New Horizon

That could be very cool for such things and would add a sense of realism.

I was thinking of trying out some modeling myself, but would really like to work off of Oditty's templates to keep things consistent. I also learn from disecting things as well so I think it would really help to have a perfect specimen to work with. I'll have to try and contact Oditty somehow and see if he'll post them on the ftp. Life in the vocals world won't get super busy until we start recording and that's not going to be until I have the cast finalized....which is looking to be a few weeks away yet. This is more of a ...I'll try it in my spare time and if I suck, you won't hear a word from me about it. LOL

Would probably be best to open the dds file in DXTbmp first and then use the function to open it in your editor of choice. That way you won't get the Mip Maps going into infinity. I don't understand what that is for myself, but I'm sure it serves a purpose.

Nothing that I could ever repeat in public without fear of imprisionment. :lol:

Yeah, they were just quick little vocal tests. 15 minutes per actor. When I get them in the hot seat...ha ha...then we'll get some good material. Not that I'm a horrid task master or anything, but I'll definately guide them to get that which we need...quality!

Egads. That sounds somewhat difficult.

He's a little less experienced, but I'm sure I'll be able to coach him through without much of a problem. They're just quick samples, so with some time spent on the actual recording he should come out great.

Hmmm, does that mean new models are bound by the same rules, or will it only affect existing models?

Okay, another audition test for you all. This one is from a younger less experienced actor, but I think he'll be great for a guard with a little extra coaching along the way. His name is Joshua Noonan and he's now on the ftp. Enjoy.

I've been very pleased with the early tests so far. I just want to assure everyone that the acting quality is not reflected in these tests. They're just quick snipits for vocal quality so I can judge what their voices will be best suited for. I think we'll get a few charactes out of both Ernest and Jen. They're both very fun to work with so it will be a very enjoyable experience. I had one guy email me when he saw the poster I put up, but the part about "acting experience" didn't seem to register. I gave him an appointment anyway, just in case he was a natural born talent. Sadly, he was not. Nothing against him personally, but it would taken a lot of work to coach him through each role to get a quality performance. No energy for that. The great thing about the people on board so far is that all I have to do is work out the character with them...and they'll improvise all day for me. It's a pure delight. On the subject of the northern lights. I agree, they are phenominmal.

Working on it.

No worries. He's got a bag full of variations. Could definately work for a servant who is extremely disenchanted with his employer though. :lol:

Yeah, she's going to be great once we get down to the real work. Very versatile actress. I worked with her back in 1996 on three different productions. I should have another audition up tonight. Update: Just uploaded the vocal tests of an actor named Ernest Murphy. Hope you enjoy.

Fantastic work as always guys. I've begun posting clips from my auitions on the ftp. I'll notify you all when they're up.

I absolutely love it!! The theme really fits quite nicely with the story ideas I've been batting around. I'm really going to put a push on and throw these ideas at you guys soon. I know there will be no serious discussion of a campaign until we finish the tools, but it's something I would like to put on the table.

Any word from Oddity lately? Just wondering if those templates are available for testing?

I'm cool with getting the voices together. Would indeed be nice to have the female guards back.

Hmmm, those captured animations may be a very good foundation though. There could probably be some tweaking done to get them where we need them.

Has he provided a download link? I have an older copy of lightwave and would be interested in trying my hand at modeling.

On the topic of differences between loot and junk. Darkness_Falls nailed what I was trying so clumsily to get at. That the Loot should have more brilliance to it...without looking Vegas style. Perhaps this could be achieved by not using a specular map in the junk texture set...just leave them dull, and the loot specular would be slightly more obvious than normal. I think that could work quite nicely.

Yeah, I think the main issue is that the stack is so high. Perhaps half that size would be easier to buy into being that straight? I really like it all the same.

I think if it's missing or on the other side of the room they should definatley notice, but if it's in the general space that it once occupied they shouldn't pay much mind to it. They hate their jobs...they're probably day dreaming anyway.

Yeah, this is where the example above can't really be of any use until we have our loot models and textures created. If we have separate distinct sets for both junk and loot it will just be a matter of looking at them to decide which is which. The example I gave wasn't so much to show how it would compare but how the glow would be achieved. For our purposes, the textures and models should provide the distinction. The glow is simply a suggestion for those who feel some kind of aid is required for darker rooms without making it look like the loot is in a spotlight. Quiet placement of objects is definately something that would be welcomed. Placing objects back seemed to work much better in Thief 1 and 2 than in Thief 3. Maybe the Devs forgot that you could place an object back down with the R button in Thief 1 and 2. Don't know...but I sure missed that function.

I would be inclined to completely agree with you on the loot matter Sparkhawk. I really think we could pull off the way it was done in Thief 1 and 2 without have to use special aids to guide players. However, if the majority votes for a loot cue of some sort I have a demonstration of what I was thinking of. Now, this demonstration won't be fully representative of the final effect since we don't have a custom loot texture to work with yet, only the T3 stuff. For the example, I just used a tin can from T3. Okay, the can on the front right would be your average piece of loot we'll say. Pretend the cans behind it are a totally different shape and just junk. Okay, this would be the type of "inner" loot glow I'm talking about. Not an outer highlight. It could probably be even more subtle than this, but we'll go with this for the purpose of the example. In a fully lit room, you really wouldn't notice it and you would rely on the definitive loot texture to know if it was loot. It's really only meant to make a difference in a darker room however where it would stand out ever so slightly. Not enough for you to say...oh, that's glowing over there...but just enough to barely catch your eye. It would have to be carefully tweaked, but I think it could really work. That is of course if we vote to have some kind of additional loot clue, but as I stated before...I think a proper texture set would suffice. Goldfish is on the right track with the designs. Loot also needs separate models from junk. T3 used the same models for a lot of loot. Gah.

Hmm, I'll see if I can photoshop a pic of what I mean. With the kind of glow I'm envisioning it would be so integrated into the game world that you really wouldn't register is as a glow...it would just make things stand out. I'll post a pic if I can work something up.