Polycount: Sam Hain player model for Quake 2 by Hunter
“SamHain, the spirit of the Fire Festival that takes place on “All Hallows Eve” to honor the dead. The model itself is a scarecrow with a lit up pumpkin head.”
This is “officially” my second completed model.. It was created well over a year and a half ago while I was determined to learn some modeling skills. Out of the blue, Fafner decided to take on a side project and animate the guy (who would have probably sat on my hard drive indefinitely) The model is 892 polygons, the majority of which were used in the construction of the hollow, carved pumpkin head. The rest of the body and limbs are of fairly simple construction. As usual, I am happy and impressed with Fafners animations, though I usually frown on models that don’t use a standard weapon model (isn’t that what Quake 2 is all about) how can I be disappointed to see one of my meshes with a breath of life.
Skinning and mapping was a “decent” first attempt and overall I was happy with the results. I am definitely no expert in either skill. Wasted skin space is 19% and the colorscheme had to be reworked and darkened a bit due to some heavy “washout” in Open Gl. gameplay. You may also notice some “shimmer” effect on the front and back of the cover-alls. This is a little Z-fighting with the rendering in the Quake2, with the engine debating on which side of the poly is to be seen and lit. I guess I should have gotten a few tips from Alcor on his Mask model, since that models’ coat is also made up of double sided polys yet does NOT suffer the same unsightly effects. (Oh well, there is always more to learn)
At this time there are no CTF skins or sounds (any volunteers ?) and the model does not support vwep. Being this is my model it would not be fair to pimp it as the worlds greatest PPM just to get some downloads.. I will fully admit it’s probably an average to above average creation, but if you want some new fraggin material, check it out.. Those of you into extreme quality only (such as Wrath or Alphawolf caliber models) I am afraid Sam Hain may not be up your alley..) The “readme” does make for some educational reading though.. :)
-Hunter
* Contributors : Animated by Fafner with Character Studio, skin tweaks by shine.
https://web.archive.org/web/20010603051544/http://www.planetquake.com:80/polycount/info/quake2/samhain/samhain.shtml
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Sam Hain
Author – Hunter, 10/31/2000
Quake2/baseq2/players/samhain
New York City/USA.
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Model/mesh/mapping/skin – “Hunter” Email: Hunter@Polycount.com
Animations – “Fafner” Email: Fafner_@hotmail.com
Skin-tweaks – “shine” Email: shine@polycount.com
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MODEL DESCRIPTION:
SamHain, the spirit of the Fire Festival that takes place on “All Hallows Eve” to honor the dead. The model itself is a scarecrow with a lit up pumpkin head.
Keep in mind, this guy was done over 1 1/2 years ago and I have learned a few things since then.. Out of the blue, Fafner asked me if he could animate it as a side project (he had it on his hard drive since I had sent it to him, long ago, to look at) I said sure and he said, “cool, ’cause I already started last week, hehe”.
Thus Sam Hain finally was given “life”..
CONSTRUCTION:
Poly Count: 892 Polygons
Vert Count: 452 Verts
Mapping Verts: 381 Verts
Skin Count: 1 Skin, for now, any submissions are gladly appreciated.
Wasted Skin Space : 19 % (remember first try here, hehe)
Base Model: New model with a reference to Supermales lower half for the “cover-alls”
Editors used: Believe it or not the entire model mesh was created with Q2Modeler. (I’m learning Max now) Anims – Character studio.
Known Bugs: A few little clipping problems, some “Z-fighting”, shimmering effect on the cover-alls
Build/Animation time: Mesh – about 5 solid hours with tweaks over the next week..
Animations – not sure, ask Fafner
Lows:
I was relatively happy with the mesh, and seeing it was my first REAL skinmap and skinning job, it came out “acceptable. A little “Z-fighting” (shimmer effect) with the double sided polys on the front and rear “bib” of the cover-all pants.. oh well.. Also, I am not a great fan of models that don’t utilize a weapon model, but I can’t look a gift horse in the mouth.. I think Fafner did a great job.. You may see Sam Hain join Q3A one day too..
INSTALLATION:
Unzip the files into quake2/baseq2/players/samhain
Don’t hesitate to send me a comment, feedback is the only way to learn anything.
***Special thanks to Fafner, shine (my little buddy), Rogue13 (my Polycount Boss) Burnt Kona, Massive Bitch, Soul Reaper, Magarnagal, Ogro_Fix, Evil Bastard, Gwot, Alphawolf, Malekyth ( grrr) , Stecki, sTuPiD fOoL, and about 300 other model authors who, in the past, have helped me out with advice, inspiration or tips, or never “blew me off” when I dropped them a question or two.. It’s you gents that make Polycount, and the whole “modeling community” a friendly atmosphere and a vast well of information for the learners.
QUAKE(R), QUAKE II(R) and QUAKE III Arena(R) are registered trademarks of id Software, Inc.
You can’t use this model for anything other than Deathmatch gaming, Without asking me first.
__
*** Samhain / Halloween origins and history :
Next to Christmas, Halloween is the most commercialized celebration in the United States and Canada. This ancient festival originated far from North America however, and centuries before the first European set foot on the continent.
The ancient Druids who inhabited what we now call Great Britain placed great importance on the passing of one season to the next, holding “Fire Festivals” which were celebrated for three days (two days on either side of the day itself).
One of these festivals was called Samhain (pronounced Sha-Von) and it took place on October 31 through to November 1. During this period, it was believed that the boundaries between our world and the world of the dead were weakened, allowing spirits of the recently dead to cross over and possess the living.
In order to make themselves and their homes less inviting to these wayward spirits, the ancient Celts would douse all their fires. There was also a secondary purpose to this, after extinguishing all their fires, they would re-light them from a common source, the Druidic fire that was kept burning at Usinach, in the Middle of Ireland.
Samhain was considered to be a gateway not only from the land of the dead to the land of the living, but also between Summer and Fall/Winter. For the Druids, this was the last gasp of summer (it was also the Celtic New Year), so therefore they made sure it went out with a bang before they had to button down for the winter ahead.
They would dress up in bizarre costumes and parade through their villages causing destruction in order to scare off any recently departed souls who might be prowling for bodies to inhabit, in addition to burning animals and other offerings to the Druidic deities. It is also a popular belief that they would burn people who they believed to be possessed, but this has largely been debunked as myth.
This yearly festival was adopted by the Roman invaders, who helped to propagate it throughout the rest of the world (and at that time, the Roman Empire was the world). The word “Halloween” itself actually comes from a contraction of All Hallows Eve, or All Saint’s Day (November 1), which is a Catholic day of observance in honour of saints.
This tradition was later brought to the North American continent by Irish immigrants who were escaping the Potato Famine in their homeland. In addition to the festival itself, the immigrants brought several customs with them, including one of the symbols most commonly associated with Halloween — the Jack ‘O Lantern.
According to Irish folklore, there once lived a man named Jack who was known for being a drunk and a prankster. One night Jack tricked the devil into climbing a tree, and quickly carved an image of a cross on the trunk, trapping the devil.
Jack then made him promise that, in exchange for letting him out of the tree, the Devil would never tempt him to sin again. He reluctantly agreed, but was able to exact his revenge upon Jack’s death.
Because of his mischevious ways in life, Jack was barred from entering heaven and because of his earlier trick, he was also barred from hell. So he was doomed to wander the earth until the end of time, with only a single ember (carried in a hollowed out turnip) to warm him and light his way.
In Ireland, they originally also used turnips for their “Jack Lanterns”, but upon arriving in the new world, they discovered that pumpkins were abundant and easier to carve out.
SBB, October 1999 (www.tartans.com)
Donde Quake 2? 