How can we make the 405th great?

WandererTJ said:

Something about the whole Regiments/Clubs thing bothers me. It just seems like it will make things diverge quickly.

All I want is a way to communicate with other members near me. I don't care to be a part of a regiment necessarily, I just want us to all be the 405th. Putting a name on our different regions is going to cause certain individuals in those regions to think that theirs is better than others. I can see one region not wanting to share their files with other regions, and I really don't want to see that happen.

Click to expand...

Call me a cynic, but unfortunately I can see that being a possibility down the road as well. Initially I think the intended ideals will hold, but in time that could very quickly break down. The more we categorize members, the more they may feel they've been put in a box, and that some boxes are better or looked upon more favorably than others. And categorization by definition involves separation, which is the polar opposite of unity. I like the idea and intent behind the regiments, helping members find out who is near to them and make it easier to organize events, but at the same time we want to keep the main focus on the 405th as a whole.

Completely random and overly ambitious thought here: many of us are familiar with the Vanity viewer program that allowed users to mix and match Reach armor components to get a general feel of how it would all look together. Do we happen to have any ambitious programmers in the 405th with an abundance of spare time who could whip up something similar to preview how different pep models would look together? Just as an example, I put this together in photoshop some time ago just to get a feel for how those models would look as a full suit. Having a program that could let people do the same without having to go through the process of bringing up each individual model, screencapping it, cutting away the excess in photoshop, scaling it down to a usable size, and fitting the whole thing together one tedious piece at a time would be very cool. No color or textures needed, just something to give them a rough idea of what the full suit could look like. But again, this would be an immensely ambitious project, and one that would either necessitate frequent updates, or else be rendered outdated the moment a new model was added to the database. So it may forever be merely a pipe dream. Still, it would be awesome if it could be done.

WandererTJ said:

I'm with ColFork85 on this.

Something about the whole Regiments/Clubs thing bothers me. It just seems like it will make things diverge quickly.

All I want is a way to communicate with other members near me. I don't care to be a part of a regiment necessarily, I just want us to all be the 405th. Putting a name on our different regions is going to cause certain individuals in those regions to think that theirs is better than others. I can see one region not wanting to share their files with other regions, and I really don't want to see that happen.

Click to expand...

I can honestly say that this was one of my greatest fears of seeing the different regiments, but I realized something... Zealotry in any form is not usually set into play due to the division of whatever the subject be... But! Due to the mind set of those who are divided which can be influenced via many different sources; the most common being a leader, or difference in ideals. In layman's terms, if a pizza is divided into 6 pieces; it is still a pizza. Same goes for a nation, with the exception of the mid 1800's, when the United States of America was divided into 2 sections (south and north), due to an conflict in ideals, the ideals being slavery. And then a war started, but that was due to the thought process of the north comparing to the thought process of the south.

Now... if this forum is divided into many different regiments, which is occurring as time goes on... We still contain the same wants: to build armor (modelling as well, and other ideas... I guess you could just say we all are here to create) Now if competition comes into play, that would be due to the thoughts varying from person to person. To save time, everyone wants different things... some of those things might trigger red flags. (ex: Some one from CA modifying files that a proud creator in NY made or visa versa) And those red flags may be raised because someone things a different way than another.

But... to simplify this: The idea of regiments becoming self centered is possible but very improbable, due to the fact that people share different ideals, regardless of area... Unless one regiment challenges another to a Pokemon battle or something and the winning side gloats on for days... but that is just silly. I do think that you have a valid point of worrying for such zealotry to occur... But I think the only thing that can be done to avoid this form of incident is to watch out for any specific regiment members becoming too attuned to their regiment to the point of bigotry, and reporting it to a higher official at that point in time.

The only thing that i would like to see a regiment for is to meet up, and see eachother for events or maybe if someone is close enough to work together on a suit. honestly thats what the forum section for those regiments should be used for. there are other sections for everything else under the sun. Also there is nothng wrong with "friendly" competition, who made the best halo video in the US for a regiment. It would push everyone else to strive to better themselves for the next competition. but no on likes folks that gloat, but at the core of this site it is to help one another to achieve our goal of making the best suit of awesome halo swag that we can make ourself. if it takes looking at amazing suits and saying i want to do that, then that is okay. but to share our knowledge and ideals to help the community grow will effect this community more then anything else.

Gray said:

snip

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While I am still uneasy about it, your response does help sway me to not want the idea to be scrapped. It gives me some hope.

---

@Zaff, what would you think if the 405th had an Link that directs you to download Vanity?
I think having the tool/resource more immediately available would be nice.
I'm not saying we should host downloads for it, but it would be nice to at least have a link.

Also, I remember that people often made build progress pics where they had a spartan highlighted in different colors to show what had been pepped, painted, completed or w/e. Is that a particular tool for download as well?

I might just have to start a thread dedicated to stuff like this

WandererTJ said:

@Zaff, what would you think if the 405th had an Link that directs you to download Vanity?
I think having the tool/resource more immediately available would be nice.
I'm not saying we should host downloads for it, but it would be nice to at least have a link.

Also, I remember that people often made build progress pics where they had a spartan highlighted in different colors to show what had been pepped, painted, completed or w/e. Is that a particular tool for download as well?

I might just have to start a thread dedicated to stuff like this

Click to expand...

A link would be good for those who don't already have vanity. More often than not when I see images like what you are referring to, it is pulled from Vanity and the "progress" is added with their chosen imaging program (photoshop, ms paint, gimp, etc.) for Reach builds. Only other times I've seen it used really have been for Master Chief builds, in which case they'll just grab one of the millions of images of the Chief and do the same. There are sites out there such as Armor Watcher that lets you plug in your gamertag and pull up an image of your current in-game armor that could likewise be used, but what I'm talking about involves having the actual pep models compiled into a viewer, as the geometry of many of the models vary slightly from the in-game piece they're based on, and then there are the "mash-up" builds that some people have made that can't be done with any of the available tools. You may have noticed in the ref image I posted before, the armor is primarily Reach Mark V, but there's also the Rogue helmet, Scout shoulder, and one of the hand plates from the Halo 3 Mark VI. Neither Vanity nor Armor Watcher allows for mixing elements from different games, and while Armor Watcher provides a tool similar to Vanity for the Halo 3 armor, allowing you to pick species and armor pieces and get an upper-body rendition, no such tool exists that I have seen for "trying out" Halo 4 armor, something I would like to have as, because I couldn't get any pre-order bonuses because I pre-ordered at a small locally-owned shop, I don't have the DEadeye to try on in-game but I still plan to build the helmet at some point and would like to see how well it fits with the other armor pieces I've been bouncing around between. Still very, very, very bitter towards 343 for making the promise pre-launch that, due to the sheer number of retailer exclusives they would all be considered "early access" and everything would be made available to everyone later on, only to turn around and package them in the GOTY version, requiring those who actually made the GOTY possible to have to buy a redundant copy of a game an unprecedented number of Halo players had already lost interest in, and those who were still interested most likely already bought all the DLC prior to the GOTY coming out, so the only incentive to buy it was the pre-order stuff, and $40 for a handful of skins and two unique helmets (approximate value of one normal DLC package in any game) is ridiculous. Then again, I have yet to see a Deadeye code (just that one code) for less than $25 on ebay yet, so comparatively wasting $40 on a redundant copy is still "cheaper," despite still being ridiculously overpriced.

WandererTJ said:

I'm with ColFork85 on this.

Something about the whole Regiments/Clubs thing bothers me. It just seems like it will make things diverge quickly.

All I want is a way to communicate with other members near me. I don't care to be a part of a regiment necessarily, I just want us to all be the 405th. Putting a name on our different regions is going to cause certain individuals in those regions to think that theirs is better than others. I can see one region not wanting to share their files with other regions, and I really don't want to see that happen.

Click to expand...

Really, 90% of the reason we formed the pacific regiment is so we could get matching shirts. And a flag.

It's a really cool flag.




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I'll just say this about the Pacific Regiment. It's more to me than just meetups and scheduling. I've made lots of new friends because we're able to gather and talk.

We're even hanging out outside of cons now:


. And I for one look forward to one day traveling around and meeting our other 405th brothers and sisters in other regiments.

I am wondering if we will be able to change the title of our threads if we are infantrymen and our threads are in the new recruit forum, because I haven't been able to change mine, and would like to freely when I add something to my build.

xhey guys whats up im david im from maryland and i was wondering where to find a odst build kit to build one of the insurectionists from red vs blue or more like the two guys from seasson 10 with the turrents can any one help me

GMSXTURTL3S said:

xhey guys whats up im david im from maryland and i was wondering where to find a odst build kit to build one of the insurectionists from red vs blue or more like the two guys from seasson 10 with the turrents can any one help me

Click to expand...

Wrong thread, buddy. This thread is for discussing the changes currently underway within the 405th - if you want help, try the Recruits forum.

EDIT:

Having taken some consideration over the issue, it might be well worth dividing the Regiments as follows:

Pacific
Northern
Southern
Atlantic
Excalibur (this was a previously-proposed name for the UK Regiment, that I'd like to see stick, even if I'm leaving my UK roots for VA this year)

A link would be good for those who don't already have vanity. More often than not when I see images like what you are referring to, it is pulled from Vanity and the "progress" is added with their chosen imaging program (photoshop, ms paint, gimp, etc.) for Reach builds. Only other times I've seen it used really have been for Master Chief builds, in which case they'll just grab one of the millions of images of the Chief and do the same. There are sites out there such as Armor Watcher that lets you plug in your gamertag and pull up an image of your current in-game armor that could likewise be used, but what I'm talking about involves having the actual pep models compiled into a viewer, as the geometry of many of the models vary slightly from the in-game piece they're based on, and then there are the "mash-up" builds that some people have made that can't be done with any of the available tools. You may have noticed in the ref image I posted before, the armor is primarily Reach Mark V, but there's also the Rogue helmet, Scout shoulder, and one of the hand plates from the Halo 3 Mark VI. Neither Vanity nor Armor Watcher allows for mixing elements from different games, and while Armor Watcher provides a tool similar to Vanity for the Halo 3 armor, allowing you to pick species and armor pieces and get an upper-body rendition, no such tool exists that I have seen for "trying out" Halo 4 armor, something I would like to have as, because I couldn't get any pre-order bonuses because I pre-ordered at a small locally-owned shop, I don't have the DEadeye to try on in-game but I still plan to build the helmet at some point and would like to see how well it fits with the other armor pieces I've been bouncing around between. Still very, very, very bitter towards 343 for making the promise pre-launch that, due to the sheer number of retailer exclusives they would all be considered "early access" and everything would be made available to everyone later on, only to turn around and package them in the GOTY version, requiring those who actually made the GOTY possible to have to buy a redundant copy of a game an unprecedented number of Halo players had already lost interest in, and those who were still interested most likely already bought all the DLC prior to the GOTY coming out, so the only incentive to buy it was the pre-order stuff, and $40 for a handful of skins and two unique helmets (approximate value of one normal DLC package in any game) is ridiculous. Then again, I have yet to see a Deadeye code (just that one code) for less than $25 on ebay yet, so comparatively wasting $40 on a redundant copy is still "cheaper," despite still being

Click to expand...

Since you can export models from pepakura to .obj. I could possible make a tutorial on how to import them into 3ds max, or blender (currently don't have/use it) and position them all.

I am going to look into this and give it a try and see what I come up with. It would be nice but I'm not sure if you can export models from pepakura and still keep their pepakura scale , but if not, it wouldn't be to hard to measure them up in the modeling program.

I believe I have the in-game under suit model for Halo 3, reach and 4. And it would be nice to scale the undersuit model to fit you proportions so you could match up your armor pieces perfectly. Now I definitely have to give this a try.

Master Builder said:

Since you can export models from pepakura to .obj. I could possible make a tutorial on how to import them into 3ds max, or blender (currently don't have/use it) and position them all.

Click to expand...

I've been working on this.

Arcanine said:

I've been working on this.

Click to expand...

Thats nice to know. I did try it and the exporting does not keep the scale. So it will default to whatever scale the model was exported with, which could be really annoying because of some programs use 1 unit = 1 meter. and others are 1 unit = 1 inch. Which will cause a 40 times difference.

Arcanine said:

I've been working on this.

Click to expand...

I just spent the last our trying to get MS7's Torch attachment to meet up well with Hugh's ODST helmet.
The results were good, I thought they could have been better though. Going to have to tweak the models some.

Anyways, in regards to having a "program" that does this, I think we should all just install blender and use that as the program.

Then all you need is a file that has all the .objs contained within it, each placed into layers that you can turn on/off in order to customize the look.

As an added bonus, I really think that being able to switch between the different undersuits would be a great bonus, but getting into that and trying to get everything to stay laid out properly for each undersuit could be a massive pain.

Same with getting all attachments to work for every helmet, I think it could be a pain. You should learn how to move them yourself.


Here is the results of my endeavors, my custom Reach variant:

Please note that I went back later and I've tweaked the direction that the HU/RS-Torch is pointing.
I think that the piece that holds the torch is the right size, but the torch's diameter is a bit large. It needs to sit a little further out from the helmet, and I'll need to modify the torch-holder for that, as it doesn't extend very far.

I really wish I had the time to learn Blender (or more appropriately, a computer that could handle it without freezing up consistently), as the idea of having all the current pep files in one "master model" with the ability to pick and choose individual pieces would be great, even without the undersuit. If a method could be worked out to be able to add attachments to helmets and forearms that they weren't originally attached to would likewise be awesome if possible, although obviously scaling alone could be a nightmare, and getting them properly aligned on the various helmet shapes would be even more of a pain.I'd imagine something like the UA stip used on the EVA and CQC helmets wouldn't fit too well on something like the Halo 3 Rogue or the Halo 4 Scanner. But I have been toying with the idea of doing a Reach "prototype" Rogue and a reimagined Halo 4 Rogue the way I felt it should have gone (not too impressed with 343's iteration at all). The Reach Rogue I figure could use the Gen 3 com, the Scout style HU/RS "sniper" package, and possibly the "Hazop" rebreather. I'd imagine the other side-mounted accessories would work on it, as well as most helmets. Being able to see that concept as a 3D model before attempting the build would be helpful. Would imagine for what I have in mind for it a few geometric changes might be in order as well, and certainly would be needed for the Halo 4 reimagining. Yet another reason why I need to get a handle on Blender. Modifying free-hand is always an option, but it helps to have a model to refer back to as well.

Zaff said:

Call me a cynic, but unfortunately I can see that being a possibility down the road as well. Initially I think the intended ideals will hold, but in time that could very quickly break down. The more we categorize members, the more they may feel they've been put in a box, and that some boxes are better or looked upon more favorably than others. And categorization by definition involves separation, which is the polar opposite of unity. I like the idea and intent behind the regiments, helping members find out who is near to them and make it easier to organize events, but at the same time we want to keep the main focus on the 405th as a whole.

Completely random and overly ambitious thought here: many of us are familiar with the Vanity viewer program that allowed users to mix and match Reach armor components to get a general feel of how it would all look together. Do we happen to have any ambitious programmers in the 405th with an abundance of spare time who could whip up something similar to preview how different pep models would look together? Just as an example, I put this together in photoshop some time ago just to get a feel for how those models would look as a full suit. Having a program that could let people do the same without having to go through the process of bringing up each individual model, screencapping it, cutting away the excess in photoshop, scaling it down to a usable size, and fitting the whole thing together one tedious piece at a time would be very cool. No color or textures needed, just something to give them a rough idea of what the full suit could look like. But again, this would be an immensely ambitious project, and one that would either necessitate frequent updates, or else be rendered outdated the moment a new model was added to the database. So it may forever be merely a pipe dream. Still, it would be awesome if it could be done.

Click to expand...

My gaming guild has this to a point. We have many regiments within our brigade. Command's collective answer and we repeat it often to all, and the leaders of the various regiments also pass it down to their people. It is one line.
BRIGADE FIRST Regiment Second

Something that i think would make it better would be more divisions on the forum because i'm in Utah and we don't have a divisions

Data said:

Something that i think would make it better would be more divisions on the forum because i'm in Utah and we don't have a divisions

Click to expand...

That seems to be a topic under much discussion here, although the suggested terminology is "Regiment," rather than "Division," as the 405th is, itself, a Division, thus calling another group a "division" would make it sound as though it is a separate entity unrelated to the 405th.

Getting back to site discussion and away from (IMHO) premature Regiments discussion...
This wall of text is our current Sticky Situation!!!

This has been a project of mine for years, and everytime I think I make some headway, something else pops up to obstruct. The last time I can recall bringing this up, it was suggested that Sticky lists be made into an Article on the Main Page, with just one sticky at the top of each forum linking to all of them (a sticky index).

And here was my question then:

Ruze789 said:

One single global Sticky at the top of each forum page which links to one massive Wall of Links Article on the Home Page? This would end up looking pretty much like the list I posted last year.

Or a separate Sticky at the top of each forum page which links to an Article specific to that subforum? This one would be less of a Wall of Text on a single page but then there would be numerous Articles containing all of these links.

Click to expand...

So.... what to do with all these Stickies?

NOOB FORUM (17 STICKIES)
Introduce Yourself
Help!" for: Foam
All-In-One New Member Introduction Guide
New Recruit Orientation Video
"Help!" for: Fiberglassing, Resin, & Bondo
"Help!" for: Armor Mounting / Costume Assembling
"Help!" for: Misc...
How to post pictures in threads (Video tutorial)
PSA – The 405th Pepakura Database
"Help!" for: 3D Modeling & Pepakura Model Preparation
"Help!" for: Electronics
FAQ: Papercraft & Pepakura
FAQ: Forum Usage
"Help!" for: Painting
FAQ: Molding & Casting
Forum Infractions, Warnings, and Offenses
New Members Sticky Index

CREATION DISCUSSION (14 STICKIES)
HaloGoddess' "How To Scale" and More Tutorial
Tutorial: Make & Paint Your Own See-through Visor
Fallout Armor Pep Files + References
Wiring LED TO helmet
Complete Pepakura Viewer for CraftROBO guide/FAQ
My Advice For Noobs
Tutorial: Install & Detail your visor
Cog Armor
Armor Strapping 101
Weathered Metal Paint Effect
Painting Tutorial / Procedures
Plungers And Boots...
TUTORIAL LINKS
Creation Discussion Sticky Index

MOLDED ARMOR (08 STICKIES)
Hall of Honor - Post Pics of your finished armor/weapons
Where do I get Clay, Silicon, Plastic, FaceShields etc
[Central] Moldmaking for newbies
Molding Underarmor Pieces On The Cheap
Dual Layer Visor Mini-Tutorial
The Complete Respirator and Safety Guide
Safety Thread Index
Molded Armor Sticky Index

PEPAKURA AND CARDBOARD ARMOR (17 STICKIES)
How To Make Good Folds For Pepakura Armor
The "Official" 405th Database Thread
Resining & Fibre Glassing Tutorial/How To
Official pepakura scaling thread
Tutorial: Pepakura building for dummies (or noobs)
Halo Reach Source Assets [Release Thread]
The Ultimate Pepakura FAQ
How to Scale Your Armour- Tutorial V.2
The Complete Respirator And Safety Guide
Tutorial: Using Bondo for Detailing
Pepakura Download Database
Extra Tricks For Smoothing And Detailing
TUTORIAL: The Totally Offical "Hot glue Method" Method.
Pepakura Fiberglass and Smoothing Tutorial
Paper Weights: Lb To Gsm Conversions
Muddy Secrets Tutorial
Tutorial: How to use Pepakura to make your Mjolnir Armor

WEAPONS AND PROPS (03 STICKIES)
Wizard Of Flight's Weapon Blueprints
Weapons And Props Sticky Index
The Complete Respirator And Safety Guide

ARMOR RELATED VIDEOS (06 STICKIES)
Mold Making Tutorial
Tutorial (by crackhead09)
Tutorial (by crackhead09)
Posting Youtube Videos
Tutorial (by crackhead09)
Painting Technique - Version 2

3D MODELING (04 STICKIES)
Halo Reach 3d Model/ Pep Request Thread
Pepakura Requests
3D Model Requests
3D Modeling For Pepakura (Basic 3D Knowledge Required)

OFF-TOPIC TALK (08 STICKIES)
The Offical Happy Birthday Thread!
Geolocation Map for Members
Xbox Live Gamer Tags
Important: 405Th & Child's Play Charity
Andrew Lowenthal Warning
HALO THREADS
405th Game Nights
Warning: Mitchell Laine Fraud on the 105th

GENERAL HALO DISCUSSION (04 STICKIES)
Official Halo Reach Reference Thread *Pic Heavy, Spoilers*
Halo Child's Play Auction Live
Official Halo Reach Beta Reference Thread (Pic Heavy)
Halo Universe Sticky Index

MARKETPLACE (02 STICKIES)
Complaints & Disputes
Read Before Posting - Classifieds Rules - 03/06/2011

UNITED KINGDOM SECTOR (03 STICKIES)
UK Members
Uk Product Variants
Excalibur Calander 2008

SITE SUPPORT & NEWS (01 STICKY)
Member Ban Log

My additions are in rust.

Ruze789 said:

Getting back to site discussion and away from (IMHO) premature Regiments discussion...
This wall of text is our current Sticky Situation!!!

This has been a project of mine for years, and everytime I think I make some headway, something else pops up to obstruct. The last time I can recall bringing this up, it was suggested that Sticky lists be made into an Article on the Main Page, with just one sticky at the top of each forum linking to all of them (a sticky index).

And here was my question then:


So.... what to do with all these Stickies?

NOOB FORUM (17 STICKIES)
Introduce Yourself
Help!" for: Foam -Move down to other HELP stickies
All-In-One New Member Introduction Guide -combine with New Recruit Orientation Video,How to post pictures in threads, Forum infractions and warnings
New Recruit Orientation Video -Combine with All in one
"Help!" for: Fiberglassing, Resin, & Bondo
"Help!" for: Armor Mounting / Costume Assembling
"Help!" for: Misc...
How to post pictures in threads (Video tutorial)
PSA – The 405th Pepakura Database _Add to FAQ apwecraft & Pep sticky
"Help!" for: 3D Modeling & Pepakura Model Preparation
"Help!" for: Electronics
FAQ: Papercraft & Pepakura
FAQ: Forum Usage
"Help!" for: Painting
FAQ: Molding & Casting
Forum Infractions, Warnings, and Offenses _Add to all in one sticky and FAQ Forum usage
New Members Sticky Index

Click to expand...

Just here int he recruit forum I see a few things that could be consolidated being they cover much of the same info.
how the new layout would possibly look.


Recruit Forum (Stickies 13)

Introduce yourself
All-In-One New Member Introduction Guide _Including New recruit Video, How to post pictures in threads (Video tutorial), and Forum Infractions, Warnings, and Offenses as a new sticky
FAQ: Forum Usage Including Forum Infractions, Warnings, and Offenses as a new sticky
New Members Sticky Index
Help!" for: Foam
"Help!" for: Fiberglassing, Resin, & Bondo
"Help!" for: Armor Mounting / Costume Assembling
"Help!" for: Misc...
"Help!" for: 3D Modeling & Pepakura Model Preparation
"Help!" for: Electronics
"Help!" for: Painting
FAQ: Papercraft & Pepakura - Including PSA – The 405th Pepakura Database as a new sticky
FAQ: Molding & Casting