Special TennoGen Round: 1999 Themed Drifter Accessories Wanted!

[[DE]CoreyOnline]

Announced at TennoCon 2024, we are now accepting submissions for a special 1999-themed TennoGen round. Players have until September 27, 2024 to submit 1999-inspired Eye, Ear, and Facial Accessories for the Drifter (and Operator)!

This is a special round and not a permanent addition to our standard list of Accepted Factions. Our intention is to feature some 1999 inspired TennoGen pieces with the launch of Warframe: 1999. While we are only accepting 1999 inspired submissions for a limited time, any accepted pieces will remain in-game permanently just like any other TennoGen.

Style Guidelines:

• Warframe: 1999 is an alternate-universe take on the year 1999. While paying homage to a real world style or accessory from that time period is welcome, your design should be a unique Warframe-y spin on the reference. Our internal team is following this rule with even the most mundane assets in our environments. It’s the year 1999, but it’s still Warframe!
   
• Narratively, this is a society obsessed with the latest technology and gadgets. These characters are not interested in technology and trends from prior decades; while it is true that things from the 1980s and 1970s were around in the 1990s, we are not interested in TennoGen designs that embrace trends from an earlier point in history.
  • Similarly, we aren’t interested in any references to tech or culture after 1999 (smart phones, modern VR goggles, wireless earbuds, etc. are a no).
     
• While taking inspiration from the 1990s, do not infringe on the copyright of existing products from the 90s (or any other decade for that matter!).
   
• If you are attempting the Infestation, note that this version of the Infestation seeks out electrical sources of energy. For Warframe: 1999, we blend wires and debris into the Infestation much more than you’d see in the Origin System. Any designs that have Infestation present should reflect an urge to reach out to electrical energy sources.

To help you nail the style of Warframe: 1999, we're sharing in-game reference images. 

Technical Guidelines:

Please refer to our Basic Art Guide for general composition tips.

You can download Operator and Drifter head files by selecting “Operator Head Download” at the top of the “Content Files and Examples” page.

• The .zip folder “OperatorsHeads” includes Male and Female heads for Operators and Drifters.
   
• Items that properly fit Operator heads will generally fit Drifter heads.
  • That being said, Drifter Male and Drifter Female heads vary in shape and will require a bit more planning and testing.
  • Most Operator Accessories will be scaled up about +0.165 units to fit Drifter heads.
  • Please read OperatorHeadNotes.txt in the .zip folder for more information.

Please refer to the “Creating Operator Accessories” section of the TennoGen Guide.

• Triangle budget: 1500
• Accessories only have two tintable channels: red channel and alpha channel. The rest will be untintable.
• Emissive color is controlled by the Drifter’s Eye Glow.
• Maps:
  • Maps are authored at 2048 x 1024 (you have the choice of vertical or horizontal orientation)
  • Maps in-game will be 1024 x 512. Please keep this in mind with the fidelity of your details! Drifter accessories are much smaller than other TennoGen content so you will need to adapt to the level of detail that is viable after compression.
  • Requires a full set of textures as per our Texturing Guide.

As with all TennoGen creations, pushing the boundaries is fine, but you need to be prepared with a plan B if your ambitious project breaks the rules a little too hard.

How to Submit TennoGen to the Steam Workshop:

Once you have downloaded the reference files, created your item, and taken your screenshots, it’s time to upload your item to the Steam Workshop!

• Download the TennoGen Tool from Steam by searching for “Warframe TennoGen” or pasting this URL in your Steam browser: steam://install/396050
  • Review our official TennoGen Tool thread for troubleshooting assistance.
     
• Using the TennoGen Tool, upload your submission to Steam Workshop.
  • Please only feature Drifters in the icon and first screenshot of your submission, include "1999" in the title.

SCREENSHOT GUIDELINES:

All creations must be submitted with the following screenshot guidelines, so we can properly judge your creation. We reserve the right to reject items without proper screenshots, due to our inability to properly review your item.

• Please make sure to include a tint breakdown.
• Have at least one well-lit screenshot on a 50% gray background and uncolored lighting.
• Make sure your screenshots are all up to date! If you have comparison shots for previous versions, please indicate which screenshots are of the current iteration -- aka the ones we should be evaluating!
• IMPORTANT: Include one full view screenshot of your creation at in-game resolution that is clearly marked (ex: text in the corner that says “IN-GAME RESOLUTION”). Just the front view is fine, but if you want to include multiple angles, that is more than welcome.
• Finally, provide both back, front and side views of your creation so we can see the whole picture. These views should not be partial -- we need to see the FULL item from all sides.

Essential: one full view screenshot of your creation at in-game resolution

Essential: Tint Breakdown screenshot

Optional but appreciated: an image previewing the Triangle Count, Specular, Base Color, Emissive, Roughness, and Normals.

Reasons for Rejection

Copyright:

• We cannot accept any items that infringe on the copyright of others. Taking inspiration from your favourite works is okay, but designs should wholly be yours.

Art style:

• All content in Warframe is grounded in a Faction, and this counts for TennoGen as well! Please reference the already revealed Warframe: 1999 characters, weapons, and other materials when creating your Operator / Drifter Accessories.
• Your items need to stand out from the crowd! Avoid making something that is too similar to existing content, whether it’s made in-house or added via TennoGen.

Read the TennoGen Guide “Reasons For Rejection” article for more information.

Q&A

When is the submission start date?

Submissions open July 22, 2024!

Is there a special Submission Category for this Round?

Yes! When uploading your submissions through the Warframe TennoGen Tool, please include "1999" in the title

When is the submission deadline?

The last day to submit is September 27, 2024.

This end date allows our teams to review submissions, request any necessary revisions, and prepare the items for an All Platforms launch with Warframe: 1999.

Why Only Drifter (and Operator) Accessories?

As Warframe 1999 has yet to be released, there is only so much of the world we can share beforehand. Drifter (and Operator) accessories offer players an accessible way to get hyped for 1999, with limited lore implications!

Are we permanently adding 1999 as a Faction to TennoGen?

This is a special themed Round with its own rules, and the Style Guidelines do not apply to any other TennoGen content. Like with other Factions, we’ll revisit its eligibility for TennoGen once 1999 makes it into players’ hands.

[Xycelium]

2 hours ago, [DE]CoreyOnline said:

 

Thank for the info with the article! I did want to note, is this a new helmet for Rhino? I somewhat recognize the sharp, jagged but strong contour design from Artarrwen, who also used to be a TennoGen artist before working for DE! :D And I knew I would recognize the design from somewhere!

Glad to see this concept revisited in some way. I know it might just for the sake of presentation purposes, but I must say it looks amazing ^w^

[LillyRaccune]

During the TennoGen Workshop event that took place in the tent during TennoCon, the facilitator also said that designing small accessories for Drifter/Operator was a good starting point (or an invitation) to bring in new TennoGen artists.

On the guides linked above I'm seeing a lot of technical information, but not noob-friendly tutorials. If there is an existing guide on where to get started on TennoGen, can you point me in the right direction?

Info I'm looking for:

• Which tools are needed from start to finish (eg. Blender, etc)
• What should I learn to make before attempting TennoGen? (eg. Complex shapes, custom texture, specular/UV, etc)
• Something to encourage an inexperienced player/fan to try, rather than implying only highly experienced artists are worthy of attempting it in the first place.

Thank you.

[Zahnrad]

21 hours ago, [DE]CoreyOnline said:

This is a special round and not a permanent addition to our standard list of Accepted Factions. Our intention is to feature some 1999 inspired TennoGen pieces with the launch of Warframe: 1999. While we are only accepting 1999 inspired submissions for a limited time, any accepted pieces will remain in-game permanently just like any other TennoGen.

21 hours ago, [DE]CoreyOnline said:

Are we permanently adding 1999 as a Faction to TennoGen?

This is a special themed Round with its own rules, and the Style Guidelines do not apply to any other TennoGen content. Like with other Factions, we’ll revisit its eligibility for TennoGen once 1999 makes it into players’ hands.

The wording is a bit confusing, but if I'm understanding this right.

1999 will be added in the future once the 1999 Update has been released?

There's a lot of people wanting the more modern military style of fashion that TennoCon 2024's Digital Pack brought, so it'd be a shame if it never got permanently added as a TennoGen style for artists.

[Goosmo]

Does the ax-52 count as 1999 faction style?

 

[weirdee]

My only regret is that it is head accessories only, so there are no sweaters tied around the waist or knockoff Sony Discmans.

[[DE]CoreyOnline]

On 2024-07-22 at 7:22 AM, Goosmo said:

Does the ax-52 count as 1999 faction style?

Hi Tenno, yes, that's a great reference item for tackling the Warframe: 1999 style! 

[Zahnrad]

Just now, [DE]CoreyOnline said:

Hi Tenno, yes, that's a great reference item for tackling the Warframe: 1999 style! 

Is anything seen in 1999 fair game to use as reference?

For example, besides the Warframe aspects of Proto-frames, everything in the 1999 Mall (and I guess besides Half Life also) can be used as reference?

Personally I quite enjoy the look of those Infested-Speaker plant-like fauna.

[[DE]CoreyOnline]

On 2024-07-21 at 8:49 PM, Zahnrad said:

The wording is a bit confusing, but if I'm understanding this right.

1999 will be added in the future once the 1999 Update has been released?

Hi Tenno, this is an experimental, limited time round in the sense that we are only going to consider 1999 style items submitted before September 27th. 

The idea is that after Sep 27, we will work with artists to get several included to ship on all platforms when Warframe: 1999 releases! Once in game, any items that were accepted will permanently be available. You don't need to worry about the accepted items disappearing. 

On 2024-07-21 at 8:49 PM, Zahnrad said:

There's a lot of people wanting the more modern military style of fashion that TennoCon 2024's Digital Pack brought, so it'd be a shame if it never got permanently added as a TennoGen style for artists.

Never say never, but at this moment in time we are not accepting 1999 / Protoframe / Hex style submissions for TennoGen, outside of this limited time, experimental call for Drifter / Operator Facial Accessories.

Thank you! 

[[DE]CoreyOnline]

2 minutes ago, Zahnrad said:

Is anything seen in 1999 fair game to use as reference?

Personally I quite enjoy the look of those Infested-Speaker plant-like fauna.

Yes Tenno, you can try and tackle the 1999 Infested look if you wish! In the post, we included some Style Guidelines: 

On 2024-07-20 at 11:00 PM, [DE]CoreyOnline said:

If you are attempting the Infestation, note that this version of the Infestation seeks out electrical sources of energy. For Warframe: 1999, we blend wires and debris into the Infestation much more than you’d see in the Origin System. Any designs that have Infestation present should reflect an urge to reach out to electrical energy sources.

 

[Zahnrad]

Oh I'm not an artist, just wanted to ask for clarity, thank you for the responce though.

[Roynin]

I doubt I'll have time to teach myself how to do this before September.

But would hats be allowed in this?

Also as an idea of something that existed then but could be a head accessory.  Could someone have an older phone where the head band is infested.

Like this but the doohickey is an infested appendage graciously keeping the handset attached to your head.

[blazingcobalt]

There isn't a 1999 tag on on the Tennogen Tool currently :(

[[DE]CoreyOnline]

On 2024-07-28 at 2:35 AM, blazingcobalt said:

There isn't a 1999 tag on on the Tennogen Tool currently

Hi Tenno! We are working on it internally. Until then, feel free to submit without the tag! We will still see it!

You can also include 1999 in the title or description of the piece so there is zero doubt it's a 1999 inspired submission. Thank you~ 

[Zahnrad]

On 2024-07-26 at 6:17 PM, Zahnrad said:

Personally I quite enjoy the look of those Infested-Speaker plant-like fauna.

Since the Relay is shutting down in 2 hours I took a reference picture of what I was talking about.