Modelim Non-player character - lesson 1 (introduction)

Non- Playable Character (NPC ) - in computer and desktop role-playing games, a character controlled by a program or a master, in the latter case, can sometimes be called a master character. In computer games, this term is usually referred to as friendly or player neutral characters, while hostile characters are often called monsters or “mobs” (in the case of the MMORPG). Non-player characters serve as a tool for creating a gaming atmosphere (animals, civilians in cities), and for story purposes (in adventure and role-playing games).
I just want to make a reservation that I take up writing articles for the first time, so do not scold me much, I do not pretend to a master class. There will be mistakes, inaccuracies, perhaps incorrect approaches to one or another technical issue. It can be said that I will study with you, “advanced” pros, please express constructive criticism (preferably with examples), perhaps together we can get a good lesson. Comment here or email info (dog) kraftmedia.ru

So. What do we need?

3D studio max - versions not lower than 9 *

  * 3ds Max - a full-featured professional software system for
 work with three-dimensional graphics, developed by Autodesk.  Works
 in Microsoft Windows and Windows NT operating systems (as in 32 bit,
 so in 64 bit).  In the spring of 2008, the eleventh version of this
 product called "3ds Max 2009". 

Zbrush 3.1 * (version 3.1 is required)

  * Zbrush - a program for three-dimensional modeling, created by
 Pixologic.  A distinctive feature of this software is imitation
 the process of "modeling" 3d-sculpture, enhanced engine three-dimensional rendering
 in real time, which greatly simplifies the procedure for creating the required
 3d object.  Each dot (called a pixel) contains no information.
 only about their XY coordinates and color values, but also the depth Z,
 orientation and material.  This means that you not only can "sculpt"
 three-dimensional object, but also "paint" it, drawing strokes with depth.
 That is, you do not have to draw shadows and highlights to make them look
 Naturally - ZBrush will do this automatically.  It also works fast
 with standard 3d objects using brushes for geometry modification
 materials and textures, allows for interactivity with the unthinkable
 number of polygons using special methods can be raised
 up to tens (or even hundreds) of millions of polygons, also
 There are many plug-ins (working with textures,
 geometry, many new brushes, fast integration with
 professional packages 2d graphics and more). 

Adobe Photoshop * - in principle, any version

  * Adobe Photoshop - raster graphics editor designed and
 distributed by Adobe Systems.  This product is a leader.
 market in the field of commercial raster editing tools
 images, and the most well-known product of Adobe.
 Often this program is called simply Photoshop (Photoshop).  At present
 Photoshop time is available on Mac OS X / Mac OS and Microsoft platforms.
 Windows  Early versions of the editor were ported to SGI IRIX,
 but official support has been discontinued since version 3
 product.  For CS 2, it is possible to run under Linux using
 Alternatives to the Windows API are Wine 0.9.54 and higher. 

Perhaps in the development process will need additional programs and utilities * , be sure to add them to this description.

  * Utility (English utility or tool) - software product
 designed not to solve any applied problem,
 and to solve auxiliary problems.  So computer utilities
 can be divided into three groups: Service Utilities
 computer utility extensions and
 information utilities. 

The lesson will be divided into several parts. Why? Because the main problem is, of course, lack of time, the second problem is that you want to write and prepare material for you as fully and competently as possible. And the third - the model that we will create is not ready for me, that is, we will do it together from scratch.
')
Are you tired? A lot of beech? Well, enough of the theory will begin to practice.

In the first part, I will tell you how I prepare for work and collect materials.
First we need to decide on the technical requirements for the future model.

The requirements of the game engine for NPC are usually as follows:
The number of polygons - 1000-1500
Divuznaya (color) texture - 512x512 pixels
Normal Map Texture * - 512x612 pixels

  * Normal Map - Relief texturing - a method in computer graphics
 to give a more realistic and saturated look
 objects.  The technology is similar to Bump mapping *, but for storage
 terrain information uses textures that encode data
 not about the height of surface points, but about the deviation of the surface normals.  For
 creating such textures are usually created multi-poly and
 low poly models, on the basis of which the texture is generated
 normals. 

Animation - it's harder here, when the turn comes to animation I will focus on this issue in more detail in the process of writing and creating.

First you need to find a few prototypes in the form of images.
Ideally, you can read articles on zoology - this is useful for a more accurate transfer of anatomy and subsequent animation.

So - prototypes:
Here is my Google assistant:
images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=%D0%B6%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%B0&lr=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi
I liked this sweetheart here :) for the job it is:


Feel free to see how similar models are made in games. I like to relax at the end of the day playing Linage2 on the doommastery.ru server - go into the game and take a screenshot:


During the game, we press Prt Sc SysRq (the button on the keyboard is usually used to make an impression from the screen, at any time not only in games) in our case, the developers implemented a function that, when pressed, saves the image to the Systems folder in the installed game directory .

Let's digress and remember the school program :)
http://psy.tom.ru/photo/amphibious.html
http://www.froggygy.ru/frogs/toads/
http://www.ebio.ru/images/06040102.gif - the skeleton is an indispensable element that helps to understand the anatomy when creating animation. Of course, we will not model it, but it is necessary to study it.
This concludes the first part of the article, while preparing the next stage - the creation of a multi-poly model in Zbrush. You will have enough time to install the necessary software and learn the basic principles of working in it.

Until new meetings.