Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 6:12 pm Post subject:
(RA1/OpenRA) M4 Sherman Tank
Subject description: M4 Sherman Tank SHPs
Alright, my first self made sprites for Red Alert 1.
I'll probably improve the turret a bit in the future and make sure that the vehicle looks a bit more similar to the other vehicles ingame.
Warning: the Sherman tank is significantly bigger than the other tanks. The reason for that is because I'm going to redo all tnaks in Red Alert 1 and I need ideas on what to base them on from you.
Use this code if you want to use the Sherman for your OpenRA mod:
Details and model look really good. The style also fits nice into classic TD/RA1
When using a single pixel thick barrel, it's better to use a canvas (render setup) with an uneven size. Then the cannon is perfectly centered in the tank.
In your version it looks like the barrel is slightly moved to the left side. _________________ SHP Artist of Twisted Insurrection: Nod buildings
Thanks! I think I will give the tank a 2 pixel broad cannon, to fit in with the other tanks. Also, is there a demand for a smaller sized sherman? _________________ I use Arch btw QUICK_EDIT
2 pixel wide would surely look stubby and unfitting for this small caliber cannon.
If you want to make this really good, you could render it 2 times. One with anti-aliasing off, one time with AA on.
Then edit by hand the AA off frames and draw in SHP Builder on the most prominent AA on half transparent pixel a shadow pixel in the SHP.
A black barrel with a few shadow pixel next to it can give the impression of 1.5 pixel width.
You should also try to get the chassis/turret left/right symmetric. There are a few pixel different, while it should actually have the outline/shape on both sides. (your turret has a corner on the left, while on the right side looks round)
When working with tiny assets, every pixel counts and a single stray pixel can stick out a lot.
Just noticed, the shadows seem to be inconsistent big.
Facing north/south the unit has a 3 pixel long shadow, but when facing left/right the shadow is only 1 pixel away. Usually TD/RA1 units have a pretty unrealistic long shadow.
On such a high unit, a shadow of 3 pixel length would be appropriate.
In 3dsmax I had to manually set my shadow casting light a bit different (lower for longer shadows) than the main light. _________________ SHP Artist of Twisted Insurrection: Nod buildings
The reason why the shadows are inconsistent is because I had to manually draw them. Blender DID render shadows, but they were too tiny when compared to the other shadows in the game. I will fix the shadows when I have time (I will use the medium tank shadow as a base). The reason why I'm not going to use the blender shadows is, because I want to keep most vehicles in Red Alert (which have oddly huge shadows).
"If you want to make this really good, you could render it 2 times. One with anti-aliasing off, one time with AA on."
I'd have to find out how to do that, but I will try. Thanks for the help!
Btw, do you think I should also make a smaller sized version, since my sherman is way bigger than the medium tank? _________________ I use Arch btw QUICK_EDIT
You should decide that when you have most other tanks done as well.
Especially when the biggest tanks you want to replace are done.
If those big tanks go way beyond the cell foundation, then you should make them all a bit smaller to fit better inside.
RA2 has those big vehicles (especially many custom made VXLs), which in a big group turn into an ungly intersecting blob of undefinable voxels. Would be a shame if RA1 got the same problem. _________________ SHP Artist of Twisted Insurrection: Nod buildings
I'll make the other tanks small enough for the Mammoth tank to still look big.
The next tank (I'll fix the Sherman first though ) I'll make will be the Soviet heavy tank. I will probably base it off a T-54, a T-55 (most likely) or a T-62 (Westwood chose the T-80, but I want Red Alert to have this mix of WW2 and Vietnam war technology) and give it two barrels. _________________ I use Arch btw QUICK_EDIT
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