blah

[hondaman]

Most unfortunate news but certainly an understandable decision.  Good luck to you, sir.
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.
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[mecha]

I have uploaded the remainder of my car projects. call them the Dirty Dozen (they are 12 cars after all) or call it the F-body Assault. call it whatever you want, but I am finished with NFS editing.

it's been an exciting 5 years for me, but I have accomplished everything I had set out to do in the first place.

I eradicated rice.
I gained a following.
I made sure I'd get the best F-bodies in the game.
I helped crush many adversaries that tried to get in my way.

and although I didn't model these cars, these are the same exact meshes that Azrael and I released about 3 years ago ... *I* had to learn how to work Zmod in Azrael's absence. it took awhile to figure out, but I have certainly made the cars look a lot better than they did initially.

that all said, I am done with the cars that I felt I was obligated to complete properly. maybe someday down the road I will get bored and opt to finish the IROC concept, or convertibles, or maybe get some poor bastard to redo the LT1 Firebird bumpers. but I do not personally care about these cars.... so don't hold your breath.

I will be turning over the completed meshes to the proper people to convert to other games. I'm not expecting to break any download records, not for NFS4, and certainly not at NFSAddOns .. the NFS scene is dead to me, that is why I can no longer make cars for it.

I will continue to be an admin here in the meantime. I myself, and I only, am retiring from NFS editing. F-body Faction will live on, in some form or another.


I spent years making these cars look the way they do now. I ask for once that you not roll your eyes thinking "oh god, he released the same cars again!!!11" because these are NOT really the same cars, these are new versions of them, and while they still have flaws, these flaws are not that noticeable. in effect, if anyone believes they can do better than F-body Faction, go ahead and do so. but these cars here are a part of a legacy spanning 4 years, they are from an era known as "mecha & Azrael", and that's the way they will always remain.

thanks.


THE MANAGEMENT

[XJ220]

Twelve - the "Latest additions" list holds 10, and I'm unable to find either 3800 model. Are they not yet uploaded or are they hold back until the to oldest entries have been there for a certain amount of time?

Anyway, these cars have certainly improved a lot since the first releases, the textures have become cleaner, gaps have been filled. They're looking very good and won't be outdone, at least not in HS.

It's a shame that the NFS scene seems to be dead more or less, the editing forum over at NFSCars has become as inactive as it can get, and the download counts over here are rediculously low... as if HS was a bad game...

[RiCkT]

the legend spins on, i just changed to render modelling, but i wonder, why shouldnt the faction make render models too?

reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeendermodelling!


oh and btw... for all you haters...: thanks to Mike343 for the C&C!

- Rick

[Power^Steer|nG]

ROFL @ oh and btw... for all you haters...: thanks to Mike343 for the C&C!

well.. I am really really really impressed by rendering more than modeling.. well... modeling looks heavily professional. dont see any fault (may be because i have seen this car for the first time in my life. hehe)

[Sinister]

burp.
nice render rick

[mecha]

maybe this is sacrilege, but I bring news not necessarily related to NFSA.

I was as surprised by this move as much as those that have also been told of it, but I was invited by the OTHER Mike to be a staff member of an NFS site. that would be Mike343, and he asked if I wanted to be a Moderator for NFSCars. some may be puzzled by this, given all of my frustrated vent posts at that site and here, but I'm a firm believer in "if you want something done right, do it yourself."

although I would like to be a service to NFSCars, I also took the opportunity to reorganize my car catalog. all of our old releases have been shifted under the F-body Faction Classics author name. since I have to share with the other NFSCars users uploading cars, I couldn't be a bastard and release all 12 at once. as of right now, I intend on releasing 4 "new" cars each week. by "new", I mean the last 12 that were released at NFSA -- due to the staffing mishaps at NFSCars and uploaded cars seemingly never getting added to the site, I opted to not upload there. but after Mike343 has assured me that this problem has been solved (and of course my promotion) I will be releasing there as well.

Mike Henderson has implemented a feature for people that are not-Mike to be able to modify car information. as such, I have reorganized all of my car catalog that is here at NFSA -- I will eventually hunt through all the old mecha & Azrael / Azrael & mecha / Azrael / mecha releases to put them under F-body Faction Classics here as well.


while having staff positions at both NFS sites may have been a major perk and a great incentive for me to stick around a little longer, they were not the sole reason for my return. I honestly was content with never working on NFS cars again, but I figured that if there was ever an opportunity to do more, now was the time. right now Shake is working on the LT1 Firebird bumpers and trying to resolve some of the nagging bullshit that prevented those cars from ever getting released. although it's difficult for me to crack open Zmod at this juncture (many real life matters at present!) I hope to eventually get around to doing convertible versions of some of the 4th gens. and although I cancelled them before, I decided to put J Design back on finishing up/fixing up the 3rd gens again. I find it hard to fathom that J's been with F-body Faction this long and has never gotten to take part in any of the cars that have been released.

so, what does all of this mean for you?

as always, the LT1 and LS1 designators are used for generation, not necessarily for the engine the car was equipped with (pertaining to V6 models). LT1: 1993-1997; LS1: 1998-2002.

set 1:
Camaro 3800
Camaro RS (V6)
Camaro Z28 (LS1)
Camaro SS

set 2:
Firebird 3800 (LS1)
Firebird Formula WS6
Trans Am
Trans Am WS6

set 3:
SLP Camaro RS
SLP Camaro SS
SLP Firebird GT
SLP Firehawk

set 4:
Camaro 3800 (LS1)
Camaro RS (V6) (LT1)
Camaro Z28 (LT1)
Camaro SS (LT4)

set 5:
Firebird 3800 (LT1)
Firebird Formula (LT1)
Trans Am (LT1)
SLP Firehawk (LT4)

set 6: (all convertibles, will share serials with like-models)
Camaro 3800 Convertible
Camaro Z28 Convertible
Firebird 3800 Convertible
Trans Am Convertible (non-WS6)

set 7: (3rd gens, 1987-1990 models)
Camaro RS 5.0
Camaro IROC-Z
Firebird Formula 350
Trans Am GTA

set 8: (3rd gens, 1991-1992 models)
Camaro RS 5.0
Camaro Z28
Firebird Formula
Trans Am GTA

set 9:
TBA

set 10:
TBA

I have no definite idea as to what sets 9 and 10 will be, but there's a likelihood that they can contain anniversary models and pursuit models, if anything. also, convertible parts were made for the 3rd gens, so I can potentially double their numbers by adding convertibles.

no 1st gens or 2nd gens have been planned yet.


EDIT: listing has been updated. more LT1s

[Cooya!]

Great news! Nice to see you back!

[XJ220]

3rd gens and pursuit versions... a CHP Camaro RS perhaps? :bigthumb:

[Zpectre]

the legend spins on, i just changed to render modelling, but i wonder, why shouldnt the faction make render models too?

reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeendermodelling!
http://rick.nd4spdworld.com/Cars/Firebird_Formula_400/wip20.jpg

oh and btw... for all you haters...: thanks to Mike343 for the C&C!

- Rick

Damn. :eek: Now this is a good model. :bigthumb: I love the 2nd gen Firebird.

[Sinister]

well at least the birds will get their days in glory.

[mecha]

quite possibly, the most sought after model we've ever set out to create...

the Camaro ZL-1


before he gets all butthurt, Kracka modeled the wire grille. all other parts were made by me. the fender stripes, if you were wondering, are fully modeled, and are mapped to a texture to get the outline stripe effect. this took about the entire day to do, lose the file, and then for me to redo again with even more polies. (the lol?)

exhaust and wheels are merely placeholders. the body, however, I believe is complete.

as for the rest, I am going to make a few custom models to go along with the factory ones. expect some different exhaust types. with the ZL-1 (mostly) done, I can do the IROC Racer again. I tried to assemble the converter-friendly Camaro models, and somehow wound up on the ZL-1 tangent. the fender stripe has eluded me since September -- I'm glad to have finally finished the damn thing, properly. now I just need to fix the export (European/Japanese import) Tri-Color taillight texture.

as for the Firebirds, if I neglected to mention so before, I have done the Sport Appearance Package for the V6 Firebird. thanks to Necro, I finally have names for the not-Camaro RS and Firebird W68: they will be named Camaro Sport and Firebird Sport. I am doing this because the '98-'02 V6 Camaro with Sport Appearance Package was not officially called Camaro RS -- as you all may not know, SLP Engineering had an upgrade package for the V6 Camaro named Camaro RS. I am doing this for the Firebird with Sport Appearance Package simply because I know (also speaking from personal experience) that people will likely confuse the W68 with the WS6 Performance & Handling Package on the Firebird Formula and Trans Am.

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm getting rather excited to almost have these all finished for everyone to play with, finally.

[Zpectre]

quite possibly, the most sought after model we've ever set out to create...

the Camaro ZL-1


before he gets all butthurt, Kracka modeled the wire grille. all other parts were made by me. the fender stripes, if you were wondering, are fully modeled, and are mapped to a texture to get the outline stripe effect. this took about the entire day to do, lose the file, and then for me to redo again with even more polies. (the lol?)

exhaust and wheels are merely placeholders. the body, however, I believe is complete.

as for the rest, I am going to make a few custom models to go along with the factory ones. expect some different exhaust types. with the ZL-1 (mostly) done, I can do the IROC Racer again. I tried to assemble the converter-friendly Camaro models, and somehow wound up on the ZL-1 tangent. the fender stripe has eluded me since September -- I'm glad to have finally finished the damn thing, properly. now I just need to fix the export (European/Japanese import) Tri-Color taillight texture.

as for the Firebirds, if I neglected to mention so before, I have done the Sport Appearance Package for the V6 Firebird. thanks to Necro, I finally have names for the not-Camaro RS and Firebird W68: they will be named Camaro Sport and Firebird Sport. I am doing this because the '98-'02 V6 Camaro with Sport Appearance Package was not officially called Camaro RS -- as you all may not know, SLP Engineering had an upgrade package for the V6 Camaro named Camaro RS. I am doing this for the Firebird with Sport Appearance Package simply because I know (also speaking from personal experience) that people will likely confuse the W68 with the WS6 Performance & Handling Package on the Firebird Formula and Trans Am.

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm getting rather excited to almost have these all finished for everyone to play with, finally.

mecha, I can still provide you with custom sounds if you're interested. Great cars!

But there's one still missing - the Indy 500 bonus Camaro from NFS4.

[Roadstar]

Nice Firebird Rick. Excelent. Awesome

[mecha]

well, more updates. mostly tweaks. I added the center stripe and the hardtop. next: the wheels, and after that: done!

more to come