[u_dumb]

Firstly I would like to begin my first post by saying hi to everyone.
Secondly I want to congratulate everyone that has worked on this great mod.

After my friends and I played episode two with the bonus vehicles, we were immediately impressed by the amount of fun and replay the vehicles, mainly the van, added to the game. After some time however it seemed as though the beaten episode 1 van wasn't quite interesting enough and something more exciting was needed. This inspired me to start work on the Awesome Van. It is intended to be a sort of replacement, whilst looking more suitable for off-road/combat use. Keeping with the hl2 theme it is a mix of parts, and has no doors. In recent times I have not been able to work on it, so i was hoping someone can help me finish it. At this stage the model is mostly complete, minor details such as axles need to be added. No rigging or texturing has been done.

Here are some pictures
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad48/aw.../almostdone.jpg
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad48/aw...an/vanfront.jpg
http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad48/aw...man/vanback.jpg

I think it could be of great use to people making custom maps with vehicle parts, or people just looking for an exciting van replacement. It is meant to be larger than the Episode 1 van, but should still be an appropriate size for small areas.
Two or three people are intended to sit in the front and four in the back.
Lastly, in the first link you may notice a wall in the back, this is for holding and transporting cargo.(think of syn_trials)

I would love to hear any feedback or offers to help!

[ultradude25]

This looks really awesome. Good work. I don't know how well transporting cargo would work, since the Source engine's physics isn't too good for two colliding models, but with a bit of good mapping (I'm thinking a breakable rope attachment to help hold it in, or parenting the cargo to the van) it should work really great.

Hopefully the areas you can enter the seats are better set up than the default van and truck, since it's often a bit of a challenge to actually get in the damn thing.

[Archanor]

That looks totally awesome. Remember that Synergy is on the lookout for some artists if you're interested in helping out.

Apart from some parts of the van looking a little bit thick (window frames or what you would call it), you've done a pretty good job on it.

[Skarik]

Not to burst anyone's bubble, but that van looks WAY too high poly. I see almost 7000 in the corner. That is unbelievably too much. A detailed model should be around 4000. Your model has almost no detail and has an abnormally high polygon count.

That being said, good start.

[u_dumb]

Thanks for the feedback.
At this stage the cargo hold of sorts has been removed because there are better methods available for moving items around in synergy.

No bubbles have been busted, the polycount is around 7000 and to make things sound worse, the process of going from polygon to mesh almost doubles the count which is necessary for most game engines. However this will not be an issue as the Episode two jeep, also known as the jalopy, has a polycount of around 16000, and was mostly flat. Through optimizations I am sure the count of my van can be reduced.

I agree with the lack detail, the interior is very boring. On the outside however I think the detail at the front (grille and bonnet) and the cool rear wheels inspired by 60's Mustangs will satisfy some people and the big exhaust pipes and unusual roof fins will appeal to people that like "go faster parts". The steering wheel which will occupy the drivers view most of the time also has some good detail, which looks like http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad48/aw...endersports.png

I think a good texture could make this van look pretty neat. (Go-Faster-Stripes, anyone?)
Anyway if there is anyone with good modeling/texturing/compiling skills help would be appreciated.

[Archanor]

I'm sure I could give the texture a try. Although I'm not very good at making skins from scratch, I've made alot of reskins and map textures.

[ultradude25]

It may be easier if you start off with the default Van's skin and modify that.

[Threule]

Edit default van style, and add some cool wheels. Try to find cool wheels on Gmod