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JohnVM's Current Projects
Topic Started: Sep 14 2014, 04:39 AM (10,477 Views)
burnt_gecko
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The Blazing Gecko

Papageno
Oct 3 2014, 07:46 AM
Hey JohnVM,

I like very much the remake. I have a little question about the Bonobo. If I'm informed right, one of the differences between them and the chimpanzee is, that Bonobos have a dark face even after growing up. Including ears ;)
It is just suggestion. Maybe it's caused by something designing-technically, this would be far away from my knowledge. No offense!

The rest: Again - Great remake and wonderful Ape! :)
It's because I'm still working on the model and coloring as we speak, that is the unfinished version just to show the differences between the two models. ;)
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Papageno
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Okay, thanks for the information :)
I'm happy to see a Bonobo for ZT2!
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Zoohuahua
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[I don't know if I should post here or at burnt_gecko's thread xD ]

Looks great that are you making a bonobo, but I think you could reuse one of your finest chimp's body skin on the bonobo. Both animals have dark short fur. The bonobo's body skin looks a bit strange to me.

I would also like to point out that bonobos are famous because of their unique behaviour. It would be a great addition if you make them greet and have other friendly actions more frequently. (You can forget the sexual part though :3 )
Edited by Zoohuahua, Oct 3 2014, 06:17 PM.
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JohnVM
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Papageno
Oct 3 2014, 07:46 AM
Hey JohnVM,

I like very much the remake. I have a little question about the Bonobo. If I'm informed right, one of the differences between them and the chimpanzee is, that Bonobos have a dark face even after growing up. Including ears ;)
It is just suggestion. Maybe it's caused by something designing-technically, this would be far away from my knowledge. No offense!

The rest: Again - Great remake and wonderful Ape! :)
Thanks! As Gecko said, the skin is not final yet, but I definitely plan to keep it darker than Blue Fang and RR's existing Chimpanzee, and there will be multiple variants, including a darker one ;)

Ignacio
 
Yes! We are finally going to have bonobos. That's awesome

Thanks! I'm surprised a new Bonobo hasn't been made in so long - especially since the only existing one had a blue-ish skin rather than a darker black one. Needless to say though, the bright side is I'm pleased to be able to contribute it to the Zoo Tycoon 2 community :)

Quote:
 
Looks great that are you making a bonobo, but I think you could reuse one of your finest chimp's body skin on the bonobo. Both animals have dark short fur. The bonobo's body skin looks a bit strange to me.

I'm waiting for Gecko's final copy before I make any recommendations/criticsm/changes on the skin but I'll definitely keep this in mind.

Quote:
 
I would also like to point out that bonobos are famous because of their unique behaviour. It would be a great addition if you make them greet and have other friendly actions more frequently. (You can forget the sexual part though :3 )

Thanks for the tip! Once the model and skin are done and everything else is working ingame I'm definitely going to look into customizing some behaviors as polish. I've been investigating that a lot lately - for example, when and if the lions are working, I'm hoping to make them able to interbreed.
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JohnVM
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Status of Current Projects:

  • Brown Bear (Restoration): works fine, needs Zoopedia and testing. Needs polish. Debating which species to base it on since I can't remember the intention of Spin in 2004. Roughtly 90% done though.
  • Asiatic Lion: Zoopedia is refusing to work for unknown reasons. Will be skinned afterward. Using UT2's African Lion as a base.
  • Lion Remake: So far it refuses to replace the main ingame lion -- trying to figure it out. Using UT2's African Lion as a base.
  • Bonobo: BG is still working on the RR skin/model, the 'classic version' works fine except it appears white after placement; all .DDS file links seem to be fine.
  • Giant River Otter: Needs more skinning. The current skin's still about half-done, as seen above.
  • Cownose Ray Remake: Model changed, needs new skin and some testing.
  • Kobami Tapir and Mountain Tapir: Coded but been on hold in the wake of finishing off the lions. Using Tyrannchu's wonderful tapir model :)
  • Secret Item: Been over a month and still haven't acquired a response from the original designer. Otherwise it's basically all done besides polish & testing.
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JohnVM
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There hasn't been much of an update lately - I've been very busy with school and haven't felt motivated as I continue to run into problems with the lions. If another coder would be so kind as to offer to take a look at them and let me know how I messed them up, I would appreciate it. I've looked over coding for other animals in the meantime and had no issues, but it's been a big blow to my confidence and I can't seem to figure out what the dealio is. I had another coder look it over and they found nothing.

I'm planning to visit a local zoo in early December and I'll have winter break soon after so hopefully there'll be a couple more updates soon :)
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JohnVM
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One of the most frustrating things as a modder, for me at least, is finding a problem you can't figure out how to fix - if the problem persists after several tries, it's a huge de-motivator that deters me from further efforts. It becomes difficult to work on other projects in the same sphere without feeling obligated to continue trying at the first one, until eventually your effort feels wasted and you want to take a break. A bad habit of mine is letting something else catch my eye on a break, causing my design projects to fall on bigger and bigger hiatuses - and then it becomes embarassing to come back to your projects folder with a dozen started projects and many of them half-finished at best.

Both versions of the Bonobo, African Lion Remake, and Asiatic Lion, are running into coding problems. Some other side projects have been going on fine, like the Brown Bear Classic, but I haven't felt motivated to work with these 2-4 projects bugging at me. I am asking you for another experienced coder to take a look at them and help diagnose and tell me how to fix these problems so I can continue working on these projects. Most of my other designer contacts are busy at the moment. Contact me if you're interested.

Thanks!
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Kaleb
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Zebrasorus is teh best evur11

If I were you, I would ask Thom to look at it for you. He's an experienced coder and will probably be willing to help you out.
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JohnVM
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I've updated the first post but there is very little new information to report. The Brown Bear is just about ready but that is more of a passion project. I may try a new Asian lion with a different lion remake or focus on finishing the Bonobo. Still open if somebody would like to take a look at it.

The secret item was a King Kong and I couldn't get the model permissions so it was cancelled. I have also cancelled my Kobami Tapir and Cownose Ray remake -- a better Cownose Ray and a better Kobami Tapir are both here in the downloads section :)
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Envy
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Would you look at me? I'm setting records.

JohnVM
Jun 8 2015, 06:23 AM
I've updated the first post but there is very little new information to report. The Brown Bear is just about ready but that is more of a passion project. I may try a new Asian lion with a different lion remake or focus on finishing the Bonobo. Still open if somebody would like to take a look at it.

The secret item was a King Kong and I couldn't get the model permissions so it was cancelled. I have also cancelled my Kobami Tapir and Cownose Ray remake -- a better Cownose Ray and a better Kobami Tapir are both here in the downloads section :)
You could work on the King Kong in a PU topic. :)
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JohnVM
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Released an old project with Black_Lemur, a Pyroraptor based on the Dinosaur Planet series, at ZT2DC. We could definitely use a newer version - has one been attempted? Also installed the latest version of ZOOZANNE.

I would like to note openly that if any mesher or skinner would like to collaborate, I'd be happy to do so.

Quote:
 
You could work on the King Kong in a PU topic. :)

Interesting suggestion.
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JohnVM
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Mine and Burnt_Gecko's Bonobo is still on track, and now that I'm out of school again I can investigate that pesky glitch! Check our his projects here!

We have another collab in the works - stay tuned :)
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JohnVM
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Still working on the Bonobo - in the meantime, check out the Western Lowland Gorilla that burnt_gecko and I have largely completed. Hoping to find the last pesky glitch in that guy for an update. Had a lot of fun with this one - I actually made the first lowland gorilla for Zoo Tycoon 2 a good eight or so years ago before BG approached me about doing a new one. I also helped a little with the Gigantopithecus remake. BG deserves most credit (along with AD, of course) because their work bring you the amazing visuals. I just make sure they show up okay :)

I'll update the first post with revisions in a few days. I've spent most of my recent time working on those projects and bugfixing some older work for a hopeful future release. Sorry to be cryptic!
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JohnVM
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So listen, here's an honest truth - a big reason I've not been designing much lately, this summer or the tail-end of last, is I'm still sitting on a lot of old stuff. Primarily, five unfinished expansion packs, all of which were projects with former design teams, many defunct and no longer in existence. It's a price to pay for my longevity perhaps. What I have been trying to do, behind the scenes, for quite literally years, is to finish these things up and polish them a bit so they can be released properly in a working, non-buggy condition. They may not all be up to the bar that the community has raised so successfully since, but I want them to see the light of day in some form.

Unfortunately, it's mostly beyond my abilities at this point. I need help - other advanced coders, as well as meshers and maybe a skinner or two, who can look these things over and make some tweaks to eliminate bugs and get them in working order. Shouldn't be any tall orders involved, just a lot of problem-solving. If anyone's willing to help, PM me your credentials. Non-designers need not apply.

I would say more, but I don't want to spoil the potential surprises involved in releasing these things. Just PM me and we can talk about it.
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JohnVM
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Examples of some of the many projects I need looked over to complete and release:

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There is much, much more content than this - this stuff is from three of the five expansions - but I figured people might be more willing to help if they had a taste? It's mostly old WWDU stuff and the remnant of Reptile Rage.
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