(semi-desperate) Creature requests!

[Legacy_Bluebomber4evr]

                Hi all, longtime NWN player, also a developer and DM over at www.nwnravenloft.com/ , making a request for some creature models. As you all know, there are quite a few creatures, mundane and otherwise, that have either never been made into NWN creatures, or have been made but very poorly. It was my hope that the Custom Content Challenge would get these creatures made, but this did not come to pass.

Since I have no 3D modeling skills, I'm throwing dignity to the wind here and more or less begging you talented folks for some creature models here. While I have an ulterior motive in wanting to use them in Ravenloft: Prisoners of the Mist and some single-player modules I have planned (and these would be fully credited to whomever decides to make these), these would also benefit the community as a whole since these creatures have never been made or made well.

Okay, now that my pitiable begging is out of the way, here are my top 5 "most wanted" creature models:

1. Rabbits! Yes, I know Firehazurd made rabbit models way back and these are in the CEP, but they're not very good. They look like cartoon Easter bunnies, have low-res textures, and jerky animations. I'd like some realistic rabbits for NWN for once! '>

2. Porcupines. Not exactly a commonly requested animal, but it would be nice to have them and I've never seen it attempted.

3. Hippopotamus. Yes, there's one in the CEP, but it is terrible. I'd like to see one properly done in NWN, preferably that opens its mouth when it attacks! 

4. Elephants. Another creature that is in the CEP but also terrible. Prehistoric variants (mastodon and woolly mammoth) would be nice but totally optional.

5. Giraffes. Not a commonly requested creature, but I'll confess, they're a favorite of mine. There's one in the CEP but it's not very good -- it's a stretched-out deer with bad textures. <>

I won't flood this topic with pages of creatures, especially because I'm sure most of you are very busy with projects of your own. But anyone who wishes to tackle this would get full credit in anything I use them in, as well as my eternal, undying appreciation. :innocent:

Well anyway, thanks for reading this. So what do you say? Any takers? 
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Mecheon]

               Surprisingly, there is a porcupine model out there. I think its even in the CEP as an untextured model

I just so happen to have the texture. Mind, it isn't a great texture

As for rabbits, Paganini's Hares are based off that same base model but with a less cartoonish texture. Same animations though
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Rolo Kipp]

               <hopping mad...>

And then there's


(click image to see the thread)

My little rabbit conversion, still very much a WIP. I have re-worked some of the anims, but am not really satisfied. Need to be re-modelled with skin and bones, really...

<...as in 'insane'>
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Rolo Kipp, 08 décembre 2013 - 03:21 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Stylesetter]

               And maybe nr. 6 goes for remorhaz ? '>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_henesua]

               ooo. i didn't know about paganini's rabbits... very nice since we are using those as familiars. With Rolo's work I think we've got that critter covered.

We need those Baba Frogs animated now. '>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Bluebomber4evr]

               

Mecheon wrote...

Surprisingly, there is a porcupine model out there. I think its even in the CEP as an untextured model

I just so happen to have the texture. Mind, it isn't a great texture

As for rabbits, Paganini's Hares are based off that same base model but with a less cartoonish texture. Same animations though

I didn't know about paganini's hares, and it looks like the reason why is that it was misfiled as NWN2 content. 

The picture he provided shows them on all fours, which is what I'd like. Are they really the same animations? He says it's a custom animation. I guess I'll have to check it out.

Is the porcupine you mention one of hydromancer's creations?
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Bluebomber4evr]

               Okay, tried out Paganini's hares. You're right, Mecheon, they still use the same animations as Firehazurd's rabbits, but they seem to be cleaned up a little.

I like what you did with the textures on your rabbits, Rolo!
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Rolo Kipp]

               <thinks fondly of...>

Made the nose twitch, too :-)
But it's still in dire need of remodeling ;-/

<...a certain bewitching bunny>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Bluebomber4evr]

               

Rolo Kipp wrote...

<thinks fondly of...>

Made the nose twitch, too :-)
But it's still in dire need of remodeling ;-/

<...a certain bewitching bunny>

Have you looked at Paganini's hares that Mecheon linked to? Their animations are based on the same ones Firehazurd created but with a few fixes.

I think one thing that might help is to abandon the resting pose where the rabbit sits up on its hind legs and instead make it stay on all fours. Maybe make the rest pose a modification of its combat animations? This would make it look more natural and eliminate the twitchy-foot problem as well as eliminating the need to for "in between" animations that it currently lacks as it goes from four legs to two legs.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Mecheon]

               Porcupine isn't one of Hydromancers actually, it comes from the CCP

Might be in CEP 2.3. Lemme know if you want to see the skin, but personally I reckon a better one could be made from the badger
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Kendaric Varkellen]

               

Rolo Kipp wrote...

<thinks fondly of...>

Made the nose twitch, too :-)
But it's still in dire need of remodeling ;-/

<...a certain bewitching bunny>

It's mostly the ears that need to be shortened a bit. Alternatively... has someone attempted to work on a rabbit based on the NWN 2 one?
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Invisig0th]

               There is a nice elephant in Draygoth's Mounts pack. I suspect the latest version would be found here:
http://social.biowar...m/project/8485/

It has a blanket and saddle, but I suspect if you asked nicely those could be removed without too much trouble.

(Personally, I would love to see most (if not all) of the creatures in that pack releaseed both with and without saddles. I reallize that is contary to the idea of them being "mounts", but these creatures are far too awesome to only be available with saddles versus more general use as creature models.)
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Invisig0th, 10 décembre 2013 - 04:12 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Bluebomber4evr]

               

Invisig0th wrote...

There is a nice elephant in Draygoth's Mounts pack. I suspect the latest version would be found here:
http://social.biowar...m/project/8485/

It has a blanket and saddle, but I suspect if you asked nicely those could be removed without too much trouble.

(Personally, I would love to see most (if not all) of the creatures in that pack releaseed both with and without saddles. I reallize that is contary to the idea of them being "mounts", but these creatures are far too awesome to only be available with saddles versus more general use as creature models.)

Yeah, I saw that, but it looks a little to World-of-Warcraft-y for me. I know Draygoth made a better elephant but I think he's only making it available as part of Project Q and I would prefer to have an individual download.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Bluebomber4evr]

               

Mecheon wrote...

Porcupine isn't one of Hydromancers actually, it comes from the CCP

Might be in CEP 2.3. Lemme know if you want to see the skin, but personally I reckon a better one could be made from the badger

Hmm, I can't find a model in the CCP, but that might just be that they didn't add it to the .2da if it was missing a texture.

I wouldn't mind seeing a screenshot of it, but I'm guessing it's not very good.

I think you're right that the badger model would be best. I'm guessing that the spines would cause some problems with polygon counts. Didn't Bioware find a workaround for that with the beholder's eyestalks?
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Bluebomber4evr, 12 décembre 2013 - 07:42 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Invisig0th]

               

Hmm, I can't find a model in the CCP, but that might just be that they didn't add it to the .2da if it was missing a texture.


I wouldn't mind seeing a screenshot of it, but I'm guessing it's not very good.

 

CCP had at least two versions (1.0 and 2.1). Some creature models got dropped in between for no apparent reason, so always check both versions when looking for creature models. Overall, you are correct that quite a few of the models are pretty poor (model, textures or both), but there are some reasonably decent ones, and a handful of very nice ones hidden in there.

 

The porcupine model in question wasn't great model-wise (pretty much just a bigger Bioware badger with some spikes above its back). It had an animation for 'throwing' it's spikes which unfortunately involved clipping, and the textures were pretty poor IIRC. There were 3 sizes.  I was able to repurpose it as a 'thorny', a plant creature associated with vegepygmies. But for use as a regular porcupine, it would at the very least require some texture-love first. And it's very low-poly, so probably not up to 'modern' NWN standards in any case. Regardless, it's worth a look, and it definitely counts as an 'attempt'. I realize this won't exactly suit your needs here, but I just thought I'd let you (and anyone else reading) know how/where to find these. Some of these will be useful to someone.

 

[Edit: Here's a screenshot. Looks like it involved more modeling changes than I remembered.  This model is only found in CCP 1.0.
http://i.imgur.com/BlAkWay.png ]