News 16 - Come love us a bit

August is a busy month for us outside of Lift, but we still got some news for you!

Before reading on I would like to ask everyone who can, to comment on our news post or main page! a good amount of our motivation comes from knowing you all care! Is it selfish to ask for comments?

Sound development is cruising along as always. This month we will not be able
to show off the awesome song I spoke of in our last news post, but we can
still show off an awesome song! kudos goes to 5AM who has given us this track.

Lift- A Eureka Seven Mod Mod for Half-Life 2 Brick Bat audio - Mod DB
On top of that we have a very talented music composer joining our team, he
goes by the name of Matt. Matt has a portfollio online, I encourage anyone
to take a look. Matthewmcmillion.com

Modeling is moving along as well. Each modeler has contributed this month.
Cerebrate has been rigging and importing our current models, as well as
having a bit too much fun with Gary's Mod's hoverboard add on. On top of
that we have our first lazor rifle, it has yet to be named.

Doug's mission this month was props! one of the larger one being a bus.
this model is in its skinning phase and is just about done so look for
that update in the next week or so. This bus is another prop for our
"special Spot" map. It will server as the mobile command center of the
corporation that runs the LFO tournaments.

My duties this month were in the skinning feild. models were preped for
skinning and details were added to some models.

Thanks to cerebrate and doug theres now a big difference in Gekko model.
This means its off to be skinned and will be shortly, like I said this
was a busy month and I had a hard time finding time to work on both the
Gekko and Welltal. Welltall pictures have been updated.

As of the first of this month we are officially behind schedual! why?
because of the dreaded memory bug that has been plaguing our programmer.
luckly as of a few days ago we have braught in some extra help so this
issue should be quick to fix. Funny thing is, if we get that bug out of
the way this month, we will be ahead of schedual! This is due to kezeali
working on the code despite the bug. The tools mentiond in past news that
are to make our job esier are well underway. kudos to kezeali as he works
his way through a flu.

This month Genjo was able to work out all the kinks in the map. Some things
were deleted, some parts were shrunk, other parts we called mean names to
take them down a notch. All in all the maps back in action and its a whole lot
smaller. Thats right we decided to scale everything down to a size that we dont
feel like telling you about! Simply put we had some scaling issues so we decided
it was time to make everything smaller to increase the work space we had
in hammmer. What does this mean to you? Nothing, all the maps will be even
bigger than before!

Developer interview!

Every month I will be picking a team member at random and interviewing them!
This month is Doug: 3D modeling

1. What made you join the Lift mod team?

Well, I joined Lift Mod about a month after I finished watching Eureka 7. I didn't really apply to join the mod, so much as I was pulled into it. I had decided to model the Nirvash typeZero on my own just for fun, and was looking around for some forums to show it off at, and I found the Lift forums. I showed it off while I worked on it, and when the general shape was complete, Plinkotink invited my to join the team.

2. What got you into modeling, and what's your favorite part of modeling?

In all honest, I can't remember the exact impetus that got me into modeling. I had tried 2d art for a while and I wasn't any good at that. I tried remixing some of my favorite songs and I wasn't any good at that. Then I moved onto playing around with 3d modeling, and I'm not any good at it either, but I'm keeping with it

3. What part of Lift are you looking forward to the most?

I can't wait to see how many LFOs we get in the game, and to see all the customizable stuff we have planned take off and hopefully make a really great game.

4. What programs do you use, and are there any things you would like to further your knowledge in?

I use Wings 3d for modeling, and I always have. I have tried to learn modeling in 3DS Max, XSI Mod Tool, Gmax, Blender, and a couple other free modeling tools and none of them compare. A lot of people complain how Wings 3d doesn't have powerful enough tools to get the job done, but my way of thinking is that I can model anything any other program can even if I set the vertices positions manually with (x,y,z) coordinates.

There are two 3d art related practices I want to learn: UV mapping and rigging. Wings 3d doesn't have any sort of skeleton system, so I would need to learn how to rig in a different program, and I can never make good UV Maps in Wings, so I will have to work on that.

5. Are you planning on making 3D art a career? Explain.

I'm not really sure what I plan to do as a career, but I don't expect it will be in the video game / 3d industry at all. I just don't think I have the skills to succeed.

6. Would you like to give a message to the public?

If you plan to get into 3d modeling, the best advice I can give you is to read as many tutorials as you can regarding the modeling program you intend to learn. I won't make any recommendations on which program to start with since everyone will tell you something different. Follow tutorials, make your models, and DO NOT show off your first couple models, unless you think they are amazing and you are a modeling prodigy, and even then ask some close friends first. It's best to archive your first models as a thing to look back on and be like "Oh wow I can't believe how much I have improved." There are a lot of jerks in the 3d modeling community, and they will discourage you by telling you how terrible your first models are. Just keep at it, and you'll get better. I've been modeling for a little over 3 years now and I'm still learning and getting better every time I open Wings 3d.

PS. Please comment on the models and tell me what you like and what is wrong with the model. Criticism is the only way to get better and fix errors that I may (an do) overlook.

PPS. Keep watching Lift Mod for more cool stuff :X

Concept artist: We are looking for a talented artist that can draw an assortment
of things. Right now we are need of weapon designs, LFO concepts, and
Wallpaper designers.

Web developer :I am looking for some one with experience in graphic
arts and web design. We have had a website for quite some time, however
it is in need of a professionals touch. If possible we would like
applicants to be able to update our site monthly, however if you only
wish to update the visuals of the site once and then leave it to us,
we understand.

Thats it for this month Guys. Sorry for the lateness!