A little help with a model?

[demoncleaner]

Alright .... final cut!!!!

Tell me what you think......

[syscrusher]

Great design work on a first model! Others who have more experience with Blender than I do have already commented on the Blender issues, so I'll leave that to others. Instead, I'll comment from the perspective of someone who does medieval historical reenactment as a hobby, and also makes armor as part of that.

I really love the fact that your pommel and quillons are reasonably sized. A lot of people making weapons for games have never wielded one, and don't understand about balance. The weight at the pommel end is there for a reason -- it provides a counter-balance to the blade's weight. You don't want to negate the blade weight, rather just to partially offset it. And different styles of combat require different balance points. Your weapon looks as if it might be a little blade-heavy, and the suggestion someone else made for beveling it (the "start with a cube..." tutorial) would, I think, take care of that. I'd also consider easing off on the rough texture a little bit, but you've already noted that. There are some really nice online texture sites where you can get excellent metal textures, if you want it to be very realistic, or you can stick with the vanilla steel or iron textures for simplicity.

Speaking of balance, although I think your quillons are reasonable in size and apparent weight, this is an area where you actually *can* let your imagination run a little wild. The reason is that the balance point of a typical sword is on the blade just above the quillons. Since they are so close to the balance point, a small variance in their weight doesn't have as much effect on weapon balance. There are historical examples of swords with fairly wide quillons, and of course there are also some with very small guards (such as the Japanese katana).

I'm not sure what texture you used on the grip, but I like it. :-)

Another thing I will compliment is that your ornamentation jewel is reasonably-sized and not overdone, and it's in a place where it wouldn't be likely to get knocked loose during combat. You probably wouldn't find a gem that big in a historical weapon, but this is a fantasy-based video game, and it's plausible in that context. I guess what I'm saying is that you've built a weapon that looks like a weapon, not something out of an over-the-top cartoon. :-) Most of my characters would carry it proudly, although my current Orc fighter probably thinks jewels are for sissies. {GRIN}

It's very refreshing to see a weapon mod that is plausible and not overdone. So many people seem to want to build these 30-kilogram weapons that could crush a boulder but could only be wielded by a Titan. I'd like to hand some of these folks my sword, about 2 kg, and see how their arms feel after even 15 minutes.

By all means, please keep up the great work!

[ResolveThatChord]

Ooh a new sword! looking great, keep 'em coming! I agree with syscrusher: the best assets feel like they belong to a world and it's culture.

Syscrusher: I like your post. interesting stuff. And now I know what "quillion" means.

Just to clarify some stuff on the whole moelling and unwrapping process, here's how I do it:

First, model your thing.

Once you've done that, switch to "edge select mode" ( this makes it a lot easier)

Then select and mark the edges you want as seams. When doing this try and think about how you would take your shape and make it flat; artifacts like swords or buildings have sharp angles between surfaces that are ideal. For organic shapes, try to imagine how you would skin them.

When that's done, Split your window and change one of them to "UV/image editor".

Now tell Blender to unwrap it. It may offer you a few options, such as "cylinder projection" or "smart projections"- ignore these. Just "unwrap". Your UVs should appear in the UV editor.

In the UV editor, hit ctrl+A then ctrl+p to minimise stretching an fill the space.

Now to check for stretching. In the UV editor clock "image", select new. A panel will apear, the default is fine EXCEPT you should press "UV test grid". This will make a grid of squares which, when applied to your model, will make stretches and differences in pixel density easily visible.

Apply the new image to your model. In 2.5 you check "textured solid" in the display panel of the 3d viewport. I'm not sure how it works in 2.4; maye you have to assign it as a texture.

With the grid applied, look for places where the squares aren't square or are significantly larger or smaller. This should give you a clue as to how to place seams more effectively.

Hope this helps. If you need further clarification, here's a tute: http://cgcookie.com/blender/2011/01/21/intro_uvmapping/

[demoncleaner]

Thanks for the tips Resolvethatchord , i'm having the most trouble with uv unwrapping. I'll definitely use these steps. Also thank you for the compliment's syscrusher, seems like we have similar tastes.

The sword I modeled used the collision from the elven longsword. While I was working on the blade i noticed it was out of proportion , but I wasn't sure how to edit the size of the collision box. The sword i made should have been a short sword. It's been a while since I modded and it took me a while to get the sword in game.... sadly when i did, i noticed the pommel and handle were shimmering. I'm sure this is due to them being separate geometric shapes intersecting. I'm going to have to start making the pommel and handle one piece. I did use your advice on the blade though RTC. It's thick on one side and tapered down pretty sharp on the other. I guess it's hard to see any detail like that in these pics.

As far as the swords look goes .... I always prefer realistic weapons. They can be ornate, but i'd like them to seem real. The texture of the blade I liked cause it looked worn in,but it's a bit much. There's a fine line between plain and over done. I crossed it a little. The handle is a green worn leather. Unfortunately it didn't look as good in game as it did in nifscope. It may be the normal map i'll have to mess with it. Back to the drawing board i suppose.