1.5 Watcher Model Competition!

Mordengaard · 5th Mar 2005, 12:15 PM

Okay, first a bit of background.
A long time ago, in a computer far far away, someone created the model that survived all the way to Thievery 1.4 (somehow). Battered, bruised, and rusting badly from all the water arrows, the model has squeaked it's last alertness noise, and become corrupted in the 1.5 package. Attempts to resurrect the model have failed, so it's time to get ourselves a new one. For various reasons, it has been decided that YOU, the wonderful community of dedicated Black Cat gamers, should be the source for this replacement, and so, this competition

If that was too dense for you (or vice versa), we need a new watcher model for TUT. This must be in keeping with the Thief/Thievery universe (victorian/edwardian steampunk) but NOT a clone of the original from Thief. Also, thanks to the limitations of the UT engine, no million poly models please

Also bear in mind that this model will replace all the watchers in TUT, so it needs to -fit- and work in a similar manner.

Submissions can be skinned or unskinned, put together a render of the model and post it here.

Firetiger · 5th Mar 2005, 12:36 PM

So your saying it shouldn't be the classic human face like it is now?

ZTx3 · 5th Mar 2005, 12:50 PM

Might be worth pointing out some free modeling programs,tutorials and resources for Unreal modeling

Cythe · 5th Mar 2005, 05:55 PM

It might also be a good idea to make it look similar to the whistler model.

Either that, or something totally different.

I might contradict myself, but at least I don't contradict myself.

Røé · 6th Mar 2005, 04:23 AM

Yeah.. cool idea because I don't like the actual watcher models.
Too bad I haven't any skills in modelling

Hybrid · 6th Mar 2005, 05:01 AM

A concept sketch of the new W-5000 steam-powered watcher. It's not a perfect sketch, but it's an idea.

This new piece of electronics, manufactured by SynTek, uses a self-contained steam-powered generator to power 2 high-voltage incandescent lamps, along with optional support to rotate the watcher's view on a horizontal axis, and alarm system. The steam-powered generator has a 1-year lifespan (optional warranty), is waterproof, shatterproof, and can run nonstop indefinitely without overheating. It is top of the line in security systems during this time of heightened crime, buy one today - it doesn't cost you money, it saves you money.

Modelling and skinning are in the works. I'll keep everyone updated.

Dalai · 6th Mar 2005, 09:07 AM

Milkshape3D can export files in a format Unreal can handle and has a free trial:

http://www.swissquake.ch/chumbalum-s.../download.html

Thief13x · 6th Mar 2005, 09:29 PM

I would like to see somthing like this....or

SpamSlayer · 6th Mar 2005, 09:35 PM

I like that also, lol, or what Salsa posted.

Thanks for link Dalai

Now I just gotta think of a good shape. I'm thinking what ever comes out will be much different from the current models.

*Goes to look at "old" inventions*

modetwo · 6th Mar 2005, 10:50 PM

It's okay to be funny, but keep in mind that this is a real competition.

Alpha-Omega · 7th Mar 2005, 04:35 PM

Can the model be animated?

Mordengaard · 7th Mar 2005, 04:53 PM

Originally Posted by Alpha-Omega:

Can the model be animated?

Good question. I would say yes - a series of animations for the various states of the watcher (alert, searching, alarm, splashed) along with a static "dead" pose (for being inactive) are all possible - I'd say you'd need at least two if you were going for this - active and inactive, the rest being optional. Leave rotation of the head to the existing actor code however.

SpamSlayer · 7th Mar 2005, 06:18 PM

Originally Posted by mOdEtWo:

It's okay to be funny, but keep in mind that this is a real competition.

Hmm...you say real competition...

I'm have hope to win yet! unless oDDityX, Cythe, Mordengaard, Neopendragon, or one of them smart talented mappers or modelers decides to do something

Question:
Can it be made in UED 3.0 as a map? Because I can make some really nice stuff in UED that I can't make in some modeling program ^_^

Well good luck to all that are doing work on this.

Radamanthus · 7th Mar 2005, 07:46 PM

WEll, you could create it as a brush or mesh in Ued3 and them export it to a file that UED 2 can read. I believe that the .U3D brushes are compatible wiht both editors

Alpha-Omega · 8th Mar 2005, 01:19 AM

I hav one mor kestion, do you want to keep the watcher in a static location? If not I may have it tilt downwards and fall a bit when it goes offline. Having it move though might mess with some maps that have watchers in a very boxed in location.

Mordengaard · 8th Mar 2005, 04:01 AM

Originally Posted by Alpha-Omega:

I hav one mor kestion, do you want to keep the watcher in a static location? If not I may have it tilt downwards and fall a bit when it goes offline. Having it move though might mess with some maps that have watchers in a very boxed in location.

Ideally the dimensions of the watcher shouldn't change too much, so I'd say 'yes' to a static location, but a small amount of movement is acceptable, if you want to have the watcher "slump" when it's disabled.

DeepQantas · 8th Mar 2005, 06:56 PM

Here are some pictures of the old watcher model:
http://koti.phnet.fi/paa3sa/watcher/

It seems to me it's just one static object (no bones or animations) that just rotates. And of course, if you make a good model, the size can always be tweaked to make it fit (as long as the proportions are OK), so no worries there.

Oh, and I do believe a skin is a definite bonus.

Mordengaard · 9th Mar 2005, 04:12 AM

Heh, nice - the last three shots are from Th-Airship - SNEAK PREVIEW PEOPLE! :p

Dalai · 9th Mar 2005, 06:52 AM

Yeah, don't move it much at all, the animation should stay inside its collision cylinder.

Alpha-Omega · 13th Mar 2005, 01:17 AM

Well this thread seems to have gone pretty quiet so I figured I'd post some pics of my progress so far.

The backside of the watcher is hollow so I plan to add a lot of animated gears and machine stuffs.

Hmm, I just realized that I can't have the watcher attatched to the ceiling by a holder from the rear; if the model is going to rotate from the center then it should attach to the ceiling from there too. In that case I will probably rerout a few of those eye camera wires to an attatchment at the top of the head.

Anyhoo, that's about 3 or so hours of work. Comments, crits?

Decompiler · 13th Mar 2005, 01:25 AM

The idea of a very 'human' looking device seems to fit the style of thievery. Should it have a mouth for the alarm?

DeepQantas · 13th Mar 2005, 02:13 AM

That's your call.

Alpha-O:
That's looking pretty nifty. Those thin wires look a bit dangerous to me, tho.

Can you mold those to the... uhh... as sort of bumps on the seams of the actual head polygons?

As for the ceiling attachment... you could still put a lump of machinery behind the head part so it's sort of balanced. And in any case, you can certainly define where the actual center of the model is.

Dalai · 13th Mar 2005, 10:02 AM

I like the long face.

Røé · 13th Mar 2005, 10:48 AM

it looks like a mask of a icehockey-goalie.
(But I like it.. the wires should be red or something so that it doesn't look too similar to the actual watcher)

modetwo · 13th Mar 2005, 11:23 AM

Aye, quite nice Alpha!

Nachimir · 13th Mar 2005, 11:33 AM

Yeah, the long face makes it look very sour. Cool

modetwo · 13th Mar 2005, 11:35 AM

Hey, why the long face?

Bwahahaha.

MortalMonkey · 13th Mar 2005, 11:39 AM

It's nice, but not quite... original, if you know what I mean

Here's a quick alternative concept if anyone's interested:

Hybrid · 13th Mar 2005, 12:19 PM

Mine's better, it has spotlights

okih-imus · 13th Mar 2005, 01:24 PM

All he did was modify a picture of John Kerry!

5th Mar 2005, 12:15 PM	#1
Mordengaard Member Registered: May 2002 Location: Flying high in the Airship.	1.5 Watcher Model Competition! Okay, first a bit of background. A long time ago, in a computer far far away, someone created the model that survived all the way to Thievery 1.4 (somehow). Battered, bruised, and rusting badly from all the water arrows, the model has squeaked it's last alertness noise, and become corrupted in the 1.5 package. Attempts to resurrect the model have failed, so it's time to get ourselves a new one. For various reasons, it has been decided that YOU, the wonderful community of dedicated Black Cat gamers, should be the source for this replacement, and so, this competition If that was too dense for you (or vice versa), we need a new watcher model for TUT. This must be in keeping with the Thief/Thievery universe (victorian/edwardian steampunk) but NOT a clone of the original from Thief. Also, thanks to the limitations of the UT engine, no million poly models please Also bear in mind that this model will replace all the watchers in TUT, so it needs to -fit- and work in a similar manner. Submissions can be skinned or unskinned, put together a render of the model and post it here. __________________ Mordengaard - Tester/Mapper/Voice Actor/Nitpick/Coder "Criminal: A person with predatory instincts who has not sufficient capital to form a corporation." :: Howard Scott

5th Mar 2005, 12:36 PM	#2
Firetiger Member Registered: Jun 2003 Location: Above your head moving at high speed.	So your saying it shouldn't be the classic human face like it is now? __________________ <-- Resident Nightblade suggestion attorney...

5th Mar 2005, 12:50 PM	#3
ZTx3 Member Registered: Jan 2003 Location: Vancouver,BC,Canada	Might be worth pointing out some free modeling programs,tutorials and resources for Unreal modeling __________________ ZT Aka Trunks0,TrunksOfSuffering

5th Mar 2005, 05:55 PM	#4
Cythe Developer Registered: May 2002	It might also be a good idea to make it look similar to the whistler model. Either that, or something totally different. I might contradict myself, but at least I don't contradict myself. __________________ Black Cat Games ThieveryUT Al i en Swarm

6th Mar 2005, 04:23 AM	#5
Røé Member Registered: Dec 2003 Location: In shadow's land with gold in my hand	Yeah.. cool idea because I don't like the actual watcher models. Too bad I haven't any skills in modelling __________________ ViaNox°røé faweron

6th Mar 2005, 05:01 AM	#6
Hybrid Member Registered: Jan 2003 Location: Jan 2003	A concept sketch of the new W-5000 steam-powered watcher. It's not a perfect sketch, but it's an idea. This new piece of electronics, manufactured by SynTek, uses a self-contained steam-powered generator to power 2 high-voltage incandescent lamps, along with optional support to rotate the watcher's view on a horizontal axis, and alarm system. The steam-powered generator has a 1-year lifespan (optional warranty), is waterproof, shatterproof, and can run nonstop indefinitely without overheating. It is top of the line in security systems during this time of heightened crime, buy one today - it doesn't cost you money, it saves you money. Modelling and skinning are in the works. I'll keep everyone updated. __________________ "Female Announcer": "Failure to complete this task in 60 seconds may result in elimination." Studio Audience: Uproarious cheering -Minute to Win It

6th Mar 2005, 09:07 AM	#7
Dalai Project Lead Registered: May 2002	Milkshape3D can export files in a format Unreal can handle and has a free trial: http://www.swissquake.ch/chumbalum-s.../download.html

6th Mar 2005, 09:29 PM	#8
Thief13x Member Registered: Jan 2003 Location: Florida Institute of Technology	I would like to see somthing like this....or __________________ "It is truly a shame that the guards must be kept from the very tools of thier proffesion, but such blatant misuse of gas arrows cannot be tolerated. Alas, that poor burrick..."

6th Mar 2005, 09:35 PM	#9
SpamSlayer Member Registered: Sep 2003 Location: Georgia, United States	I like that also, lol, or what Salsa posted. Thanks for link Dalai Now I just gotta think of a good shape. I'm thinking what ever comes out will be much different from the current models. Goes to look at "old" inventions __________________ SSSSSPPPPPAAAAAMMMMM 44444 EEEEEVVVVVEEEEEAAAAA!!!!!

6th Mar 2005, 10:50 PM	#10
modetwo Webmaster Registered: Jan 2003 Location: .no	It's okay to be funny, but keep in mind that this is a real competition.

7th Mar 2005, 04:35 PM	#11
Alpha-Omega Member Registered: Jan 2003	Can the model be animated?

7th Mar 2005, 04:53 PM	#12
Mordengaard Member Registered: May 2002 Location: Flying high in the Airship.	Originally Posted by Alpha-Omega: Can the model be animated? Good question. I would say yes - a series of animations for the various states of the watcher (alert, searching, alarm, splashed) along with a static "dead" pose (for being inactive) are all possible - I'd say you'd need at least two if you were going for this - active and inactive, the rest being optional. Leave rotation of the head to the existing actor code however. __________________ Mordengaard - Tester/Mapper/Voice Actor/Nitpick/Coder "Criminal: A person with predatory instincts who has not sufficient capital to form a corporation." :: Howard Scott

7th Mar 2005, 06:18 PM	#13
SpamSlayer Member Registered: Sep 2003 Location: Georgia, United States	Originally Posted by mOdEtWo: It's okay to be funny, but keep in mind that this is a real competition. Hmm...you say real competition... I'm have hope to win yet! unless oDDityX, Cythe, Mordengaard, Neopendragon, or one of them smart talented mappers or modelers decides to do something Question: Can it be made in UED 3.0 as a map? Because I can make some really nice stuff in UED that I can't make in some modeling program ^_^ Well good luck to all that are doing work on this. __________________ SSSSSPPPPPAAAAAMMMMM 44444 EEEEEVVVVVEEEEEAAAAA!!!!!

7th Mar 2005, 07:46 PM	#14
Radamanthus Member Registered: Jan 2003 Location: Playing with his blades.	WEll, you could create it as a brush or mesh in Ued3 and them export it to a file that UED 2 can read. I believe that the .U3D brushes are compatible wiht both editors __________________ "Just off the border of your waking mind there lies another time, where darkness and light are one. As you tread the halls of sanity, you feel so glad to be unable to go beyond. I have a message from another time."

8th Mar 2005, 01:19 AM	#15
Alpha-Omega Member Registered: Jan 2003	I hav one mor kestion, do you want to keep the watcher in a static location? If not I may have it tilt downwards and fall a bit when it goes offline. Having it move though might mess with some maps that have watchers in a very boxed in location.

8th Mar 2005, 04:01 AM	#16
Mordengaard Member Registered: May 2002 Location: Flying high in the Airship.	Originally Posted by Alpha-Omega: I hav one mor kestion, do you want to keep the watcher in a static location? If not I may have it tilt downwards and fall a bit when it goes offline. Having it move though might mess with some maps that have watchers in a very boxed in location. Ideally the dimensions of the watcher shouldn't change too much, so I'd say 'yes' to a static location, but a small amount of movement is acceptable, if you want to have the watcher "slump" when it's disabled. __________________ Mordengaard - Tester/Mapper/Voice Actor/Nitpick/Coder "Criminal: A person with predatory instincts who has not sufficient capital to form a corporation." :: Howard Scott

8th Mar 2005, 06:56 PM	#17
DeepQantas Tester Registered: Jun 2002 Location: Tampere, nääs	Here are some pictures of the old watcher model: http://koti.phnet.fi/paa3sa/watcher/ It seems to me it's just one static object (no bones or animations) that just rotates. And of course, if you make a good model, the size can always be tweaked to make it fit (as long as the proportions are OK), so no worries there. Oh, and I do believe a skin is a definite bonus. __________________ Free Baltar!

9th Mar 2005, 04:12 AM	#18
Mordengaard Member Registered: May 2002 Location: Flying high in the Airship.	Heh, nice - the last three shots are from Th-Airship - SNEAK PREVIEW PEOPLE! :p __________________ Mordengaard - Tester/Mapper/Voice Actor/Nitpick/Coder "Criminal: A person with predatory instincts who has not sufficient capital to form a corporation." :: Howard Scott

9th Mar 2005, 06:52 AM	#19
Dalai Project Lead Registered: May 2002	Yeah, don't move it much at all, the animation should stay inside its collision cylinder.

13th Mar 2005, 01:17 AM	#20
Alpha-Omega Member Registered: Jan 2003	Well this thread seems to have gone pretty quiet so I figured I'd post some pics of my progress so far. The backside of the watcher is hollow so I plan to add a lot of animated gears and machine stuffs. Hmm, I just realized that I can't have the watcher attatched to the ceiling by a holder from the rear; if the model is going to rotate from the center then it should attach to the ceiling from there too. In that case I will probably rerout a few of those eye camera wires to an attatchment at the top of the head. Anyhoo, that's about 3 or so hours of work. Comments, crits?

13th Mar 2005, 01:25 AM	#21
Decompiler Member Registered: Apr 2004 Location: Measuring the Great Southern Land	The idea of a very 'human' looking device seems to fit the style of thievery. Should it have a mouth for the alarm? __________________ Conformity is the refuge of the unimaginative, the dull and the stupid The internet based realm of Decompiler

13th Mar 2005, 02:13 AM	#22
DeepQantas Tester Registered: Jun 2002 Location: Tampere, nääs	That's your call. Alpha-O: That's looking pretty nifty. Those thin wires look a bit dangerous to me, tho. Can you mold those to the... uhh... as sort of bumps on the seams of the actual head polygons? As for the ceiling attachment... you could still put a lump of machinery behind the head part so it's sort of balanced. And in any case, you can certainly define where the actual center of the model is. __________________ Free Baltar!

13th Mar 2005, 10:02 AM	#23
Dalai Project Lead Registered: May 2002	I like the long face.

13th Mar 2005, 10:48 AM	#24
Røé Member Registered: Dec 2003 Location: In shadow's land with gold in my hand	it looks like a mask of a icehockey-goalie. (But I like it.. the wires should be red or something so that it doesn't look too similar to the actual watcher) __________________ ViaNox°røé faweron

13th Mar 2005, 11:23 AM	#25
modetwo Webmaster Registered: Jan 2003 Location: .no	Aye, quite nice Alpha!

13th Mar 2005, 11:33 AM	#26
Nachimir Moderator Registered: Jan 2003 Location: UK	Yeah, the long face makes it look very sour. Cool

13th Mar 2005, 11:35 AM	#27
modetwo Webmaster Registered: Jan 2003 Location: .no	Hey, why the long face? Bwahahaha.

13th Mar 2005, 11:39 AM	#28
MortalMonkey Member Registered: Mar 2003 Location: A + Normal( B - A ) * ((( B - A ) dot ( P - A )) / VSize( A - B ))	It's nice, but not quite... original, if you know what I mean Here's a quick alternative concept if anyone's interested: __________________ ]V[]V[

13th Mar 2005, 12:19 PM	#29
Hybrid Member Registered: Jan 2003 Location: Jan 2003	Mine's better, it has spotlights __________________ "Female Announcer": "Failure to complete this task in 60 seconds may result in elimination." Studio Audience: Uproarious cheering -Minute to Win It

13th Mar 2005, 01:24 PM	#30
okih-imus Member Registered: Sep 2003 Location: I DID beat Thievery! YEAH! (confirmed by dragon)	All he did was modify a picture of John Kerry!

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