Model Request

[Domarius]

Sorry if I'm out of the loop - but did you actually design the flashbombs PinkDot? I love gadgets in games that you can sort of "see how they work" just by looking at them. It looks to me like the "camera lens" style flaps underneath are what opens to let out the flashing compound.

 

So will we really add a "re-use flashbombs" feature? That might be cool. Though it will entail creating a consumable, and then a way to put them together in game.

[Crispy]

So will we really add a "re-use flashbombs" feature? That might be cool.

If flashbombs are as useful/powerful as they were in Thief, then making them reusable would be game-breaking IMO. Unless they required "ammo" (flash powder), but that's getting needlessly complicated when you could just make them non-reusable.

 

You could, if you like, assume that the thief is re-using the same flash bomb (using his stealthy reflexes to pick it back up immediately after he's used it), and that the "flash bomb count" is actually the amount of powder he has left. Decent compromise.

[sparhawk]

The dark one looks very good, but you might add a few scratches on the sliding parts. The handle looks really great! Well used and worn.

[PinkDot]

@Domarius - no, I was just following Sophisticated Zombie's design (I think that's him) with some suggestions from other team members. Those flaps is Springheels idea, I think. I like them as well

 

I think re-useable flashbombs would work only for city-hub style campaign (like T: DS), which would allow you to replace them in the shop for less than buying new ones.

 

The dark one looks very good, but you might add a few scratches on the sliding parts. The handle looks really great! Well used and worn.

Oh, spar - you would damage everything... While I don't like things looking like new in most cases, this one seems to be kind of precious thing and doesn't need to worn as all other stuff. And especially that it has some dirt/dust already.

 

Let's do some poll if others would like to see it more worn and scratched...

[sparhawk]

I think the sliding parts would definitely have some scratches, ebcause the spyglass is expected to be used a lot, and the sliding mechanics itself would inevitable cause such scratches, no matter how well you take care of the spyglass as a whole. And especially the handle is already well worn out, which looks great, but the tubes are totally scratchless and look brandnew, which doesn't go well with the handle.

[Springheel]

So will we really add a "re-use flashbombs" feature?

 

Not a feature, no. Flashbombs can't be reused by a player in the course of a mission. But in the 'game world', you wouldn't manufacture a container like that just for a single use. Think of it like a potion bottle. Drinking the potion doesn't mean you consume the bottle as well, but you can't refill the potion bottle in the middle of a mission.

 

While I don't like things looking like new in most cases, this one seems to be kind of precious thing and doesn't need to worn as all other stuff.

 

I agree with you. The player version shouldn't look brand-new, but I think it already looks nice and 'broken in'. It's not like you're throwing these things onto stone floors on a regular basis like flashbombs.

[PinkDot]

I'm going to commit them in a moment, so you can set them up as an inventory items.

 

Now - health and holy water potions looks very similar. Do the rest of potions have to have the same shape of bottle or it doesn't matter?

 

How many bombs and mines do we want to have? All possible variations or only those mentioned above.

We could have explosive bomb and mine, gas bomb and mine and flash bomb and mine. It looks like we're going only for two mines and one bomb so far.

[Springheel]

Other potions bottles can certainly be different shapes.

 

Re: other equipment, I think we'll stick with the list above. We don't need mine and bomb versions of everything.

[PinkDot]

I'm getting error "File materials/potions.mtr, line 213: material "tdm_speed" previously defined at <implicit file> :0"

What does it mean? If I change its name to something else then it'll work fine. I also couldn't get to work any material including word "potion"... But "tdm_air" (for airpotion) works...

Of course none of those materials were defined anywhere else..

[PinkDot]

Here are the potions.

 

 

As you can see, I didn't make air and speed potion entirely new ones, but just on the basis of our current potions. Eventually I thought they were fine and all potions would look better when kept in the same style.

 

I just improved a little bit health potion and holy water, but if you don't like changes, I can revert to previous versions. I haven't been here, when they were made, so I don't know if it's important for you to keep them as they were or not.

 

Changes I've made to existing ones:

- added liquid as seperate mesh, so glass has some thickness

- added some dirt on the glass and subtle heat haze effect (stationary)

- health potion's colour changed from red to green. I think green is more proper colour, cause it suggests feeling of relief.

- health potion liquid goes up instead of left and right (as holy water still does)

 

New potions:

- air potion - is transparent with moving heat haze effect (suggesting some content in the bottle). It's very slow movement.

- speed potion: red spinnig liquid - very energizing one - actually you could expect flying, not only fast running after this one... Its movement is faster then the others one.

 

Comments welcome.

 

I'll make a small video of them, so you can see how those liquids move.

[Springheel]

The improvements to the textures look great, and I like the animation ideas. I'm not sure how I feel about making the health potion green, but I'll live with it for a while.

 

I do think that there should be *some* variation in the bottles, however. It helps players tell them apart easier (especially colour-blind ones like Sparhawk ) and makes them look less generic.

 

 

If it helps, I imagined the following about these potions:

 

Breath Potions--would be popular with trade guilds, miners, and sailors. Inhaling one makes the imbiber not need to breath for a time, so it would be useful for anyone working around poisonous fumes as well as underwater. Guilds would receive 'gifts' of these in return for 'donations' to the Mage's Guild. I imagine some kind of sturdy container, with a top that would be designed for inhaling rather than drinking.

 

Speed Potion: One of the potions that mages would make for their patron. They would be used mostly for the patron's messengers, allowing the messengers to travel quickly and without rest. The player gets ahold of them when either the mages or the messengers themselves siphon off some to sell on the black market. Doses would be small (since the duration for the player is quite short) so the bottle would probably also be small.

[Crispy]

Red health potions are sort of traditional. To me, green suggests poison.

 

Of course it needs to be noticeably different from the speed potion, which is red...

 

(Just as a reference point, Thief health potions are a sort of canvas-like yellow/beige colour, suggesting that there is some kind of material covering the potion bottle.)

[sparhawk]

I do think that there should be *some* variation in the bottles, however. It helps players tell them apart easier (especially colour-blind ones like Sparhawk ) and makes them look less generic.

If it helps, I imagined the following about these potions:

 

I was just about to mention that. As long as I see them all together I haev no problem, but I'm not sure wether I would really recognize the two on the right side.

[PinkDot]

Here is another version of speed potion (health is back to red). Personally, I prefered that red speed potion but then health must be diffrent - maybe white/yellow...?

Bottles caps are changed as well. It's not visible well here, but speed potion has "spiky" cap.

[Springheel]

Looks like an improvement, though it's hard to see the details in the shot. I might suggest modifying the shape of the breath potion so it stands out from the other bottles--perhaps widening the bottom so it is more beaker-shaped.

[PinkDot]

not sure what you mean by beaker... AFAIK beaker gets wider at the upper part, but we want our potion to be closed, don't we...?

* * * google searching * * *

1) http://dbhs.wvusd.k12.ca.us/webdocs/AcidBa...dingstopper.JPG

2) http://dbhs.wvusd.k12.ca.us/webdocs/AcidBa...ask-both250.JPG

3) http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview...er_cylinder.jpg

 

Is there any shape you want on one of the above pictures...?

 

And if we're going to change those bottle shapes then health and holy water will look too similar... Maybe we could change one of them as well?

---

And what about speed potion and its animation? (it was a link to a movie, just in case I haven't mentioned that...)

 

 

[Springheel]

Didn't realize that was linked to an animation.

 

Yeah, I like the spinning animation. I might desaturate the colour just a tad, but otherwise I like it. I couldn't see much movement in the breath potion though--will it be distinguishable from just an empty bottle?

 

AFAIK beaker gets wider at the upper part, but we want our potion to be closed, don't we...?

 

A beaker is wider at the bottom than the top--basically an exaggerated version of the current shape (like the one on the right in the second picture you posted). But a more cylindrical shape would also be fine.

 

And if we're going to change those bottle shapes then health and holy water will look too similar... Maybe we could change one of them as well?

 

I don't have a big problem with them being similar in shape, since the cross on top makes them pretty distinct. If you wanted to come up with something different for the health potion that would be fine too.

 

There are lots of different things that would look good, so I don't want to tell you exactly what shape to make them. Just as long as their silhouette is easily distinguishable from the others.

 

Here's an example of different styles:

 

[Crispy]

Looking good!

[OrbWeaver]

A beaker is wider at the bottom than the top--basically an exaggerated version of the current shape (like the one on the right in the second picture you posted). But a more cylindrical shape would also be fine.

 

The one on the right is a flask not a beaker, the cylindrical one on the left is a beaker. If you're not familiar with chemistry, there's a clue in the image filename.

[Springheel]

If you're not familiar with chemistry, there's a clue in the image filename.

 

I was wrong. I'm terribly sorry. Next time I'll certainly read the image filenames more closely for valuable clues about my ignorance.

[OrbWeaver]

Nobody's calling anyone ignorant, there just seemed to be some confusion over what it meant to make the potions more "beaker-like". This would mean making them more cylindrical, but I think you meant they should be conical, like a flask.

[Springheel]

Sorry, I read that last line as being condescending. There's been a lot of negativity and snide remarks on the board lately, and I think I'm just feeling a lot more defensive than usual. I probably need a break.

[Domarius]

Just a suggestion - the orange potion shows rings in the fluid. The other textures are drawn in a way that could be seen as translucent even though they aren't. The orange potion texture doesn't though, and its clear its plastered onto the outside of the glass. This is fine for opaque fluid though I guess, like those coloured sand jars.

[PinkDot]

I'll come back to potions soon. Meanwhile: another two (hopefully last) inventory models: mine and small rock.

 

[sparhawk]

VEEERY NICE!