting with ten times that for quite a time in a variety of engines.
I build a high-detail mesh with the intention that, one day in the distant future, I'd find someone able to UVW and texture them. This individual could then take the high-detail mesh, most notably the Greeble, and create a high-detail normal map out of them and yield a significantly lower poly model.
That said I am fully prepared to put 200k poly meshes into the game. What bothers me is not the performance of polies, because polies don't impact performance nearly like they used to in 2001 and I have a very powerful machine, but rather how I'd go about rigging the turrets. Several ships, both modeled and in concept, have a large number of turrets and it does not appear that sc2 supports pitch rotation on turrets or multi-component turrets. In fact, I have no idea how sc2 even tells what weapons use turrets, or how turrets even are accessed for movement purposes! The time investment and method behind turrets is my only concern with these models.
Of course if it turns out the polycounts end up effecting the game in ways I didn't predict (wc3 had a weird vertex limit I never ran into normally, but if you played Don't Move The Panda you'd hit it eventually) I'll have to compensate which I am prepared to do if necessary. I doubt that will be the case, though.
All models and gameplay concepts are for private campaign concepts and would not be published or released.
Starscourge Drone
Polycount: 604 quad
Deployed in large numbers by a variety of Gahennas warships, the Starscourge drone is a small two-hundred meter automated vessel equipped with a Phazon bolter. This weapon deals significant damage to targets of all manners. It produces an anti-gravity matrix around its hull, granting it extreme levels of speed and maneuverability. However, Drones typically have a minimal engagement range from their host before they suffer a power drain.
Crusader-class Frigate + core component hull
Polycount: 1.5k quads (frigate)
Armed with Phazon beam weaponry, these 5km frigates engage at moderate and close ranges, sweeping targets with searing, hellish thermal blades. They will also have point defense weaponry that target fighters and subsystems. A direct impact from the ship's special ability, a Phazon pulse, will destroy a Terran BC in one hit without defensive matrix. The beams will do an estimated 25-30dps to atmospheric/space targets and 200-300dps to surface targets. The Frigates are Deep Jump capable and carry compliments of fighters and shield drones.
I created the Frigate model by using Symmetry on the Starscourge drone. The core component hull will be used for another ship later down the line, and was extracted from a moderately updated variant of the Carrier using symmetry as well.
The Frigate will be updated further with small guns and detailing sometime in the future.
Eradicator
Polycount: 1.5k, unupdated
Eradicators are new-generation 20km destroyers that focus on single-target damage. They fire Hellfire lightning from their wings which collect along the front of their forward driver. This can produce either a series of rapid pulses that do large burst damage or a short-lived beam that slices through enemy targets in a sweep. The vessel is also armed with gravitic pulse launchers that impact enemy ships with waves of kinetic force that decompresses their hull and damages internal components. They are exceedingly difficult to harm as their crystal composition has been modified for improved regeneration properties. However, they possess no shields. They make up for this added weakness through high mobility.
This is an old model from 2008. My first model in 3ds max (I used Maya previously). I'll update it after the Carrier.
Gahennas Battlecruiser, Meteor Hammer type
Polycount: 75k quad
Essentially "cannon fodder" for the Gahennas fleet, these 80km monsters were used to engage artifacts forged by the Gods in the battle for Olympus. Most of their weapons are oriented around engaging objects of large scale, but they possess a sufficient number of smaller weapons (Most I can't model due to my entry-level modeling skills) for engaging smaller targets.
Gahennas ships are runed in words of the tongue of the Gods, which can be used to unlock supernatural powers that bolster their existing powers significantly.
Gahennas ships are black, intensely runed in the tongue of the Gods and the tongues of the Underworld. They bear the Bladed Claws of Cerberus, a symbol and banner representing a lesser tier of the Gahennas sect. The ship is commanded by a crew of twelve that oversee operations in an enormous throne room. All Gahennas have fed upon the soul well of tyrants, warmongers, traitors and other figures involved in war crimes of some form. They bear the knowledge of all past military engagements between mortals that resulted in the loss of life. Although brilliant, Gahennas of these castes are often needlessly aggressive.
Operational specs
Gahennas Battlecruisers produce limited propulsion power, relying largely on their massive jump drives to assist them in achieving desired firing angles and advantageous positions throughout the battlefield. A Gahennas Battlecruiser is capable of jumping every thirty seconds, ten seconds when its seals are unlocked. They only jump this often when engaging dangerous opponents, otherwise simply allowing their shields to soak up attacks from aggressors (especially small ones). Their technology is considered fairly outdated by current standards, but their brute power is more than a match for most mortal fleets on their lonesome.
The interior of the Battlecruiser is much like those of other Gahennas ships - entirely comprised of Hellfire crystal. They are highly regenerative and are capable of producing a vast amount of energy when they self-destruct or are heavily damaged. The engine output offers little maneuverability but strong acceleration. They maneuver through space folding (when unlocked) or Hellfire particle emissions, granting them the ability to create and manipulate gravity waves.
Defensive features include a maddening psionic aura that manifests from their direct link to the underworld. This will overthrow the conscious thoughts of individuals within a billion kilometers and have significant subconscious effects in the range of an entire star system. The spirits of the damned are in particular adept at creating hallucinations, visual and auditory, that disrupt the functions of mortals. At close range the spirits can physically manipulate the world around them, such as shutting down brain activity completely, opening small gateways for lesser demons to emerge from (inside ships, planets, ect.) or completely overthrowing entire fleets and turning them against each other.
The ship's shielding is described as impressive but not overly powerful in comparison to the Quantum barrier fielded by the Dreadnaught and other, more specialized classes. The Battlecruiser invests more heavily into weaponry and its jump drive. However, its armor is notoriously hard to damage with energy weaponry of any nature. It is reactive to kinetic energy, but fragments when the reactivity is exceeded, opening weak points for future attacks before they regenerate.
This vessel features factories for multiple types of drones, averaging a kilometer in size each. They range from defense-oriented machines that intercept light-speed projectiles to inhibitor drones that disrupt electric and psionic activity in enemy vessels, making them easy prey for point defense.
Demons also have this lovely tendency to drive their vessels into those belonging to other fleets. Their drones are no exception to this methodology.
Offensive specs
The Gahennas Battlecruiser is equipped with a stellar-ranged Meteor Hammer cannon that fires a Hellfire shard - a crystalline object - at low speeds. The shard accelerates exponentially as it travels until it partially enters subspace, parting the ether of space with a preceding psionic wave that makes it relatively easy to detect. This crystal does not explode on impact, but ruptures subspace enough to release large amounts of Hellfire particles that can be used for any number of devious purposes by third parties; usually other demons. The heat and radiation released is fatal to most defenses and should be avoided.
Secondary weapons include two sets of revolving Chains of Cerberus Hellfire-based beam weapons that produce overlacing waves of psionic energy as they fire. These frontal-arc weapons are vastly ineffective against small targets but can completely immobilize anything they hit. They were pivotal in effectiveness against weapons forged by the Gods.
The vessels sports two Hellcrack lightning cannons that are empowered by the storms of Hell. They channel a current across their primary target into nearby secondary targets. This current is amplified by the presence of Hellfire particles, which are generated by a number of means including its contact with matter - even that of allied ships. The current exists for a split second before reacting, a reaction that is exponentially intensified by aforementioned factors. This reaction rips apart molecules through a release of psionic energy and splits the remaining atoms it reacts with. The platforms containing these weapons are controlled through psionic energy and can move around the vicinity of the main hull. Incidentally, they can also ram targets within this range. Delightful!
To engage opponents in a moderate range the vessel has a number of Soulsplitter torpedo launchers. Each launcher has twelve drivers for standard Soulsplitters and a primary driver for Greater Soulsplitters. These glowing spectres will hunt ships for an extreme distance once they have locked onto their soul energy, thus their name. Once in close distance the torpedoes will split into a dozen new projectiles and impact with terrifying force.
For closer engagements the ship is equipped with Talons of Cerberus 6x beam cannons that sweep space with grievous claws of crimson flame. The ship has multiple Lava Knuckle pulse-beam turrets that fire thermal lances to cut through stragglers.
For even closer engagements the ship holds multiple hangars of specialized Gahennas fighters and bombers as well as a multitude of generic point defense weaponry.
Engagements
Gahennas Battlecruisers are considered fairly weak in overall engagement capabilities within the Gahennas Fleet as they lack a dimensional core as well as "God powers" outside of their seals. However, they were produced in large numbers and make excellent general combat units. The powers unlocked by their seals are not completely understood.
The presence of a Gahennas ship encourages lesser demons to fight harder and will attract hordes of smaller ships immediately upon its arrival.
Notes
Due to geometry instancing the presence of multiple Battlecruisers would have virtually the same impact as one (Tested with 68k (according to max) Hyperion cinematic model inside editor, over 3 dozen of these did not drop my fps). However, what concerns me about these is my less than favorable tests of splitting missiles. 26 vikings shooting one missile each that splits into 12 shortly before impact causes a very noticeable performance loss. I can compensate for this by having the torpedo batteries fired in staggered volleys to prevent CPU munching. Despite this I would probably have no more than 5-6 Battlecruisers active at any given time, for they would be serious performance killers with all of their bells and whistles combined (drones, fighters, effects).
However, the lack of vertically turning turrets means that Lava Knuckle cannons would not be able to target surface targets without looking really weird. Same with the beam cannons.
I suspect by turning Greeble into normal map you could reduce this model to <20k quads.
Gahennas Carrier - UNFINISHED
Polycount: 5k
This is the unfinished update to another 2008 model, the Astral Carrier. At 120km in length, these ships are beasts used to assault entire dimensions of mortal civilizations. A single Carrier could match and defeat the entire Protoss military force at their peak. It performs these feats by constructing ships like the Crusader-class at very fast rates, and deploys hordes of strike craft and various drone types. When it unlocks its runes it can externally construct ships as large as the Eradicator.
Carriers are equipped with Dimensional Drives, which allow them to pierce the boundaries of dimensions at will. They are highly advanced, highly difficult ships to build, and the loss of even one hurts the Gahennas greatly. Thus, Carriers are more likely to disengage rather than risk severe damage. They can provide jump points for their escorts or constructed vessels, and act as beacons for lesser demons to flock to. Their armament includes beam and lightning drivers, plus madness-inducing psionics that reach for a significant distance. Even drawing into the same system as one is a great risk.
Notes
The model has a very long way to do, especially design flow with the wings. The model will see a lot of changes and upgrades before it is finished. I expect a final polycount similar to the Battlecruiser, but this ones details won't be so easily turned into normal maps. Due to its hangars, it will always be an intensive unit to put in play, and I might end up limiting the majority of its abilities mechanically to prevent a massive overflow of units while maintaining the epic level of its engagement abilities.
Hero ship concepts
I used Symmetry on the BC and came up with these two concepts for Hero-type ships. These Battleships would be epic vessels, not only as units but as projects to model. Unlike the Crusader I can't just use Symmetry and call it a day - these models would need enormous amounts of editing to make game-ready. For starters their polycounts, especially the right one, are much higher and with weapons would reach unacceptable levels even for me. Rendering times with raytracing on these is absurd. Secondly, adhere to Armageddon and Gahennas mechanics fluff, the right ship would blow itself up in a spectacular overload if it tried to fire its forward guns due to the immense energy channeled by its drivers (the blades/spikes).
What's more likely to happen is I'll merge these two designs and make a single vessel out of them, redesigning the detailed portions from the ground up to significantly reduce polies and allow myself to keep the new weapons relatively detailed.
Their scale would probably remain the same as the Carrier, due to the limitations of the Hell Forge's abilities. Only one demon ship is really any larger than the Carrier, which is the Ark of Nightmares, a Gahennas flagship created by The Great Destroyer himself. Since it was created by a God, and a very powerful God at that, it exceeds the limitations of their construction abilities.
For reference, this is the 2008 model of the Ark of Nightmares. It is the model that will change the most during my updates, and will probably be the last one I try to update due to its immense complexity and level of detail. Because the final model would be so massive and highly detailed I cannot foresee putting it into the game very easily.
Okay, that's enough making your computers sweat in fear for one morning. I cannot UVW or texture, but one guy did texture a few of my models in the past. I'll post those now. These are all very low poly, but I'd prefer to update their models as well if I were to put them ingame. Additionally, his skins rely heavily on 3ds max material settings and a color correction plugin which of course would not work for sc2.
Gahennas Dreadnaught
Hero-type Flagship 12k poly iirc
The Tiamat, a universal destruction superweapon under control of the Demon Fleet. The gentleman custom modeled this but again it would need major reworking to fit into the game. Oddly enough, without turbosmooth it isn't actually that high poly, and could easily be optimized into a very low range <20k.
Onslaught Crusader, another Demon Fleet flagship. Has a special ability called The Grand End of Time. Orbital platforms fire Hellfire beams and use psionic impression to protect the host. Can project a Quantum Barrier to become virtually impenetrable to conventional weaponry.
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@xcorbo: Go
That's the only way I can see doing this.
One of the buildings is actually supposed to fly around the air while you are on it, defending it from attacks and such. I think that is well outside the scope of the engine though. It sounds like my citadels and such are also outside the scope of the engine as the complexity involved in simple bridges would be compounded a hundred fold by my map-sized cathedrals and towers. If that's possible, I don't know. I'd rather have just made a single gigantic model, imported it, then built the rest of the map geometry around the model instead of cutting the building into a thousand different pieces and placing pathing blockers every two inches. Something tells me I'd hit a doodad limit long before I ever got it done.
This method could potentially be used for single level stuff though. Just... not sure how it'd handle something on the scale I'm thinking of.
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I see. And you are able to walk on other units?
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Any guesses? Anyone?
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This is really promising. A ui like that NiN's importer has that allows manual selection of meshes and animations to use would be great. Perhaps something that lists the existing animations of the m2, and allows you to rename them on a per-animation basis and import those. For example, I'd want to use the FlyingGrab animation and then the typical flying melee animation of the NorthrendDragon for its melee attack, and the FlyingSpit or somesuch for its spell animation. While in other instances you'd want to the surface variants of those.
Another thing. Maybe I'm just stupid, but since it names every texture ChangeableTexture, would not importing multiple m3s converted through this method overwrite old textures?