Any success? No worries... I'm very patient and don't expect anything. (mostly giving a little bump!)

Actually, glad you asked! Today I finished both mesh editing (ie correcting ~70% of the UV-mapping) both for the M and F versions of the cuirasses, gauntlets and helmets (I have also revised/redone the normal maps and textures); I have to take a couple of hours break, then will continue with the boots and greaves (the boots will also need some texture editing, no big deal). One thing I will still fiddle with a little bit is the cuirass' normal map, I did a new one, but I'm not 100% happy with it (although it looks much better than the previous). However, I am intent to finish today what is a full rehaul of the Morihaus suit of armour - so you can take a look at it over the weekend.

Sounds good?

Cheers,
PKR.

Sounds great! If all goes well, I will try it out, for extra comfort, in the Halloween http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1044691. :ninja:

Uh, unfortunately, "modding" my attic for the winter took longer than expected and now I have to leave - so the release has to be postponed for tomorrow... Sorry about that, but I take normal maps seriously and I usually go through several versions before settling for one...

Btw, I managed to remove a bit of that problem on the F armour - although it still doesn't look perfect (it would only with a completely new UV-map - which I cannot do atm), it looks much better than before. Besides that, I reworked completely the pauldrons and arms, as the UV-mapping on those was simply awful...

Happy Halloween!

EDIT (31/10/09): Uploading http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l256/Painkiller_rider/The%20Ebony%20Smithy/New_Mori_Armour.jpg (same download links as in the OP)!!! The full Deluxe version is still needed for now (if people will like the new version, I will eventually repack the whole thing into a v2.2 edition).

@_earthling_ (and whoever else is using the new F armour), please take some screenshots with the F version, whenever you have the time, so I will post them here, on Nexus and PES... Thank you!

Big thanks! Will give feedback and screens tomorrow... long day today...zzzz :foodndrink:

Excellent - take your time! Note that I have made the cuirass texture's size smaller, while upping the normal map a bit - together they are about the same size as before, or even a bit smaller... However, that stretch effect on the back of the F armour was due to the bad UV-mapping, which I fixed as well as I could... The stretching is not present on the M armor, so I guess it is just because of the F mesh editing.

Let me know when you have some results - again, screenshots will be much appreciated!

Cheers,
PKR.

The changes look very good- I now see what you mean re stretching on the female cuirass. I was hoping that the Morihaus armor would now stand side by side with the FS eq, but I guess the original art/other limitations you mentioned prevent this. (What I mean is that, when focusing on a small area, the textures are not as crisp and have less detailed bump-mapping) Also, IMHO, the blue leather undercoat is better than the red/brown- what do you think?

I will edit this post with some screens soon!

Yup, it's because of the UV-mapping. Whereas on TFS I had the shields, which could be easily re-mapped, and the Orcish and Chainmail cuirasses (with a much better UV-mapping), back in 2006, when I picked the Steel/BlackWood cuirass for Morihaus armor/Lord's mail, I had no idea how borked its UV-mapping was... Now, I was presented with basically 3 solutions: 1. pick another mesh, but that'd be beyond the scope of just improving the armor; 2. make another texture, but that won't be better, since the original texture I'm using is not so good and I don't want to change its looks; and 3. alter/edit the UV-mapping, within the restriction of the existing one (as I cannot re-map it, then re-rig it). Naturally, I picked solution #3, although I reckon I worked a bit more than anticipated...

If you run sometime on a better mesh for the Steel/BlackWood F cuirass, just let me know and I'll gladly adapt it to my texture...


Hmmm, red/brown undercoat? Now it has only chain-maille (with a leather trim), no more cloth undercoat - are you sure of this?


Thank you in advance!

Well, I took longer than expected... After looking much closer at the changes you made I can say that I'm very happy and grateful! There are many fine details on the Morihaus armor... I got spoiled by the technical improvements in your source material and craft on display in your later work, which I saw first. I will stop comparing on that level, with your or other mods. :lightbulb:

The leather trim to the chain undercoat: old http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/8440/oldtrim.jpg vs new http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/8350/trim.jpg.

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/8146/seethru.jpg a little problem with the rear of the undercoat not showing up well when viewed from certain angles in the front. Not sure if this a problem with my setup? It shows up perfectly on the character portrait in the inventory.

Here are a few misc shots... I'm sure I could do better but I kinda forced the issue- I will be reinstalling FCOM soon (MMM and FCOM updates by Corepc) and hope to minimize the slightly too frequent crashing I experience in my adventures.
http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/5360/screenshot91i.jpg Beautiful lion- I think it's a lion...
http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/2388/screenshot87n.jpg I love the back of the boots!
http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/6428/screenshot86.jpg The back looks much better now.
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/3172/screenshot90d.jpg Yippee!!
:goodjob:

Well, thank you... One satisfied customer is always welcome!


Oh, I see... I used the brown leather as I felt it was more in the tone of the rest of the armour, as well as with the various belts that are holding the armour parts together... I honestly like it more like this, all metal, chain-maille and leather...


Haha, that\'s Beth\'s thing, mate! It is present on all their armour, it is call \"polygon or surface culling\" - basically a way to reduce the number of polys when the respective surface is hidden from sight... They didn\'t really think someone will actually try to look from that angle... However, it has an easy fix (just add a NiStencilProperty to the skirt node) and it also bothers me, I already did it a few minutes ago, but will upload a new version only tomorrow (it is too late now to wait for the upload). I have also moved again a few vertices on the UV-mapping, some things were not \"perfect\"...


Please wait for the tomorrow version, I\'m quite sure it\'ll be the final one... In the meantime, now it\'s a good time to think of any other issues...

Cheers,
PKR.

EDIT/UPDATE (04-Nov-2009): New (and hopefully final) version!!! Already uploading on PES, will follow on the snail-speed-Nexus in an hour or so...
Changelog:
- added NiStencilProperty for the skirt part of the F and M cuirass meshes;
- some more UV-mapping tweaks on the helmets and on the F cuirass...
EDIT2: finished uploading both on PES and Nexus - enjoy!

Hi all,

I haven't been very active lately and, the way things are looking ahead, I'll probably be even less for the time being. My WIP MW and OB mods will be eventually finished, just that I have absolutely no idea when. However, the mods already published will benefit of full maintenance, so please post here anything related.

Cheers,
PKR.

Hey, your not abandoning us, are you?
I've already lost my favourite weaponsmith with Adonnay gone.
What am I going to do without my armourer?

Hope to see you active again in the near future. :wave:

I can't help laughing at the title of this tread as I use them beautiful mods of yours every day.

forgotten mods? Heh! No chance. I replay your shields at least once in a fortnight...

No, not abandoning... I'm just going through a bit darker period of life (my father passed away recently, among others, such as having to move away in a month or so from the house of our dreams, financial difficulties, etc.). In brief, I'm quite low at the moment and working on mods is mostly a matter of mood for me... I'm quite sure I will find the drive to continue at some point, as I have quite a large chunk of work done on Beyond the Realms of Death - but I can't find that strength yet, that's all... Until then, I'll just lurk on the forums and say hello from time to time...


Thank you, you've always been too kind with my work. I'll bump the thread every once in a while, since everything tends to be forgotten, given the proper amount of time and the right conditions...

Cheers and, again, thank you!
PKR.

I'm sorry to hear of your current problems, PKR. I wish you the best with everything in your life and I'm glad you're not leaving us.
I'll be happy to help bump your topics.

Sorry to hear that, mate. Hope everything turns out as good as it can. Yes, in the long run everything will be forgotten but until then quality is never out of style. It's such a sweet act to make something that is perfect and share it with others. I think that is what I search for in everything. And your mods are forever in that sense. Perfection doesn't need bumping.

Have some good vibes PKR :hugs: Here's to getting through rough times. :foodndrink:

You all honour me with your attention and heart-warming words! You should see now PKR, a grey-haired (and bearded), near-giant of a man (I'm almost 2m tall and about 120kg), with moist eyes and blushy cheeks... Thank you all!


Thank you, MM! As said, I'll get back as soon as things will get a bit better...


True - except I'm very far from achieving perfection - hence bumping may be needed... Joking aside, if there is a reason to occasional bumping, that's letting the new forumers know about it. It's nice to know one's work is enjoyed not only in the past, but also in the present, and not only by old friends, but also by new ones. That said, I thank thee for thy kind words, as always, my friend!


My ancestors used to drink and laugh at one's death - I usually expand that to most of the crappier situations... To reinforce what you said: :foodndrink: Now I'm off to drink a bottle of wine with my woman!

I just completed The Forgotten Shields... my cup truly runneth over! Many great foes... one in particular (that likes to use it's feet) truly blew me away... but I prevailed. For any hero to make it through this quest is amongst the greatest of accomplishments. :trophy:



Thank you!

Thank you! As to your comment, I remember reading a post a while ago of someone saying he/she leveled-up a few times before finishing the dungeon... Alas, I haven't provided any beds in there, I should perhaps review that!

Merry Christmas to everyone!
PKR.

For all those that still have doubts about downloading these amazing mods, I advice you to think twice before turning your back to such mods. My friendly advice is to at least give'em a try and I can asure you you'll have no regrets.

As for you my friend(PKR), I hope you'll release those WIP mods for MW/OB as soon as posible. In the meantime I can only watch pics with your "oldies" since my PC is fried and I can't run most mods on my laptop.

Happy holidays,
Pushatu!

Thank you! I am currently giving serious thoughts to restart the work on the suspended mods... Probably after holidays.

Cheers,
PKR.

Hi all,
Hope you are all well and this winter didn't cause you too much trouble (I can hear already some Aussies snickering in the background)... Errr, just back with some news: a couple of weeks ago I restarted the work on the Death Dealer mod, only to suspend it 2 days ago for (finally) playing FO3. Well, things are not too dire, I like the game, but I guess I'll play it only once (on top of not being my style, it also freezes a lot!), then return to work. Right now I am quite excited about working on that mod, as it is coming together quite nicely, in spite of some technical difficulties...

Also, it looks like 2 of my oldest mods, http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=OblivionMods.Detail&id=1857&comment_page=3 and http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=OblivionMods.Detail&id=2002, started to get some attention again... I mention it here, since I'm quite sure that most of our newer forum members never heard of them and they are probably worth a try...

Cheers,
PKR.

Great mods, lousy winter weather in UK (puddles and mud while my parents enjoy 6 feet snow back in Bulgaria and are not happy with it )
good news you've got some time, bad news you waste it on FO3,
good news you'll do some more modding, bad news your update for forgotten shield is not ready,
good news you're allright, bad news you're not modding...
you promised me a zebra steed, I kept it secret till now...

We love you, Painkiller_rider.
Take your time, have fun!
And if you do some more modding for your own pleasure, we all benefit from this!

You are right about everything, except for one point: I promised you a big, black warhorse, but a zebra ride...

As for FO3, it is honestly just a way to rest a bit, I worked heavily on the mod just until 2 days ago and I was afraid of getting burned out... Besides, I got this FO3 GOTY gift from a friend from Beth back in October, so I thought it was a shame not to take a look at it... I'm really not crazy about the game - I only wish Beth was spending one fraction of the money they spend on (too many to count) failed publishing projects to update Oblivion's engine to the FO3 version... Although still buggy as hell, there is a lot of power in it - I run hi-res texture replacers on Ultra settings, with AA and AF on, max view, etc. and the game is smooth enough to play (funny enough, it crashes indoors, in small empty locations...).

So, the good news is that the bad news will be over soon!