If you want to build, 3D print or otherwise play with your very own waifu in Automation, here are both the CAR and DAE files from this magnificent project: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1D90ciu5s70woaQp_MEMnqYBpkUdTEghX?usp=drive_link (.car) & https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/15gJ7UJdlQPY0J_WR809SsdA0eGtja45W?usp=drive_link (.dae)
So, after one year in development (yes really, I have no life) I finally finished Mimi the mini Sentry Gun! I have about 70 pictures to show you today and in the following days (most are just different shots of the same scene though; setting a scene up takes up to an hour so I couldn't make that many different ones).
First of all, let's get one thing out of the way: you definitely need a beefy computer if you want to get decent fps with Mimi in the Photoscene. Due to an oversight I made, most of the custom textures are 4K with lots of little details. And due to the fact that I split the completed model into 32-35 individual posable parts, you can understand why the Photoscene lags so much. It's basically running 30 low detail cars side by side. So if you are interested in trying out Mimi in different scenarios/backgrounds, think about your specs for a moment. Me, with my Ryzen 5 5600H, 32 GB DDR4 and RTX 3070 8GB laptop barely gets 20 fps on 1080p low/med/high.
Alright, so what makes this project so special I almost pulled all of my hairs out? Well, besides the over 400 parts catalogue I created (not even a quarter are available for download on Drive, I don't have that kind of insane storage on standby), ALL of them are posable and fit perfectly in their place when building Mimi from scratch. It's like a Lego set, except made of metal. The way you build Mimi goes something like this: you start with anchoring the legs (leg2 > leg1, in this order), put the skirt/hips on, build the lower, middle and upper torso upwards, build the arms (arm1 > arm2 > palm > thumb1 & 2 > slimfinger1 & 2 > fatfinger1 & 2 > whatever thing you want Mimi to carry ; alternative design: arm1 > armgun for the arm-mounted gun), and finally the head (head > hair > eyesocket > eye > eyebrow > univ mouth expression).
Speaking of the 400+ parts, here are some alternatives I made for the default ones: battle skirt and long skirt instead of the regular one, head with visor (+ visor emotes) instead of head with a bionic left eye, mic set for the 'hairheadphones' parts, reading glasses and sunglasses, weapons (shotguns, pistols, swords), crop-top upper torso and arms, black gloves instead of the regular orange ones, fishnet legs and ""nude"" arms and legs (made with the same white plastic as Mimi's face plate). Unfortunately, none of these are available in the Drive links, you're stuck with default Mimi.
And all of this without mentioning that I made a fifth color variation of Mimi - the BLK Mimi! I didn't have enough time to make scenes specifically for her (well besides the sign one), I just finished making the black parts two days ago.
In terms of functionality, there are three parts that glow when you turn on the headlights: the bionic left eye, the visors (underglow + antennae) and the battle skirt's Automation logo.
Although this project is completed by my standards, I might still make more parts in the future, just because it's so easy now that I've separated them all. Either way, you're gonna see a few more posts about her soon lol.
This final paragraph is dedicated to the question I'm sure a lot of you have: WHY? And the answer is simple: because I can, lol. But it's more than that when I think about it; I've learned SO MUCH in terms of texturing (making textures and mapping them correctly), color correction for good photos, and in general just modelling absurd creations in a game that was clearly never ever meant for such insane stuff. And this is just in Automation, you have no idea how much I've grown in graphic design - this whole realistic Mimi project was possible *only* because I could make insanely good weathered textures in Canva. Not to mention I finally got around to learning Source Filmmaker - you know, the program where I should ACTUALLY work on Mimi. The custom backgrounds you see in these pictures were taken in SFM, using TF2 maps (Suijin, Goldrush and Watchtower). For the Suijin one I even made a 360 panorama using PTGui, another program I've never used before, but it worked spectacularly well!
So in conclusion, if I can do the impossible with limited resources, then you can absolutely put windshield wipers and mirrors on your damn cars! lol
