Its kinda tough, because its Alliance by default.

I can't afford XSI, so custom models is a no-go.

I HAVE made some cool stuff in SketchUp though. However, a lot of it is REALLY old so some of the stuff on my profile may seem weird because I was younger. If only they could be converted and textured...


Also, I was originally going to have more nicer looking buildings, reskinned from other maps, but conserving memory was a huge issue so I had to scrap most of it. As for those blocky buildings, they take up HUGE amounts of memory. I think they're all scaled down to 40% their original size and yet HALF of each one is sticking out under the ground. If I could get some blocky buildings that are still pretty large but take up less memory, I believe we would have a drastic cut in file size.

Food_Eater wrote:I can't afford XSI, so custom models is a no-go.

Bad excuse! Bad excuse alert!

I can't afford to drop a few hundred on software either, and I've made hundreds of custom models for SWBF2. The Modtool software is free and our own RepSharpshooter made a program to convert models to .msh (there are other ways to bring your model in game as well). If you're really interested in getting new models ingame, don't let "I can't afford XSI" stop you.

Maveritchell wrote:

Food_Eater wrote:I can't afford XSI, so custom models is a no-go.

Bad excuse! Bad excuse alert!

I can't afford to drop a few hundred on software either, and I've made hundreds of custom models for SWBF2. The Modtool software is free and our own RepSharpshooter made a program to convert models to .msh (there are other ways to bring your model in game as well). If you're really interested in getting new models ingame, don't let "I can't afford XSI" stop you.

And don't let "I can't learn XSI" stop you either. I used that excuse for the first two years I was modding this game; then one day I decided to open XSI up and give it a try, and two days later I had a pretty decent model in-game.

I see we've made a few breakthroughs in the past couple of years. Was there not a time when people actually needed XSI? I guess that has changed.

Well that's great. I'll look into it then. Hopefully I can re-work my creative abilities. I remember when I first downloaded the mod tools a few years ago, I had all these crazy ideas but they were all shot down after figuring out the difficulties behind getting custom models in-game. Since then, I've trained my mind to think "How can I make a decent map with the stock assets and other people's models?" Knowing that it's a lot easier to make models now opens a huge range of doable ideas for me. I need to get my mind out of this non-creative state. I will probably make a couple building models for this map, at least.

Speaking of which, I need to try my hand at modeling again. Anyways, I think I'm gonna just go and make a cool battle video in this map, so.....


.....yeah, FoodEater, there are the free modtools out there. If no one gets here before me and provides a link, I'll gladly do so myself. I need to get them anyways.

Good job on the map, by the way. Looking forward to any new things you put in here!

A lot of the file size in this map is due to the models used from Vyse's mesh pack: Mostly buildings, especially those used in the background. To contribute to that filesize is the fact that I had to hex edit many of those models several times over so I could get a few differently-textured variations.

My main goal (or rather... main interest) is to replace most of those buildings. I'll be getting into the XSI modtools soon but my computer is kinda messed up at the moment. For now, I will be planning out the new models in SketchUp.
Here is the replacement for that one huge building. It's one model, as opposed to 7-or-so fused together. Texture files have smaller resolutions and the textures repeat way less. The only faces that exist on this model are those that you can see. If XSI proves to be a pain then I'll just convert this over, even if it means massive re-scaling, re-texturing, and inverting the faces (or so I hear). That shouldn't be difficult for me since this is a fairly simple model. Most background models will remain simple like this, most being much simpler. And no, the color is fine. I'm not making this freaking Death Star City.

I don't know how much of the map will end up being replaced with custom models. I will be taking this one step at a time.

Like the new building model