Some previews and needing material help

Darkstorm · Commander **Joined**: 20 Jan 2008 **Location**: Texas

So I've been looking into hacking together a working version of Rewire with the CnCNet Client because I'd really like to use it as a base for a Tiberian mod since there's so much more engine functionality with Ares and Phobos compared to vanilla TS.

I tried messing with the public models and textures for the buildings but unfortunately, they're in 3ds max format and all I've got to work with is Blender.

I was able to convert the public models into something somewhat usable with online file converters which I figured I'd use as a reference while working on creating my own models from scratch.

This has gone alright so far and is straightforward enough. However, I have run into issues trying to create nice procedural textures to use. It's not something I'm particularly adept at and even when following tutorials online, I don't feel like I'm really "getting" it.

So I guess this is a long winded post to ask for help with understanding materials and how to design them for making SHPs (particularly using DonutArnold's template)?

That and I guess to float the project idea to see if I can get any more of a leg up than I already have.

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Base of a GDI Power Plant. As you can tell, materials need work.

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G-E · Defense Minister **Joined**: 09 Feb 2015

Why do they have to be procedural? What's wrong with projected photos?

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Darkstorm · Commander **Joined**: 20 Jan 2008 **Location**: Texas

Honestly, I suppose they could be. It's mostly just to avoid needing to UV unwrap the meshes and mess around in GIMP with trying to get the texture to align right. With that said, I believe the rewire models went that route so maybe I should look into it.

McPwny · Chem Warrior **Joined**: 29 Jan 2018

when i do textures i primarily use just basic image textures instead of generating the texture itself procedurally. but after loading in the
texture i tend to edit it a lot procedurally with nodes to get the right color and look for it. its kind of way too much stuff to explain in a
forum post though. feel free to steal or reverse engineer the textures from my public models, or maby ask me over discord

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Darkstorm · Commander **Joined**: 20 Jan 2008 **Location**: Texas

Do you have a go-to resource for textures?

Anyhow, I've done a bit of tweaking to get something I'm somewhat happy with. I think I was just too quick to give up on it.

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Here's what I've progressed to.

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McPwny · Chem Warrior **Joined**: 29 Jan 2018

i tend to just use simple images pulled from the web and do the rest with nodes. typically i use diffuse shaders for most
things, and a simple glossy shader for the remap.

good job on that power plant so far. though i cant help but notice that the canvas size is massive?

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Darkstorm · Commander **Joined**: 20 Jan 2008 **Location**: Texas

Gotcha! I will maybe give it go and see what I come up with. This seems to be working so far though.

The large canvas is a result of using DonutArnold's template. I still haven't really touched composition yet so it's been a very helpful tool.

I think all I need to do now is add a few doodads and the turbine and I'll be good to move on to the barracks. I was originally wanting to go the full distance and do all the animations and damage frames before moving on but I've realized that I might need to adjust materials as I go along and it'll be easier to keep a consistent set of shared materials if I work in phases.

I suppose I'll likely post updates as I go along to this thread to get feedback. I honestly hope somewhere along the line I can get the assistance of someone that knows a heck of lot more about terrain editing than me because the terrain set I pulled from the Rewire YR alpha appears to be incomplete and I don't know if that's something I can handle on my own.

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Power plant is more or less complete

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McPwny · Chem Warrior **Joined**: 29 Jan 2018

i happen to know a lot about making terrain. though i think holland actually did a
conversion of rewires terrain into TS so he may be the one to consult about image
resizing and such

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Darkstorm · Commander **Joined**: 20 Jan 2008 **Location**: Texas

I saw! It's what actually got me thinking about Rewire again in the first place. I might reach out to see if he could help but ultimately, I'm less concerned about converting the terrain than completing it. He might have access to more of it than I do though as I know Tiberian Flora and Fauna pieces along with many path pieces were missing from the hacked together set I am currently using.

Though if you are knowledgable about terrain creation, I would still very much appreciate a primer on it later down the road. My current roadmap has been to essentially create all the structures and infantry myself, then find someone else to help with terrain creation probably on the Mod Haven discord.

While I'm here, I guess I'll throw up a wip of the GDI barracks. I haven't done that much work on it due to IRL concerns but it is slowly coming together. However, I think the true test will come when I get going on the Tiberium Refinery and War Factory though as those structures have a lot more geometry and visual complexity to them.

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Darkstorm · Commander **Joined**: 20 Jan 2008 **Location**: Texas

I've been posting updates to DonutArnold's Blender discord but I figured I'd update this thread just to show off some of the progress I've been making. I think I'm starting to get the hang of this.

So yeah, this little project is humming along nicely. I did hack together a client early on just to try and test out some of the old ReWire terrain and units. The terrain set is incomplete though so I might have to consider other options.

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War Factory and Upgrade Center alongside improved Power Plant and Barracks

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