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Previously known as "I Wanted A Real Cat". Expect major edits from here on out as I make progress.
Last Updated 11/13/2017: Added fixed big jowls (dog eyes are fixed!), wider cheeks on felines, lion cub head, another preset preview, and update on multiplayer effect on head coloration.
Been fiddling with the possibility of giving people more options for head shapes. Having a cat that actually looks like a cat was high on my list of priorities, so I fenangled a bit and came up with a handful of things.
(https://orig00.deviantart.net/e8f1/f/2017/293/c/5/catface_by_themarquisofdorks-dbr886z.png)
Cat prototype
(https://orig00.deviantart.net/8a1b/f/2017/293/d/e/persianface_by_themarquisofdorks-dbr887l.png)
Persian prototype
(https://orig00.deviantart.net/dfb1/f/2017/293/b/f/orientalface_by_themarquisofdorks-dbr887x.png)
Oriental prototype
(https://orig00.deviantart.net/90fc/f/2017/317/f/b/lion_cub_by_themarquisofdorks-dbtoq3h.png)
Lion cub prototype
(https://orig00.deviantart.net/5bdf/f/2017/317/7/1/wide_cheeks_by_themarquisofdorks-dbtoq2w.png)
Wide feline cheeks prototype
(https://orig00.deviantart.net/6bb6/f/2017/317/b/0/fixed_jowls_by_themarquisofdorks-dbtoq5q.png)
Big jowls prototype
Obviously these all need a lot of work, and I plan on making other variations as well. Before anyone asks, they're just items, not alterations to the body mesh itself (that'd be sooo much work, though in theory may be possible). They're on a preset with a (mostly) transparent head, so they still use the actual ingame ears and ear animations (the ear mauling is caused by my shoddy transparency work, not by the heads themselves. Oops!) The meshes of the new heads adjust themselves based on the width and length of your character, so they'll stay proportionate.
My idea was that these would be grouped with presets to enable people to play as more unique OCs of theirs. That's probably an unrealistic expectation given you'd have to really keep track of your item list so you can see everyone's heads correctly (probably more viable in groups then as a general item to wear?), but it's the main way I've been thinking about it so far. Think of it as an extension of a preset.
Speaking of presets, they will definitely be possible!
(https://orig00.deviantart.net/935b/f/2017/315/9/f/preset_head_by_themarquisofdorks-dbtg5v4.png)
Fits like a glove!
(https://orig00.deviantart.net/91a9/f/2017/315/3/8/texture_wrap_in_blender_by_themarquisofdorks-dbtg5uz.png)
Texture preview in Blender. Though optional, this will allow Blender experienced users to paint a new texture right on the head in the 3D interface
(https://orig00.deviantart.net/db69/f/2017/317/b/b/presets_work_ho_by_themarquisofdorks-dbtoq1e.png)
A placeholder "preset" with Toxic's feline texture. Works precisely like normal presets do, no change in UV mapping (so you could make a preset as you normally would and it'd still fit) or coding. If you can make a regular preset, you can make a head with a custom texture.
Even without a preset, though, I fenangled them in Blender so they're capable of doing this:
(https://orig00.deviantart.net/83cc/f/2017/289/2/4/coming_soonish__animated__by_themarquisofdorks-dbqtvz6.gif)
To spell it out, they pick up on the same pelt color, underfur color, eye color, etc. as the actual player model. Innit that something?
This means that they could potentially either be colored based on someone's preset OR on the colors of their default ingame model.
It also seems like it works pretty well from the point of view of other players. I've done minor testing with my friend where both of us wore the same item and our chosen colors stayed consistent with our characters. This is wonderful news! Given the testing was minor, there's no guarantee it'll work every time or for everyone, but we'll see!
(https://orig00.deviantart.net/c32b/f/2017/317/f/a/no_change_in_color_by_themarquisofdorks-dbtoq3c.png)
I don't work on these all the time since I have adult responsibilites outside of FH (ugh) but if anyone would be interested in helping me perfect these, I'd love to hear from you. I've learned to fix most issues with the textures, but the meshes themselves are still a bit of a mess (hence "prototype"). As I learn Blender they'll get some finer tweaking.
I'm willing to do a tutorial on this sorta thing when I'm done with all the heads if anyone's interested. Knowledge is meant to be shared, but I'm not giving anyone any faulty code or modeling advice.
In the meantime, feedback, suggestions, and whatever else have ya are very much appreciated. Hints, tips, suggestions for future heads, whatever. Help me help these polygon animals.
Future plans for this project:
- More heads including but not limited to pitbull, hyena, and maybe non-canine and non-feline animals
- Make the prototypes actually pretty
- Make preset base that takes head seam and ears into account (or fill seam?)
- New feet?
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Holy cow....I never thought this was even possible. It's really cool! Sadly I have no knowledge with Blender or anything like that or I would help out. But I'll watch this and see what all happens! Thanks for sharing!
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Oh wow, this is amazing so far o:
I mostly tinker with animations on Blender, but this is so cool ~!
I'll be stalking this thread for sure, hopefully someone with more experience can help ya out <3
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Hey guys! Glad to see this project of mine garnering some interest. I couldn't help myself, I took some more time out to fix the textures and record a .gif to show I wasn't lying when I said they pick up the same colors as the model. They work great now, no more missing eyeballs! I'll be posting updated pics of the fixed meshes soon, and probably attempt some presets with them to see if my theory was right about them being easy as a preset to code.
Feedback, suggestions, critique, etc. are all very welcome! I might also end up looking for people willing to test some stuff with me, but that'd definitely come later. I'm so excited!
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i'm scared
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i'm scared
Why? Aintcha ever seen a normal cat before?
Cats have two heads, right?
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o:
Wonderful news ~! It seems to work really well and I love how the shape looks, it's really natural in a way. <3
Keep it up, I too, am excited for this future completion <'3
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Good job on making the texture codes work in blender, i never mastered that.
Giggle at the two heads thing.
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Low poly! ;D This'll decrease lag!
Good job!
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It's lovely to see that you're experimenting with the possibilities that the FH Creation offers while there is such limited access without the source code. I can't wait to see how far you progress with this. c:
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Love the feedback, guys! Glad to see there's interest in this project.
Updated the post with a shiny new (but still very unfinished) head and some other info for y'all. I need more ideas on heads if anyone wants to contribute to that. wink wink nudge nudge
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Ooh.
Moar head types.
Yay. 10/10
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this is great, good luck with this project!
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Totes gonna use that. I never rped lions or big cats much. And I'm really mostly in Warrior cat rps and with the lion face its sometimes a 50/50 gamble to make it look cat like for the head.
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One potential problem i see is... if two people are using them at the same time. They might see each other with their own head colours.
A 50/50% chance from the limited experiments i've done. Try it! *waits for this to be complete*
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Long time no see, guys! I've been learning so much about Blender in the time I've been gone, so expect more updates on the weekends!
This time around I found out how to make "presets" for the cat head. Haven't tested the others out yet, but I'm pretty excited about that. The best part: they utilize the same UV as regular presets, so if you can make a normal preset you can retexture the head. Heck, you can take the head and eye textures of your current present and slap them on if you wanted to!
Totes gonna use that. I never rped lions or big cats much. And I'm really mostly in Warrior cat rps and with the lion face its sometimes a 50/50 gamble to make it look cat like for the head.
I agree! That's why I was motivated to make this in the first place. Tiny chinned lions =/= cats.
One potential problem i see is... if two people are using them at the same time. They might see each other with their own head colours.
A 50/50% chance from the limited experiments i've done. Try it! *waits for this to be complete*
Yep, this is something I've heard of. I MIGHT (majorly big MIGHT) know a way to work around it, but people much more experienced then me have tried and failed, so yeah. Major MIGHT. In any case, you can't get a proper look at the head without a "headless" preset anyway, so I'd say there's more motivation in place to just make your own texture for the head.
EDIT: oh wowza another update
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Wow these are amazing! I couldn't help but notice at the very bottom of your post, "maybe non-canine and non-feline animals" - that'd be really interesting to see! I've never seen that attempted on FH, but I'm not opposed to see some other animals getting their own heads. I wish you luck and will happily await updates. <3
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Oo, just now seeing more shapes c':
Truly phenomenal dearie.
Keep it up, can't wait to see what else you bring to the tables <3
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Still waiting!
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I'm not sure weather Vestamia is still around FeralHeart anymore. Looking at their profile, it's been about half a year since they've last been active, and on top of that the last update for this was well over a year ago. It's possible they had dropped the project somewhere down the road.