18 replies to this topic

[TxAce]

Decided to texture an archer based on my favorite BT character. Hope yall like it.

Edited by TxAce, 16 October 2018 - 08:01 AM.

[D V Devnull]

Interesting texture work. Seems like a Texture Option I would be glad to see in the Live MWO Game. But only 2xSRM4 + 1xLRM20 on there??? I would think most MechWarriors would have a bit more loadout than that. Also, why do the lower parts of the Missile Doors appear to be lacking the Texture from the Upper Side? Appears inconsistent to me, would do well to have the Pattern completed inside of those Yellow (perhaps Gold?) Lines.

~D. V. "Still a nice render, though." Devnull

[TxAce]

Thanks for the feedback Devnull. The loadout is based on what Jamie Wolf had equipped in lore.

As for the texture on the lower missile bay door I was just trying to break up the color a bit. How does everyone else feel about it.

[Karl Streiger]

TxAce, on 15 October 2018 - 08:53 AM, said:

Thanks for the feedback Devnull. The loadout is based on what Jamie Wolf had equipped in lore.

As for the texture on the lower missile bay door I was just trying to break up the color a bit. How does everyone else feel about it.

2 SRM4 were added on the ARC-2W fir the price of the rear facing lasers and 3 tons of armor.
I really don't know how you could justify 2 SRM4 and 1 LRM20. Even with max armor 14 SHS you are short 5tons.
Although if you keep the lasers you got an interesting brawling beast with 15 SHS 4 MLAS and 2SM4 little bit hot but devastating considering you bombarded the target with LRMs prior to that.


Edit:
About your art: I'm jealous freaking jealous for the user look and the worn edges. I tried with pointineds but that sucked. What did you use?

Edited by Karl Streiger, 16 October 2018 - 06:28 AM.

[TxAce]

Thanks, Karl. I'm using Substance painter for the texturing which simplifies the grunge and ware quite a bit. When I was strictly in Blender, it was a struggle for sure. Basically I had to run a bevel and sub serf modifier which was very resource intensive on my laptop and also left parts of it more rounded than I'd like.

[Igor Mortice]

Nicely Done Tex!

[TxAce]

Igor Mortice, on 17 October 2018 - 05:27 AM, said:

Nicely Done Tex!

Thanks man. 20 hours well spent.

For anyone interested, I've got a few more that I've done.

[Koniving]

TxAce, on 15 October 2018 - 08:53 AM, said:

Thanks for the feedback Devnull. The loadout is based on what Jamie Wolf had equipped in lore.

As for the texture on the lower missile bay door I was just trying to break up the color a bit. How does everyone else feel about it.

That Archer that Jaime Wolf uses has...
2 SRM-4s.
It retains the Doombud LRM 20 launchers (plural)
Two rear lasers are lost and 3 tons of armor are reduced from the overall chassis to make room for the twin launchers. It still maintains two lasers, one per arm.

In terms of combat performance it actually does pretty well.
The image should, however, have an LRM 20 rack up high with an SRM-4 rack underneath per shoulder.

The texture work is phenomenal.
I can model and animate but I can't texture. I'll have to keep my eyes open for you when I'm ready.

[TxAce]

Koniving, on 19 October 2018 - 08:24 PM, said:

That Archer that Jaime Wolf uses has...
2 SRM-4s.
It retains the Doombud LRM 20 launchers (plural)
Two rear lasers are lost and 3 tons of armor are reduced from the overall chassis to make room for the twin launchers. It still maintains two lasers, one per arm.

In terms of combat performance it actually does pretty well.
The image should, however, have an LRM 20 rack up high with an SRM-4 rack underneath per shoulder.

The texture work is phenomenal.
I can model and animate but I can't texture. I'll have to keep my eyes open for you when I'm ready.

Just curious, where are you finding that the build should have the lrms and srms loaded symmetrically? LRM high and SRM low on each shoulder?

Thanks for the feedback!

[Karl Streiger]

TxAce, on 20 October 2018 - 09:24 PM, said:

Just curious, where are you finding that the build should have the lrms and srms loaded symmetrically? LRM high and SRM low on each shoulder?

Thanks for the feedback!

http://battletech.rpg.hu/

Imho the best source, you need to sign in but it is online tro with rs source and much more. Including great database searches like show all vehicles that are armed with a Gauss.
Unfortunately you might still need the TRO for the manufacturer

[Koniving]

TxAce, on 20 October 2018 - 09:24 PM, said:

Just curious, where are you finding that the build should have the lrms and srms loaded symmetrically? LRM high and SRM low on each shoulder?

Thanks for the feedback!

Because the Jamie Wolf's Archer is a 2W. it is a modification of the original design the 2R.

"The Archer's primary weapons were a pair of Doombud LRM-20 missile launchers with four tons of ammunition, enough for two minutes of continuous fire. The ammo was split between the side torsos."

It KEEPS the original twin LRM - 20s.
Meaning it never removes them or relocates them.
Therefore they must be mounted as the mainstay model the 2R, which is one per side. There's no reason to mess with what works; that's expensive and there's no point in doing so. Makes no sense from a business perspective, a military perspective, or even an engineering perspective (the space is already made, the design is already done, the extra work is unnecessary and the lopsided nature that would stem from it would only cause more problems).

"The 2W, introduced in 3010, was similar to the 2S model but increased its close range firepower in a different manner. Like the 2S, it mounted a pair of SRM-4 launchers but carried just one ton of ammo for them, and it retained the LRM-20 launchers. Instead the two rear firing medium lasers were removed and armor protection was reduced by three tons in order to make these modifications."

From there you can ascertain that the SRMs must therefore be distributed evenly, otherwise you'd have to remove the 3 tons of armor from one side and not evenly removing armor weight across the whole. This never happens in Battletech as they remove armor somewhat evenly. Plus we have the hint that the rear lasers are removed and in their place is the SRM ammo, meaning it feeds from the center torso. The only reason to feed from the CT in BT construction, is the ammo must evenly and quickly reach both the left and right torsos. Any weapon with a multi-ton dedicated ammo feed always feeds from the same side's torso or arm, unless the torsos are highly uneven in weight (i.e. the Hunchback, and even then the reason is the Hunchback is actually too small to house the ammo internally and as such its in a drum and counterweight on the left torso).

(Hunchback isn't the only mech with externally carried ammo, but it is the most obvious.)

The only times the CT is canonically used for ammunition is if there's only one weapon to feed, or if there's two weapons in opposing side sections (torsos, arms or legs) that need to feed evenly.

That's how I know where it is distributed.

Finally, there's the why SRMs under LRMs... That's easy. LRMs fire up and over. Thus it makes sense to place them up high. SRMs fire straight at the target. Thus there's no need to place them so high on a Field Artillery mech.

And I went looking for confirmation, and...
Here we go:
" Source: TRO3025 Tech level: Inner Sphere / 3025 Config: Biped BattleMech Rules: Level 1, Standard design Tonnage: 70 Chassis: Earthwerk Archer Standard Power Plant: 280 VOX Fusion Walking speed: 43.2 km/h Running speed: 64.8 km/h Jump jets: None Armor type: Maximillian 100 Standard Armament: 1 Medium Laser [LA] 1 Medium Laser [RA] 1 SRM 4 [RT] 1 SRM 4 [LT] 1 LRM 20 [LT] 1 LRM 20 [RT] Manufacturer: Earthwerks Incorporated Location: (Unknown) Communication System: System: Neil 9000 Targeting & Tracking System: RCA Instatrac Mark XII Used by: Wolf`s Dragoons Appearance: 2950* Available: 3025
"
Here we go. Btw something tells me the formatting will get butchered...

Edited by Koniving, 21 October 2018 - 08:24 AM.

[Koniving]

To follow up...

Variants (from TRO 3025)
The many modifications to the Archer design over the centuries could themselves fill a book. There are currently no less than six different versions of the Archer in wide use by each Successor House and the mercenary Wolf´s Dragoons (the only mercenary unit still able to construct its own Archers). These variations include the amount of armor, number of heat sinks, and weapons systems carried. For instance, House Kurita´s Archer has replaced the four medium lasers with two large lasers, and dropped the long-range missiles down to two 15-racks. Two additional heat sinks were installed, but armor was sacrificed due to the weight of the large lasers. House Steiner and Wolf´s Dragoons have added two SRM quad racks to their Archers, sacrificing two medium lasers (Wolf´s Dragoons) and dropping the LRM-20s to LRM-15s (House Steiner). Almost all weapon variations have been tried on the Archer, and many of these are still around.

So the 2K ditches 4 ML for 2 LL, drops the 20s for 15s and adds two heatsinks at the sacrifice of some armor.

Steiner and Wolf's Dragoons both wanted SRM-4s to bolster the close range capabilities.

We know Wolf's Dragoons (Archer 2nd generation(model,whatever) Wolf's Dragoons variation) sacrifices 3 tons of armor and two ML, getting 5 tons free to do 2 SRM-4s (2 tons each) and a ton of ammo.

Steiner's model (Archer 2nd gen Steiner variation) instead opts to downgrade the LRM-20s to LRM-15s, freeing 6 tons. So through this they keep the 4 ML, don't lose any armor, and have an extra ton. They of course can't put the ammo in the CT, so what happens?

Welp:

This also answers what they did with the extra ton... I was wondering if they'd throw it into armor or a heatsink or something. Nope, more ammo than is really necessary. That's Steiner for ya!

[FLG 01]

It might be worth noting that Jamie Wolf actually piloted a unique Archer since the Clan Invasion.
http://www.masteruni.../72/archer-wolf

[Koniving]

True, but this clearly isn't the same one that Tx is referring to.

That is, however, the mech that Jamie Wolf died in long after revealing "Hey, Wolf's Dragoons were part of Clan Wolf and sent to help prepare the IS to fight the Clans.." (I know that's not why they were really sent, but its what they wound up doing.)

Edited by Koniving, 21 October 2018 - 11:14 AM.

[Koniving]

Saw this by accident.
Jamie Wolf's Archer on someone's deviant art.


And Japanese Battletech, Jamie Wolf's Archer.

And backside.


Japanese Battletech is...weird.
(Should note this is just his paintjob. This is, however, specifically stated to be an Archer 2R),

Edited by Koniving, 21 October 2018 - 09:21 PM.

[TxAce]

Thanks for all the information guys. I'll put out a new render with the proper armament tonight.

The table top BT stuff was really helpful as I was introduced to the universe by Mechwarrior/Mech Assault.

[Koniving]

No problem. Mech Assault (2, anyway, first one tries so hard to stay true despite dumbing it all down), sadly.... that's such a wild spinoff, its like the difference between the following if the first were Battletech and the second were Mech Assault (2). Gundam 08th MS Team ^1(Check footnote) in which all the mecha are extremely realistic in terms of their capabilities and there being no such thing as easy kills...compared to say....virtually every other gundam ^2 made of magic and rainbows where hundreds of enemies are killed in the span of 2 minutes of footage.
But I'm sure you can already tell the difference between MWO and Mech Assault, and MWO is closer to MechAssault than any previous Mechwarrior title.

If you're interested in the tabletop, Harebrained Schemes' Battletech ^3 is a good go-between for just a taste with all the MWO-visual glory (except it looks significantly better graphically), and from there I suggest Megamek (and when you're ready, MekHQ in an against the bot campaign.) Megamek and its companion MekHQ are great as a means of playing tabletop online as well as organizing real tabletop games. There's also MekWars, which is basically MWO's Community Warfare on a grand tabletop scale with a decent amount of active players and AI were people are cultivating mercs and faction units and duking it out.

^1 (there's a tabletop scenario in the 1980s magazine "BattleTechnology" that is almost identical to this situation)
^2 (This specifically is Gundam 00. There's far better examples of magic and rainbows but finding them on youtube is a pain, there was one where just a single gundam destroys some 100+ suits and 5 battleships because he's in an Ace in a new suit. Then 3 episodes later they mass produce those suits and magically they can hardly do anything.)
^3 (This cinematic is the intro to HBS Battletech and it visually summarizes the history of the IS up to the Succession Wars. It can be an amazing almost emotional watch due to the musical score alone.)

Also eager to see MW5: Mercs. If PGI is ever gonna make a good game, this is their chance. Still not happy with single shot autocannons, but there's variants and mods. I can fix what they mess up.

--

On Jamie Wolf's mech, the only remotely offical art I seen of it is this.

So there's that.

Looking forward to the new art, and perhaps I could someday (if I ever finish my projects) ask you to texture some of my models.

[TxAce]

Koniving, on 22 October 2018 - 08:07 AM, said:

Looking forward to the new art, and perhaps I could someday (if I ever finish my projects) ask you to texture some of my models.

Of course, send me a PM when they're ready.

[Luscious Dan]

Koniving, on 22 October 2018 - 08:07 AM, said:

On Jamie Wolf's mech, the only remotely offical art I seen of it is this.

So there's that.

Looking forward to the new art, and perhaps I could someday (if I ever finish my projects) ask you to texture some of my models.

Spooky777 did a version of the cover for Wolf Pack.