KronoNomikon

Hey, guys! I have been really stale, and I realize that the reason is because I have just not dedicated myself. I realize the reason now that I saw a TFC2 release preview on YouTube, having afterwards been set to continue where I left off: it is because I was uncertain as to what exactly I should do, and so I got deadlocked. So, before getting too far into it, I want to nail down the proper dimensions, as I know that Bioxx wanted a "muscular" saber-toothed tiger. It's difficult to make it look muscular and yet have it like Minecraft, as were the parameters, and so I am going to show the first model dimensions before doing any skins. This is because the method that I use to paint is not necessarily pixel-by-pixel, and when the dimensions are altered afterwards, it messes up my perception. I had this problem a little with the cat, and so that's why I wanted to get the size at least somewhat nailed down first. I tried to stay true to exact dimensions from various pictures and descriptions that I saw online. I realize that it might seem a little small at first glance, but look realistically and think of the shoulder height as compared to a six-foot (two-meter) Steve. I tried to go with the largest cat variety for size, with the ability to be scaled down, obviously, with the minecraft block of 16 voxels being 1 meter:

OK, now here it is with a fixed back leg, modified leg sizes and placements, modified paw sizes and placements, pre-relaxed tail, tweaks and modifications etc.: smilodon04.MCModel

OK, so I redid it, but not with the extra joint on the back leg. If you'd like, I could do that, but then I would shorter the paw there a little. Do those proportions look a little better to you? I am having a little trouble with the shape of the face...any suggestions? I thought maybe to give the fluffy chin, I could add a transparent fluff instead of a neutrally-sloped jaw, but that can be changed back. Is thisOK for the body shape?

So, it's all right to go with proper leg joints and everything? Or should I go with how I was doing them? I also didn't understand what you meant about the feet...make them a little more flat? I understood about the claws, and hoped to do something like that, but didn't know we would have different skins for some kind of angry mode. That's a good idea, though...like how endermen flip out, I guess. Sorry for not responding recently, as I've been stressed out with work and more-than-tired. Got a couple of days off now, though. So, I want to be a people-pleaser in this thing, and, if you like, will do the shoulders, claws, and also proper joints.

Stroam, thanks! Yeah, I had actually seen that second picture and was thinking of that. I don't know how the shoulders would be best implemented. After all, they would come up at an angle, and would be looking like they were attached to the arms, and maybe more, but not really with them. I have no problem with details or with natural leg poses etc., just that I didn't want to make it difficult for Bioxx. I just want to make sure it's done proper. I was thinking about that with the mouth and was thinking of rows of alternating tooth pixels or something. Also, I was thinking of a hair crest and maybe tufts or a mane like Darmo had said. At this point, I am just looking for suggestions on body shape etc. To have the legs properly done like in the picture (or in real life), it would need three segments. I had the same problem with the Caribou, if you remember. So, what should be coming out: another box/set of boxes, or upwards extensions of the shoulders? Think now: tigers have the same features while they are bent to that degree, but, as I am seeing with sabre-toothed cat renditions, these would be neutralized with a neutral pose:

How about a more hulking, slanted appearance? I just ask now because I'll have to modify the length of some things a little. I guess what I'm getting at is, although it may have a lot of cat-like features, and may be the descendant of modern big cats; as I understand it, they had some significant differences from cats, too, such as the longer, more muscular front arms. I think that this would be a key feature, and might help with what you mentioned, Darmo, about the shoulder blades. Now that I look at a better picture, I think that this might be a good compromise, but I'd like to know what you think.

OK, well, I was considering the shoulder blades thing a little, but not sure how that would work. Because of the way that the upper arms are, they would probably have to be attached, but inset and angled or something. I left the remaining space on the skin as solid as I could for any mane-type fur. I had to modify the head and neck a little to at least be able to have the mouth open and not have neck sticking through; and I might have to lower the head slightly to align the bottom with the neck...we'll see, I guess. I also made the ears rectangular, as I had realized that the reason I had them like they werein the first place was for the lynxes. Here's it so far --- don't mind the back paws, as I've aligned them properly since these snapshots:

Here are thesize, shape, and proportions of the lynx model, but with only a winter-time Canadian lynx skin. There are more tail segments that are transparent which can be used for a bobcat skin and an African lynx skin: I'll wait to see what everyone has to say before continuing. Lynx01.MCModel

Shall I move on then?

2x2.5 front, 2x3 back, extra dark spot on tail, lightened chin, fixed neck texture Caracal01.MCModel

OK, you know what? I am trying it at 2x3, and it looks better. 2x2 is a bit thin from anterior to posterior, because the legs are still fairly big on the caracals. However, they are not very fluffy, so the thinness looks fine from the front. I think that, overall, it looks better for the dimension of the legs anyway. Let me show you what I mean and explain what happened: The caracals are definitely kind of slender, but part of this sleekness is from their length and head-to-body ratio. In the caracal model, I made the body longer and more slender, so that the legs and head would be more proportionate. So, even though the legs are the same width as the lynx, they are still smaller in comparison to the body, and with them thinner from the front, they are most definitely more sleek. When I put them as 2x2, they totally look like peg-legs.

I did, but they looked a little too thin in my estimation. It's difficult when you're working with such small numbers... I mean, going to 2x2 is 66% of the length and width, and that's a very significant decrease. If you want, we could go with that, though. I just want everyone to like it, really.

Well, there's not much to it. I tried to make it a little rough, but within reason. The ears are slightly bigger, as they should be, and though the body is longer, as is the tail, the legs are almost as thick. The body is somewhat more slender, in keeping with the look of the cat. Here: Caracal.MCModel

OK, so did Bioxx want an African Lynx skin? I forget... Anyway, here are the updates: -Resized/remapped tufts -positioned the earsmore properly -deletedAfrican Lynx tail segment -completed the following skins: Canada Lynx Iberian Lynx Bobcat LynxSmall02.MCModel

OK, here it is with the two skins, perhaps to be modified, and the bobcat coming after; I crunched up the new texspace so that it uses skins of half the height: LynxSmall01.MCModel

Here you go. EDIT: Since posting, I messed around with it, and it does indeed look better with the shorter nose for some reason. LynxSmall00.MCModel

Slight nose reduction, and then I toyed around with eyes at either distance, with or without whites etc., and this seems to look the best:

Did you want it to instead be a smaller model? I did a quick shrink-down because of how it was originally meant to be smaller, but I accidentally made it larger than was intended because of the details:

Iberian lynx skin:

Here you go: MCMCGorillaV2c.MCModel

OK, so there is the cat. I was trying to avoid the squinty look that the Minecraft cats have, but if I use four pixels and color them appropriately (I tried new colors), they look too large. Also, I trimmed the hair and fixed the ears. I was going to do an Iberian lynx also and see if you wanted anything else skin-wise. It's better to have a variety to choose from, and if someone doesn't like some skins (or bioxx especially), then they don't have to be used --- but the option to have them is good as well, in addition to having a better perspective. I also fixed the eyes in a similar manner on the other lynx skin as this one. Also, I could do a smaller version if it doesn't look right scaled in-game. I have an .xcf file with some layers, so it wouldn't be as difficult for the body as it seems, even if I tried to rework what was already there.

The texture had to be slightly modified to accommodate the new sizes. All I did at this point was sink the cap into the head a little so that it didn't have to really be modified. In this case, I just dropped the position by 1 on the Y axis. The reason it was originally a little taller (or really, the face was just shortened by 1) was to emulate the peak that the adult males get from the muscle attached to the sagittal crest (or whatever causes it). MCMCGorillaV2b.MCModel

OK, so I hope that you like this; I did it first this morning because it was one of the easier ones: Caribou05.MCModel

Haha, yeah: that's what I figured that I would try to do, actually...

I think that I can do that by bringing it in at the angle. I think the effect would be lost if I tried to make them flat, rather than diagonal. It may be towards the end of the weekend, as we are trying to clean up to sell this place, and also, people are being obstinate, not coming in for shifts, to the effect that I will probably be gone half the night on Sunday.