I have a lot of projects in the works at various stages of completion, various proximity to the backburner, and so on. Problem is, I think I have something like low-resolution ADD or something. BY way of explanation, regular ADD means a pperson can't sit through an entire music video without getting bored and doing something else. Bad example. Most music videos aren't worth sitting through. Most music videos are rap. But you get the idea. A single cartoon is like reading Gone with the Wind to a regular ADD sufferer. That's high-res ADD. My concept of low res ADD is that you can easily spend hours working on one thing, but you'd better get it done in one or two sessions of sitting there for hours, or you'll never get back to it. Based on this, I have to admit that it's ironic that Oils are my favourite painting medium. But I digress. Anyway, I have a number of modelling projects in the works at various stages of cmpletion. I said that already. But I had to get back to the point. I don't know which I should really focus on. I'd like to say that Market Research is a help, but I don't know that it is. This is because the first time I submitted something to DAZ, it was my Scarecrow, and they said that they didn't think there was a market for it because sales of the Halloween Heads for Mike sucked. So I sold it here, and it went over really well. Really, really well. So much for market research. Or maybe it's the fact that mine was creepy and the halloween head Mike looked like Mike with a basketball on his head. I dunno. Well, this is a list of the projects, and I'd like to get sugestions from as many people as possible for what I should place my focus on after I finish the DLKII and DLKIII (Dungeon Lighting Kits II and III). The remaining DLKs are priority one, as I am most of the way done with them, but the rest are up in the air. This is non-free stuff, BTW. Free stuff is a whole different set. Projects: Ghul (backburner, head modelled, body modelled but I'm going to scrap it): Original skinny freak figure with conforming internal skeleton and rip-off-flesh morphs, est. time to complete, long time. Saloon (backburner, half-modelled): Complete western saloon set including multipart posable prop arrangement and multipiece construction. Red Dragon (backburner, some modelling done): original posable dragon figure designed to look like the Red Dragon entry in the first edition Monster Manual I, only with better wings. Dungeon Geomorphs I (beta, needs new texturing 'cause I'm unhappy with the textures): set of arrangeable dungeon set props with various room types, etc. Space Knight (half finished): clothing and prop set for jedi-esque costume with hooded robes, gi-type costume, boots, trousers, belt, etc. Working camera set (proof-of-concept ready): set of functioning cameras with flash or flood and functioning cameras attached to the props so they actually work. Boid and Colubrid character packs for Noggin's python (some texture reference gathered, backburner): photorealistic textures and MTs for various boid and colubrid snakes for Noggin's python including Burmese Python, Reticulated Python, Rainbow Boa, Emerald Tree Boa, Jungle Carpet Python, Glass Lizard, Hog-nosed Snake, Corn Snake, King Snake, and Columbian Red-Tail Boa, plus some alternate morphs (ahh, that is 'morphs' in the herpetological sense: AKA phases). Ferret (projected, reference gathered and squirming in cage). Baboon (reference gathered, projected). My wife (reference sitting on sofa watching HBO) DertyAngel's Sword Set (reference gathered): set of weapons designed by DertyAngel. (DA, you don't get to vote for this B^P ) Anhkheg (some modelling done several times): fully articulated original monster. Kangaroo (some modelling). Basilisk (some modelling, D&D style not Harry Potter style). So what's going to sell? What stuff would people buy? What should I be focusing my attention on?

_dodger, Kangaroo Jack is about to come out, the saloon might go with that(?) I doubt seriously If any movie based on a 'roo can do without the 'Kangaroowalksintoabar' jokes. So I'd guess the Kangaroo. but wattaIknow, - TJ

I would go for the ferret... maybe morphs and or textures for Mink, Weasel, and so forth.

I would buy a Ferret, a GOOD classical Basilisk (not that stupid snake-thingy from the unnamably-bad movie), and possibly another dragon... however, the Red Dragon looks too much like too many of the other dragons out there. Why not the Steel Dragon? Not only does he have a great body, but texturing him like marcasite would be wonderful (I can just see him shimmering in P5 renders).

Could you explain your "Working camera" concept in an easy way for Non.-english please ? :) Thanks Laurent

Feedback? Well, here goes... Ghul -always interested in this type of character - Question; Why not convert it into a conforming flesh/clothing-type item for the P4 Skel or the DAZ skel? I'd imagine that would trim a lot out of the development time. Saloon - I've seen 3 or 4 for Poser recently - why not do a long-deserted ghost-town version with a few additional decrepit flanking facades, Wooden sidewalk, and Muddy-Rutted street? Red Dragon - I've bought nearly all I've seen, but It's have to be extremely distinctive to be very popular. Dungeon Geomorphs - seems to be 15 or 25 variations already - again I'd think it would need something extremely distinctive to generate significant sales. Space Knight - make it original enough and I think it could be popular. Working camera set - a bit specialized, but with some studio-type props it might be well-rec'd Boid and Colubrid character packs for Noggin's python - seems pretty specialized. Ferret, Baboon, Kangaroo - lots of interest in realistic animals expressed recently( My wife - If it looks enough like a real-world person(instead of a pin-up) and included a selection of realistic expressions - I'd certainly buy. DertyAngel's Sword Set - I've got over 85 bladed weapons already in Poser, and probably about as many not yet installed - Seems to be a glut. Anhkheg & Basilisk - love to see them How about doing something like a Poser Pirate ship with interiors and Shipwreck morphs, a fully-stocked convenience store, or Cretan-style garb? Just a few rections/thoughts..... Cheers!

I would say the ferret and the snake packs. Too many dragons already. Too many dungeons already...lol How bout an Arrowhawk p.19 Centaur p.34 Or a gargoyle. Don't know if we have the same Monster Manual. And it wouldn't have to be the same as theirs, just the idea. Marque

Dodger - could you explain a bit more about that Working Camera set? It sounds interesting and could be versatile enough to be used with many different scenes. Give us an example of how that can be used. such a thing could well become a must have. I would probably also be interested in the ferret. However, what I feel has been lacking in poser is a good bird of paradise that can grace alot of fantasy renders. my two cents :-)

Bikermouse: That indicates to me that I should avoid the Saloon at all costs, as well as the kangaroo. That movie is adding to my list of producers to beat the crap out of if I'm ever in Hollywood. I am so sick of the effed up yank Hollwood Crocodile Dundee/Foster's commercial interpretation of what's Australian, and another stupid comedy with some guy whining annoyingly in every advertisement for it... just makes me want to chunder. And if a roo could talk, it would not rap. Sorry, but that's my take on that. Leathur-guy: the ghul would have a conforming skeleton inside it, instead. I don't want to base it off the P4 skeleton because it's terible, and I can't possibly afford the DAZ articulated skeleton... do they have a cheaper one? Do many people have it? Naah, besides, it has to look a bit inhuman, which means skeletal changes, too. I'd also base several other characters off of it, including Githyanki and such. The Saloon -- no, I mean a good one. Fully machanically posable and designed off a real-world Saloon (Old Tulsa, I think it was) with furniture and broken into pieces so you noly load what parts you need to render (thus the outside and inside woudl be seperate parts smart-propped together with the windows in-between set figure. Red Dragon -- specifically the MMI one. First edition. Old-school D&D. Real D&D in other words. Space knight: specifically not supposed to be original. I'm thinking of a particular kind of space knight, of the sort that weilds a glowing laser sword... My wife: definitely realistic. After lots of protesting, I finally got her to agree to allow me to include the stretch-marks-included bump map as an alternative rather than the default. L Boid and colubrid character set: not really that specialised. A red-tail boa is the most common snake pet in the western world, followed closely by ball pythons and burmese pythons. I was going to do a convenience store, but 7-11 has a policy against allowing people to take pictures (or even walk about sketching) in their stores, and that's all that's close. I don't do ships. Don't know a thing about them and don't really care to. Several people: the dungeon thing: mine has a cave and stuff. Marque: since I know the MMI inside and out, and I've never heard of an arrowhawk, I'd venture to say we haven't got the same MM. 1st edition. None of that third edition not-really-D&D everybody-can-multiclass munchkin rubbish B^) Firebirdz and ablc: the camera set: a set of camera props, basically. The difference between them and a 'normal' prop being that they would have cameras and, in some cases, flashes or floodlights attached to them so that you can actually use them. For instance, with the camcorder, you could do an animation of some friends goofing around with the camcorder and actually flip back and forth to the camcorder view in the animation, like they do in movies. They'd be realistic props designed after RL models of camera, and they'd work with their settings controlled though ERC to reflect the correct settings available to those cameras. The SLR, for instance, would have an F-stop dial which would control the camera's scale incementally but maintain the focal length, forcing the same effect as an actual SLR. This would let you either use the camera just as a camera, or as a prop a character could use, or as both. In a similar vein, a working spyglass could also be made with a camera mounted in it so you could take shots looking through the spyglass (theoretically a proper telescope could also be made, but that would border on ridiculous because of the fact that a RL telescope is made to view things well outside of the limits of a poser UNIVERSE). Binoculars could also be made to do this, but would be weird because you would have to render from each lens seperately (though it would be a good way to make stereoscopic images).

Bikermouse: thinking about that... what gives you the impression that there are a bunch of Old West style saloons in Aussie? I mean, sure, there are country music bars here and there. But most of the ones out in the bush are pretty much corrugated tin shacks, and the ones in the city are proper pubs and clubs. The closest thing I can think of in Northbridge is the Brass Monkey I think it's called, and it's only slightly fashioned like that on the outside. As a general rule, if it came out of Hollywood, it's not Australia. It's really strange to think about, too, because you'd think they'd know by now. I mean, Hollywood South is bloody Sydney nowadays.

Just realised that camera description might not be simple enough for a translation program... A set of camera props with cameras in them that you can use to render.

"A set of camera props with cameras in them that you can use to render" Good and easy understanble description. Will buy it Laurent

heyas; i'm not going to comment on some projects, because they compete with some of my projects. i don't know what would be 'good.' i suck at guessing the market's taste, too. what i think would be good is for you to do something YOU want to work with, and would like (and would buy). because you like it, you'd do best on it, and it would sell best because... oh, i dunno. but that's what i would say. a few things i think are 'bad.' saloon.... i dunno, seems to be a buncha bar/restaurant/saloon deals going on. i don't pay too much attention to them, so i suppose i'm biased to think they're not very attention-getting. space knight. now, if you'da said it was some kinda futuristic armored thingy, that mighta been good. but you say it's a jedi kinda deal. well, steve shanks has the jedi kinda clothing, and daz already has a gi, and... you could basically get a jedi-kinda-knight deal already, and mostly for free. so i don't see people lining up to buy that one.

Well maybe you need to buy the newest book. If you ask for ideas and you slam your future customers for not being purist D&D folk you can expect to alienate them from buying your products as well. 8^) Marque

Heh, I know your feeling with the "low-res"... actually I've got ADD, and that sort of thing happens to me all the time- get halfway done with a project, then lose interest and drop it. Ankhegs would be cool. I'm slowly working my way through the Monster Manual as well, did a Purple Worm figure, full scale (that sucker's huge!) but still haven't finished texturing it properly. Just don't go knocking 3E till you've played it with a -good- DM.

I'd like to see some more more SF military stuff ala "StarShip Troopers" -- the book version -- not the movie version. Stuff like hover tanks, light mecha and pulse cannon, etc. If the model is detailed, well textured and has some associated items so that you can do a complete scene it starts to have some possibilities. Also stuff that is based on Burrough's John Carter of Mars series. Including one of the green martians!!! Even though there is a lot of futuristic clothing and body suit textures -- there is not a lot of stuff requiring new models - space suits, space armor, etc. Just my thoughts . . .

Bloodsong: 'you could basically get a jedi-kinda-knight deal already, and mostly for free. So I don't see people lining up to buy that one' Well, I'd generally say that, too... the only thing is I have a sort of established rep in the realm of Jedi-hood, and I think that could swing the balance. Besides, that one's over half done (just messing with the JPs on that bloody flowing cloak is the hard part, really) Marque: I wasn't slamming you, I was slamming 3E. EsnRedShirt: 'Just don't go knocking 3E till you've played it with a -good- DM.' Hmm, perhaps. But I'll have to find one good in my perspective, which means one who discards the majority of 3E and replaces it with house rules that strangely seem vey faimliar to players of 1st Ed. Hehe B^) Purple worm... cool. Kinda can get away with lower poly on it too, I'd reckon. Thorntoa: Hear hear, Yay for Heinlein, down with Aliens clones using his title! Hmm, the cool part would be doing the tech from ST (which is up to modern Sci-fi tech standards except the lack of heavy computer-assistance and neural implants) with the look/feel it would have had back when Heinlein and the original readers were poring through the book back in the 50s. I like the ERB idea too, though I think for the most part that's easy to do with free stuff and a jewelry set here and there. Colour the girl red, use no clothing, Naked Vicki and Mike in a Temple -- it's just the Green Martiansd and Thoats, and the Blue plant men and some of the monsters that would be tough.

Dodger you always have some great things, always. Your dungeon kit beta is awesome ( I am a betat tester) I keep finding new things with this stuff. I haven't had any problems yet that wasn't because of my computer. Your scarecrow was bad-ass ( I had thoughts of using it as a cahracter for a cgi) I have the Daz Conforming heads and well, lets jsut say that....they are ok. I wish there were more you could do with them aside from drop em on a body. no extra textures, features etc. Your space knight would be a blessing for those that consitently asking for Jedi stuff. Ghul could easily become the character Eddie from the Iron Maiden LP covers ( hint, hint) The saloon looks awesome ( wish I had more notion for westerns, i'd buy it.) The ferret would be something I think lots of people would go after, including myself. I have a project that I have been doing in Maya. THe body is primarily done just need to work on the joint parameters. They are twisty things but I don't think a ferret can do what this one is doing. I have plenty of reference for ferrets myself, I have 4 right now and have housed over 125 in the course of the past 10years in my shelter. so if you need any tips let me know.

I'd maybe buy the saloon---depends on if I could fit it into a project---but the camera set definitely. I need something like that quite soon, actually.

Hmm, well, I have my spice-monster (he's on vacation, but he'll be back after maintenance gets the water leak and the resulting soggy wall fixed -- he had to go to a friend's since we have to call maintenance), and ruggdlilfox, my wife's girlfriend, is known as the 'Weasel Queen' on my website, gothic-classifieds.com, -- she has 17 -- so I think I have the ferrets covered, actually. Hey, I hadn't thought of Eddie! A morph or two and a bolt for the head. That's easy. I've gone through the D&D Monster Manual I and II and Fiend Folio findnig things the ghul could become. Githyanki and Githzerai especially. Also I have in mind 'Space Vampire' and 'Alien' characters for him. Since I'll have the original patch mdoel, there'll be things I will be able to morph him into that other people can't imagine -- I can even make CR2s with altGeom heads if I want to, and the vertices will match up fine and easy. Not that I'd discourage other people making characters for him. I mean him to be a base character rather than an end-all. Some less-inhuman morphs and he'd make a good dark elf, I think, too. Heh. The Millenium Skinny Freak.

_dodger, I'd say whatever you end up making, somebody will buy it. So I agree with bloodsong. Make a good product that you're proud of, and offer that for sale. At first when you mentioned saloon, I thought no way. But after seeing your preview pic, I think that would sell. Good model that could be used in lots of situations. The space knight I would definitely buy, cause that's what I'm into. I agree with Mizombe as well about the Eddie thing. Would be cool to have that as well. But anyway, go with what you feel is your best product, and not necessarily would be the best seller. I think you'd enjoy it more that way.

Okay, but the thing is that I enjoy making all of these, it's the 'sticking to it till it's done' thing that usually gets me. B^) I like modelling all this stuff, I just sometimes get tired of it, and it gets on the back burner, and I start something else. So right now I'm wanting ro resurrect things I'v estarted so I can get some done more quickly (because the days of thinking about it and ketching thigns out on napkins and all that stuff don't need to be done, at the very least, and in some cases even less -- for instance, the space knight merely needs some trousers, boots, and the JPs not to be all goofy. And maybe some morphs. So it's not a thing of not liking to do something more or less, really, but more of a wanting to do things I've already got a start on because I'm needing to make money right now, and I love doing all of it. Except parts. I hate JPs and I'm not fond of making morphs. Sometimes texturing si fnu and sometimes I despise it. Usually I despise it as soon as it doesn't match up right. L

Space Knight definately. I'd buy it if it was decently priced. More bad guys. Monstors are great, but "stormtroopers", "darthvader", etc. Been a cry for Dwarves for a while now. Mike2 needs enemies to bash in space n duengons. ToyStory 2 Zerg the bad guy or any bad guys. Body Armour space style. there is tons of armor for all the dungeons settings, but desert sci-fi grunts need protecting when defending the galaxy haha. ToyStory 2 again, Buzzlightyear suit, Star Ship Troopers, book would be cool, but movie or TV etc. animals. kangaroo if there is a pouch morph and u can put props etc in the pouch (my toon puppy wants a ride). I love the recent addition of the portal and the jedi window freebies. LOVE them. need more "places" for the poser people to hang out, for stills, and for animations. Saloon looks nice in pic, but I'd probably not buy it, there are some freebie buildings around and I'd just make do with those. my 2 cents.

My votes go for the ferret, ghul, and anhkheg, in that order.

Given the occasional requests for a ferret figure, the surprising popularity of DAZ's House Mouse, and the rising trend in cuteness, I'd expect it to sell extremely well out of the gate.

We can always use more skinny-freak characters: rotting zombies, githyanki, space vampires, dark elves, Nehwon ghouls (from Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar), etc. Variety is good, and the existing Poser skeletons don't particularly conform well to any other figures without a lot of work.

And the ankheg ... well, I'd just like to see something that nasty in Poser. caleb68's spider drone comes close, but the head isn't insectile enough.

From a commercial standpoint, I might suggest that you consider working on a monkey, rather than a baboon. Monkeys have been heavily requested, whereas over the past few years the number of requests for a baboon figure can practically be counted on the fingers of one foot.

Say what you like about 3rd Edition (I can understand the reactions of the old-schoolers), but at least they finally pumped up the dragons with some respectable stats.

Hmm. Space armour again. Personally, I think most of the fantasy armour out there looks more like space armour, but I'm definitely going to keep that in mind. T4B.

Hey, baboons are monkeys! However, once I have a working any kind of monkey down, more monkeys are a piece of cake from the original patch. I could become the monkey king! Hmm, dubious honour. L I do have a personal reason for wanting to do a baboon in particular, though... I'm a huge fan of Tad Williams and his Otherland novels especially. The supporting charater, an African Bushman named !Xabbu, appears in a baboon sim through the first half of the party's virtual journey. Making a Poser baboon would be, for all intents and purposes, actually making a baboon sim, and thus making !Xabbu come to life and, if done well, look EXACTLY like he is described in the book -- right down to the virtualness. In other words, it would be like being able tomake the Millenium Falcon -- not a model of it, but the actual thing. IN this case, a virtual simulation is hat the character effectively is for half the book. And I reckoned it would sell too, because it's an aminal and ever'body likes aminals. B^) 'at least they finally pumped up the dragons with some respectable stats' Hey, they already did that in 1st Ed! Best of Dragon III, or maybe it was V, had an entire section on why even young average dragons will smear your party of 12 8th characters to a fine paste -- without actually modifiying any stats at all. It provided them with alternate attacks, the ability to control how much breath weapon they used (rather then three breath weapons a day for their hit points in damage, they had up to three times their hit points in damage they could dole out daily and divvy it up as they pleased. They got stomp attacks, wing buffets, tail lashes, I think tail constriction, rear claw attacks, horn gouges when appropriate, etc. Always seemed funny that the official books have drawings of dragons with horns, but no attack for those horns. But you want really impressive dragon stats for pretty much 1st edition D&D? Ever read through the Hackmaster books? Yeaaahhhh. Now those are dragons. But you

Oh, and the article went into a lot of detail on playing their intellect, too. I liked the idea of having crows or sparrows as familiars for magic-using dragons... the perfect motion detector. Sneak up that while it's sleeping! I would like to GM a 3E game, perhaps, one day... but only if I can sick a Hackmaster dragon on all them 3E monks wicked, evil grin

Strangely enough, my Anhkheg and LD's Anhkheg went to highschool together. Well, not really. But Tom Baxa was two classes above me in Willowbrook H.S., Villa Park, Illinois. The same Tom Baxa that painted the one LD posted the link to. Must have been something in the water.

The saloon looks great, I would buy that too.

I had a ton of house rules for my campaigns (including many of the Dragon Magazine/Forgotten Realms dragon enhancements you mention), but I was able to toss most of them out with the arrival of 3rd Edition, because they were now included in the "official" core rules.

It was rather scary, actually. I had created these new character classes (like the sorceror), systems of magic, fighting skills, multi-class character development, etc. for the express purpose of developing characters as we saw fit, only to find it all replicated almost exactly in the new rulebooks.

My 30-page variant rulebook was reduced to a handful of footnotes overnight.

And that's a cool pic of the ankheg, _dodger. Not quite as spiky/segmented as 3rd-Edition, but I suspect it would be very intimidating in Poser, regardless.

Here are my thoughts. These are mostly jsut me but hope they help. Ghul: Kinda fun sounding but limited range and can fake it mostly now. Saloon: A couple of them around but can always use setting things. Red Dragon: Lotta competition out there. Dungeon Geomorphs: Although people said they were out there I haen't seen any that really did it for me. Again, always useful. Space Knight: Competition but also use and set up. If you do belts and stuff to make it more correct and versitile then you will have more sales I think. Working camera set: Slightly intriqued but limited possibly. Boid and Colubrid character packs for Noggin's python: Don't have the snake and don't have much use but I can see soem that might. Ferret: Might be kinda fun. Baboon: Might be kinda fun also. DertyAngel's Sword Set: Don't know the reference Anhkheg: I never really liked these guys LOL Kangaroo: Ehh ..Not much use really Basilisk: Kinda fun

Well, if you'd like some suggestions, EsnRedshirt:

Mind Flayer (3rd Edition Monster Manual; looks like something out of Hellraiser with that outfit :)
Rust Monster (any edition)
Flumph (first appearance in Fiend Folo)

• stares blankly at the Fiend Folo's scarecrow, glances at _dodger's product *

Hmmm ....

I want a leucrotta. Yes ... its obscure. But my favorite NP-became-character was a drow :) As for others .... ditch the saloon. Poserworld made one and that kills 50% of your market. The skinny evil guy ? possible. Jedi style clothing? several people got there already, skip it unless yours is totally faboo. Animals are always good - you should talk to noggin about sales on his snake which would be an indicator of popularity. People have been looking for a decent ferret. a hairedP5 versions would be great. If you want to be diefied - make a cat or a dog, with loads of morphs, and a haired p5 version. Everyone will buy it. Guaranteed. Other AD&D critters .... a generic slime/blob/ooze riffling through 4th edition AD&D MM manticor, sphinx, kraken, merchants,wererat in halfmorph state, locathah (fish men), lamia, ki-rin, kobald, harpy, medusa, displacer beast, bugbear... they have some weird beasties in there. (Beavers? beavers are monsters? Has anayone EVER been attacked by a beaver in RL?) For part humans like the sphinxes, perhaps talking nice with DAZ and seeing if original mike/vik geometry can be use so morphs are transferable? same for centaurs and mermaids actually. Oh and guys .. I think D&D falls under religious preference/OS preference. grin No insulting each others D&D versions (I don't believe I need to say this) Discussion is ok, just not name calling :) Lyrra PS I really want a leucrotta

_dodger, "Kangaroo Jack"'s still comin' out, mate! Might mean people get fed up with hoppers - or not. How about a theme (a series of characters and sets) like Oz, Cartoon characters of the old west, likable monsters and villians, Sherlock Holmes, Urban legends, Alabama Gomes and the temple of Safety Hazards, strange street characters - a bunch of guys you wouldn't want to meet in a dark cave but probably would or other victims of victimless crimes (?)

The saloon seems to be the most disagreed on thing, and violently one way or another. Hmm. I don't think I should completely ditch it, though, Lyrra. DAZ has expressed some interest after seeing the preliminaries. I don't do haired P5 versions of anything. I don't have or want P5, and I don't plan up upgrading my Poser until DAZ Studio comes out, which I'll consider the upgrade. Bikermouse: No, I'm saying I'm not going to do anything that could be taken as my endorsement of that movie or anything like it. I may be needing to up the income, but not at the cost of my integrity or the country I consider my own's pride. ESNRedShirt: don't worry about it, this is an open forum, and I'm listening to your responses, too. A leucrotta, huh? That's an odd thought. A flumph? LOL

There's already one Poser babboon..it was made by dedicated digital and was a freebie a couple years ago. But folks are yammering for a spider monkey. such cute little.

Spit, then it doesn't, for any practical purposes, exist. Eithwer way, I'm not going to do a bloody spider monkey. Spider monkeys are cute. Yeach. Enough reason not to do them. I may do the baboon. I have reference for the baboon. But I'm not going to start an entire new project from scratch and I'm not going to completely discard one that I've at least started gathering reference and planning out because someone once upon a time years ago made one in a day and age when Michael 1.0 was super damned impressive. Sorry. But no bleeding spider monkeys. If I did that I might as well release it with a 'Ross' character. cough

_dodger, I still like the idea of a well done kangaroo, but if it would make you feel that you have compromized your integrity don't do it. I always get my best ideas when I'm out and about. Stephen King once wrote about an author who would live in a place for a while inorder to get information to write about it. was that "Salem's Lot"? Also in "Gabriel Knight III", I understand that Jane Jensen actually traveled to the local where her game/story was based inorder to derive some of her story line. Perhaps in the journey to Oregon you may get some ideas on how to modify existing projects or whatever. What you may end up asking yourself is why you haven't completed these existing projects, what compromises you are willing to make to complete them, how much time is involved and how much interest YOU have in them. From looking at the picture, it looks as though you're farthest along with the saloon AND you state that DAZ has expressed some commercial interest in it. An old west theme would be nice, - TJ

Otherwise a "New Frontiers" theme would do it. What about a version of the famous Star Wars Cantina in Moss Eiseley? (Not exactly that thing because of copyright reasons - just to get the idea). That would give a reasonable environment for your Space Knight and a place to hang all those preciousss light sabers over the bar. BTW, where has the Manifest Destiny gone? Willy

_dodger, I used to know a girl named Destiny but she wasn't on the Manifest it seems. "With a simple twist of fate"(Jerry Garcia) it might have been different but in a bar ". . . All the criminals . . . are free to drink martinis . . ." as Bob Dylan sangs in "Hurricane"; The chances of my finding your answers are about the same as running into Bruce Springstein riding a motorcycle on his way to a bar in a small town in Arizona. No sense trying to second guess you ... I can only wish you well, - TJ

Bikermouse: Nah, don't worry 'bout it, I'm just ranting against the Hollywood vesion of Aussie. Just, if I did one, I'd make it as real as possible and in no way prone to repping, and I'd have a big rant on my site alongside the listing vehemently against such movies -- if I could find a way I'd even include it in the license agreement that it could be used for any comemrcial purposes except bad Crocodile Dundee/Rapping Roo/Pet Detective II/Steve Irwin/Fosters-ish/Outback Steakhouse representations of Aussie L Jobcontrol: I was actually looking at some Star Wars toys sites online (mostly hunting for a pic of a Blastech rifle) and flirted with the idea of actually making one of my free back-sets by making a virtual duplicate of the Kenner Creature Cantina action figure playset. The interesting thing: apparently during the late 80s when SW toys interest was waning, Kenner recycled lots of the SW toys for new things. The Gammorean Guard action figure mould was modified to make the Robin Hood Prince of Thieves Friar Tuck action figure, the Ewok Battle Wagon and Ewok Crossbow (ballista) was combined and modified into the Robin Hood Battle Wagon, the Imperial Blaster had a thingy slapped on the front and colours changed to make it the Batman Sonic Neutraliser, and finally, strangely, the Creature Cantina received a new cardboard piece, new colours, and different stickers to become the Real West Saloon. So should I take that as a saloon vote? L What's the Manifest Destiny? Everyone, thanks for your input and suggestions. I've tallied everything up to post 40, one per person, and come up the following 'average' response by applying -10 to 10 values on responses (with No Comment being a '0', I'd Buy being a 10, and Recommend Abandoning Project as a -10). I then aded 10, averaged against the number of responses, and then reduced to arrive at a -10 to 10 range again, then converted into the relative responses closest to those numbers. The following sums up what you all would have said if you were all multiple personalities in one head and came to an agreement: Ghul: I'd buy that. Saloon: I think others would buy that. Red Dragon: I'm not interested. Dungeon Geomorphs: I'm not Interested. Space Knight: I think others would buy that. Working Cameras: I would buy that. Boids and Colubrids for Noggin's Python: Not interested. Ferret: I'd totally buy that and if you don't make it I'm gonna come beat you with a stick, Dodger! Baboon: Not interested. Dodger's Wife: Dunno. No opinion, no comment. DertyAngel's Sword Set: Skip this. Ankheg: I'm interested. Kangaroo: Maybe. Basilisk: I'm interested. Based on this response, I should definitely do the ferret. That's obvious and clean above the rest. The Ghul and Working Cameras Prop Set I should also do, followed by the Saloon and Space Knight. the Anhkheg and Basilisk are possibilities, and maybe the Kangaroo. The Boas, Baboon, Red Dragon, Dungeon Geomorphs, and especially Derty Angel's sword set can be crapped or relegated to Free Stuff, most likely (not the dragon, no way, nohow can I give away a dragon free... well, okay, I would be the most loved Poser hacker ever, I suppose.... and DAZ and Bloodsong and Curio would all hate me.... Hmm.... Did you guys rig this to get a free Red Dragon? L) Of course, if I take the POV that the public's statistical opinion of what it will buy is always wrong (which believe it or not, some marketing firms do, and they do well at it), then I should definitely do Derty's Swords and the Dungeons and the Dragons. Strangely, or perhaps not, that does seem to be what sort of things people use the most in their renders -- but basing thigns on that means that Vicki clothes would never sell, because she prefers to be Nekkid in those temples. However, if I take the POV that you guys are statistically representative of what will be bought and correct in that, then compound it with what I have finished on things and how long it would take to finish those things, this is the order in which it seems things sit, as far as bang-for-buck goes:

1. Space Knight
2. Saloon
3. Dungeon Geomorphs
4. Working Camera Props Set
5. Anhkheg
6. Ghul
7. My Wife
8. Ferret
9. Tie between Boids/Colubrids Characters and Kangaroo Figure
10. Basilisk
11. Baboon
12. Red DragonOf course, in all this, I'm definitely going to do my wife. Sorry, couldn't resist that! B^)
13. Derty's Swords Pak

Bikermouse: Are you sure her nane was Destiny? That sounds more like a stage name. A stripper stage name, in particular. There are only about twelve of those in existence. B^) Anastasia, Ariel, Destiny, Fawn, Dawn, Crystal, Roxy, Naughtia/Nadia, Amber, Rose, Angel and Sin. The spellings change and some permutations occur, but truly original stripper names are really rare. You never hear the announcement 'coming up we've got quite a show for you with Helen, Linda, and Irene! Remember, the girls do work for tips, so don't be stingy!'. Well, maybe you do. There's only one DJ in all the strip clubs in America, as you can tell by his one voice, and you can't make out what he's saying. 'Hopeyourehavingagoodtimblurmadublefottregumasticatipsichthygiveitupfordestiny!' This is so unreal, what I feel This nourishment, life is bent Into a shape I can hold A twist of fate, all my own Faith No More, The Real Thing

8 Wasn't supposed to be in there. Oops. Bad HTML.

Okay, the Space knight, due tothe response combined with it's state of being, makes the top of the list. So for those of you who have P5, I have a question... can the clothes made in the cloth room be exported as a wavefront OBJect in their cloth-bent result form? See, cause this Jedi Robe is sucking. I'm really pissed off at it, and it's why the Jedi Robes went to teh backburner in the first place. The first way I tried to model it was by actually carving out the pieces of 'cloth' and applying a Max SimCloth modifier to it, but it worked like crap. Actually I just watched the bloody cloth bounce up and down over and over again. I was hoping it would settle and drape itself nicely over the figure. THen as I was gathering information from this thread, I read That thread I was filled with self-loathing and self-doubt because on first reading I was thinking 'You bastard! You BOX MODELLED THIS???' And you make it look so CASUAL????!!!' On rereading it, I realised, no, this was just a decent resolution box, literally, not modelled at all, with the P5 cloth room applied to it. And it did this. It was casual. And if that can be exported in OBJ form as it's result... Anyhoo, I was thinking that I'd give a cut of the profits on the Space Knight to anyone with P5 who's interested if this can be done: I'd make an 'inflated' robe that would drape over a figure. You'd need Michael, of course, since that's who the Space Knight is for. I'd provide clothing and make sure it fits over Mike, particularly the bastardly robe, as a single OBJect for each piece with materials mapped as the final intended body part names. You run the cloth room on it and make it settle and fit over him, and maybe make some versions that 'blow in the breeze' if P5 lets you do that, and then I can remap them to break the materials into groups, remat the lot of it, and finally make it into a conformer that's P4 compatible. Whattddya say? Any takers? We can negotiate the percentage but I'll be generous. Make me an offer.

_dodger, "Joy to the World was a beautiful girl, but to me Joy only meant sorrow" - from Neilsen Schmelsen She said it was - as I was involved at the time I never got the chance to find out - she could have been a stripper. It turns out that Destiny was not my Fate . . . and if I hadn't changed my plans one particular weekend the Springstein thing might actually have happened. A friend who worked in the bar was there to later relate the story to me when "The Boss" rode in on a Harley, and somehow it made the Phoenix Newspaper (circa 1987.) I hear "Honkey-Tonk Girls" running through my head . . . wonder what tha means(?), - TJ

heyas; yes, you can drape in p5, then export the draped thing as an obj. what you should really look at are sergemarck's cloth tutorials, which will show you how to work things in p5. if you want to make a pre-p5 style cape, i would suggest you study the reverse hierarchy affectors thing i was going on about with the webbed hands. basically that would give you one cloth bit (which, hey, if it's single sided, people could drape in p5 themselves) that you can morph, and that would have control handles to bend it properly. i'd love to work with you, dodger, but i'm so far behind in my own projects... :/

Hmm, Bruce Springsteen is my second cousin on my mum's side. But it's terribly embarrassing since I really dislike his music. So I'm only relating and admitting this because you're friends here. I love you blokes! passes arround a case of VBs