Yes, but there's no evidence of Infection forms having the capacity to either carry or create flood spores.

@Tiel: If you haven't already, I highly suggest you to read "Halo: The Flood". Jenkins's sidestory describes pretty well what it feels like to be infected.

Anyway, I have some progress:

1) I have finally found a way to make the Carrier Form more interesting. I've added a sort of "Stegosauresque" membranes, taking inspiration from this Dano's old model: http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs35/f/2008/309/0/b/Flood_Infestation_Scene_by_dano555666.jpg. Moreover, I've added the classic chest antennas:





The membranes glow in the dark, btw

2) I've improved the blood particles, using some Reach textures (thanks to PRPatxi for ripping them):



3) (No pic for this) Elites now have an alternate melee animation in which they perform a kick, like in Reach

4) I have finished revamping all the sceneries used in the campaign. I won't show all of them since they're simply too many to post, but here are some examples:





























5) There was a scenery that always bugged me: the Covenant Uplink. I never liked it, because it looks like a Storage Crate with an antenna. So, I decided to use my revamped H2 Covenant Antenna, but since I couldn't use it in indoor areas, I made another scenery: a Covenant Touchscreen:



Model is custom, textures are from Reach.

Now that this big part is finished, I can skip with the next part of the mod: the vehicles! The whole to-do-list is currently composed by:

-Warthog (LAAG and Gauss)
-Hornet
-Scorpion
-Ghost
-Banshee
-Wraith (Mortar and AA)
-Spectre
-Shade
-UNSC Machine Gun

I already know what to do with them, I'll start working on the Ghost first.

And about the rest of the mod, these are the other things that I need to do before compiling the mod:

-revamp BSP shaders
-improve AIs
-LODs
-add extended parts (extra BSPs, missions and cinematics)
-song replacements
-encounters improvement
-new functions implementation (boarding, third grenade etc.)

Stay tuned for the next updates!
Edited by SOI_7 on Nov 27, 2014 at 07:07 AM

It's certainly different and fairly interesting, but I can't help but wonder what purpose these structures would serve. All other iterations of carrier forms have portrayed them as nothing more than mobile incubators for infection forms, little more than a sack of biomass with a pair of stumpy legs for locomotion. What function would these protruding membranes serve?

If you're looking for other alternative means of putting a twist on the traditional carriers, perhaps you could modify them so that they look like a kitbashed conglomeration of various constituent species. Another idea, if you're willing to re-animate (heh, reanimation, Flood, heheh) them, is to have them utilize their forelimbs almost like another set of legs, which would help stabilize their top-heavy forms.

Well, that's exactly the same question I had in mind when I've seen Dano's model the first time. I guess they could be used by the Flood as a sort of breathing glands, or for heat dissipation (if I'm not wrong, Stegosaurus used its back plaques for this purpose). The fun thing is that I've seen this genre of Flood organs in Halo Legends too (http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130215034858/halo/images/3/3e/Mendicant.jpg), so... even if we don't know their purpose, they still look like something that could fit the Flood.

At first I wanted to put some hosts pieces, but it came out pretty bad, mainly due to the anims. Moreover, Carriers canonically originate from different species (Grunts, Jackals or wounded/diseased humans) that usually aren't big/strong enough for being turned into Combat Forms, so using different parts from different bipeds all together could have looked weird as hell...
Edited by SOI_7 on Sep 16, 2014 at 03:40 PM

It reminds me of dekus from majoras mask for some reason.

I'm not sure that the Flood require oxygen, or that heat dissipation is much of a concern for them, but I suppose if similar structures have been seen on other Flood forms, that's justification enough if you want to include them.

im starting to notice that, although your work is pretty good, you seem to be working with a really low texture resolution. I can understand that having a lot of extremely high detailed textures ruins tagspace, but it makes me wonder what your textures could look like if you had a higher budget for each one...

You know, I'm afraid of the tagspace limit, but if I succeed compiling all my tags in the maps, actually I could always see if Tool allows me to use higher-res textures later. It will depend on the free space left.

Anyway, I have some updates, finally! I did some tweaks and some random stuff, and even more!

First of all, I went back to my old Halo Wars style Elite, and I tweaked some geometry errors, mainly its arms:



Then, inspired from the MCC, I did a custom Plasma Grenade explosion effect, using some Ifafudafi and CMT particles combined with custom ones:



You can see it in action in this video: http://youtu.be/GSgvgF7g5hI

Moreover, I have succesfully revamped the first vehicle: the Ghost. I started from the H1 model, and I turned it in a mix between the Apparition and the early Ghost concept arts, while the texture is H4ish. The engine effect is inspired from Reach, and I reanimated the vehicle so that the spinner now rotates:











It uses H2 engine sounds, and the HCEA firing sound. Also, it has boost. I used Killa's boost tags from Hypothermia, because the boost tags available on the website are a bit glitchy. At first I tried using an overlay animation, but unluckily it doesn't keep the translation data in the worldspace, so the Ghost automatically returns to the starting position once the animation is finished, instead of going ahead... *sadface*

And, most of all, I did this: http://youtu.be/FalZaFx_cy8

I can share the method I used, if you want ;)

If university and real life will allow me to do it, I'll start working on the next vehicle: the Wraith.

Goddamn dude, that plasma grenade detonation has some serious flair to it. Really cool stuff.

I wasn't a big fan of the original Apparition, but I really like the way you've incorporated elements of it into the Ghost. The tail fins seem a little tacked-on, though. If you could so something to make them meld with the rear of the fuselage a bit better, that might be an improvement.

Also, man-portable Ghost plasma cannon could be neat. [/subliminal message]
Edited by Echo77 on Oct 24, 2014 at 04:09 PM

I love the ghost but the firing sound doesn't fit IMO. Would like to know how you did boarding.

Here is an in-depth tutorial.

First of all, you need to put a marker on the Ghost model, you can call it whatever you want, but it needs to face towards the player (in my case, it's in front of the Ghost). You need also to create two markers, "check1" and "check2", in front of the Ghost, and orient them so that they look at each other
Then, open the vehicle tag, scroll down to "Seats", and add a new seat, call it "G-boarding". Check the "invisible", "third person camera" and "not valid without driver" flags, use the marker name you created in the previous step.
Now, you need to put the boarding animation in the cyborg.model_animations. I used the animations from SPv2 b30, I hope you already know how to inject anims in existing model_animations tag (there's an utility on the website for this purpose). Then, open the model_animations tag, where it says "Units" duplicate the "G-driver" label and rename it "G-boarding". In "Animations", use the injected animations as "enter" animation.
Then, here comes the tricky part. By default, you can't enter the boarding seat because you and the Ghost driver belong to different teams. In fact, if you assign the Ghost biped to your team, you can enter the seat without problems. So, I did a script that, using a portable trigger_volume, checks if the player is in front of the Ghost and, if that happens, creates temporarily an allegiance between the player and the driver. Then, another script checks if the player enters the boarding seat, and unloads the vehicle (you can make it kill the driver too, it's the same thing). Here is the script:

(script startup boarding_test
(vehicle_load_magic ghost "G-driver" (ai_actors encounter_0/squads_block_0)) Loads the Ghost driver into the vehicle
(object_set_collideable boarder0 false)
(object_set_collideable boarder1 false) boarder0 and boarder1 are two invisible bipeds necessary for the portable trigger_volume. They need to be non-collideable
(ai_attach "check1" encounter_boarder)
(ai_attach "check2" encounter_boarder) bipeds need to be AIs, or the script won't work. So attach them to an encounter
(objects_attach ghost "check1" boarder0 "frame root")
(objects_attach ghost "check2" boarder1 "frame root") , Attach the bipeds to the "check1" and "check2" markers
)

(script continuous check
(ai_look_at_object "check1" "check2")
(ai_look_at_object "check2" "check1") Forces the bipeds to look at each other. Doesn't work if they're not attached to an encounter
(if (and (objects_can_see_object boarder0 (unit (list_get (players) 0)) 45) (objects_can_see_object boarder1 (unit (list_get (players) 0)) 45))
(ai_allegiance "player" "covenant"))
(if (= (and (objects_can_see_object boarder0 (unit (list_get (players) 0)) 45) (objects_can_see_object boarder1 (unit (list_get (players) 0)) 45)) false)
(ai_allegiance_remove "player" "covenant")) If the player is between the two bipeds, the script creates an allegiance between him and the driver. Otherwise, the allegiance is broken
)

(script continuous hijack
(sleep_until (vehicle_test_seat ghost "G-boarding" (unit (list_get (players) 0)) )) Checks if the player enters the boarding seat
(vehicle_unload ghost "") Makes the driver exit the vehicle. You can use "unit_kill" if you prefer
(sleep 25) Sleeps until the boarding animation is finished
(vehicle_load_magic ghost "G-driver" (unit (list_get (players) 0)) ) Automatically loads the player into the Ghost
)


That's it. It works pretty well, the only little issue is that you can board the Ghost only in that position, but you can add multiple boarding markers and trigger_volumes on the same vehicle.
Edited by SOI_7 on Nov 16, 2014 at 07:29 AM

Any new stuff?

Yuss!

1) I've changed the firing sound of the Ghost (mixing the current one with the H2 one) and edited a bit the texture near the back fins/wings. The overall appearance has been made in order to have the same attachment mechanisms for both the front and the back wings:



2) (No pics to show) I've edited the Brute collisions so that you need to destroy their helmet before killing them with an headshot

3) Wraith completed!





I did it starting from the Halo 1 model, and played a lot with the textures (Perhaps some UV errors on the gun, I'll revise them later). The front wings have been turned in order to have the same orientation of the Vampire ones, the mortar has been turned in a Railgun-like shape and, most of all, I've added a plasma turret that, though it's controlled by the driver, can be destroyed, and can't aim upwards. Moreover, I made the AA variant too:



Another important thing is the collision: I've added the spinning back fan that it had in Halo 3, Reach and 4. If you shoot the fan you make more damage. 3 well-placed grenades can destroy it quickly, but of course it's complicated to do it when it's driven:



No boost because it would have been overpowered.
Particles are by Ifafudafi (except the Fuel Rod ones). And, of course... http://youtu.be/qCDs-h9S_xM
^Definitely more spectacular then the previous one

Next thing I'm gonna do is the Shade Turret. I've planned to use it in the final elevator on The Maw with a Spec Ops Elite (that canonically should be Zuka 'Zamamee), as written in Halo: The Flood
Edited by SOI_7 on Nov 24, 2014 at 02:17 PM

I feel that the plasma turret is a little out of place but
Oh my god, this is beautiful!
Love the wraith design.

Those new wraith models are absolutely awesome!

Very, very cool, but I agree with Spiral that the secondary turret seems out of place. Perhaps you could take the ball turret from the standard Spirit dropship and mount it to the hull like so?

While I can definitely do it, you need to remember that this turret won't aim due to the Wraith aiming mechanics. That's why I put it in that position: it's approximately at the same height of the Spartan chest. Alternatively, I could make the turret a separated biped and make it indipendent from the driver, but once the player gets in the vehicle, he won't be able to control it.
On the other hand, changing simply its shape it's something totally doable.

What do you think I should do? Change the turret shape and keep it at the same position (so that the player can use it) or make it a separated biped and put it at the position you suggested (renouncing to the ability to use it)?

I think you should chage the turret shape and position and make it a seperate biped. The current position, while it may be convenient for player use, just doesn't look very good.

If you want player-controlled secondary guns, you could probably squeeze some Ghost-style plasma cannons between the front wings and the nose of the main hull, on those dark connecting bits.

Also, given the bulked-up front wings, it could be cool if you made it so passengers could sit on the rear fins.
Edited by Echo77 on Nov 25, 2014 at 05:55 PM

Done the new turret. It came out quite well, and I got also an unexpected result: it seems that you can't enter the Wraith unless you destroy the turret first, so this automatically solves the player control issue. Moreover, this obliges the player to destroy the turret first before hijacking the Wraith, unless he wants to blow up the whole vehicle:



I've also added the passenger seats (just two, though)

I'll move on to the Shade, now

Does it also apply to the AA Wraith?

Nailed it with the latest Wraith revision. Looks much better now. Something to consider might be modifying the texture around where the ball meets the hull so that it looks like it fits into some sort of socket, but it looks pretty good either way.

Totally reminds me of the TX 130 from Star Wars.
Edited by xnx on Nov 26, 2014 at 07:22 PM

Seems far more practical now than the previous iteration of the Wraith Tank. Like it can actually target other vehicles much more easily now rather than the Pilot hoping that it hits that Scorpion Tank at the end of the valley shooting at it.

It's like an actual tank now :O

Detail map. I'd suggest making the hexagons less catching to the eye. Make them smaller I guess?

Nothing new?

Nothing new?

If you don't count the Wraith he posted pictures of a few days ago, then it seems that there's nothing new.

Here at CMT we are currently applying very precise forms of torture to SOI in order to force him to create a painstakingly photorealistic model of Sgt Johnson's butt-cheeks.

Haha, sarcasm.
Edited by Infinite Guardian on Dec 1, 2014 at 05:34 PM
Edited by Infinite Guardian on Dec 1, 2014 at 05:35 PM

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST

@Beaucephal: I didn't know I required all the CMT forces to torture me lol

Anyway, update time! I have finished the Shade Turret:









This is literally the son of all the Shade iterations seen in the Halo games. It has the H3 base, the H2 Spectre gun, the H2 shield, and the H1 seat. I missed the plasma shield, it was something that I loved in H2, but I flipped it so that you can make headshot to the pilot easily and made it pulse like CMT's Jackal shields (thanks Lag).
It fires Phantom bullets, and can be destroyed:





If you think it's fine, I'll start the Banshee now.

That looks fun and great.
I feel like its like a bird, the gun is like a beak sticking out.


I would also suggest making the shield curve inward more, as in make it a bit wider but curve it around toward the seat. Not completely covering the driver or anything. Curved kinda like the deploy-able cover in halo 3.

Not much of an issue at all. I think if that is the final then that's fine. It looks good.
I miss the plasma shield also.

I kinda agree with spiral. if you curved the shield back and probably added more to the base of the gun, it'd look a bit better. Along with that, the general shape of the shields seem a bit off. It may do you some good to stretch them a bit more from the center.

On a shader related note, I noticed your pulse doesn't get transparency from the shield alpha (you can see the pulse emitting past where the shield ends in your pictures)

I also think the front should be less pointed and more smooth, just to get the general covenant aesthetic going. Otherwise nice job.