Archive for the ‘pet projects’ Category

The last two days were pretty rough, but I’m slowly getting back into code-mode. Everything I wrote yesterday was garbage and I ended up deleting it all, out of frustration.

Things got a little better today and I made some valuable improvements to the TouchBound system cosmetic functions. I now have a few sections that can properly manipulate PBR materials alongside the old materials. I also have implemented some of the cuffing system, user-facing messages, as well as configuration flags to adjust how tightly the bracelets ratchet when closed. There is also an option to have the cuffs hidden in the “uncuffed” mode and some click-routing code to make things a bit smoother and user-friendly.

No animations yet. Knowing the way I do things, it will probably be the last thing I end up doing.

I’ve added a few finishing touches to the sci-fi cuffs mesh and textures. I believe that I made a fairly reasonable set of LOD models, not all of these are necessary, but the lowest LOD never ever looks right when done automatically.

There are some additional markings on the top of the sci-fi cuffs locking blocks (Unless I made a mistake, that’s the Chinese character for “unlock”), and some subtle noises and variations in all the materials that looked a little too plain, like the big red hinge piece (some scratches there now).

The lock holes do not rotate on this version of the lock block, I could change that if people tell me that it is a real problem, otherwise, I’m keeping them as-is. I was thinking about adding the 3D key model that I made for the heavy-duty lock, for the lock and unlock animation and realized that “normally” I would have to use the “universal keyhole” that the chat conditioner uses, so I quickly re-rendered the chrome parts to see what it would look like and, I’m not really sold. The depth isn’t really working on that mesh it looks like some sort of adjustment dial, not a keyhole in my opinion.

What do you guys think?

I’m almost done with the textures of the sci-fi cuffs. I still have to try to squeeze in an extra decal or two, and the red part of the “hinge” need a little something extra, as it looks a little too plain at the moment. Oh, and the LEDs! I forgot to do those properly.

Other than that there is still the LOD models that I have not done yet, and maybe cleaning up the points of origin for all the meshs to make it easier for me (and modders) to line everything up. I added a little bit of roughness to the surfaces where I had normal quantization issues (same issue I had with the stunprod months back).

A quick update for you all on the sci-fi cuffs, I’ve finished reshaping the low-poly and added some extra sections to allow people to adjust the spacing better (thanks to the separate Bakelite sections). The mesh is also unwrapped and probably final at this point.

The metal shader need some further refining, it lacks a little bit of something in my opinion. No real issue otherwise, just a lot of partial renders to set up scenes for. The written markings are also not 100% final yet.

I had a thought this weekend: What if I made the cuffs a better match to the existing Signalis-inspired stun prod?

What kind of handcuff would be carried by security Replikas? I came up with some details that re-use elements already present in the stun-prod, such as the Bakelite shell and diodes (there might be too many diodes)… Someone did ask if those would feature a time lock function and with this many indicators, it is almost too good of an idea to pass…

I could also get rid of the hex bolt at the center and have a central keyhole there instead because I suspect people might expect the two keyholes to imply dual-custody, and I’m not really convinced by that idea…

I did not get a lot done in the past couple days, the panel building project has received some additional window frame detailing, and while I did some progress on the sci-fi cuff low-poly model, the normal baking process is giving me a lot of little rendering artifacts that I need to resolve (or at least minimize).

I took a bit of a break due to a combination of family visits, and a need for some personal time. And what do you know, summer is here with a vengeance.

Eventually, I gave up and unpacked the air conditioner from storage. It was a hassle, but I do not regret it. Better sleep, clearer head for work… And I don’t have to live at night anymore!

For today’s update I have a couple of things to show:

First, I’ve been mildly obsessed with is a staple of brutalist architecture; “Plattenbau” or panel construction. It was used all around the DDR and former Soviet Union. I’m not sure if this is going to be a construction set, or if this is just me experimenting with the style. Fun fact, it’s compatible with my 3×3 cells >_>.

The other thing is that I’ve resumed work on the sci-fi rigid handcuffs. I’ve added a few more visual details, and completed a good chunk of the low-polygon work. On that matter, I’m attempting a different method, but I have no idea whether it will work well with normal maps. If it doesn’t, I’ll just remodel it the old way.

Getting towards the finish line on the Morgiana collar! Textures & LOD models are ready, I also got most of the code done. You can also see what it looks like without the studs. I’d love to do a release right before June rolls in, and I might actually be able to make it, but the release will most likely be sometime next week.

We’ll see what happens, right?

I swear this is one of the last times I’m taking pictures of the Morgiana collar high-poly model. I added all the dings and dents, punched the holes for the back ring (let’s hope it will show up in the normal map), finished the Low polygon model and unwrapped it (1024×1024 feels overkill, but I could not use 1024×512 efficiently like I did with the cuffs because the flat sections are much longer and would end up with a lower resolution, it also needs its own duplicate of the ring mesh, so there is that too), oh yeah and the logo is in place and on time (usually I forget).

I can always drop the resolution & repack if that’s too much.

I resumed work on the Morgiana collar, The second half is modeled, but I had to redo some things on the first half (just to satisfy my mild OCD).

I also spent hours over the weekend putting together a (personal?) variant of the hired help uniform, not a big fan of using 2K textures, but it does look quite nice with all the stitching I added to it (also those are patch attachments, don’t ask).

Lastly, I don’t think I posted anything yet about the new brainwashing propaganda entertainment system I’ve installed in the Second Life Cell Block D-5, it is still a little rough around the edges. I will make better models, textures and more diegetic scripts, I hope ^_^.