[FF7PC] WIP: WEAPON retexture (Ruby released, Emerald in progress) (2012-10-19)

About a year ago, someone came on here and made a post about Ruby WEAPON retexture. It was one of the first things I saw when I joined this site. While searching for more information on the AC Mod by Kula Wende, Omega Res Novae and I came upon a site of foreign language. Lol, thank God for Google Translate. While there, we saw that several of the mods designed by Qhimm users have been added and spread through this site, that's including newer mods like the Limit Break TEX I redesigned and the Apz Cloud Black remodel. I also found the download link for the Ruby WEAPON retexture. His work looked like this:



It took a good bit of work, but I did some retexture work on it. Now it looks like this:



Here's where I'm having some trouble. The person who retexed WEAPON to start with jacked up the TEX for it. He made it all grey, and that grey is showing up on several parts of the battle model as you can see. Comments and suggestions are appreciated and asked for. If this goes well, next I'll try to retex Emerald and Ultimate WEAPONS.

Pics of different models:











Download Link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?z4v2zgeeiy3awzq

it could just be a low quality texture or bad uv mapping. if you decide to uv map the original, keep in mind that the uv maps can overlap and use the same texture, and you can extend the uv map past the texture and it will wrap around. for example if you extend the uv map past the right side of the texture it will resume on the left.

edit also dont link to that site as it contains downloads for the game as well as ripped models.
it may be beneficial to start on an enemy with less pieces i think the frog is rsaa. that one should be a good starter. its less then 10 pieces and is also is a basic shape

This is what the TEX file "alac" looked like when I got it:

Improper texture removed.

So yea, I'd say he messed up on the UV Mapping in the first quadrant.

Namespoofer did that years ago.  The idea was to make the weapons look like their respective gemstones.  As you can see it didn't turn out too well.

I think you're having problems with the texture because..
With those complex shapes and a lot of body parts that model actually uses just one tex file, and plain one.
you can try either..
1. adding more textures though it'll mean having to assign some parts to  a different tex id, (which is a hassle needs patience)
2. Redo the UV's (Also a lot of work)

Nice work btw, this diffinitely look better now..though you might want to add more details,
I might work on a different variant of ruby weapon for nightmare vii but that still far off, and it will look completely different

Good luck on this, lots of patience and try to familiarize with the tools we have here, it'll be useful..

I want to thank WhiTeRaven and Omega Res Novae. Since I decided to retex Ruby WEAPON they have been really helpful in getting me up to speed quickly on the different modeling tools. First I changed the TEXs that alac had, both quadrants. I decided to make them both my Ruby Red, which is a picture of an actual ruby. While working in Kimera, I made the decision to switch the chest, claw, and waist out with the older ones, that way it more closely resembles Ruby WEAPON rather than "a giant made of random jewelry" and use strategic lighting to help them all resemble each other. After that, the legs were annoying both WhiteRaven and I, so I lowered the brightness on the legs so now all the ruby red is the same tone.


I had to make sure to uncheck the "0 as transparent" block, twice I went to save and realized it was checked, so then I hit cancel and kimera crashed. So I had to redo it.

Here's what it looked like in Kimera before I darkened the legs some:



And here it is with darkened legs and useable in game. No bugs found with it either.



I'm pretty happy with how it looks compared to what it started out like. If anyone is interested in using him in battle, I'll upload the files and put in a download link on my first post. If this does get some people wanting it, can a mod please move this to "Releases?" And as always comments and suggestions are asked for, wanted, and appreciated. Not too bad for my first battle model, huh?

A little more bright/reflective red would be perfect! Exactly like in the picture on your 1st post.

You think so? I decided to change it because I felt the red was just too bright and the glossyness was distracting. Felt like too much going on and I wanted to keep it simple.  However I have retained most of the original files so it shouldn't be too hard to whip up a new one with the brighter gloss ruby and ya'll can decide.

Is there a concept art on how the weapons should look?

If there is and actual concept art, I don't know of it. I just get the feeling the WEAPONS should look more like their respective stones, Ruby should be ruby, Emerald should be emerald, Diamond should be diamond, Sapphire is sapphire, though we don't battle him....and Ultimate would be amethyst in my opinion.

There is the Creatures of FFVII: Ruby WEAPON statue:



I changed the TEX of Ruby WEAPON to the one I used in the first pic like requested. The coloring of the texture kinda clashed with the chest color, so I toned down the brightness a bit and used a light source on the front.

Here are some shots of the lighter Ruby WEAPON:



Honestly I like the darker Ruby WEAPON better. The colors go better together and he looks more ominous and menacing. This TEX just doesn't go so well with the original chest piece which I like better.

I nostalgiad when i saw your Mighty Morphin Power Rangers background haha

Anyway, I think what you found is what they intend Ruby to look like. If you like at Sapphire weapon here:


You'll see it looks shiny like the picture you posted

Well, maybe make the stone (ruby/emerald/etc) the thing they have in the center of the torso. Give it the stone texture:

I don't know about the others but I think the change did not improve the quality, I like the darker one.. LoL then again it's just me..

I'm with you White Raven. I think the darker one looks better and also closer to the Creatures of FFVII picture.

Yup.. well lighter one woudn't look bad if all parts will match in terms of shade, when you made the tex lighter, some of the parts remained dark, thus giving it a little messed up look..

I agree with nightmarish.. I think you should make the core standout a little, it's barely visible right now

Alright I took your advice on the chest core, but the only way to do that was to go with the already textured chest piece, which means it loses some of it's detail like the gold lines on his ribs.

I redid my light and dark models this way, and using a TEX of an actual shining ruby, it really stands out a bit now from the dark ruby color:

A shot of dark Ruby WEAPON in kimera:




some shots in battle:




A shot of light Ruby WEAPON in kimera:



and some shots in battle:



At this point I don't know what more I can do because I don't know how to unwrap UV's and such.

I like the dark one much more personally

I prefer the brighter one but in the whole body!

I like the dark one more myself, but I will upload a FIFTH Ruby WEAPON retex...this one will be the full body in the bright coloring Leonhart likes.

Leonhart, you had a point. It does look pretty sharp, but it doesn't have the details of the darker model. However, this one's for you:

In Kimera:



In Battle:




Edit: I have uploaded the files onto Mediafire for anyone who wants to use it in battle or test it out. Link on first post.

Can a Mod move this over to Releases please?