Custom Content Challenge: October 2014: Weird Science

[Legacy_MerricksDad]

               

You could always do the low or the high poly figure and then create a secondary shadow node with even fewer polygons. Then you could use the item as a static placeable and it wouldn't cause much trouble, if any. Disable the shadow on the higher poly node of course.


Also, feel free to take any of my crystal shapes from the CCC a few months ago and run with them. Use them however you need!

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Wall3T]

               

 

I don't think that it's a accurate description of the creature in the Mary Shelley's novel.


As the creature have been portrayed many times, when it's created is like a newborn in a world that he doesn't understand and even is hostile against him, so he reacts violently. However he learns fast, and evolutes during the plot, So it wouldn't be true say that the creature is innocent as a child, and without evil thoughts. In addition he's truly stronger than a common man...

 

 

Its not in the slightest, your correct, but what general audiences prefer today is not what the novel or the writer always had intended. Its all about what would suit the proper audience of the time with horror genres. The only good Frankenstein movie i think is good is the 1994 which is based off of Mary Shelly's novel (its quite literally called Mary Shelly's Frankenstein).

 

And even then its not entirely accurate as it had to appeal to the audiences at the time. I see no reason why you shouldn't. I still would like a monstrous Dr. Jekyll Creature, it would be awesome. And alot of people would relate to it. To me its very 'Mad Scientist' regardless of what it looks like in today's culture

 

and no, your not being a pain in the neck, unless we get The Crooked Man in. he puts a whole new meaning to having a pain in the neck

 

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

               

For what it's worth I think the image at the end of this link qualifies as weird science, but I bet nobody will make anything like it (it's so weird it's somewhat disturbing).

 

TR

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Monsinyana]

               

Great job so far Henesua!!

 

Maybe make a second placeable of a metal ball with lightening that comes off the top? In the CEP is a Tesla cage like that that can be deactivated or activated to have lightening. In the 2da its listing is "Mech: Tesla Cage (FKY)*"  and the model is called zlc_fky_m93

 

I don't know if studying that will help you .. great job on the tesla coil so far though!

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_henesua]

               

I could make a thing like that too. But I was going more weird science fantasy and thinking mythalars that look like dice. Still haven't got the textures or emitters working as I wasted a lot of time trying to get my work into blender and exported and realized that I forgot how to do all that. Its been a year since I made an NWN model that worked in game, and all the ins and outs of blender and MDLs are hazy to me. I also haven't got the textures the way I want them for NWN. I had forgotten that I can't bake procedural textures which rely on reflection and refraction etc... to look good.

 

Models however are low poly. All are under 500. The stand is 392 triangles. The dice range from 4 to 36 triangles. I forget what that lump comes in at, but its less than 100 tris. Maybe 50.

 

So here's the last renders I made in the morning yesterday in Cheetah3D with the procedural textures before I got distracted wrestling with the above and then walking away to spend time with the kids:

 

---edit---

might as well share my process of working on the stand texture. I basically set up a procedural material, apply it to the model, set up ambient lighting only, and then bake it all to a texture. It allows me to try a dozen variations. I had lost a lot of time here because I made the mistake at first of including the affects from an HDRI and couldn't figure out why nothing looked like I expected. Eventually I got on a roll and cranked these out. It required me to make a couple separate black and white (value only textures) that I made from photo references of metal and reworked. What you can see below used three different textures, and then procedural filters. Most totally suck. But I'm using this one I think:

I was ultimately going for a hammered metal. This is not exactly what I wanted as it looks more painted than like black, wrought iron. But screw it. Good enough. You can also see that the crystal will not be included. Its a waste of draw calls to have too many textures, but I think it makes the model easier for others to modify if the crystal and the stand are separate.

 

The rest turned out like this.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_henesua]

               

This is a bit beyond my abilities, but it just occurred to me

Anyone who had the module B1 - In Search of the Unknown probably recalls the wizard lab in Quasqueton with teh mysterious black cat in the jar. That would be a very cool interactive placeable to make along with a 2x2 icon so it can be carried around as an item. This was a pointless thing in the module that was fun when you were kids.

 

"The larger jar is of clear glass and seemingly contains a black cat's body floating in a clear, colourless liquid. If the large cork lid is unstopped, the liquid will instantaneously evaporate, the cat will suddenly spring to life, jump out of the jar, meow loudly, and run for the door."

 

If anyone makes the item and the placeable with animations I'll do all the scripting and setup to make the thing work. The placeable would be activate to - water/liquid turns to mist, cat jumps out. The actual cat would then be spawned to the same location that the cat jumps out at... so it would be useful if you set it up to jump to a precise distance and facing and if it was the black cat version that ShadowM made. '> The jar itself would remain empty at the end of the animation. Scripting would be necessary to ensure the whole thing doesn't reactivate.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

               

FWIW I like the stands you've made but I also really like the texture just above the brown rusty looking one. To me that texture looks like its tar/oil covered metal. BTW does the aperture in the side of the pyramidal gem have any purpose? Also are these gems going to come in a variety of colours (just curious)?

 

TR

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_henesua]

               

I'm not sure what color the gems will be. But I think I'll just do one color, and allow people to modify. I'm currently thinking I'd like to do a pulsing glow, but I have no idea how to do this. All I've done so far is download ice and salt crystal references to see what I can do there.

 

I also liked that metal strap texture as it is very close to what I wanted (it almost looks like hammered iron that has seen lots of use and abuse) but the scale is all wrong and I've not been patient enough to make it the right size. Perhaps I could throw together some more metal scaffolding as furniture for a frankenstein lair, and try another stab at getting the scale of the texture right. And I'll have to experiment with the settings to remind myself how I got that affect. Something with the specular channel, the gradient on the black too that gave it almost a reverse relief of the grey one (same base texture) but I'll have to find the right knobs and plugs to wire that one up again.

 

[edit] pyramid question: not sure what you mean. The stand is the same in each of those, and the issue with the foursider is that it doesn't sit well within the tines of the stand so it looks awkward with the tines coming through it. I considered not including that one, but the 4 sided polyhedra is too strong of a shape to ignore and gives away the game that all the shapes are the standard dice except for the lumpy one which is the only crystal looking one. The rest to me look like a weird transluscent jello dice - maybe congealed green slime dice. I'm using a procedural frosted green glass texture for those. I wish we could get that affect in NWN, but its just not possible. When I get the crystal texture together I hope it still feels like you can see into the depth. But I've not seen this pulled off in NWN in a convincing manner.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_henesua]

               

Found a cool image and got distracted from doing some iron lattice scaffolding.

 

Ben Harrison's alchemy stuff covers us for most of that stuff, but I still like the modelling work this guy did and hope it inspires someone that can actually model. You can see the rest at the guy's deviant art profile.

 

Since I mostly like making geometry, I am gonna take a stab at a microscope.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

               

@henesua The aperture that I was referring to is on the left side of the pyramidal gem itself, towards the bottom where it rests on the stand.

 

 

TR

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_henesua]

               

Yup. As I said above, that shape doesn't sit on the stand well so the tines of the stand poke through it. Because of that I considered not including the 4 sider.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_rjshae]

               

Heh, just having an old phrenology chart hanging on the laboratory wall could probably be considered weird science. At least these days... '>

 

 

 

Then there's always the craniometer:

 

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_kamal_]

               

Heh, just having an old phrenology chart hanging on the laboratory wall could probably be considered weird science. At least these days... '>

http://deadhomersoci...hersimpson5.png
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Shemsu-Heru]

               

The theme for this month's challenge: "Weird Science":

  


 

This theme was suggested by Shemsu-Heru.

 

 

 

I just have notice this mistake, This topic isn't my suggestion, I think It's from Carcerian.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_henesua]

               

Using this as a reference (one of the first microscopes from the 17th century)

 

I spent a little time this morning starting the geometry for a microscope. I'm about halfway through the model, then I'll get to texturing. All textures are currently placeholders. Currently I'm at less than 340 triangles.