So, what are you working on right now?

[jysk]

Thanks. Well, I am not experienced with other editors, so I will do everything in DR. But there is already uneven ground with patches and I guess I will also add more details later. ~

[Obsttorte]

The script mentioned is for DR.

 

See here.

[jysk]

Yes I know, but for what purpose should I use it? I am not very experienced with such things. o:

[Sotha]

You could make some patches of muddy ground or gravel or whatever to make the grass look more interesting.

[Obsttorte]

Yes I know, but for what purpose should I use it? I am not very experienced with such things. o:

The basic sense is to create blends between two textures. So you could for example let two different grass textures fade into each other, or grass and mud/gravel. You could have grass on most parts of the patches but earth around the threes for example. This makes the scene more interesting visual-wise and due to the blends it looks more natural then several patches for this purpose (which still provides hard edges in difference to the blending, where one texture continuosly fades into the other). The link above shows an explanation with pictures, where you can see the effect.

[jysk]

So I am making stuff (e.g. a model with blending textures or whatever) in DR, export it as ASE and then reimport it into my DR-map? Why cant I do this in my map directly in the first place? ;P

[Obsttorte]

Because the editor don't support vertex coloring, which is needed to get that specific effect.

[jysk]

Well, ok. ^^

[Obsttorte]

 

 

 

 

[Bikerdude]

 

 

 

 

I see you got the horizontal vertex script blending working then...

[Lux]

That looks fantastic and all blendy and stuff.

 

Great work!

[Obsttorte]

Little update. Still very rough, but I'm making progress. This is a speed build, so if everything goes fine it can be beta-tested at the end of next week.

 

 

 

 

 

[Shadowhide]

my latest attempt to build a city map from scratch :

 

[Obsttorte]

This is definetely a big improvement above your earlier attempts. One little suggestion, though. You should vary the light's at the windows a bit more. I don't mean that you should use different colors, but adjusting the color, saturation, brightness level here and there to great some small differences may let the scene look even a bit more realistic. And you should try to add some sort of moonlight on the roofs etc. (either by increasing the ambient a bit or by adding some local lights here and there, cloudscroll is a good light texture for that purpose).

[Bikerdude]

all blendy and stuff.

Classic, lol.

[Shadowhide]

 

@Obs:thanks,those were great suggestions

[CrashT]

I tend to create broad layouts first before I work on details, in part because my environment art skills aren't the best. The basic layout is in place along with visportals and NPCs, though obviously both of those things can and probably will change as I layer on details.

 

This is an image looking up from some stairs in a back alley, one of two ways to reach a dilapidated building that's being used by some other Thieves. Currently it's lit from above, so the path itself can be relatively dark, though I'm not sure how well that illuminates the trees.

 

The main objective of the level, you can enter the house either through the front doors, a servants door leading to the basement level or an attic window from a warehouse across the street. The area outside the front is too sparse and open though I'm not really sure what to do with it. Suggestions welcome.

 

These last two are of the warehouse next to the house above, only basic geometry at the moment though I'm trying to decide if I want a slightly more modern looking structure akin to something from Shipping and Receiving or if I want to replace it with an older half timber building. The pipework and platforms are for moving between the upper floors of the surrounding buildings.

 

Another corner of the warehouse. I'm not sure if I want to keep it really, it serves a function within the level though I could replace it with some other building. It's supposed to be operated by the person in the house next to it, hence its presence in a slightly more upscale neighbourhood.

 

 

As I said, environment art is not my strongest skill so I'm open to ideas about how to make these areas look better. Also the lighting is temporary but any suggestions regarding improving that would be appreciated too.

[Obsttorte]

Do you have an ambient light in your map? The shadows are pretty dark.

[New Horizon]

Do you have an ambient light in your map? The shadows are pretty dark.

 

I would say there is one, otherwise the shadows would be pitch black and you would see nothing.

[CrashT]

I would say there is one, otherwise the shadows would be pitch black and you would see nothing.

 

Yeah, the ambient is set to either 5 or 7 brightness, I can't recall exactly. It may be too low I'm not sure, it looks ok on my screen but I'm usually testing everything in windowed mode which might be slightly unrepresentative.

[Tr00pertj]

Some times it helps to increase the gamma and brightness when taking screen shots so it's easier to see online. I tend to, If in window mode increase gamma/brightness to near max and use the clipper tool in windows vista/7/8 to capture a section saving it as .jpg. If I take screen shots in full screen I tend to use gimp to adjust levels and clip a section for upload.

Edited September 19, 2013 by Tr00pertj

[Obsttorte]

Yep, I've encountered the problem, too. The screenies I take always look darker then it looks in-game.

[PranQster]

I'm working on making things walk on walls and ceiling...

Arachnophobes, I've made this a spoiler alert...

 

Technically, they aren't walking right now. I can have them walk with animal_patrol, a little bit, if aas48 is broken. If aas48 is ok, then they tend to sit still. Good enough for a wall decoration (no, not in siegeshop).

 

Edited September 28, 2013 by PranQster

[Obsttorte]

I think there is a gravity spawnarg on ai which should tell them where "down" is, maybe that helps.

[Sotha]

I created a place I saw in a nightmare:

 

http://i.imgur.com/WX9bgCQ.jpg

 

There is something in the scene that terrifies me, which I cannot point my finger at. Maybe the cruel symmetry? Oppressive color scheme? The bridge of darkness leading to the middle archway? The ghastly unknown that lurks behind the dark passages? Who walks there: abandon all hope. You are trapped forever in the desolate halls.