Midgar Remake

[SpooX]

This is exciting, i hope you guys are splitting. Up the work so no person is working on the same thing.

Of course we are not all doing the same thing......
We're all just working on different reactors....3 done....5 to go 
 

[Killerx20]

Oh wow I have missed so much! I have returned once again!!

My reactors still need some work to them too, IMO they're the most difficult pieces of geometry i've had to deal with, though i'm quite delighted to see i'm not the only one needing several versions and minor ajustments and optimisations here ;3.





I'm gonna continue work on it ASAP!

Wow warren, I never thought I'd see you again how have you been?
Reactor looks good btw.

Of course we are not all doing the same thing......
We're all just working on different reactors....3 done....5 to go 
 

All my reactors are finished and i'm not going to tweak them anymore. I've spent too much time optimizing them although it helped with the render times.
I'm not really sure what to work on next though.. Any ideas?

[Cyberman]

Wow warren, I never thought I'd see you again how have you been?
Reactor looks good btw.All my reactors are finished and i'm not going to tweak them anymore. I've spent too much time optimizing them although it helped with the render times.
I'm not really sure what to work on next though.. Any ideas?

There are the parts of midgar with Cannon and where the prodClod fight occurs later in the game.

[Timu Sumisu]

Do all the area's like cyberman said where the upperplate is featured, and sector 8, then just fill in the city.

[Dubular]

I wanna say it was Spoox who mentioned it, but I can't find where it was. Anyways, I'd say if you're up to the point of filling in the plates, it does seem like all the plates in the original FF7 were essentially the same. The camera angles never really permit for an up close shot of an entire sector, and that's how Square got away with it.

For my 2 cents, I think an efficient way of doing it would be to work on one sector plate, and once you're satisfied, copy it for the other 6 plates, and then vary some things from plate to plate to make it less obvious. This is assuming you are at the point of filling in the plates and not still tweaking other stuff. That being said, it's looking awesome.

[Killerx20]

I wanna say it was Spoox who mentioned it, but I can't find where it was. Anyways, I'd say if you're up to the point of filling in the plates, it does seem like all the plates in the original FF7 were essentially the same. The camera angles never really permit for an up close shot of an entire sector, and that's how Square got away with it.

For my 2 cents, I think an efficient way of doing it would be to work on one sector plate, and once you're satisfied, copy it for the other 6 plates, and then vary some things from plate to plate to make it less obvious. This is assuming you are at the point of filling in the plates and not still tweaking other stuff. That being said, it's looking awesome.

They are all the same, have a look at this hi rez image http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e33/Killerx20/k3VhV.jpg
You can see they basically modeled sector 1 to fit the train station and such then just pasted it on the rest except for the small section of sector 8. Its just that they changed the lighting in each plate a little. I plan on filling two plates and pasting those 4 times each err well one 3 times and the other 4 then just fit in the little piece of sector 8. Simple enough.

[Nightmarish]

I'm usually very good with maps and orientation but in FF7 i have a lot of problems to situate myself on the map, so this put, where is located the scenes spoox made, that zone with the clock where we bump into Aeris, where we jump into the train, etc? In a lower part of the plate?

The good thing about the modeling of final fantasy is that i can finally understand midgar to the detail 

[SpooX]

I'm usually very good with maps and orientation but in FF7 i have a lot of problems to situate myself on the map, so this put, where is located the scenes spoox made, that zone with the clock where we bump into Aeris, where we jump into the train, etc? In a lower part of the plate?

The good thing about the modeling of final fantasy is that i can finally understand midgar to the detail 

The clock scene (together with the theatre, and the bar, the fountain etc) is located in sector 8 (NNW if you set reactor 1 at the North side).
The starting of the intro movie is at sector 8, and ends up in sector 1 (via sector zero the shinra main building)
The starting of the bombing mission is located in Sector 1 (NNE).

I hope that's clear, otherwise I suggest you purchase Midgar-Maps by Shinra inc.
Beware though, finding any GPS satellites, might prove difficult in Midgar, reception in the slums has been proved to be nonexistent.
 

<edit>
see this for reference on sector 8 (left) and 1 (right)

[Killerx20]

I'm usually very good with maps and orientation but in FF7 i have a lot of problems to situate myself on the map, so this put, where is located the scenes spoox made, that zone with the clock where we bump into Aeris, where we jump into the train, etc? In a lower part of the plate?

The good thing about the modeling of final fantasy is that i can finally understand midgar to the detail 

And the lower part of the plate is in sector 4.

[SpooX]

and for a schematic view:


 

[Killerx20]

and for a schematic view:


 

Hah I like how even square got the schematic wrong, thats from Crisis Core right? Notice how the number 1 reactor shows the number 8 logo. Actually all the reactors logos are wrong =P

[Dubular]

The clock scene (together with the theatre, and the bar, the fountain etc) is located in sector 8 (NNW if you set reactor 1 at the North side).
The starting of the intro movie is at sector 8, and ends up in sector 1 (via sector zero the shinra main building)
The starting of the bombing mission is located in Sector 1 (NNE).

I was curious after reading this, and after checking the orientation of the Sister Ray, I'd say Sector 7 would be the northernmost sector. Assuming the cannon was pointing due north. Just a fun fact.

[halkun]

Hah I like how even square got the schematic wrong, thats from Crisis Core right? Notice how the number 1 reactor shows the number 8 logo. Actually all the reactors logos are wrong =P

You may want to look at that again buddy
Those aren't logos, they are Chinese characters. The Arabic numbers are showing the plates, the Chinese numbers are showing the reactors. Reactor 1 is to the right of plate 1, not the left, you read it clockwise, not counterclockwise.

[neomonkeus]

If you want to really confuzzle yourself you can go an compare everything together to figure out relative scaling. 

[Killerx20]

You may want to look at that again buddy
Those aren't logos, they are Chinese characters. The Arabic numbers are showing the plates, the Chinese numbers are showing the reactors. Reactor 1 is to the right of plate 1, not the left, you read it clockwise, not counterclockwise.

Your right about one thing, they aren't logos they are Chinese characters that represent numbers yes, I worded it wrong. I have been modeling midgar for the past 10 years. The picture I quoted and that the other person posted was incorrect. See where sector 1 is? The Chinese number to the left of it shows number 8 when the one on the right shows number 1. Think of the intro, when you zoom into the sector 1 train station you see the reactor on the left your about to bomb, notice the number on it? Its incorrect from the one shown in the picture.

[SpooX]

errm... chinese characters....
I know the japanese characters have their origin in chinese, but I was under the impression they are japanese characters. kanji
But of course I'm no expert....
 

[Killerx20]

errm... chinese characters....
I know the japanese characters have their origin in chinese, but I was under the impression they are japanese characters. kanji
But of course I'm no expert....
 

UGH whatever it is!! It could be Shinra language for all I care hahah

[DLPB_]

errm... chinese characters....
I know the japanese characters have their origin in chinese, but I was under the impression they are japanese characters. kanji
But of course I'm no expert....
 

I don't think they would use chinese characters in a japanese game for something like the reactors...  although yes, kanji did come from hanzi.  Let's see what a Japanese speaker says:

[luksy]

Chinese and Japanese characters are essentially the same thing at a fundamental level (if you disregard both countries' simplifications). Certain characters and strokes have subtle differences, but generally speaking (70%+ of the time?) a single character is more or less (semantically) mutually intelligible. Of course this has no bearing on full sentences involving actual grammar and compound words.

Going from the chars themselves, you cannot say whether this was intended to be Chinese or Japanese, it would be similar to asking the question "is '1' English or German?", this is a non-argument really.

The only noteworthy point is the use of the slightly more elaborate characters for 1, 2, 3, and 5 - 壱, 弐, 参, 伍 vs 一, 二, 三, 五, which are generally only used in cases where the far more common simple versions could be confused or altered (like cheques), or perhaps in this case to evoke certain imagery: I think the idea behind Shin-Ra is that they are meant to be a sort of dystopian Zaibatsu.

[Tempus]

Since I've been mentioned a few time in this thread I thought I'd just post to hopefully clarify some things. For those of you who don't know, I was developing for the project Mako Dawn, a Fallout 3 total conversion. As SpooX noted, development has since ceased for the reasons outlined in the link he posted earlier in this thread. The mod is currently available from the moddb page. I'll be releasing an update to that mod which will include all content / areas ever made for the mod (or at least which I can find) which previously weren't released because I considered them too incomplete or just irrelevant to the project scope. These in include (but aren't limited to) train cars, subway tunnel, upper Shinra Building floors and a Midgar model. Following that, I'll then try and arrange a release of the work files (ie the Blender, Photoshop, midi files) so that it'll be almost as if the person who downloads it has the same stuff as the developer. The latter release's file size will probably be much bigger and take longer to organise since some of these models / textures are years old.

Although I'm no longer developing Mako Dawn and don't plan to again in the future, I am working on one of the train cars right now just for fun and to keep my modeling / texturing skills sharp. I've basically held off the release a little so I can include this model. It's not finished yet, but here's a render anyway:



Anyhow, I'll post somewhere on Qhimm again once each release is... released. As noted elsewhere, anyone who wishes to take over the project / use its resources for theirs is welcome to - no strings attached.

For reference, my Midgar model (it's actually not entirely created by me) has roughly 42,000 faces. A lot of those are probably quads, I don't know what the tri count is. The model is in a state of half completion and I had planned to replace a lot. Basically I wanted a model that would look nice that could also be rendered in FO3 without slow downs. The idea was to have parts of the model visible when you looked out the Shinra Building (and it is!), but it's not anywhere close to how nice I was going to make it... oh well!

[Nightmarish]

Wow, awesome train car!
Every little model we could get done would be awesome, would push this remake project a bit towards the finish line

[BloodShot]

Pretty damn awesome, could really spruce up the opening with a train like that in it.

Does your midgar model have the Shinra building as well? I would love to see a high-quality Midgar on the world map.

[Tempus]

Does your midgar model have the Shinra building as well?

Yes:





They're both ingame shots from Fallout 3. The model was still being worked on by me and a lot of stuff was just placeholders, most notably the top of the building (above the barrel) and the reactors. There's also quite a few things which aren't properly textured / uv mapped. There's a door you can take in the mod to view Midgar from a distance like this.

This might be of interest too:



It's a rough layout I made for placing buildings on the plate. I personally like the idea of a messy, early European city style layout rather than straight, non-interrupted roads. Basically you'd map this image onto a plane on the plate and model over it, which is what I was planning to do. Given that you're actually playing the mod rather than viewing a render of it I was going to try and fake a lot of the detail instead of modelling each building to ensure smooth performance.

[Cyberman]

Using GECK?

There are a few FF7 models lingering on TESNEXUS including materia (you probably already new that but just in case).

They terminated the mako dawn project a while back I believe (oh well).

I have Fallout 3 and Oblivion I suppose I should get Skyrim but I don't have windows any-more to run the stuff (PS3 only for now I guess).

Erstwhile, interesting stuff.

I undetstand Fallout's engine is a bit less mod friendly than Oblivion was. I can't even use the one for Skyrim as it appears to require steam which I haven't used for years after Valve got so weird.

Back to what it was I was doing.

[Sapphire]

Getting back to work today 

Didn't actually realise how small my Midgar was till i zoned out everything but the plate support(this really needs to finished)



Anyway, I may be able to post an update soon!