Better Horses Mod (v1.2) Looking for horse armour texturers!

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saregona

Sergeant at Arms
NEW! 3 Nov 2009


I AM LOOKING FOR GOOD TEXTURERS TO HELP ME WITH ALL THE HORSE ARMOUR. IT'S A BIG TASK FOR JUST ONE PERSON. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED PLEASE PRIVATE MESSAGE ME WITH AN EXAMPLE OF YOUR PREVIOUS WORK. YOU WILL NEED TO KNOW HOW TO MAKE SPEC AND NORMAL MAPS!

I WILL LATER BE SEARCHING FOR PEOPLE WHO KNOW HOW TO MODIFY AND BUILD UPON THE GAME CODE TO HELP ME TO IMPLEMENT THE FEATURES OF THE SYSTEM OUTLINED BELOW. IF YOU THINK YOU CAN HANDLE THIS TASK AND WANT TO HELP ME, PLEASE SEND ME A PRIVATE MESSAGE.




The below was just snatched from page 9 of my thread, and I brought it up here. This is a somewhat muddled outline of what I eventually intend to do. PLEASE READ :grin:


"There will be only 4 different types of horse in my next release as I have totally rethought the whole system; a standard horse (thoroughbred/hackney model - replaces saddle, sumpter), a light horse (arabian model - replaces the courser and pony), medium horse (friesian/warmblood model - replaces saddle/hunter) and a heavy horse (percheron model - replaces warhorse and charger). Their potential effectiveness will be determined by their armour, none (bareback), light (saddled), standard (cloth) med (leather) heavy (mailed) and war (plating). All the armours will have their own positice and negative effects, and heavier armours will require your character to have higher strength, to balance and to compensate for the physically daunting task of forcing your suddenly less free footed and free moving armour laden beast around the battle field. There WILL be bareback versions of all horses in this release which will constitute a NON ARMOURED steed, as in the early middle ages, mostly for the poor or for those wishing to move really fast, it was quite common to ride a horse sans a saddle, with just a rope to guide the animal. It will not be properly implemented though, just roughly added for kicks and because I do need a basic nekkid horse to start with - to build the other types from, then build the various armour meshes on top of that.

I have come up with a potential way for creating a stamina system for your steeds, basically so that your horses cannot gallop eveywhere all over the field druing a battle. Things like their health and their type will determine/alter their stamina. Basically galloping and cantering will hack at their stamina, the former rather faster than the latter, and, eventually, they will be forced to slow to a trot until they recover. Waning stamina will be indicated by a low volume sound of the horse's breathing, that will get louder as the horse tires. The breathing will be your warning that the horse is getting puffed out. Recovery can be achieved by standing still, walking and trotting - obviously the slower you go the faster your beast will recover. I might also eventually add an urge command so that you can A: Hyah! your horse when they're fresh (say at the start of the battle) to encourage a short charge/sprint to maybe give a cool edge to a couched lance attack or to give yourself a better chance at escape and B: to make your fatigued (out of stamina horse) gallop at the cost of it's health, but doing so has the chance to kill/injure your horse permanently. I think these are both nifty ideas and will work out how to do it eventually; but certainly not in the next release.

I have also come up with an idea to have an overlay texture applied to the horses so that their white facial, leg, pinto (paint) and maybe (in reverse, overlaying the base coat colour over a white) appaloosa markings will differ randomly! This idea will not, however, be implemented in the next release as I need to fiddle with the code and that may just kill me. Also, the armour options will not be in the next release as I'll need to work out an armour slot for your stupid mount and getting the game to update the armour on your horse at purchase ie: replacing it with an armoured mesh, which requires attacking the code. Additionally I will be implementing a modifier (if I can) that means all the horse types can come as a stallion, mare or gelding (castrated stallion) which will affect their attributes. Mares are average in obediance, get a bonus to speed (+2) and manouver (+2) but take a hit to stamina (-1) and health (-2) and, being plentiful in supply, they will set the average price. Stallions are more high strung (+1 to riding level) but get a considerable boost to health (+3) and a small boost to speed (all that testosterone = +2), but take a hit to manouver (-2) but their rarity (most stallions are castrated) will set you back an extra percentage amount of denars, depending on breed. Geldings are mellow fellows and as such are more obediant (-1 to riding level, meaning anyone can ride a gelding riding horse) but take hits to speed (-2) and stamina(-1) because their mellowness can make for lazy, but they get a bonus in manouver because they're obedient (+2) and a small health bonus becuase they're chilled (+1) as well as a price cut; a discount of a percentage amount of denars depending on breed. I will have to work out the values correctly, obviously, but those numbers will be a rough ratio for now. These won't be implemented in the coming release either, because they require attacks unto the code also. Basically the next release will be a graphical release only!

A detailed list thing about the horse types for your enjoyment:

Standard Horse:
Replaces -- Saddle, Sumpter
Model -- Thoroughbred, Hackney, light Quarter Horse; basically any other standard build of riding horse
Appearance -- Straight profile, expressive, refined features and long, tapered ears, straight neck (no arch) set moderately high on sloping sholders, farily light build but with toned muscle evident, sleek with solid bone and lean legs, short shiney coat. Short, fine but plentiful mane and tail. Basically just your average looking, vanilla riding horse.
Potential Armour -- None, Light,
Intended Usefulness -- not much, just a placid beast with fair speed, fair health, fair manouver and fair stamina that will happily carry you around while you're killing looters. The most basic of all basic creatures!
Pros -- cheap, obedient (requires lvl 1 riding skill), moderately attributed in all aspects
Cons -- Not really upgradable in terms of armour, either it's naked or it has a saddle =P Not all that blessed with skills.

Light Horse:
Replaces -- Pony, Courser
Model -- Arabian horse/pony, Akhal-Teke; just your basic oriental desert breeds
Appearance -- Concave profile, large, alert eyes and rounded, short ears. Arched neck set high on to the shoulders. Frame consists of flowing, curved lines. Deep chest, compact barrel and strong back. Long legs with small, hard hooves and high set tail. Mane and tail are silky and plentiful. Very stylish, your Porsche of horses.
Potential Armour -- None - med
Intended usefulness -- Perfect mount for an archer, and a medium armoured beast could even do well as a lancer's mount. Incredible speed and stamina and good manouverability make up for it's relative frailty and low health level. (not totally accurate as the arabian is actually a very easy to care for and healthy breed, but I needed to balance it somehow)
Pros -- Wickedly fast, responsive and handles well. Great stamina means you can get some good sprinting potential and can race around a top speed for a while before your steed begins to tire. Lots of choice for armours
Cons -- VERY Highly strung (needs lvl 4 and a stallion will put this up to a lvl 5), expensive due to rarity of breed and training difficulty. Too finely structured to possibly carry metal armours, and even the wieght of leather armour will deplete it's speed and manouverability a fair bit.

Medium Horse:
Replaces -- Heavy Saddle, Hunter
Model -- Friesian, european warmbloods; your cold region eventers, crosses between draft horses and lighter breeds like the thoroughbred or the arabian
Appearance -- Slightly convex profile, arched neck set moderately on heavy, straight shoulders. Large muzzle and refined head, gentle eyes, alert rounded ears. Well muscled but lean frame, ample thick stranded mane and tail, slight feathering on solid but well sculpted legs. Fairly large hooves, deep chest and strong, compact back.
Potential Armour -- None - Heavy
Intended usefulness -- Good allrounder cavalry mount, boasting good health, good speed and fair manouver and good stamina, and fair staying power even with heavier armours. Heavier armour makes a good close quarters fighter, where a lightly armoured beast makes a great mid field archer chaser. Even suitable for a archery mount or for a slower, more resilant lancer for longer battles.
Pros -- Moderately priced, stallions can be pricey but offer complimentary benifits to the breeds existing skill base. Lots of armour capabilites and good all round skill base makes for a very, probably the most, versitile horse. Fairly obedient (needs lvl 2)
Cons -- Too slow to catch the faster light horses, even with light armour. Stallion with complimentary skills requires lvl 3. Unarmoured horse may not have enough protection to stay alive during a long battle. Stamina wanes fairly quickly in mail coat armour.

Heavy Horse:
Replaces -- Warhorse, Charger
Model -- Percheron, cold climate medium drafts with thoroughbred and/or native stock breeding. Historical warhorse build
Appearance -- Regal convex profile, arched neck set moderately low on very heavy, straight shoulders. Large muzzle and large refined head, small gentle eyes, alert, short rounded ears. Well muscled and bulky frame, ample thick stranded mane and tail, feathering on solid, heavily muscled legs. Large hooves, deep chest through to dense hindquarters and strong, compact back. Rounded lines and well sprung midsection.
Potential Armour -- None - War
Intended usefulness -- The penultimate war horse, heavy, healthy, tall and slow. Excellent charger, melee mount or, if fresh enough, an unstoppable freight train of power as a lancer's steed. Incredible health and good stamina that is effected little by even the heaviest armours makes up for this creatures only moderate skill in speed and it's poor manouvre attribute
Pros -- Power and health, even when not armoured this beast can take a severe beating. Medium, heavy and war armour are easily carried and have little effect on stamina, which is fairly good. Looks kick ass cool. You know it.
Cons -- Costly for horse and costly for armour and costly to aquire a stallion (who harbours complimentary attributes) and, due to the sheer power of the breed, it is difficult to control effectively (lvl 3 riding required) and you'll need a killer amount of strength to pull this bloke big head around the feild. No way are you getting your ultimate war horse without a tonne of money and time. It's called game balance."



COMPLETION OVERVEIW BY CATAGORY

Standard Horse: IN PROGRESS
-- Meshes:
  -- No armour IN PROGRESS
  -- Saddled IN PROGRESS
  -- Light armour (cloth) IN PROGRESS
--Textures:
  -- No armour NOT STARTED
  -- Saddled NOT STARTED
  -- Light armour  (cloth) NOT STARTED

Light Horse: NOT STARTED
-- Models:
  -- No armour NOT STARTED
  -- Saddled NOT STARTED
  -- Light armour (cloth) NOT STARTED
  -- Medium armour (leather) NOT STARTED


--Textures:
  -- No armour NOT STARTED
  -- Saddled NOT STARTED
  -- Light armour (cloth) NOT STARTED
  -- Medium armour (leather) NOT STARTED


Medium Horse:
-- Meshes:
  -- No armour NOT STARTED
  -- Saddled NOT STARTED
  -- Light armour (cloth) NOT STARTED
  -- Medium armour (leather) NOT STARTED
  -- Heavy armour (mail) NOT STARTED

--Textures:
  -- No armour NOT STARTED
  -- Saddled NOT STARTED
  -- Light armour (cloth) NOT STARTED
  -- Medium armour (leather) NOT STARTED
  -- Heavy armour (mail) NOT STARTED


Heavy Horse:
-- Meshes:
  -- No armour NOT STARTED
  -- Saddled NOT STARTED
  -- Light armour (cloth) NOT STARTED
  -- Medium armour (leather) NOT STARTED
  -- Heavy armour (mail) NOT STARTED
  -- War armour (plating) NOT STARTED

--Textures:
  -- No armour NOT STARTED
  -- Saddled NOT STARTED
  -- Light armour NOT STARTED
  -- Medium armour NOT STARTED
  -- Heavy armour NOT STARTED
  -- War armour NOT STARTED

OLD!

New zip uploaded for use by modders or in game. Don't ask me how to install them, if you don't know, learn

Three .dds tex for each of the horse types, which is 21 in total.

Sumpter = 1x brown, 1x dapple grey and 1x roan (red)
Saddle = 1x darker black, 1x bay, 1x chestnut
Steppe Pony = 1x black paint, 1x brown appaloosa, 1x perlino weirdness
Courser = 1x brighter white, 1x buckskin, 1x silver dapple (brown dapple)
Hunter = 1x darker bay, 1x greyish grulla, 1x dark chestnut sorta thing (kinda looks like epona actually o_O)
Warhorse = 1x roaned bay, 1x chestnut, 1x grey paint
Charger = 1x steel grey, 1x cream, 1x bay


NEW! Gorgeous screens of my textures in-game thanks to wanderer949!

image1uz.jpg
w260.png
image3ce.jpg
w834.png
image2dn.jpg
w832.png


LINK

https://www.mbrepository.com/file.php?cid=4&id=1380
 
EDIT: You forgot the .brf in the upload.

These are cool as hell! Funny, I really like the color of the buckskin horse. It's definitely unique to the game. Good job.
 
Well, I guess I'll be making some more then - I'll update in a week or so with a few more steeds. In the meantime, download and enjoy =D
 
Funny.  I made the courser on the Mongol Mod buckskin/well beigey coloured..very similar to yours as well.  well without the facial edits, I don't do the whole (white painted look).

Still, brilliant textures, do you know if you'll be doing any Arabian horses, my fiancee's a massive horse geek, and she refuses to let me use any of the textures I made for horses as an arabian name, she said they're too clean and shiny to be arabian horses...so I was wondering if you was going to do any, that I might be able to look at.

Also - great job yet again on the horses :smile:
 
This thread gave me an idea. I've always thought the Native horses to be a bit scrawny. For the courser that's ok, but for a hunter or charger that's supposed to carry a knight in shiny and heavy armour it doesn't seem quite right. Since I'm capable of rigging (as long as something is based on a Native or otherwise rigged item and doesn't differ from it too much (so don't have to figure out all of the vertex weighting myself)), I though why not buff up the Native horses a bit. The only problem I'm still facing is that I cannot export a properly rigged horse from BRF Edit (for some reason half the rigging info is lost). I will need to find a way to do this or find someone to send me an example of a properly rigged horse which I can use as an example.

I did a trial to get some feedback before I put a whole load of effort in it and it turns out nobody needs it anyway. I used this one
http://blogsimages.skynet.be/images_v2/002/577/813/20070112/dyn007_original_800_600_pjpeg_2577813_8ec399707a59e38b993a1677bed0c258.jpg
as a reference, because I like it, but of course I couldn't do the long neck hair (what's that called properly in English?), as it would be static in-game anyway. Cut a long story short, here's a pic of my buffed up horse (left) and the original horse, the hunter (right):

buffeduphorsecomparison.png
Now the difference may be very subtle, but if you look carefully you'll notice that it's a tad more robust, especially at the legs.

To show what I've done, here's a pic of the two horses over one another:

buffeduphorsechanges.png
The red one is the original horse and so by the grey areas you can see where it has acquired extra muscle.

Ok, so here's the offer: saregona, if you're looking to create more of these horse textures, how about making them for my altered models? I'll rig them and send em off to you for texturing. UV-mapping isn't even needed, as I'll be using the Native models anyway. Although the above example was rather subtle, I could make the changes more extreme. Perhaps even that Clydesdale Odec wants (although it won't actually be bigger because it won't match the skeleton). All this if I can get a rigged horse properly exported or an otherwise good example of a correctly rigged horse of course!

Let me know!

Niek

 
Njiekovic said:
Awesome! I've thought this should be done for a long time. I'd be very interested in getting horses like the for Hundred Years War.  :smile:

I don't know about the rigging problem though, unfortunately.
 
Yeah Niek, I agree that the type that are supposed to be a bit heavier probably should be and I've always thought that about the Native horses. I'd be happy to do that with you. I'll be on holiday for a week or so, so I'll get in touch with you when I get back! =D

Sarrie xx
 
Alright sweet. In the meantime I'll try to work out that rigging problem. Enjoy your vacation!

Niek
 
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