[FF7PC] ChaOS -Character Overhaul Seven

Ok I will give a try with 7h, thanks for answer and for those great models

A quick test:



There are some oddities with the textures, which I not fully understand, but the mesh as I have designed it is very good. The textures aren't ready yet, but the test has shown me which things needs to be done.

Here is the unshaded version to test:
https://mega.co.nz/#!CRcwkZBZ!BBOXg4qCpWjYH3tlcYYaH_Sxmx8bk8qHcDXEsj_tago

I like! 

I like! 

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+1

I'll have to test this, it looks very promising.

There are some oddities with the textures, which I not fully understand, but the mesh as I have designed it is very good. The textures aren't ready yet, but the test has shown me which things needs to be done.

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I know this may be seen as "advice for noob", but have you double-checked for double-vertices and the consistency of your face normals? They're common causes for glitching textures which can be easily fixed.

The oddities I have are related with the engine. In Kimera the gunarm uses the correct texture, but in the game it uses the texture of the arm. But I didn't use pcreator and have loaded the 3ds files directly in Kimera. So it's very possible that I (or blender) have create unclean files.

Ever wondered from where Vincent has gotten his dress?
Well I have, that's why I made an artwork of how he could look with respecting his history as Turk.

So this is the last head from me for this year. I have designed the head with the head from Cloud in Dessidia as reference. So it's a bit different from the original game model. The eyes are completely new repainted with a more glossy look. I need to add the earring, but this will not be a problem anyway.
Well I need to update my own library first before I releasing anything. Aerith and Sephiroth need new back hair and I have to split the eyes of the new heads in a left and right part for a correct blinking.

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My only true gripe with modding is its lack of continuity in design. Many modders have their own style, and when combining them together, sometimes the look and feel of the game loses its identity and you can start to distinctly tell which mods were made by different authors (No offense to the Optimus Prime idea, but that's kind of what I'm talking about  ).

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I think Moders should take to making cloud look closer to the renders.



(thin mouth, Pointy Chin, anime eyes)

I'm sure lots of players would feel more at home to it. It's one of the most impressionable renders of him, I mean it pretty much made me into an instant fan of the game.

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Speaking on the side, I've noticed this site has remained strong compared to the dozens of other sites that have attempted to remake the game. this has got me thinking, the only effective way to do a remake is by working on top of the game it's self; such as adding and reworking assets into the game, or maybe attaching code to enter 3D or re-rendered levels. in the end you would have to own a copy of the game to truly work and enjoy any enhancements in peace.

I agree.  I am not sure what Kal is doing for Reunion. Whether he is keeping it more to the original design (I hope so, because I'd not be able to add it otherwise )

I also prefer the original style and feel there is too much deviation from it.  But I don't have to install it so...

The hi-poly original style render looks fine, but I'd rather a Crisis Core-looking 1st Class Cloud; with an outfit akin to Lightning's SOLDIER 1st Class garb. As good as the old 90s render is, it's nose is a massively long L, not to mention purple isn't a very heroic color. Plus, considering where the belt is in that picture, his torso looks almost degenerately small compared to his legs.

This is a good point, but Cloud has also been redesigned quite a few times. What's considered his canon appearance is pretty different now. I'd have to agree, his Crisis Core appearance and Lightening's first class uniform is probably the most canon now. In the end though it's up to the particular artist. Sharing your completed work with others is great, but it has to be something you like and feel proud off. It's impossible to please everyone.

Original game design is all I care about these days. I don't usually mod anything based off of spin-off series.

Original game design is all I care about these days. I don't usually mod anything based off of spin-off series.

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agreed. lest we have characters with ff12 outfits..

I agree.  I am not sure what Kal is doing for Reunion. Whether he is keeping it more to the original design (I hope so, because I'd not be able to add it otherwise )

I also prefer the original style and feel there is too much deviation from it.  But I don't have to install it so...

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If it means anything I'm currently testing out some designs for cloud, it may help with the identity crisis going on, it's worth a shot. the ultimate goal though should be to work on top of the original models so concepts shouldn't feel too foreign.  that being said, Kaldarasha's models were on the right track; just needed some tweaking.

As good as the old 90s render is, it's nose is a massively long L, not to mention purple isn't a very heroic color.

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His face was meant to look like that, they originally settled for anime like characters in realistic backdrops. cloud's outfit isn't purple it's blue, but since technology was limited back then they used a lot of highlights instead of proper skin and clothing shaders. so cloud's outfit is mixing a lot of glossy light sources instead of proper tone balances.

Plus, considering where the belt is in that picture, his torso looks almost degenerately small compared to his legs.

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All of the original drawings of FF VII's human characters had short torsos and long legs to begin with. it was part of the design.

I'm more for the CC style, too. It has a more advanced Manga look.
But I try to keep the original style as much as possible.
Anyway that's how Cloud currently looks:


There is no way I use the HQ models of the rendered scenes as reference:

The face is entirely different.

Not that I'm closer to the draw, which is of course not possible because I used the Dessidia model as a reference, but the shape of the head is more natural.
And that's what I want, a natural Manga look. No vessels as boots and no detective conan like heads. Normally Nomura had to redraw the characters after the story was finished. Because Cloud isn't the cool super Soldier (yes the Desidia design is closer to what Cloud is), Tifa's character isn't so strong as she was planed first, she is in her acting now very feminine which makes her skimpy skirt dress unnecessary, Vincent thought that he needs a new dress with a unique gear now where he is a monster (or does Hojo dressed him this way?) and Yuffie... well I didn't even knew what that dress should represent. Half skimpy school girl, half ninja? I ever thought she looks a bit like a tourist not like a ninja. The rest of the team is OK because they aren't effected by the story changes so much. Yes even Cait Sith, it's hard to make a bad character even more worse. As I said normally Nomura had to run over the design again, but there was no time anymore. What we currently have is a have done piece of work.

If people have a problem with my style, then do what I did. Make your own models or alter the models I have done. That was my motivation.

I think Moders should take to making cloud look closer to the renders.

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I did. Look the ending2 at 5:43. Do you see what's wrong with Cloud? :wink:

All of the original drawings of FF VII's human characters had short torsos and long legs to begin with. it was part of the design.

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Only a guess of me. But I think Nomura wanted a realistic look, but if you paint a lot of chibi formed characters you can loose the sense for the proportions.


Early concept of Cloud (I had preferred it, because its closer to the Fenrir wolf Cloud represents)

The cloud head that comes with the battle model (high res) is perfect.  As a true representation of the original design, it doesn't really get any better.

I have to agree with Kaldarasha. The original anatomy is seriously off. I converted the original Hi-Res Cloud battle model to field using exact measurements so the model wasn't resized in anyway (everything down to 4, and then down to 60 for field model scale). His chest was tiny and his legs looked ridiculously long, some how I never noticed that on the battle model. It would look just silly running around the whole game with that design. I'd like to redesign the battle model eventually with a more realistic skeleton.

I'm more for the CC style, too. It has a more advanced Manga look.
But I try to keep the original style as much as possible.
Anyway that's how Cloud currently looks:

There is no way I use the HQ models of the rendered scenes as reference:

The face is entirely different.

Not that I'm closer to the draw, which is of course not possible because I used the Dessidia model as a reference, but the shape of the head is more natural.
And that's what I want, a natural Manga look. No vessels as boots and no detective conan like heads. Normally Nomura had to redraw the characters after the story was finished. Because Cloud isn't the cool super Soldier (yes the Desidia design is closer to what Cloud is), Tifa's character isn't so strong as she was planed first, she is in her acting now very feminine which makes her skimpy skirt dress unnecessary, Vincent thought that he needs a new dress with a unique gear now where he is a monster (or does Hojo dressed him this way?) and Yuffie... well I didn't even knew what that dress should represent. Half skimpy school girl, half ninja? I ever thought she looks a bit like a tourist not like a ninja. The rest of the team is OK because they aren't effected by the story changes so much. Yes even Cait Sith, it's hard to make a bad character even more worse. As I said normally Nomura had to run over the design again, but there was no time anymore. What we currently have is a have done piece of work.

If people have a problem with my style, then do what I did. Make your own models or alter the models I have done. That was my motivation.
I did. Look the ending2 at 5:43. Do you see what's wrong with Cloud? :wink:
Only a guess of me. But I think Nomura wanted a realistic look, but if you paint a lot of chibi formed characters you can loose the sense for the proportions.

Early concept of Cloud (I had preferred it, because its closer to the Fenrir wolf Cloud represents)

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I can see where you're coming from, i only want to create models based around the original anime designs and not the later ones, because that's how many of us interpreted the original game. Of course the gameplay was composed of super deformed characters because that was the style of many Jrpgs dating back to current. In this case though the remodeled models are aimed to replicate the ones found in the original sequences and battle mode so as not to feel great changes in the world when story segments switch.

The cloud head that comes with the battle model (high res) is perfect.  As a true representation of the original design, it doesn't really get any better.

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I would agree with that. so far this is the best i was able to do.

It's the upgraded model with the original face textures.



The face dimensions were also edited to be similar to the one found in this shot.



I'm still having issues applying the face textures correctly and editing them without much knowledge around the proper tools to use for that sort of stuff.  any clues for proper texture editing?

Try to isolate the brows from the eyes. You also want to remove some spikes of his hair, too.

Erase all polygons of a spike:


Use the create polygon tool to close the hole:

The best is if you click on the polygons (faces) rather then on the vertices. This way you can also create faces with 'gradients'.



If you need to recolor something, here are my notes for the colors: https://mega.co.nz/#!jBFzwTQS!aG-81vtTY5kTfyYcYn5YXruvK5sm0S6vpLVu6j775Tg
Keep in mind that there were made for personnel use and are not always complete or are not very exactly explained.

The hair is fine actually, The mini tutorial on stitching was very helpful none the less.   I'm trying to get the face textures to save properly but i keep getting errors. i have the texture with the error right here,



all i want are the same original eyes, mouth and eyebrows. but i seem to be bumping into issues.

Use these tools instead of bitrun for the textures.
https://mega.co.nz/#!6NkhwIaR!FsvzFAdWE3PutLbkLVuVRzT2GxtOVs2HVV-kKCLyM50