04-18-2013, 01:46 AM
That was such a thorough message from Antonius that I had to come forth with reflection, especially because many of these points I have thought about before.
On lorica hamata
I did not know that, but I know what Skyrim players will say if I remove the sleeves. Many poeople had asked me early on to put pants on the knees of the soldiers because Skyrim is so cold
I suspect a similar issue with sleeves. I suppose normally the Romans would keep their arms warm with a sagum or two, but I never managed to make a proper sagum that would work even when the player is fighting.
On lorica musculata
Well, I am color blind
, but I asked my girlfriend and she said it looked like bronze to her. Now I have to go pour a glass of cold water on her head. Look what you made me do...
On centurio
Torcs were planned from the beginning but not added due to shortage of time. I will add them in the future.
Re vitis - I only read about this item much later on, but I think it would be a good item for mages if I gave it some special power. Yes, I know, magic - not very historically correct, but I have to think about different types of players.
on segmentata
I think in the later versions it was more polished, but the problem I had and continue to have is how to make polished metal look realistic in Skyrim. It always comes out looking like plastic even when I increase contrast and add scratches. The way Skyrim handles it is to make everything look worn by painting strong texture and using low reflection. I try to do the opposite...with mixed results.
on arm protection
Indeed, most examples I saw looked to be worn on the outside of the arm so that is what I went with. About the manica being a few sizes too small, I noticed that straight away but only after I put it into the game (long story why). I had subsiquently recreated the manica from scratch and it is now longer and also looks better.
on helmets
The helmets do have a bronze rim on the ear guards - that's what I saw in the examples. There are no chin straps for 2 reasons: 1. I was lazy 2. they are incompatible with beards. I would have to bring the cheekguards closer together and they would clip through the beard. I am still figuring out how to make the characters in the game cleanshavene.
Me and another user recently made a new helmet (type D) and it does have a little knot.
Didn't think about crest box being from wood. I think I only saw metal examples in replicas.
On leg protection
Wait...I thought that the left leg and the left arm were both covered by the scutum, which was held in the left hand and that's why the manica and the greave were for the right arm and right leg respectively. No? I might have misread something...I will check this...
By fabric straps do you mean the wraps? I definately read several times that the Romans wrapped their calves in the colder climate. What I am less happy is the texture of the wraps. I didn't know how it would be wrapped around the leg and where the end of the fabric would go.
On javelins,
They do have bolts on the side, but...eh...do they go all the way through the "box" and come out on the other side, held in place with nuts? Did Romans have nuts?
And yes they do have buttspikes (lol it's actually the first time I see this word)
On swords and daggers
I have experimented with suspender rings. Indeed it comes out looking a bit strange due to how the sword hangs in Skyrim. I have also been on different levels of "lazy" at different times. Sometimes I tried to think about what the sword hangs from and sometimes I would skip that step or just thourhg something simple together. I think vanilla Skyrim armor follows a similar formula
On cloaks:
Yeah this has caused a lot of headache for me. There are two problems with Roman cloaks.
1. All the folds and wraps. I started another thread on this website asking if there were any pictures of someone wearing a sagum taken from all 4 sides because, for the life of me, I cannot tell how it's wrapped around the body and all those folds look like hell to an amateur artist like me (a toga by the way is even worse).
2. From all the images I have seen, the sagum and the paenula looked they would be impossible to wear in any significant fight. In the game it would have to fold around your body and wrap behind your back when you draw your weapon. Skyrim animation just can't do that sort of thing so things will clip through one another if a make a proper looking sagum.
On shields:
Yeah, I think the way it works now is that, even if the arrow collides with the shield and gets stuck in it, you still get damaged. What's wrong with having the shield damaged instead of the character?! I guess that would require heavier scripting. I don't use the shield much in the game but when I did and I saw how it worked I hated it.
"would it be possible to make the gladii and pugiones slightly smaller?" yes and I have in the past, but then I would test them out in 1st person view and the gladius looked hilariously small. There is something with the field of view settings in Skyrim or something because the weapons just look noticably smaller in 1st person than in 3rd person view, especially during certain animations.
On lorica hamata
I did not know that, but I know what Skyrim players will say if I remove the sleeves. Many poeople had asked me early on to put pants on the knees of the soldiers because Skyrim is so cold
I suspect a similar issue with sleeves. I suppose normally the Romans would keep their arms warm with a sagum or two, but I never managed to make a proper sagum that would work even when the player is fighting.On lorica musculata
Well, I am color blind
, but I asked my girlfriend and she said it looked like bronze to her. Now I have to go pour a glass of cold water on her head. Look what you made me do...On centurio
Torcs were planned from the beginning but not added due to shortage of time. I will add them in the future.
Re vitis - I only read about this item much later on, but I think it would be a good item for mages if I gave it some special power. Yes, I know, magic - not very historically correct, but I have to think about different types of players
.on segmentata
I think in the later versions it was more polished, but the problem I had and continue to have is how to make polished metal look realistic in Skyrim. It always comes out looking like plastic even when I increase contrast and add scratches. The way Skyrim handles it is to make everything look worn by painting strong texture and using low reflection. I try to do the opposite...with mixed results.
on arm protection
Indeed, most examples I saw looked to be worn on the outside of the arm so that is what I went with. About the manica being a few sizes too small, I noticed that straight away but only after I put it into the game (long story why). I had subsiquently recreated the manica from scratch and it is now longer and also looks better.
on helmets
The helmets do have a bronze rim on the ear guards - that's what I saw in the examples. There are no chin straps for 2 reasons: 1. I was lazy 2. they are incompatible with beards. I would have to bring the cheekguards closer together and they would clip through the beard. I am still figuring out how to make the characters in the game cleanshavene.
Me and another user recently made a new helmet (type D) and it does have a little knot.
Didn't think about crest box being from wood. I think I only saw metal examples in replicas.
On leg protection
Wait...I thought that the left leg and the left arm were both covered by the scutum, which was held in the left hand and that's why the manica and the greave were for the right arm and right leg respectively. No? I might have misread something...I will check this...
By fabric straps do you mean the wraps? I definately read several times that the Romans wrapped their calves in the colder climate. What I am less happy is the texture of the wraps. I didn't know how it would be wrapped around the leg and where the end of the fabric would go.
On javelins,
They do have bolts on the side, but...eh...do they go all the way through the "box" and come out on the other side, held in place with nuts? Did Romans have nuts?
And yes they do have buttspikes (lol it's actually the first time I see this word)
On swords and daggers
I have experimented with suspender rings. Indeed it comes out looking a bit strange due to how the sword hangs in Skyrim. I have also been on different levels of "lazy" at different times. Sometimes I tried to think about what the sword hangs from and sometimes I would skip that step or just thourhg something simple together. I think vanilla Skyrim armor follows a similar formula
On cloaks:
Yeah this has caused a lot of headache for me. There are two problems with Roman cloaks.
1. All the folds and wraps. I started another thread on this website asking if there were any pictures of someone wearing a sagum taken from all 4 sides because, for the life of me, I cannot tell how it's wrapped around the body and all those folds look like hell to an amateur artist like me (a toga by the way is even worse).
2. From all the images I have seen, the sagum and the paenula looked they would be impossible to wear in any significant fight. In the game it would have to fold around your body and wrap behind your back when you draw your weapon. Skyrim animation just can't do that sort of thing so things will clip through one another if a make a proper looking sagum.
On shields:
Yeah, I think the way it works now is that, even if the arrow collides with the shield and gets stuck in it, you still get damaged. What's wrong with having the shield damaged instead of the character?! I guess that would require heavier scripting. I don't use the shield much in the game but when I did and I saw how it worked I hated it.
"would it be possible to make the gladii and pugiones slightly smaller?" yes and I have in the past, but then I would test them out in 1st person view and the gladius looked hilariously small. There is something with the field of view settings in Skyrim or something because the weapons just look noticably smaller in 1st person than in 3rd person view, especially during certain animations.
Regards,
Andre
Andre
