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TheIdiot's new mod set on Isla Nublar

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Re: Return to Jurassic Park - Looking for experienced modell

Post by TheIdiot »

Looking for an update, anyone? Well, here's the scoop for the moment.

I've been much more busy working Fridays and Saturdays, and have been spending almost every Sunday out with my friends so there hasn't been much progress at all. To tell you the truth, I haven't really been in a "Trespasser Mood" for a little while. A bit of work here and there has been done, most notably I added the little islands you can see on the map to the east of Nublar, imported several new TrnObjs for the southern part of the island, and did a little bit of landscaping on some areas from Jurassic Park: The Game. I also got working on the Hydroelectric Plant and have made a model for the small dam that will power the pretty much entirely underground (partially submerged) plant. I'm thinking of doing some more work this week so I can show you guys some new images, but for now all I can say is there isn't much going on. :( I want to add in some more dinosaurs and maybe get working on the area I plan on releasing for a demo tonight, so keep your eyes peeled for updates soon! :)

EDIT: Okay, enough slacking for me. Here's a little something I came up with last night:
Image
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Re: Return to Jurassic Park - Looking for experienced modell

Post by TheIdiot »

Little update: I've been writing a sort of journal and diary for the character of Diane, trying over and over to establish her character. I think I've finally got it down how I like it - she's smart, tough and overall a bit cocky, but once things start to get serious, her attitude becomes focused, calm and, in the end, pretty freaked out. But that's for later, along with the other two major characters. 8)
I also went and used the character editor in this game I dug up from my closet for this specific reason called "The Movies" and made a sort of mock-up for Diane then did a bit of post-process editing in GIMP. She came out pretty close to what I had in mind, maybe a bit more native-Hawaiian looking than I originally intended but overall I think it makes her look more interesting. Other than that, I've done wee bits of work here and there, nothing to spectacular. I may have also found a friend who can help with the 3D modelling, so I might be diving back into TresEd veeeery soon.
For now, check out some (overall pretty useless) work. :D

---------------------------------

Diane - September 22nd, 2004
Panama City, Panama


Guess the government isn't the only thing of interest these days in Central America. Today I was sent a paper by Robert Armstrong - says it comes straight from the top, right from the guys over at Bush's administration. Great. Just when I thought this whole Panama job would end up being a free vacation, bam, he phones me and says an anonymous contact wants some kind of lost technology or whatnot that can only be found at a certain Costa Rican island, the one locals call Nublar...the same one where all these goddamn monster rumors come from. It was supposedly bombed by the Costa Rican Air Force back in '93, so I don't particulariy see what old G.W. could want with it. That whole place is like one big mystery even to this day. First that publicity stunt back in '97 with the CGI dino running around LA - dunno how National Geographic came up with that one - then that supposed top-secret military movement off at the nearby Isla Sorna. Man, it seems like people will believe anything these days...sheesh. Anyhow, I'm getting Diego Cardoso (note: get his number) to fly me over to Nublar in two weeks' time, since Armstrong said I've got plenty of time before the contract is due. Should be easy, land there, grab the MacGuffin, get out. Don't need to bring much, maybe I'll take that G17 that prick from Chicago left me as a Christmas present. You never know what could be out there - though if it's anything like him, there'd be hell to pay.

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---------------------------------

Stay tuned. :P
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Re: Return to Jurassic Park - Looking for experienced modell

Post by Mickey »

Nice work :)
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Re: Return to Jurassic Park - Looking for experienced modell

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Mickey wrote:Nice work :)
There's more coming, did some work on the level today. :yum: I modelled the doors to Les Gigantes, added some wear and tear to the Visitor Center as well as a few new pieces of furniture, and gave the second floor windows some glass.

During my work today, I began to wonder what I'm going to do about the Visitor Center's front entrance. In The Game (which I am considering canon), the front entrance is destroyed by Rexy. The problem is, this kind of ruins the way it looks and also takes away the reveal that comes with opening the front door to the building. So my question to everyone is: would you guys prefer me to leave the Visitor Center front entrance intact with the doors and all (as well as move Jeep 12 back to its position on top of the hill), or make it destroyed as in The Game? Let me know so I can get to work on what you guys want! :)

Also, I've been reviewing the placement of the Raptor Pit / Emergency Bunker / Utility Shed and am slowly starting to realize - with the help of hppav's JPO test level - that JPL's placement of these locations has to be wrong somehow. Firstly, look at the original tour map:
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It clearly shows the Raptor Paddock, as well as the Herrerasaur Paddock, being north of the Visitor Center. Now, from the map we see in the shutdown sequence:
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The original Raptor Paddock is in the center of the Park, which means the tour map we see in the movie must be updated for the replacement of the Raptors to their holding pen. And, judging by the fact that we know Muldoon and Sattler go downhill past the Raptor Pit, this means they are moving south from the Emergency Bunker to get to the Utility Shed. Arnold says the Shed is on the "other end of the compound" from the Visitor Center, so it's either where I have it now or way to the north. Because we know that the Raptor Pit is in the north, we can only assume that is must be in the other probable location. Therefore, I figure hppav's locations for the Pit and Bunker are correct...which means I will be relocating all three buildings to approximations of where I think they are. I'll upload an updated map another time, all this typing is taking up my modding time!

I'd like to begin relocation as soon as possible, which means frequent updates will (hopefully) return soon. 8)
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Re: Return to Jurassic Park - Looking for experienced modell

Post by awesome24712 »

I would make the entrance look normal, not destroyed. I would rather have the appeal of seeing it all rather than see it pay attention to canon that less people are aware of.
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Re: Return to Jurassic Park - Looking for experienced modell

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awesome24712 wrote:I would make the entrance look normal, not destroyed. I would rather have the appeal of seeing it all rather than see it pay attention to canon that less people are aware of.
Good point. In the end, it really does look better that way, and so that's how it will be. Maybe I'll do a "purist" version once everything's done. Until then, classic look it is. :)

The last few days I've been working hard on the mod, so I think I'll just get straight to the good stuff instead of do my usual rant. Hit show spoiler for pictures.
Spoiler: show
Here's the new location of the Raptor Pit, nowhere near finished but you get the basic idea. The road textures you see running everywhere will be changed as these are just side paths. You can see where the one path near the Raptor Pit ends - this is the location of the Emergency Bunker. It will be separated from the Pit and the nearby Herrerasaur holding pen by some form of fencing.
Click on Image
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Image
I also did a ton of work on the interior of the Visitor Center, adding lots of objects and clutter. The FPS is beginning to get low though, so I might end up making lower-poly versions of several things you see here. As for new stuff, you can see all the bones and their supports on the roof, the construction going on to the right, a new mesh for the fallen banner, and the new doors to the cafe.
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Here's another angle of the rotunda. You can see the ripped tarp that Rexy came through on the left. There aren't invisible AI objects around most of these new objects yet, but even without them Rexy seems to be able to navigate pretty well.
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Quite a bit of work was done on Les Gigantes too. I brought in all the extra furniture and added lots of wear and tear all around. The windows to the outside are smashed as well. There's still a lot of clutter to add, like the candles, back table, old food and fans, and fortunately the FPS is still sitting around 15 in here, so there is still a bit of room for these things.
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One last look at the Visitor Center, almost fully detailed on the outside. You can see the proper scaffolding I imported from the JPO test level.
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Scratch that, THIS is the last look at the Visitor Center, I promise. :lol: This is the road to the garage, which I made a crappy mesh for but deleted because it was really bad. I'm still unsure of how I'm going to get the rest of the modelling done on the VC - I've pretty much got my fingers crossed that hppav will finish it one day. :wink:
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And now for something completely different: here's a little rock valley that's between the Aviary and the Proceratosaur paddock. Hidden behind one of these rocks is the East Dock sign Nedry runs over.
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Overview of the new Visitor Compound layout. Yes, I am including the Boneshaker and all other JPTG locations, but will be leaving the Visitor Center and Nedry's clearing how they were at the end of the movie.
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Lastly, two new maps of the island, one with icons for all major locations, one with movie/game event locations. Quite an improvement since the mod first started, huh?
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There's still a lot of work I want to finish tonight, so adios! 8)
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Re: Return to Jurassic Park - Looking for experienced modell

Post by Road Warrior »

Awesome. More please.
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Re: Return to Jurassic Park - Looking for experienced modell

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Road Warrior wrote:Awesome. More please.
Been busy all weekend, so I haven't had time to work on RTJP, though today I plan on doing a bit more work. :)

I have a request for anyone who can rig Tres animals - can someone try and rig the goat model from JPOG if it hasn't been done already? I know we have the cow and that chicken model from JPDS, which will be used as food for the player and animals. Was also wondering if it would be possible to rig a human mesh as a CAnimal, perhaps with a gun in his hands and the same system for him to raise his arms as the spitting dilophosaur has for its frill. I'd be grateful if anyone could try this out and send me the results? :mrgreen:

Either way, even if we don't get a rigged human model, there WILL be other living people in this mod. Not giving any more details quite yet, but I do have a few planned sequences for them to be included.
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Re: Return to Jurassic Park - Looking for experienced modell

Post by TheKritter71 »

I don't think you can rig any humans or whatever. The closest you can do is make a human texture object similar to Draco's image on ED.
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Re: Return to Jurassic Park - Looking for experienced modell

Post by tatu »

AFAIK, we CAN'T rig new animals with new skeletons, the cow and chicken are rigged using the same rigging as the other dinosaurs. The chicken uses the one from the Para, and the cow I believe uses maybe the raptor or something, since they look the same body-wise. You can probably make an human using animations, but it would take a lot of work and you wouldn't be able to make it walk around etc.
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Re: Return to Jurassic Park - Looking for experienced modell

Post by machf »

tatu wrote:AFAIK, we CAN'T rig new animals with new skeletons,
I'm not quite sure it isn't possible. Examining the beta and the source code, I'm lead to believe that Trespasser recognizes two basic skeletons, a bipedal one and a quadrupedal one (three if you count the player's, but for now, I'm sticking to the dinosaurs). Some additional parameters then allow extra bones and different positions for the bones constituting the skeleton, but I still have to figure out exactly how all that works... let me search for my notes.

EDIT: here's the link to an old topic. Wow, it's been 4 years already...

viewtopic.php?f=120&t=7990&p=90218#p90218

EDIT2: and here's what I found in the source code:

viewtopic.php?f=120&p=113038#p113038
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Re: Return to Jurassic Park - Looking for experienced modell

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Well, there could always be a static model with invisible meshes which appear in a scripted sequence - take a look at the Pteranodon from TC (the one that flaps its wings). It uses hidden additional meshes which change texture dependent on a sequence. Or the TC-Isle Dilophosaurus, it changes meshes AND textures. I think ATX adds functionality for doing that. Which means you can make multiple meshes attached to a single instance that change based on a trigger's functions.
Here's what I had in mind to make a semi-realistic human CAnimal which can actually shoot and do a few other actions, like play a dying animation. Basically, you rig up a human mesh to the biped skeleton. Sure, it's going to look kind of stupid, like he has spinning legs and stiff arms when he runs. BUT, if this person were rigged up with a gun in their hands, they would be holding the gun in a semi-stiff way anyhow, so that wouldn't matter. Anyhow, you could make extra attached meshes (ex. TC Dilo) that are invisible frames for him raising his arms up with the gun and firing, which are activated via the same scripted sequence the Dilo uses. Because we also have the ability to make animals fire projectiles according to the ATX readme, we could make it so the person raises their arms, fires, then lowers them to the same stance again and continues moving. When they die, they could be switched out with a model with more attached invisible frames that plays a dying animation and spews blood with the particle trigger. Basically, the order would be:
1. Default stance (running, arms down)
2. Raises arms (on ActBite, arms go to fire position)
3. Gun fires a bullet object
4. Lowers arms
5. Continue

I know it sounds a bit complicated, but it CAN be done! :P It would just take a reasonable about of modelling and rigging work, but no more than a standard animal would take. The scripting is already there thanks to the TC-Dilo, we would just have to apply it to a human model instead.
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Re: Return to Jurassic Park - Looking for experienced modell

Post by machf »

Do you mean the latest version of the TC Dilo, where I used substitute meshes for the frill action which were timed by a script?

Keep in mind that Anne also uses substitute meshes for whenever she holds an object in her hand, that's where the idea of using the same approach for the Dilo's frill came from...

You'll need to model the character in some 3D program, them manually animate it and export the different meshes (one for each movement frame). I did that when making some alternate player models. I'm not sure how many susbtitute meshes is the limit, BUT something important: they only work for "biomeshes". Which means dinosaurs and the player.
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Re: Return to Jurassic Park - Looking for experienced modell

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machf wrote:Do you mean the latest version of the TC Dilo, where I used substitute meshes for the frill action which were timed by a script?

Keep in mind that Anne also uses substitute meshes for whenever she holds an object in her hand, that's where the idea of using the same approach for the Dilo's frill came from...

You'll need to model the character in some 3D program, them manually animate it and export the different meshes (one for each movement frame). I did that when making some alternate player models. I'm not sure how many susbtitute meshes is the limit, BUT something important: they only work for "biomeshes". Which means dinosaurs and the player.
That's the one. Quite a nifty idea it was. :) I understand how its done via triggers, I just wonder if a human mesh is possible with what we know? Anyone willing to give it a go? I can't really model too well at the moment. :?

Also, if the substitute meshes function only works for biomeshes, that must mean the TC Pteranodon was done with multiple CEntityAttached. I'll have to look at it, maybe I'll look for a free low poly model to use so I can test out a gunman script for an inanimate object. I think I've got an idea on how to make a person stand up if they notice you, turn around to face you, and blast you. 8)
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Re: Return to Jurassic Park - Looking for experienced modell

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Sorry about the double post, just coming in with another update.

I've been fighting Tres to get the level to do a SWP update so I can replace all the old textures I don't like - particularly, the really poor decaying ones I made for the VC - but it seems to have some tiny little error preventing me from doing so (as you can tell by my Import Error post). In the meantime, I decided not to do any work on adding objects and meshes and instead did a bit more trigger work. I got all of the lights working as they should be, even in the VC, so now when the power comes on most of the lights will too, although they tend to flicker on and off since the generator isn't in very good working condition.
I also came up with a trigger to hide the central roof of the Visitor Center while you're in the rotunda so you can see outside through the windows without little glitches instead of having the Rotunda Light object there since in almost every shot you see in the movie there are palm trees visible outside the windows at the back of the lobby.
While doing this, I ran into a small problem - loading up the level caused it to crash right away. I spent forever trying to figure out why, and then I turned off Windows Media Player which I was using to listen to music while I worked. Then the level ran fine as ever. So it seems running WMP in the background does something Tres doesn't like and makes it unstable. I wonder why? Probably something to do with the old sound system it uses as well as the complexity of it.
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