Vondell's Current Projects

[Goosifer]

You are too cool, thank you so much for sharing some behind-the-scenes. It sounds like a similar process to what we would do in the ZT2 design days, but I love how much more creative you can get in the original, and it absolutely helps that you seem to be quite talented with digital art! I don't think I ever was; I think at some point I made a monstrous chimera by merging a trashcan model with a croc's head in Blender and simply called it "Crocodile Trashcan".  

 

That sunken motorboat is brilliant, and that tech is honestly still magic to me--and this is coming from someone who needs to present research that converts a bitmap image into a 3D model tomorrow for a related CompSci research topic (we're trying to stop poachers in Africa!).

 

I honestly feel the design bug coming having followed yours and other folks' threads, but sadly I don't think the game is for sale digitally. I'll have to buy a PC with a CD-ROM drive this Summer!

 

Looking forward to seeing more, Vondell, big fan!

[HeatherL]

1 hour ago, Vondell said:

The catfish and turtles are models from Animal Crossing: New Horizons, of all things.

These would be pretty awesome as animals.

[pukkie]

On 4/13/2023 at 3:57 AM, Eric said:

You are too cool, thank you so much for sharing some behind-the-scenes. It sounds like a similar process to what we would do in the ZT2 design days, but I love how much more creative you can get in the original, and it absolutely helps that you seem to be quite talented with digital art! I don't think I ever was; I think at some point I made a monstrous chimera by merging a trashcan model with a croc's head in Blender and simply called it "Crocodile Trashcan".  

 

That sunken motorboat is brilliant, and that tech is honestly still magic to me--and this is coming from someone who needs to present research that converts a bitmap image into a 3D model tomorrow for a related CompSci research topic (we're trying to stop poachers in Africa!).

 

I honestly feel the design bug coming having followed yours and other folks' threads, but sadly I don't think the game is for sale digitally. I'll have to buy a PC with a CD-ROM drive this Summer!

 

Looking forward to seeing more, Vondell, big fan!

I found this Eric I do hope this is what you looking for https://bestoldgames.org/products/zoo-tycoon-complete-collection

[carlos franco]

On 12/4/2023 at 20:29, Vondell said:

 

¡Gracias! Tienes razón, uso software 3D. Yo uso Blender .

 

Los activos del juego original se crearon principalmente mediante la representación de imágenes 2D a partir de modelos 3D. Hace algunos años, configuré una cámara Blender y una configuración de salida de renderizado que me arrojaría imágenes que coincidían con las ZT originales en la escala de unidad correcta; otros han hecho algo similar y han creado scripts por lotes para Blender que les permiten hacer conversiones de animales ZT2.

 

Debajo del capó, así es como se ve el tanque del barco hundido:

 

 

 

 

Trabajar en 3D abre todo un mundo de opciones que no sería posible lograr en 2D, aunque sigo usando mucho Photoshop. Estoy trabajando en un conjunto de rutas en este momento, por ejemplo, donde los activos se construyeron y renderizaron en Blender pero se terminaron en Photoshop para asegurarme de que tengan píxeles correctos y para ajustar pequeños detalles o limpiar los bordes que no se renderizan perfectamente. justo fuera de la puerta.

 

Me modelo a mí mismo, también tomo modelos de otros lugares en línea. La lancha motora hundida aquí es en realidad un escaneo 3D de una lancha motora hundida real frente a la costa de Vermont que fue creada usando fotogrametría por un buzo que tomó las fotos, las convirtió en un modelo texturizado y luego subió el modelo en línea de forma gratuita. Estoy haciendo mucho uso de modelos 3D escaneados con fotos disponibles gratuitamente para este próximo proyecto de acuario. Los bagres y las tortugas son modelos de Animal Crossing: New Horizons, de todas las cosas.

Wonderful work, these models will already be available for use?

[Goosifer]

Love the new tank walls, Vondell (and all of the other new items)!  By the way: today I was digging through a bunch of my old files on my Mediafire account because I'm working on re-homing them somewhere before they're lost to time. I found out you used to go by Volksdragon and you hosted a couple of your early downloads on one of my old forums, Zoomania (Nile Monitor and Perentie ). I thought that was cool. :P

 

Luckily @Fern reached out and saved them before I closed it down so they lived on here. It's a good thing she did because the Perentie in particular has been wiped by Mediafire (along with a few other great ZT2 downloads 😔)

[(Designer)Vondell]

No way!! That's wild. I was so young then that I couldn't have told you where I had initially hosted them. I must have been 13 or 14. I stopped using that screenname in middle school.

 

I'd say it's crazy that Zoomania was yours, knowing we're the same age, but I think probably literally half the communities I was part of online at that age were hosted and run by other teenagers. I'm sure you had similar experiences back in the day. Wild looking back now, but seemed super normal at the time.

[Goosifer]

Yeah I would have been the same age. Zoomania was actually my friend's forum, Koala Komander. Out of sheer coincidence, she was also the same age and lived only one town over from me. She eventually left the community and left me in charge to take care of it. Later when me and Aurora Designs started Northern Skies, I folded their downloads together because I was a teenager and didn't want to run two forums hahaha.

 

I'm with you. Absolutely wild looking back and realizing half the forums out there were run by kids. The novelty of running a website in the early to late 00s (ew) was so alluring I guess.

 

 

[(Admin)Savannahjan]

This is great reading.  I remember those websites.  Maybe you two can team up on a project sometime.  It's great having you 'old' ZT pioneers here.

[Goosifer]

That would be fun. Maybe once me and Finn can hack into some crazier things in ZT1. I'll spam Vondell's inbox ;)

[pukkie]

Only good things can come from this Wish Jane could have seen it