TheChickenWizard Posted January 2, 2025 Report Posted January 2, 2025 Still trying to teach myself the modding tools, and made and animated a kangaroo is VS model creator today for practice and as a potential future mod. However as you can see it doesn't have ears yet, which is the most expressive part of the animal when animating it. I was struggling to figure out how to get them in a way that both read as a kangaroo without being overly detailed and time consuming to make. Most of the critters only have one or a couple cubes for ears which work alright for them, but they looked a bit wonky on the roo. Does anyone here have any good techniques for modeling less-blocky details like ears in a way that doesn't look too out of place in the game? 4
RationallyParanoid Posted January 23, 2025 Report Posted January 23, 2025 I'm not a modder or model creator sorry I just wanted to drop in and say that the model you've done so far looks fantastic, and this little snippet of the hopping movement looks really good! This is aussie approved 1
Seven-D Posted January 29, 2025 Report Posted January 29, 2025 @TheChickenWizard That looks very promising! Kangaroos are my absolute favorite animals, and I even considered adding them to the game myself as a mod - until I saw your post. How likely is it that you'll complete this mod? I'd love to see kangaroos in VS! Regarding your question about modeling: I'm a 3D artist and took a look at your model. I think the level of detail is just right and wouldn't increase it further, as the model blends well with the rest of the game. The same goes for the ears. I believe they can be represented very well with just two cubes while still capturing the animal's expression. For this, I would use a small cube as the base and attach a larger one on top. This way, you get the basic shape of the ears without increasing the level of detail too much, and you can animate them easily in all directions using just two angles. I've attached two screenshots to illustrate this. If you're interested, we could work on the kangaroos together. I really want to see them in the game, and it would be a waste if two people were working on separate projects for the same animal. 1
James McQualter Posted June 17, 2025 Report Posted June 17, 2025 I think Seven-D nailed it with the ears, and while the model is looking great, to me it looks a little stiff (or very light). The legs-feet-tail all work together as a giant spring, loading and unloading from one hop to the next. Tail maintains the momentum from the previous hop while the toes are on the ground (heel almost touching), then drops like a hammer as the spring uncoils in the next hop. Keeping in mind that most of the hop is mid-flight, comparing the other frames gives you a fair idea of the energy flow through the animal. Not sure if you are still working on the project, but hope you are. Would love to see roos bounding by.
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