An idea for making 3D players that are better than those of Minecraft.

[rarkenin]

This are an a bad idearp

Can you please explain your reasoning?

[prestidigitator]

...I have done no compression/dissolve/poly reduction yet.

Hmm. I have the feeling you might be making things more complicated for yourself than necessary. With such a simple model you really want to be going the other way: a relatively simple control mesh plus modifiers like subsurf. If necessary (i.e. the exporter can't handle modifiers) you temporarily apply the modifiers before exporting, but keep your working model intact. A boxy model should never get complex enough that you have to work to reduce the poly count.

[jojoa1997]

I don't think that should be added to default unless it becomes easier ro make twxtures for. Falso rhis will break sin moda. I say ir is a no go.

[Linxx]

the biggest problem i have witht he new 3D player model is it will close a door with a huge amount of skins for players....

[prestidigitator]

the biggest problem i have witht he new 3D player model is it will close a door with a huge amount of skins for players....

Hmm. Yeah. I see people from time to time suggesting making a custom skin generator using Javascript or something. What if instead a Blender file were published that was all setup for texture painting and baking? "Open the file in blender, use the paintbrush, click this "Bake" button, then go up to this pane and save the image." If the Blender UI layout is setup correctly then those are steps which shouldn't be too hard to follow even if you've had zero experience with Blender. And the best part is that the development effort is close to zero (the coding effort IS zero).

[Linxx]

the biggest problem i have witht he new 3D player model is it will close a door with a huge amount of skins for players....

Hmm. Yeah. I see people from time to time suggesting making a custom skin generator using Javascript or something. What if instead a Blender file were published that was all setup for texture painting and baking? "Open the file in blender, use the paintbrush, click this "Bake" button, then go up to this pane and save the image." If the Blender UI layout is setup correctly then those are steps which shouldn't be too hard to follow even if you've had zero experience with Blender. And the best part is that the development effort is close to zero (the coding effort IS zero).

well if the model change happens we might need a sticky thread wiith the instructions....

[rarkenin]

...I have done no compression/dissolve/poly reduction yet.

Hmm. I have the feeling you might be making things more complicated for yourself than necessary. With such a simple model you really want to be going the other way: a relatively simple control mesh plus modifiers like subsurf. If necessary (i.e. the exporter can't handle modifiers) you temporarily apply the modifiers before exporting, but keep your working model intact. A boxy model should never get complex enough that you have to work to reduce the poly count.

The problem isn't the high poly count of the mesh. I just wanted to emphasize that the mesh is still in its working state.

But if anyone wants to make changes, and take over, go right ahead.

[jojoa1997]

Another problem is ThE texture size. Those files will be really large with the clarity of it.

[rarkenin]

Another problem is ThE texture size. Those files will be really large with the clarity of it.

My textures are only 150-300 KB for a full body texture in 1024x1024, thanks to PNG compression. It's not as bad as it seems.

[Mito551]

you don't have the .x file, hence it doesn't work

[rarkenin]

you don't have the .x file, hence it doesn't work

The .x file is obtained by running export from Blender with the DirectX mesh exporter enabled. The problem is that the character.x that IS generated either lacks animation, is highly malformed, or crashes the game. Please read more carefully next time.

[Zsoltisawesome]

Nope nope nope. Boxy players should stay. It is how ALL (that I know) sandbox games are and should be. Why have a boxy world and round/smooth player? It just wont match. -100

Well Then You Only Know A Few...

[rarkenin]

Nope nope nope. Boxy players should stay. It is how ALL (that I know) sandbox games are and should be. Why have a boxy world and round/smooth player? It just wont match. -100

Look at Prestibags, then.

[Tedypig]

Nope nope nope. Boxy players should stay. It is how ALL (that I know) sandbox games are and should be. Why have a boxy world and round/smooth player? It just wont match. -100

Look at Prestibags, then.

I don't and won't use ANY bags mod BECAUSE of the fact that they are round.

[Zsoltisawesome]

Nope nope nope. Boxy players should stay. It is how ALL (that I know) sandbox games are and should be. Why have a boxy world and round/smooth player? It just wont match. -100

Look at Prestibags, then.

I don't and won't use ANY bags mod BECAUSE of the fact that they are round!

rage...

[moukotiger]

Why bother with worrying about minecraft skins?
this isn't minecraft and trying to force it to be minecraft is limiting to this engine.

Why the heck not use the engine to make a skyrim type of game?

anyways.....

here is my stab at a new player model....almost rigged using a standard rig from Carnegie-Melon's .bvh files and at only 298 tri's
still need to unwrap it, but I am confident I can make it fit the skin used by the character.blend that came with the source.



I've added rudimentary 'hands' and any other models could use the 'hand' bone as a tag
I've also added feet.

There may be a for more poly's added to help hide ugly gaps between arms/legs/torso depending on how basic animations look.

[Inocudom]

Why bother with worrying about minecraft skins?
this isn't minecraft and trying to force it to be minecraft is limiting to this engine.

Why the heck not use the engine to make a skyrim type of game?

anyways.....

here is my stab at a new player model....almost rigged using a standard rig from Carnegie-Melon's .bvh files and at only 298 tri's
still need to unwrap it, but I am confident I can make it fit the skin used by the character.blend that came with the source.



I've added rudimentary 'hands' and any other models could use the 'hand' bone as a tag
I've also added feet.

There may be a for more poly's added to help hide ugly gaps between arms/legs/torso depending on how basic animations look.

I recommend adding a neck and decreasing the diameter of the legs as they go to the feat a little more. You may want to make the arms a little thinner in terms of diameter too. Other than that, your model is looking pretty good.

I like your model too, rarkenin. It is good for players that like the Minecraft style, but is also unique.

I hope both player models will make it into a mod one day.

[onpon4]

Regarding Minecraft compatibility, here's my two cents:

Minecraft compatibility is a good thing. There are tons of skins for Minecraft already and it's easier to win someone over who plays Minecraft if they can use their favorite skins. Obviously, Minetest can't be distributed with nonfree skins, but players can use the skins themselves (e.g. with the Skins mod, or even better, something built-in that allows your skin to be customized to something on your computer even when you're on someone else's server).

On the other hand, a custom model that looks better than Minecraft's could be nice. It could make Minetest look better than Minecraft in one way.

So I think it would be great for a new, better model to be added and used by default. Heck, Minetest could be modified to allow custom models within certain size restrictions, and that would be even better. In any case, the Minecraft-like model should still be available so that Minetest has that compatibility advantage.

[rarkenin]

Well, with the model I've made, I've done pretty much all I can animating and building it. Now I need to figure out how to export it with animations without crashing Minetest(I scripted exporting with most possible settings available in the Export to DirectX window, but to no avail.

[Inocudom]

This topic hasn't had any responses lately. How are things going?

[rarkenin]

This topic hasn't had any responses lately. How are things going?

I'm still looking for someone that can figure out how to export it proerly. I'm using a bleeding edge Blender so that could be using the problem for me.

[stu]

This topic hasn't had any responses lately. How are things going?

I'm still looking for someone that can figure out how to export it proerly. I'm using a bleeding edge Blender so that could be using the problem for me.

Does this help?

http://forum.minetest.net/viewtopic.php?id=4728

Not sure if Full Animation is needed but it works for me.

[rarkenin]

I'll take a look when I can. Thanks! I've really abandoned this in favor of other Blender projects for other, unfortunately, so you're welcome to take over if you'd like.

[Inocudom]

Were you able to make any progress, stu? New player models for Minetest would give the game a sense of individuality.

[stu]

Were you able to make any progress, stu? New player models for Minetest would give the game a sense of individuality.

Sorry, I am more in favor of keeping the existing blocky model. However, it would be nice to see improved animations, with knee and elbow joints, moving head, etc.

[Linxx]

Were you able to make any progress, stu? New player models for Minetest would give the game a sense of individuality.

Sorry, I am more in favor of keeping the existing blocky model. However, it would be nice to see improved animations, with knee and elbow joints, moving head, etc.

i agree with this....

[Inocudom]

The mesh is almost done, except the head and face which are a little buggy.



I'll upload the mesh and UV template if anyone wants it. I just want to finish it first.

Updated meshes and sample textures:
Tarball

Zipball

I'd love to have others do textures. The UV layout template is inside either of the archives above.

Rarkenin did make this model. It might have the needed animations and could be the answer. Thing is, it needs to be imported properly into Minetest. You could make it an optional model and leave the current one in the game.

It looks like the links above don't work anymore. If Rarkenin is willing to upload the model again, he will need to use a different site. Any ideas?

[sdzen]

why does one not make the new model compatible with the skins as well?, It shouldn't be too much of a stretch to do that.

[Inocudom]

Pavel_S created wonderful models for the simple_mobs mod. I am hoping that he can create player models for Minetest to give the game more variety and uniqueness (the current player model looks like it came from Minecraft, has no neck, and has arms that are the same size as the legs.) Rarkenin might not re-upload the player model he created.

[rarkenin]

Pavel_S created wonderful models for the simple_mobs mod. I am hoping that he can create player models for Minetest to give the game more variety and uniqueness (the current player model looks like it came from Minecraft, has no neck, and has arms that are the same size as the legs.) Rarkenin might not re-upload the player model he created.

I'm not going to reupload as I am quitting Minetest. If I am asked personally in ##minetest-0gb.us where I now lurk planning my Minetest clone(in Java), I can reupload.