So, what are you working on right now?

[Bikerdude]

(If so, Bikerdude please post them to your profile and I will add them to the site.)

you want the TGA's - drop me a pm with yer email..

 

I just made the last but one my new desktop.

heh, classic.

[nbohr1more]

PM Sent

[Fidcal]

OK, I've uploaded a few Manor Royale screenshots to go on moddb. They are all new but most are of scenes already posted here. They are mostly complete but mention they are still wip especially the attic area. There are no AI in place except one or two placeholders for scale.

 

I also did a few aerial shots over the whole mission including city and manor but though they looked great in-game they look poor as screenshots so I left them out. Feel free to leave out any of these you feel are not strong enough.

 

Mission release date is aimed at March next year.

 

http://www.fidcal.com/TEMP/manor_royaleScreenShots.zip

[nbohr1more]

Thanks Fidcal! I will update the site tomorrow morning so that it hit's the top of the "Mods" queue...

 

(They only allow one "status" update every 24hrs... others updates won't affect the status but followers will be alerted).

 

[AluminumHaste]

Hey fids those are nice, but why are some entities missing their textures? The four poster bed in one shot is completely black, as are I think the curtains in the other shot.

 

The ones I'm talking about are bed01.jpg, the bed is completely black.

 

Also in study.jpg, the curtains are black, as are the spear tips and the center of the shield

[Fidcal]

I was flying through fast and didn't notice. Thought they were lost in shadow. I think one curtain I tried a blue skin the other day and it's not released yet. The bed might also be a bad skin. The shield and spears I dunno. I have my screen much darker than you probably. I'll check tomorrow and upload again.

[AluminumHaste]

I don't want to be mean, so please don't take it that way, I just don't want to see stuff like that on Moddb as some people won't understand.

[ungoliant]

Those look fantastic, fid. Looks like i've got some serious competition for next years round of mansion crawlers

[nbohr1more]

I agree...

These are terrific!

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...(the waiting will be terrible though )

[Bikerdude]

Looking good fids

[Fidcal]

I don't want to be mean, so please don't take it that way, I just don't want to see stuff like that on Moddb as some people won't understand.

No absolutely not - they need fixing. I don't think I'd ever have noticed the sword and spears. Presumably that's the same for everyone in 1.02. Needs fixing before 1.03.

[Melan]

Those opulent interiors look good.

[Fidcal]

Thanks - though I sometimes think the texture colours are too saturated. Try turning down color saturation to more pastel is quite interesting. [undecided]

 

Here are two replacement shots for the study and bed01.

 

http://www.fidcal.com/TEMP/manor_royale_2replaceScreenShots.zip

[7upMan]

Thanks - though I sometimes think the texture colours are too saturated. Try turning down color saturation to more pastel is quite interesting. [undecided]

 

Here are two replacement shots for the study and bed01.

 

http://www.fidcal.co...ScreenShots.zip

hall.jpg has a floating readable next to the candle, otherwise the screenies are fantastic and very promising. Can't wait till March! 

 

 

 

[Fidcal]

Thanks. They are placeholder readables. New hall screenshot.....

 

http://www.fidcal.com/TEMP/manor_royale_hallScreenshot.zip

[Bikerdude]

Fids the only tiny critique I have is the over use of the dirt_grime decals all over the place. If the player were in the basement, and the textures were the clean typ(showing the decal up even more) then sure.

[Fidcal]

Fids the only tiny critique I have is the over use of the dirt_grime decals all over the place. If the player were in the basement, and the textures were the clean typ(showing the decal up even more) then sure.

This surprises me. I see them as soft shadows and patina as well as grime depending on where applied. Maybe I can do before and after shots to compare what it would be like without.

[nbohr1more]

I am not sure what other tools are available to help with this but I have taken a portion of one of Sotha's "The Knighton Manor" screens to illustrate why AO sometimes needs to be faked for sheer playability reasons.

 

The area surrounded by the blue outline is a transition between a wall that is close and one that is recessed. Because the lighting does not occlude slightly, it is very difficult to distinguish the depth difference and the wall boundary. I can imagine scenarios where lining up an arrow properly could be problematic when this visual cue is not present. If not grime decals, perhaps SneaksieDave's fake shadows (gl minus one) approach? (And, of course, Strombine style enhancements to the ambient would help but I don't want to sound like a broken record ).

Needs_Grime.zip.txt

[Melan]

I like those decals myself; patina and shadow indeed.

[Fidcal]

nbohr1more : Wow - I was looking at the floor - didn't even see that vertical line for a while. Yes, that might have been helped with a bit of grime.

 

Here are a couple of my own before (without grime) and after. I certainly think the 'grime' shader works well as either dirt, shadow, simulated ambient occlusion, patina, whatever.

 

 

[AluminumHaste]

I am not sure what other tools are available to help with this but I have taken a portion of one of Sotha's "The Knighton Manor" screens to illustrate why AO sometimes needs to be faked for sheer playability reasons.

 

The area surrounded by the blue outline is a transition between a wall that is close and one that is recessed. Because the lighting does not occlude slightly, it is very difficult to distinguish the depth difference and the wall boundary. I can imagine scenarios where lining up an arrow properly could be problematic when this visual cue is not present. If not grime decals, perhaps SneaksieDave's fake shadows (gl minus one) approach? (And, of course, Strombine style enhancements to the ambient would help but I don't want to sound like a broken record ).

 

Really that screenshot is down to the single light source and it's position. Reducing the radius or moving it would help, also adding lights in other places would help contrast the support beam against the wall.

I do have to say though, that in real life, in situations similar to those where there's just ambient light say from a full moon, it's really hard to distinguish detail in say, white beam on white painted wall.

Also I would maybe add some trim around just the beam in the middle.

[nbohr1more]

True AH, there are real world examples where the lighting might give you some trouble distinguishing surfaces (especially in a still 2d shot). AO just reduces the number of scenarios where this occurs (and looks pretty). Sure, clever light sizing and placement will help as well.

 

The primary objective is to make things playable so if any method makes things easier to distinguish then it is welcomed. Someone with really good knowledge of optic behavior might be irked by the inaccuracy but most folks would also find carefully crafted shading to be visually appealing.

 

(BTW... Those after shots look great to me Fidcal )

[AluminumHaste]

True AH, there are real world examples where the lighting might give you some trouble distinguishing surfaces (especially in a still 2d shot). AO just reduces the number of scenarios where this occurs (and looks pretty). Sure, clever light sizing and placement will help as well.

 

The primary objective is to make things playable so if any method makes things easier to distinguish then it is welcomed. Someone with really good knowledge of optic behavior might be irked by the inaccuracy but most folks would also find carefully crafted shading to be visually appealing.

 

(BTW... Those after shots look great to me Fidcal )

 

Oh I agree, reality often is less than stellar compared to TDM

The only complaint I have with those comparison shots (and I have to say they look lovely), is that Ambient Occlusion does not have any effect on an anything other than acute or right angles, like corners and such. The outside edge of a corner will be fully lit so AO will not be applied. so there should not be any AO on pillars, since there's no occlusion going on.

[nbohr1more]

Yeah, I was thinking about my experiment with the training mission where some of the wall architecture had the same kind of problem and after reflecting a bit, maybe just using RGB keywords in the material definition for the more distant parts of the wall to dim the texture would be an easier solution than projecting that hard-to-align ambient texture...

 

Maybe the new distance-based stuff in 1.03 could be exploited to manipulate RGB brightness levels based on "distance from the light source AND the player" for mapper specific areas of interest... (or maybe they have a better built-in solution anyway... )

[Sotha]

nbohr1more : Wow - I was looking at the floor - didn't even see that vertical line for a while. Yes, that might have been helped with a bit of grime.

 

Here are a couple of my own before (without grime) and after. I certainly think the 'grime' shader works well as either dirt, shadow, simulated ambient occlusion, patina, whatever.

 

 

Yep.. Now I will reveal why I do not make so high detail maps.

 

I confess I do not see any differences between the screenies here. All of them look really good to me, and none of the screenies is better in my eyes than the other.

 

Therefore, why bother to see trouble implementing a decal, which is invisible in the scene?

 

But yep, this is just me rambling. I'm prolly blind or something.

Keep up the good work!