Monday Evening Polyhacker -- Feb. 27

posted by Scott Hsu-Storaker at 10:00 PM

Deeper Deeper Underwater... er
If you've been reading my stuff, you are probably familiar with one of main themes here. Namely, the challenges I face in finding time to work on my art. Basically, I push myself to the edge of my limits and beyond in some cases. Some nights I push my body until I pass out at 3am.

Well, last week, my body pushed back.

On Friday I woke up with a crick in my neck so bad I thought I was not going to be able to get out of bed. My coworkers had a good laugh as I did my best (involuntary mind you) impression of Joan Cusak in Sixteen Candles. I'm much better now, with just some stiffness left, but this was a very pointed reminder to take care of myself at the time that I am taking care of business. I will be making some changes in my life and lifestyle over the next few weeks. I need to be sharp for when the new baby arrives. I may lose a little time on my art intially, but I think that in the long run, I'll probably end the year with the same amount of time spent on art as I would if I continue my late-night-no-exercise ways. I apologize in advance if I am slow in responding to any of you over the next few weeks. Bear with me, all will be good soon.

~---~

Thousander Club Update
As explained above, the week crapped out half way through. Still I got seven hours out of it. Keith, though, really cranked up the hours the past two weeks and has hit the 10% point for the year. Gianfranco, even though he feels like he is not getting enough hours, is making his hours very productive by sticking to his plan of coming up with 1000 game ideas for the year.

GBGames' hours (2/27) -- 23
GBGames' game ideas (2/27) -- 111
I'll do it on monday's hours (2/24) -- 100+
Chris Labombard (2/20) -- 250++
Scott's 1000 hours (2/19) -- 75
1000 models -- 129
1000 downloads -- 544

That's half way on the downloads. Send me screenshots if you got 'em -- it would make my day.

~---~

Stay free.

~shs~

Deep Deep Underwater

posted by Scott Hsu-Storaker at 11:29 AM

I have been completely submerged in textureland the past couple of weeks. For me, texturing is so thoroughly consuming that I find it hard to break out of the spell of deep concentration that engulfs me. What that means to you is that I am still holding off on finishing the longer articles I have been promising. They are progressing well, but I need to transition into a different mode to read over stuff I've written to ensure that it makes sense. Here, though, is the completed version of a texture I have been working on. I hope to get it all packed up tonight.



Recently I have been coming to the creeping realization that my main art role on this team will be as a texture artist. We've got a really strong team of modellers here but a shortage of artists on the free content library projects who feel comfortable texturing. If you know any texture artists interested in having their work get put to good use, feel free to pass the word along. I currently have about 8 months of solid texturing work to do with my current schedule and more models are coming through every day.

~---~

Send Screenshots, Yo!
That's it. Just the title.

~---~

A Turn of the Screw
If you've been reading this blog you may be familiar with the challenges I face in terms of finding time to work now and soon, when my third child will be born. I'm already maxed out at home, buried in laundry and dishes and baby projects, and at work and the pressure is gradually building. At the beginning of March I will be starting to taper off on the time I spend on communication in particular. So, it may get a little more quiet around here, but please be aware that work is still proceeding at a healthy clip. Up until the time that the baby arrives I will still have almost 2 hours a day guaranteed. There is a strong and slowly growing team bolstering the projects here and I am confident that things here will continue to grow and thrive during the time I am less active.

~---~

Like Riding a Bike...
I have worked on many virtual game dev teams over the years and one thing that has always been present amongst teams scattered over the world is that no two artists use the same software. Being a big fan of Blender and of Mac computers I have always needed to find ways to play well with others and remain as flexible and general as possible. During many discussions with other modellers I discovered that, although the words and names are different, all 3D software has a comparable set of basic functions and that no matter what software an artist ends up using there is a small set of basic skills that any artist should know. Over the past year I have been collecting and recording this set of skills and will one day do a more thorough analysis of them. But, for now, here is my growing list. All comments are welcome as this is still very much a work in progress. Also, I would love it if all of you who work in other software like Maya, Max, Gamespace, Anim8or, Wings, Milkshape, Silo, etc volunteer to make similar lists using the jargon that you are familiar with.

Transferable Low Poly Modelling Skills
1. Sub-object editing (translating, scaling, rotating) of vertices, edges, and faces.
2. Building faces and edges.
3. Selecting edge loops.
4. Subdividing.
5. Edge loop cutting.
6. Knife cuts.
7. Extrude and/or bevel.
8. Turning edges.
9. Welding verts.
10. Flipping normals.
11. Mirror modelling.
12. Editing with constraints.
13. Utilizing orthographic views.
14. Background image tracing.
15. Creating a basic automatic uvmap.
16. Editing and pinning uv coordinates.
17. Creating image based materials and placing textures into uvmap.
18. Preparing files for export.
19. Scaling files for use in game engines.
20. Tell me what you think.

I am sticking solely to basic low poly modelling here. Texturing, rigging and animating deserve their own lists. I would love comments if you have 'em.

Stay free.

~shs~

Monday Morning Polyhacker -- Feb. 20

posted by Scott Hsu-Storaker at 12:00 AM

Super Massive Destructo
Hello everyone. I'll start out by showing you all some stuff I have been holding on to. Get ready for some zombie smashin' action, because we've got some weapons going on here.





















To close out this set, here is an alternate texture for the baseball bat. Whiffle ball anyone?



I'll be releasing this set sometime within a week, which will also include stuff from Nibbuls that I posted a couple of weeks ago to go along with the stuff above which, with the exception of the full battle axe, are all from Khaine.

~---~

Thousander Club Update
It's slowly creeping up. I'm almost up to full speed -- hopefully things will keep progressing well. I mostly did texturing this week, so the total model number didn't go up much. I added Chris from Garage Games to the list here and it looks like a couple more people will be starting up their own new years soon. Good luck to all!

GBGames' hours (2/19) -- 15.5
I'll do it on monday's hours (2/19) -- 55
Chris Labombard (2/15) -- 200
Scott's 1000 hours (2/19) -- 68
1000 models -- 127
1000 downloads -- 465 (that's 90 this week alone)

~---~

Stay free.

~shs~

Screenie Heaven 2

posted by Scott Hsu-Storaker at 2:35 PM

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I love to get screenshots. They really make my day. I normally wait 'til midnight to post new blogs, but I couldn't wait because I am just too excited.

Here's a couple from the dfworkshop utilizing some chairs and tables we made with some textures added on by their team. Fun.






Thanks for posting those on the forums, Interrupt. See you all on Monday.

Stay free.

~shs~

Happy Happy Click Click

posted by Scott Hsu-Storaker at 7:21 AM

I'm working on some longer articles, even researching them in fact, so I have no new lengthy blog for you all today. Instead I just wanted to take a moment to thank the few of you who have clicked on those crazy google ads over there in the sidebar. We've actually managed to accrue a few dollars off of it and I would love to be able to have this site pay for itself and have the coop achieve a tiny level of self-sufficiency one day. Maybe if we even get enough money, we could start up some special benefits for active contributors. I think I know who the people are who have done the clickin' and its great that such a small task can have such a large return.

Now, I'm not saying everyone should just jump in and start clicking all the over the place. We in the coop have debated whether trying to make money off of ads is an appropriate endeavor for us at all and we have been watching progress on this front to see if members of our growing community see it as worthwhile or not. I've always taken the "people will vote with their feet" approach and said that if people don't like the ads then nobody will click on them and that will tell us what we need to know. So far, I think it is just a small circle of friends that, because they know we could make a little off of the ads, have participated in the clicking. So the jury is still out on whether we want to continue with it or not.

By the terms of the Google contract, I am not permitted to ask you to click on ads just so that we can make some money. So, I'm not going to ask you. Even if I did ask you all, there would be a limit to how often you could click before Google stopped allowing clicks from your IP. But, I do want to thank the people who have and ask everyone that if you have feedback to let me know what you think, even if you think we should just get rid of them.

Stay free.

~shs~

Monday Morning Polyhacker -- Feb. 13

posted by Scott Hsu-Storaker at 12:00 AM

Little Model Lost
'Round these parts we kind of pride ourselves on progress. I, at least, get a real charge out of the forward movement of the projects, especially after years of working on other projects that spun around and around in a spiral of almost negative progress. Well, one problem I've seen is that some poor little orphans have gotten lost along the way -- kind of like digital roadkill, debris left on the roadside as we hurtle on at full speed. So, I am going to forego the usual roundup of new things and this week focus on a short list of models we started and for one reason or another put on the back burner. I'll get back to these at some point, don't worry.



















That's it for now. I'll be introducing you all to our new work-in-progress weapon pack as soon as I get a few more things together on it -- there's some real nice things brewing there.

~---~

Working Without a Net
I used up the last of my already-written longer article-like blogs last Thursday. I've got a bunch of bits and pieces, notes and outlines, plans and ideas, but nothing fully written. It'll be a new way of writing for me -- hopefully I can come up with something good by this Thursday.

~---~

Freeze Frame
As we are approaching my self-imposed deadline of Aug 12 for having the Gilman pack done, textured, exported and ready to go, I have decided to set a date for completing modelling. So, only models that have been started by March 5 will go into the pack. Anything started after that will go into some other pack. I think I am up to 40 now -- maybe I can get another 10 in by then. Any overflow will go into another pack later.

~---~

Thousander Update
The idea is starting to catch on. A bunch of people have kind of thrown their hats in the ring, including a group over at GarageGames. I'll report on their hours at some point, but for now you can see the progress at the GG forum thread devoted to the Thousander Club. The interesting thing I am finding is that everyone needs to define the goals in their own way and I think that is a healthy wonderful thing. I imagine this idea will mutate as it spreads.

Gianfranco from GBGames has decided to make his year start from the last week in January until the same time next year. That's a great way to go, I think. Maybe other people who feel like they missed out bacause they didn't hear about it until recently can work on a similar schedule. It was a good week for me -- if the weekend hadn't wiped me out I would have had my first 20 hour week. I'm starting to get the hang of this, but I am still finding that it takes enormous effort to get enough hours in a week. Stay tuned -- I am learning how to do this as I go along.

GBGames' hours -- 10.5
I'll do it on monday's hours -- 25
Scott's 1000 hours -- 54
1000 models -- 120
1000 downloads -- 375

~---~

Stay free.

~shs~

How to Grow an Artists' Collective -- Top Twenty Five

posted by Scott Hsu-Storaker at 12:00 AM

I have been involved in many volunteer group projects. I have even helped in founding a couple of long-lived collectives with lofty goals. My hard-earned experience has dealt me a lot of pain, but has also given me a wealth of wisdom over the years. So, I give to you some of things that I say to myself over and over again as I conduct myself in this coop that help guide my actions. Some of this is just me exaggerating and being facetious, but everything in here has at least a kernel of truth. Of course, there is still a lot that I will learn during my involvement with this project, but I do have this to say... Ignore my advice at your own peril.

1. Never go into debt... ever.

2. Avoid the majority rules mentality and strive for consensus. Imagine for a moment if 4 out of 9 of your team members left the team.

3. Five dedicated active contributors with the same ideals is far more effective than a group of 20 hangers-on.

4. Do not kid yourself into thinking you are in charge. Be a guide, a mentor, a facilitator, a communicator, an evangelist and the keeper of the idealist flame, but do not yearn for power.

5. If there is a clear choice between doing what is right and doing what is popular, choose to do the right thing. Often the choice is not clear, but work towards understanding the difference.

6. There are three kinds of people... leaders, followers and those who actively ignore leaders and followers. Discourage the first kind, accept but do not waste time on the second kind, pursue the third.

7. A group with no leader will organically end up with a leader you may not want. That person may, in fact, be you. Plan the structure of your group from the outset to avoid traditional leaders.

8. Guide by example. Do not try to rule by force of will, peer pressure, charisma, bullying, or out of a need to be loved.

9. Do not promise more than you or your present group can do.

10. Do not make plans that rely on a swift expansion in the number of member-contributors in order to successfully complete a project.

11. Build time into your schedule to actually DO art. A group built around a person who is buried in the multitude of tasks needed to run the machine is a soulless entity that will not grow.

12. Just because you do most of the unglamorous work does not mean you make all the decisions.

13. Collective members who are barred from ownership of the group's decisions will unconciously (if not concsiously) sabotage those decisions.

14. Followers want to be led. Remove opportunity for these people to interact passively with the group -- encourage active participation at all turns.

15. Convert members to contributors. Convert contributors to evangelists.

16. Plan for the continuation of the collective after you leave. You will leave one day. If you cannot picture the group functioning without your presence, you need to change the structure.

17. Do not compete with other similar groups. Preemptively invite them to join with you in a larger goal for the common good.

18. Making money is OK. But do not commercialize or commodify your group's art. Try to make the running of the collective and its projects self-sustaining financially, but do not try to turn a profit.

19. Avoid benefactors. You will owe them a debt whether it is said out loud or not.

20. Have fun. Work hard. Hard work can actually be fun as long as it perpetuates the successful goals of a thriving community.

21. Make the decision to stay small or retrench if being big requires more resources than you currently have.

22. People leaving the collective can be positive as long as the structure supports it.

23. Plan for and accept periods of diminished production and communication, because they are cyclical and inevitable. Think of a garden lying fallow for the winter.

24. Do not threaten to remove people who lack activity. They have, in fact, already removed themselves and if you force them to do work under duress it will be subpar and they will leave eventually anyways.

25. Do not go into debt... ever. Did I already say that?

Stay free.

Scott

The Family Keeps Getting Bigger

posted by Scott Hsu-Storaker at 12:00 AM

Here is a new family album for you all. A few weeks ago some folks from the dfworkshop stopped by and requested a few items on the request line. This turned out to be the beginning of a very productive relationship. We've been churning out loads of fantasy-themed props over the past few weeks for their game and they may even throw some of theirs into the mix as well at some point. Here is just a sampling of what has been done -- there are more but they still need to be unwrapped before I include them in the distribution.



As with all of our work here, these items are being shared with the community as soon as possible. You can download the current work-in-progress files from this link and they will also be available in the sidebar from now on.

Stay free.

~shs~

Monday Morning Polyhacker -- Feb. 6

posted by Scott Hsu-Storaker at 12:00 PM

A Quick Roundup
I know, it's not really morning anymore, even here in California, but here it goes nonetheless. As usual, let's start off with what's new and happ'nin'.











I've got a bunch more, but I realized too late that I needed to resize them to fit in this blog template. I'll throw them in for next week.

~---~

Time for a Refill
On Thursday, I will be posting the last of my already-written articles. I've got about another ten in various stages of completion, but I think this would be a good time to say that the door is open. If you have some ideas on stuff you would like me to write about or if you want to write something yourself, let me know. I'd love to see this blog grow beyond my usual jibber-jabber.

~---~

Thousander Club Update
So, I now officially have some company on the Thousander Club front. Gianfranco from GBGames and Keith from I'll do it on monday! have recently joined in the fun and are now reporting their hours. I think it is the first official week for both of them. The thing that seems the most promising is that, by being honest about which hours are truly effective, we are all producing some solid work behind this.

GBGames' hours -- 7
I'll do it on monday's hours -- 9
Scott's 1000 hours -- 38
1000 models -- 116
1000 downloads -- 313

Hey! Wanna join? All you gots to do is say you're gonna do it and then publically report your hours. That's it, no official membership or anything. Let me know if you do -- I'm thinking of making a team goal as well as the individual goal.

~---~

Stay free.

~shs~

Inky Spots

posted by Scott Hsu-Storaker at 12:00 AM

I have a little picture to implant in your head, and it's not a pretty one. Picture a 250-pound man in his thirties riding a skateboard. Imagine he's not very good, kind of wobbly, barely avoiding obstacles. You wonder how it is that he is still vertical and remind yourself to watch out tomorrow to make sure he doesn't come up behind you and tangle himself up in your dog's leash.

Funny, huh?

Well, that's me. Yup, I got a skateboard a couple years ago and I take it to and from work every day. Having rarely skated as a child, it was all pretty new to me. I'm getting better, but I still have only one trick. It's called "not falling on my ass". And, well, I'm not always successful. If for a moment you think I am cool for riding a skateboard, just stop yourself for a moment and remember that image, that gorilla on wheels. So. Not. Cool.

But, that's not exactly the point of this post -- it is, but only in a cursory way. This time of year, I often end up skating home in the dark and the path I ride on is usually littered with gravel and wood chips kicked up by the overnight rain and wind. It's really a crapshoot whether I am going to hit something I can't see in the roadway. There are long stretches without lamps that are basically the same as skating blind with my eyes closed. My elbows and knees show the evidence of the numerous times I have planted myself in the asphalt. Of course my first response is to approach the inky dark spots with care, proceed with utter caution. But going slowly doesn't work -- it actually increases the danger of crashing. With proper speed, fast but still in control, a lot of obstacles become minor blips. I either run over the rocks or they shoot up from under the wheels. The strategy that works the best for me is to run up my speed when I am in the pools of light, hitting top cruising speed near the edge of a dark strip and coasting through to the next pool of light. I've been on the path before. I know what the path holds... in general. There are bumps and surprises along the way, but proceeding with confidence, power and speed more often than not, pushes me through safely. At least more often than if I hesitate with fear and over-caution.

Well, there's a moment like that coming up in my life, one of those dark uncertain periods. My wife is expecting our third child soon. We've traveled this path before, we kind of know what to expect, but we know that there are bumps and unseen obstacles coming. This will affect my involvement with the projects here. There will be an extended period where I won't be here as often and short-term goals may shift and drift. But, beyond this time, over on the other side of the dark spot, my overall goals remain the same. The path continues up ahead even though I can't see exactly where I am going moment to moment. What you are seeing now is the run-up to this time. I’m trying to crank out as much work as possible while I can, for about another month, maybe six weeks. All ahead full.

Feel free to cruise with me through the inky dark spot or pick me up on the other side.

Stay free.

~shs~

New Family on the Block

posted by Scott Hsu-Storaker at 12:00 AM

My first themed open content model library, The Gilman Street Project, has been such a positive artistic experience for me that I thought I would continue to expand on that idea and go even bigger this time. The South of Market Area (SOMA) in San Francisco is a huge sprawling neighborhood in transition. Formerly home to slaughterhouses, coppersmiths, auto body shops and flophouses, the SOMA district has gone through huge change over the past 20 years. The dotcom bubble of the mid nineties accelerated the pace of the boom in the area and the landscape is now dotted with high-rise condos, office parks and the most beautiful ballpark in the country. I chose the name of SOMA holiday for another reason. It comes from Brave New World. Soma was a state-sanctioned drug that was used to basically mask the reality of the world from the general populace. There is a similar feeling I get walking the streets here -- if you look closely, underneath the immaculately manicured condo lobbies and industrial park plazas there is a layer of grime and decay. I love seeing rust at the bottom of a shiny trash can.

The pack is just a baby pack right now, but it will grow over time. Here's what's inside so far.



The file can be downloaded from here.

Stay free.

~shs~