New to the forums, if I am posting in wrong topic sorry. I want to start making mods for BeamNG, and I want to learn from others and how to do it. I have a couple models I made that can be used. I know the general concept of creating a j-beam, but I don't know how to do the files or anything like that. If anyone wants to help bring my model to life, let me know. I made a 1986 Toyota 4Runner, and thought about naming it the Ibishu Outlander. Heres some pictures. (Ignore missing body line) I even made a little suspension kit. Not too bad considering its my first suspension model I made, didn't add the shocks or anything but hey. 4 Link rear suspension and 4 Link front solid axle. I'm open to any suggestions and comments, would really appreciate the help too, I think it would turn out to be a good mod. Shoot me a PM or add me on Discord, ISX_15#3769 Thanks.
first thing you are going to want to do is complete the model, including the interior, make it as detailed as possible, then separate all the parts (hood, fenders, doors, cab cap, cab, frame, etc) separate them all and name each object "outlander_door_L", "outlander_fender_L" and so on, that should take up a lot of your time. Get as much modelled and separated as possible. Thats my little bit of advice to give you something to work towards, an end-goal, before you really start diving into jbeaming it. Someone else can give you pointers on how to get SOMETHING in game with a basic jbeam, maybe the frame, but that is beyond my scope of knowledge. looks good so far, one more side note: curve your pillars on the side of the vehicle, IRL cars have a slight curve in the side glass to allow it to travel up and down. It looks like yours are straight lines up and down, meaning in reality the windows would essentially roll down and "hit" the inside of the door. Thats something that one of the vehicle creators Gabester was adamant about when he was more active a few years ago, every time someone created a new model he would be right there yelling "CURVE YOUR PILLARS" lol
When I started modeling this I went for a low-poly model, you think subdividing it would solve that problem? Also I never really made a interior so im gonna see how that goes. Thanks for the feedback.
you cant probably use the 'outlander' name, as it is already used by a real car (Mitsubishi Outlander)
wireframe looks pretty decent. if you take a gander at the vanilla cars in blender, u will see the consistent mid-poly flow the artists use. correct poly flow is important for proper deformation. subdividing is not recommended, it drags on fps and generally creates strange crashing behavior from what I have learned. also, you want to make sure there are vertices where you want the metal to bend, which is what actually creates the dented metal visuals. So far it looks good, i would just make it a bit more consistent, you want mostly similar sized polys in large flat areas, no long stretched out polys. and also, to reiterate, those b pillars need to be curved and rounded, you dont need to subdivide, maybe cut the pillars into 3 or 4 sections and "bump" them out, besides it being factually correct, it also gives your model a much more pleasing aesthetic.
Thanks for the response, Ill give you an update on it. In the mean time, is there people who can help contribute, to make this BeamNG compatible? And do you think this would be a good mod?
honestly, any mod that makes it into the game is a great mod. a lot of people get discouraged by the sheer volume of work needed, between detailed modeling and intricate jbeaming and texturing etc. that being said, I am good at providing feedback and giving my $0.02, but for things that are more technical, i am not super helpful. I have a good idea of modelling techniques and certain aspects of jbeam, but theres a wealth of knowledge over on the wiki page (the top gray bar has a WIKI link) as well as a community with a few really talented and patient members.
