Dev Blog
Hi, this is the Stranded III development blog (see also Forum Thread, Comment Thread).
Entry 42 - Rock 'n' Roll, Campfire, Texture Upgrade & Bamboo - May 8, 2016
Update / info for next dev blog entry
I won't be able to write a new entry next sunday (May 15. 2016) due to vacation! I'll write the next one on May 22.!
Rock 'n' Roll!
Time to create some rocks! I tried the Blender's texture paint feature for the first time last week and I really love it. I wish I tried earlier! It's great to draw a draft on the UV-mapped texture so you know better what belongs where when editing the texture later in Photoshop or whatever tool you use.
It's also super awesome for rocks. I recorded a video about low poly rock creation with Blender only. Modelling, UV mapping and drawing the texture directly in Blender on the model!
Click to watch me modelling and texturing a rock on YouTube!
The resulting texture is still too plain and boring and needs some additional details though. This will be done outside Blender afterwards.
By the way: I share the same texture for multiple rocks (4096² pixels). That's why you already see other rock textures in the video.
Here's a shot of all the rocks I did so far. The texture is still pretty boring as you can see. So post-editing it with another tool is really necessary here.
click to enlarge (texture work in progress!)
A hint for everyone who wants to try this: Make sure that you save the texture and not just the model. Maybe Blender auto-saves the texture when you embed it in your model (I didn't try that) but I think it doesn't save it automatically when you use an external image file as texture.
Texture Upgrade
I re-used some Stranded II textures as placeholders for wooden stuff like a log and a stick. Instead of completely discarding these placeholders I decided to simply scale them up and add more detail. Click for a high res version (> 1 mb!)
Note: The leaf is not from Stranded II but from an apple texture made for Stranded III. I plan to add even more detail to the wood
surface (right side) later.
Campfire
I have rocks, I have wood.. hey! That's all I need for a campfire model!
click to enlarge
Someone asked in the comments if there will be different fire places and the answer is yes, I plan to add different fire places.
This model shows the small campfire but there will also be an improvised/basic campfire without stones. It's quicker to build but it has a an increased risk of inflaming nearby stuff and it will burn wood faster because it's more exposed to wind. There will also be bigger campfires which are required for advanced cooking and crafting. They will help to keep some of the bad animals away. The biggest fires also won't be extinguished by (short) showers of rain.
These are only some of the plans regarding fire. Fire is a very important and complex topic and therefore I may even add more types of fire places, all with different pros and cons. E.g. a fire pit which makes the fire less visible.
Bamboo
Another model. This time an item: Bamboo! Not much to say about it as it's a super simple model and also a super simple texture which mainly consists of a gradient. I also prepared a dry bamboo texture which is more yellow. It will be used for bamboo buildings. Yes, that's right! You won't only be able to build stuff from wood but also from bamboo!
click to enlarge
YouTube Channel Recommendation
If you're into survival stuff I recommend the YouTube channel Primitive Technology to you! It's about building and crafting stuff out of things you find in nature. Needless to say that I already got some ideas for Stranded III from this...
I won't be able to write a new entry next sunday (May 15. 2016) due to vacation! I'll write the next one on May 22.!
Rock 'n' Roll!
Time to create some rocks! I tried the Blender's texture paint feature for the first time last week and I really love it. I wish I tried earlier! It's great to draw a draft on the UV-mapped texture so you know better what belongs where when editing the texture later in Photoshop or whatever tool you use.
It's also super awesome for rocks. I recorded a video about low poly rock creation with Blender only. Modelling, UV mapping and drawing the texture directly in Blender on the model!
Click to watch me modelling and texturing a rock on YouTube!The resulting texture is still too plain and boring and needs some additional details though. This will be done outside Blender afterwards.
By the way: I share the same texture for multiple rocks (4096² pixels). That's why you already see other rock textures in the video.
Here's a shot of all the rocks I did so far. The texture is still pretty boring as you can see. So post-editing it with another tool is really necessary here.
click to enlarge (texture work in progress!)A hint for everyone who wants to try this: Make sure that you save the texture and not just the model. Maybe Blender auto-saves the texture when you embed it in your model (I didn't try that) but I think it doesn't save it automatically when you use an external image file as texture.
Texture Upgrade
I re-used some Stranded II textures as placeholders for wooden stuff like a log and a stick. Instead of completely discarding these placeholders I decided to simply scale them up and add more detail. Click for a high res version (> 1 mb!)
Note: The leaf is not from Stranded II but from an apple texture made for Stranded III. I plan to add even more detail to the wood
surface (right side) later.
Campfire
I have rocks, I have wood.. hey! That's all I need for a campfire model!
click to enlargeSomeone asked in the comments if there will be different fire places and the answer is yes, I plan to add different fire places.
This model shows the small campfire but there will also be an improvised/basic campfire without stones. It's quicker to build but it has a an increased risk of inflaming nearby stuff and it will burn wood faster because it's more exposed to wind. There will also be bigger campfires which are required for advanced cooking and crafting. They will help to keep some of the bad animals away. The biggest fires also won't be extinguished by (short) showers of rain.
These are only some of the plans regarding fire. Fire is a very important and complex topic and therefore I may even add more types of fire places, all with different pros and cons. E.g. a fire pit which makes the fire less visible.
Bamboo
Another model. This time an item: Bamboo! Not much to say about it as it's a super simple model and also a super simple texture which mainly consists of a gradient. I also prepared a dry bamboo texture which is more yellow. It will be used for bamboo buildings. Yes, that's right! You won't only be able to build stuff from wood but also from bamboo!
click to enlargeYouTube Channel Recommendation
If you're into survival stuff I recommend the YouTube channel Primitive Technology to you! It's about building and crafting stuff out of things you find in nature. Needless to say that I already got some ideas for Stranded III from this...