The Litterbox site update thread

[Podmark]

S-S-So many characters...heart...can't...stand this great collection...good bye FR....

[windblown]

WOW, those are a lot of releases!

[WyldFyre]

S-S-So many characters...heart...can't...stand this great collection...good bye FR....

<Performs emergency CPR on Pod.>  Khaaaaaaaaaaaan! Oh wait, wrong reference. <Goes back to toasting SickAlice>

[detourne_me]

Holy crap! amazing stuff SA! I just looked at one page and I can't believe you made the Future Ffoundation! And the Orb, I just started working on him last night!

[trebean]

I'm loving your Spider-Man releases dude : thanks to you, I've finally completed Superior Foes!
I'm not even halfway through making skins on your early releases!

[SickAlice]

Thanks everyone. Glad your enjoying it all and it's nice to hear positive feedback. I'm still doing this with a fractured hand and have a lot of doubt in my abilities. More things to come down the road.

[SickAlice]

Spider-man coming soon once I finish the keys and iron some kinks out. Here's a preview of some of the geometry that will show up:

[daglob]

What did we do to deserve such treasures?

[Cyber Burn]

No kidding. These are great. I think I may have quite a few uses for those Eye pieces.   

Actually, I can think of uses for quite a bit of those pieces.

Not to mention the awesomeness of all the Spidey-Goodness. 

[Podmark]

Well this is certainly interesting...

[SickAlice]

Glad your excited. I just finished all the parts for the insulated costume. All that's left are the Mark II armor parts and 1602 costume bits. Note though if you plan to use any the parts down the line Peter has own unique body so the parts are fitted to that and you'll have to work anything over to get it to work with normal male_basic type meshes. With the exception of the next wave of Lanterns and some other stuff I'm hoping to move away from the basic male and female bodies all together. I think they were good for their time and a great tool to learn with but also we're past that at this point and can have bodies that more closely resemble their comic counterparts now.

[Cyber Burn]

Very interesting, will these be moving away from the "Male_Basic" Mapping as well? Also, will these be compatible with MB Keyframe sets?

[SickAlice]

I'm uncertain about the mapping though the idea is to vary the body type depending on what the character calls for so it's likely that the assignment will vary as well. I believe skinners are up to and capable of the challenge. The Spider-man body here which is shared by Superior for example has a different mapping. I consider myself an amateur skinner at best and I was able to figure out the assignment and make my own base texture without issue. Also in researching industry standards I've found that texture assignment is rarely conformed. This very mesh in question is again a great example. The mesh is recycled in different games as well is obviously used in the native game (Marvel Heroes) for Spider-man. Yet if you open up the 3d models for Spider-man's different costumes in that game you'll see the texture assignment changes despite it being the same model each time.

As for keyframes I lack the capacity (no old version 3ds max nor OS to match) to make my own skeletons and keys so I have to match them to existing ones. So most will match a common frame like male_basic or female_basic. Though in other cases they'll match a FFVTTR mesh.

On a side note I've been taking apart those FFVTTR nifs. I'm noticing many things are done differently than our community does them and am wondering the why's and more if that's the proper way to do things instead. More on that later though. I say open up Bacchite and Eye Of The Reich sometime though in different programs and look at the structure sometime. While your at it extract the body for Bacchite and look over the 3d model. You'll find some unconventional things there that obviously have a purpose in game.

-
I also added a link to the opening post here to my old site that includes anything I did for the first Freedom Force since the question keeps popping up.

[Cyber Burn]

I'm sure I'll have a million and one questions as I re-read your post a few more times, but for now, when you say that you're taking apart the FFvt3R NIF Files, are you using NifSkope, Blender, or 3DS Max?

On a side note I've been taking apart those FFVTTR nifs. I'm noticing many things are done differently than our community does them and am wondering the why's and more if that's the proper way to do things instead. More on that later though. I say open up Bacchite and Eye Of The Reich sometime though in different programs and look at the structure sometime. While your at it extract the body for Bacchite and look over the 3d model. You'll find some unconventional things there that obviously have a purpose in game.

[daglob]

When I first joined those groups, I had dial-up,and picked and chose those things I wanted most. I've forgotten to go back and get those things I passed up at the time, and I'm glad that you reminded me.

Cheerfully downloading using the library's T1 line...

[SickAlice]

I'm soooooOOoo glad I have hi speed now, even if I have a data cap. That dial-up nonsense is infuriating and I know just what you mean. Most of the time still the one thing I tried all night to download would just crash anyways and fail.

Nifskope, Blender and Milkshape. I have Max but it's 9 so it isn't of use to me for Freedom Force, or so that I know of.

[SickAlice]

Question for anyone. Spider-man is drawing near to completion. Usually I release a big pack that weighs a lot of mbs. I know most users don't prefer that. I was thinking of going a different route and releasing a " base " which would contain the nif, keyframes and any other extra files then separating skin packs by theme which can be downloaded separately and dumped into the skin directory. As it is Spider-man has a lot of costumes and I'm adding more every day as the Spider-Verse event introduces new ones so the directory is getting really huge.

[Cyber Burn]

That's actually not a bad idea, downloaders with internet issues may appreciate that. Personally, I'm good either way though, especially since I'll be downloading everything anyway. 

[spydermann93]

That's actually not a bad idea, downloaders with internet issues may appreciate that. Personally, I'm good either way though, especially since I'll be downloading everything anyway. 

Same, here.

I think that the big packs are really convenient, but I am definitely not opposed to you making them easier for those with limited internet access to download your stuff.

Everybody needs to have the pleasure of being able to download your waves of meshes.  No exceptions.

[Podmark]

That sounds like a good way to handle it.

[SickAlice]

Glad you peeps are excited. I put a lot of work into it. All initial skins and model parts are done (fifty of them). With Spider-verse I ended up with another ten at least to add to that, fortunately the parts are pretty easy to make (Spider-UK's Tallus and such). I just have the latter batch to finish yet then and the keys which should only take a night. I'm leaving only a few...I guess we call them " Spider-Totems " now (?) out of the release but only because they require a different body type and/or animation set. More on that when I post the release.

[SickAlice]

Just testing my log-in though here's a preview of something while I'm doing that:



Thanks CB and Stumpy, you peeps rock steady!

[SickAlice]

Small update:
- Just finishing the values in the keyframes for the Spider-man pack. Should be available by Wed 10/29 or the following day
- GL Corps Wave 4 is well on the way but the release date is being pushed back. I put more time into Spider-man then expected and also want to make sure the Black Lanterns are perfect down to the details before I let them out to play.

[SickAlice]

I finally got the courage to try my hand at Danger from the X-Men. This thing is a frustrating one that's going to get worse. I don't even want to think about the keyframes yet.
Anyways here's the almost finished base body prior to polishing:

[AfghanAnt]

I like it.

[Podmark]

Yeah that's looking very promising SA.

[SickAlice]

I'm happy with the way she came out. Like I said I was afraid to even approach this one. Here is the polished version. I added wing flaps and a gun morph as well and now I just have to set the time in the other keys and give her a proper skin and it's ready to go. First though time to shovel that sixteen inches of snow in the drive, bleh!

[ghazkul]

...................... YOU ARE MY GOD!!!!! She looks amazing and is one of my fave X-characters (was also the first character I ever skinned).

[windblown]

   That looks super cool!! Can't wait to see the animations.

[SickAlice]

Thanks. She's skinned now I'm finished the " hidden " values in the keys. Don't get to stoked windblown though. I only have two custom ones going. Wing flaps during the fly animation like she often expresses in the comics and one ranged gun arm animation. Reason being for the animations and initial nif, which I wasn't willing to part with, in all of the ranged animations save one the hand was always open with the palm facing in the " talk to it " position. Hence the fingers stuck out of the gun in those animation so I kept it to the one. I think though it looks better as is. I wanted to keep away from anything to cliche used in the comics and keep her looking crude and mechanic yet feminine and passionate in all poses. Nothing over the top. I think I hit the mark. Should release this in two days max.