Bloodskal Blade Redone Redone

Been a while since I've made a sword (Witcher 3 has consumed a lot of my time) and this time, I thought I'd redo the Bloodskal Blade again (my original old one is still on the Nexus - just search Bloodskal Blade and you'll find it).

Anyway, here's a WIP (scabbard still needs editing, normal maps need tweaking, etc.)

I'll update this post once I've uploaded it so I can put a link in. :) 

Oh, and credits to Nobiax (http://nobiax.deviantart.com/art/Commission-Medieval-textures-406572548) for their free leather texture - I have used it here. Metal was hand-painted by myself. 

The Tweaking of ENB for Skyrim

I'm a bit of a crazy person when it comes to tweaking the lighting of the game. One day, I'll make some changes and think, "oh yeah, this looks pretty good," but then the next day I revert it because I think it looks bad. Anyway, I think I'm getting pretty close to how I want it... though it still looks a bit like a painting. Hmm...

The first image is with the ENB toggled off, second image is ENB active. 

(Enlarge images for better comparison)

I'm still not sure if I'll release it yet - it has to be perfected first! :P 

Also, The Witcher 3 comes out in 2 days, so it'll probably be a while before I return to Skyrim. 

Making Use of the Skyrim Shaders

In the past, I've never really wondered why my normal maps were pretty much useless. Well, maybe I did once or twice, but I always just assumed this was a problem with the in-game rendering or some other contributing factor. That is, until recently when someone fixed one of my models (Spellsword Cuirass - see below post) and then the normal map DID show up in-game.

So I looked online for reasons why my models weren't rendering properly! And what I found out was this: I had been using a bad BSLightingShaderProperty (it wasn't set up correctly) and the BSNum UV Sets was on 1, instead of 4097 (which Skyrim recognises). I guess that'll teach me not to use the iron weapons as a base.

Anyway, what does this all really mean? Well, it means that I can now produce higher quality, more detailed work. Let me show you:

This is Crecy, the sword I uploaded about a week ago. But this time, it is set up right, and you can immediately see the difference in the quality of the metal. Of course, it still requires more tweaking (far too much bump in the normal map) but it's a big step forward!


EDIT: And now I think I have adequately tweaked the normal map of Crecy.

Haven't updated the mod page yet, but I will soon.

Spellsword Cuirass

I made this a while back, and after a few problems, I never ended up finishing it. Instead of letting it waste away on my hard-drive, I've decided to release the unfinished mod as a resource.

You can download this resource at The Nexus - http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/65623/?. 

See the description for extra information regarding permissions. 

The Crecy

 So, it looks like this is the first model I'm showing off on my blog! This sword is called Crecy, based on The Crecy by Albion Swords, a truly remarkable looking weapon. I'm considering buying one for real...

The polycount is 1,300 (not including the scabbard) and the texture is approx 3K in size (8192x1024).

The first image is a 3ds Max render, the second image is a screenshot of it in Skyrim.

You can download this mod at The Nexus - http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/65501/?

My First Post!

My first post on the new Blogspot!

Anyway, I feel that I should introduce myself to those who don't know me. My real name is William, though most people probably know me by my alias of Billyro.

I have been an avid gamer for as long as I can remember - definitely over 15 years now - ever since the Super Nintendo and early PC games. I was about 5 years old when we got a Nintendo 64 and a slew of games for it (Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, etc.) and I was hooked! A few years of near-obsessive gaming (or as obsessive as a young bloke can get) passed, and one fateful day my uncle introduced me to a game so fantastic that I still consider it my favourite game ever. And this game was The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. There was no return, now!

When I was 10 years old, inspired by the lavish world of Morrowind, I thought it would be awesome to make my own game. I looked online and came across a program called Game Maker, which I instantly adored and spent much of my time on. I practiced that thing so much, I can still remember how to program it to this day - even though I haven't used Game Maker in about 5 years! Anyway, after lots of little game attempts for a few years, I finally felt ready to start an ambitious project! I was 12 when I started what was probably my best Game Maker game: a game called Naruto: Fire vs Sound. You can still play it by clicking on that link, if you desire. Anyway, I worked on that game solidly for about an entire year, and it even once came to be in the top 30 games of Yoyogames at one stage! I was stoked.

I eventually drifted away from Game Maker (and Anime), after I started high school and was introduced to 3ds Max, which I instantly connected with. I moved on from 2D games to modding 3D games, and my first modding attempt was on The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, another favourite game of mine. First, I started small, making a few blocky and oddly shaped swords for my character to chop enemies with. But the feeling of actually getting a sword in-game was tremendous! So I stuck at it, gradually sharpening my skills over the years and, eventually, even starting to upload some of it.

I then moved onto The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Lots of stuff has been made here. Lots. It was modding Skyrim where I think I've finally attained my current modelling skills. And it's where I'm sticking for the time being... at least until the next game Bethesda releases arrives!

You can find some of my work at The Nexus.

And I think that about wraps this up! I will post progress of upcoming weapon mods here on this blog. I won't bother uploading images of models prior to the creation of this blog because of various influencing factors (multitude, bandwidth, laziness...) but if you want to stay up to date on my new stuff, then stick around.

Cheers for stopping by!

-Billyro.

(Also, if you're wondering why it says Tuna Mornay posted this, then it's because I didn't want to give my full name when creating a Google Account. Also I had eaten tuna mornay earlier that day, and couldn't think of anything else to put!)