Weapon Flash

Just improving everything possible... Now I've focused on weapon flashes which never seemed realistic to me. Normally the intensity depends on many factors first of all the ambient brightness, but in any case if the flash appears you cannot see through and it's not so semi-transparent.
In addition to changing some models of the flashes to give more volume, I worked on the shaders by making 4 different images for each type of flash used with animMap feature in order to give variations to the shape and color and I also added a random element with the "rgbGen wave noise" option.
By doing so it is also possible to do a tuning of the intensity by simply acting on the first parameter of the rgbGen command of the shader

This is an example:
models/weapons2/flash/flash_generic_03
{
    nofog
    sort additive
    cull disable
    {
        animMap 8 models/weapons2/flash/flash_generic_03_01.tga models/weapons2/flash/flash_generic_03_02.tga models/weapons2/flash/flash_generic_03_03.tga models/weapons2/flash/flash_generic_03_04.tga
        blendfunc GL_ONE GL_ONE
        rgbGen wave noise 0.65 0.25 0 0.5
    }
}

I think I'm close to good results and if nothing else they are definitely scenic if not realistic.

I am also doing some animations for 3rd pov players so that there is a minimum of congruency.
Once these tasks are completed I will release all packages. It is useless to keep adding changes because now I can't check by myself if there are any problems.
I have checked so many times that I'm no longer able to see mistakes and errors even if they are obvious and I have them in front of my eyes ...

Probably, to allow updates more easily, there will be four packages:

- z_tce_players_yyyymmdd.pk3
3rd pov player body models + textures
3rd pov head models + textures + animations

- z_tce_players_animations_yyyymmdd.pk3
3rd pov player animations

- z_tce_viewarms_yyyymmdd.pk3
1st pov arms models + textures + animations

- z_tce_weapons_yyyymmdd.pk3 (contents maded by various authors)
1st & 3rd pov weapons models + textures

Zombie Mod?

I'm really tweaking and improving lots of things. I revised the face textures using real photos as a basis. I changed them considerably by adding detail and it seems to me that I have achieved a good result.
I increased the detail and contrast because the textures in the game are a little flattened (also for camouflage and equipment).
I am also doing some practice with shaders and I started to understand and manipulate them better also because I am using the Q3ase shader editor program.
I made some additional environment textures specific for metallic reflections to improve the effect of the specular maps but I'm not sure can notice the differences.
I am undecided whether to use the specular maps in the shaders for the weapons models in 3rd pov because I am not sure they are visible.
 
These days I did some experiments to see if it was possible to do a zombie-mod without touching the code. It would be a very fun option in my opinion also to change a little ...
A simplified version with for example the red (axis) team with the look of Zombie but armed is probably feasible without code changes.
For a "pure" version with zombies without weapons and with custom animations I think it can be done but need some touch at least to the ET / ETL code.
The idea would be to use bots only for team axis as zombies with no weapon supplied (if possible) or even with only the knife (the knife mesh for the axis team would then be replaceable with a null object).
At the moment, however, using only the .gear file does not seem possible.
In any case, a "knife only" function should also be enabled but only for the axis team.
Customizing the animations with walk & run & zombie attack would not be a problem but an additional "team" condition should still be added in the human_base.script animation file (in addition to those already present "state description", "movement type", "condition type" and "condition value") or have two separate files (something as human_axis_base.script and human_allies_base.script).
A new "team" condition would also be very interesting to customize the animations based on the team they belong to. Maybe it would also decrease the teamkills since you would have an extra detail to recognize the opponents.

IFAK and Gloves

I made a new UV map of the 1st pov hands and a pair of new gloves that look much better to me and probably you can understand which models I was inspired by.
Now I have to align and synchronize everything with 3rd pov player's hands.
I also made a new, more realistic medkit (ifak) and fix some errors on the blood textures.

I wanted to write a couple of notes about the weapons used. I currently use 18 out of 20 slots (two slots are reserved for bolt action weapons) and there are a few things I discovered:
// SH3 -> force empty reload even is not the last shot (hardcoded)
// SH4 -> force empty reload even is not the last shot (hardcoded)
// SH6 -> force the wapon as primary (hardcoded)
// SH7 -> force the wapon as primary (hardcoded)
// TH15 -> force bolt action weapon behavior (hardcoded)

The CQB weapons I am using in TCE are more detailed and seem to be handled without problems. To get a rough idea an ak47 1st pov without accessories has 6167 tris and 3704 verts while a lowpoly ak47 3rd pov has 826 tris of and 527 verts.
I made some important changes that involve the weapons that will eventually be added.
The main tag is no longer in an unspecified place in the middle of the weapon but is positioned in the middle of the handle at the height of the trigger to facilitate the positioning of the new weapons and the tuning of the aim.
Each accessory has its own tag and we have:
tag_suppr -> suppressor
tag_fgrip -> forward grip
tag_clip -> clip
tag_clip2 -> clip
tag_slide -> slide
tag_sight -> sight
tag_brass -> brass
tag_flash -> flash

There is the usual problem with the maximum memory budget for arms animations (there is a maximum limit of total "verts positions" that I have yet to calculate) and I am thinking of not use the akimbo that weigh a lot of memory and carry on other animations first (... machine pistols).

Sanrenmu 6050 LUF-PH-T4

This is the knife / multitool that I most use in urban environment. The steel is not the best (8Cr14MoV) but it's made for occasional use and is not designed for heavy work.
A very interesting feature is the liner lock type blade locking system which works very well. The blade opens and closes easily and there are numerous functions including a small light torch with a single led (which does not like water...). The functions (10 in total) that I have used most are the blade, the screwdriver, the carabiner, the bottle opener. Comes very sharp but you have to sharpen it often if used intensively.
Absolutely recommended and the cost-performance ratio is excellent (although it now costs 35% more than when I bought it...).

Tools:
Cross screwdriver
Belt Cutter
Hex wrench
Wire Stripper
Chisel/Scraper
Blade
Led light
Bottle Opener
Glass Breaker
Carabiner
(... but not a flat screwdriver ! ...)

Type: Folder knife
Blade Material: 8Cr14MoV
Blade Length: 4.6cm
Blade Width : 2.3cm
Unfold Length: 14.4cm
Fold Length: 9.4cm
Blade steel: 8Cr14Mov stainless steel
Product weight: 74g

Akimbo Issue

I took a step back to modify and improve the uv map of the hands and I'm trying to improve the textures using real photographs of tactical gloves. It was important since the hands are always on first/top view.
 

I have completed the animation for the Akimbo but there is a big problem. I afraid that the True Combat Elite code for Akimbo has not been completed.  Unlike the other weapons the setting in the .specs file "usesWolfAnim 0" is ignored and the animations of the arms are not shown (only frame 0 is considered).

The only possibility I have seems to to make it all again and adopting the original akimbo animation of Enemy Territory. The original system is very, very, very limited as the arms and hands are actually static meshes without any deformation (as if they were the components of a weapon). The Enemy Territory arms animations is done exclusively by moving and rotating the tags to which the arms are linked.

EKA CordBlade W9

Since man does not live on bit (0/1) alone ... a small reviews of the knive I bought and which I use.

This is the first skeleton type knife I bought. It's an excellent blade maded with an excellent steel and keeps the sharpness long.
I felt very comfortable and the handle is comfortable for my hand (medium size hands).
The length is adequate for its use and the weight is minimal (clearly not suitable for chopping).
Excellent material of the sheath (Kydex) with the bottom hole to let the water flow.
The extraction is not easy (it's necessary help yourself with the paracord lanyard) and hindered by the belt clip which would be better to replace or reverse as position.
The jimping are good, not agressive and right for a solid grip with and without gloves. The handle comes with two (low quality IMO) paracord rescue orange and black.
The spine of the knife is rounded, for someone it's a good but I personally disagree. A 90° sharp spine is really useful.
In general, the judgment is really good. Recommended.

EKA CordBlade W9
Type: Full-Tang
Blade Material: Sandvik 12C27 (HRC 57-59)
Blade length:     95 mm
Blade thickness:     4 mm
Total length:     210 mm
Weight:     100 g
Paracord wrapped handle (orange/black)
Kydex sheath with removable belt clip

True Combat Elite Clip

I was looking for a video editing program to merge and stabilize some footage taken with the smatphone and I found Davinci Resolve. It is a great program that produces professional results and is free. It occurred to me to do a clip of True Combat Elite with the new graphic contents and this is the result (unfortunately Youtube has significantly lowered the quality ...).