So, what are you working on right now?

[Bikerdude]

Good to see the visual "arms race" between Biker and Sotha continue though...

LOL I only just spotted this.

[wheek]

the video is a bit blurry, but from what I could see not bad for a first attempt.

 

I might get a bit of time soon, I've upgraded to 2,0 so I'll prob need to change some textures, then I'll try re-recording and doing it with more light this time!

 

The mansion is absolutely huge!

[AluminumHaste]

LOL one of my coworkers just pointed out that my replacement window texture didn't have the correct number of panes, DOH!!! Time to start over lol.

Not only does the new one also glow in the dark, it also has a normal map and specular map.

 

[Bikerdude]

nice looking glass panes.

[Sotha]

You new window looks, at a glance, very similar to the old one, but better. Thus. IMHO that window of yours should certainly replace the old texture mod-wide.

 

Later, I will install your new window and show the scene I presented earlier with it, and check the quality.

 

Important: does this window also have the dark/yellow lit/moon lit variants the original window had? In order to replace the old one, it of course must have the same skin variants as the older one.

[Melan]

Nice, but dunno if the dirt in the corners should have much of a heightmap.

[Lux]

Half as much height as what's visible now, can we see a picture of that?

[Springheel]

I'm not sold on the glass of the new texture. The panes look soft and blurred, like they were painted in with a soft-edged brush (normalmap aside) while the original has a more pebbly texture to the glass. Also, the wooden parts are very perfectly straight and aligned, where the original is a bit more offset and crooked (which is more realistic).

[Lux]

Along those same line (albeit with the normal map lowered for the panes) you could keep the existing new skin for more "up-scale" dwellings that have had better craftsman build them. Straighter lines and cleaner craftsmanship with glass that is more pure and better poured.

[Sotha]

I dunno about that new window. Basically the old and new one look exactly the same. I really don't have a preference over either one:

 

OLD:

 

 

NEW:

[Goldwell]

I dunno about that new window. Basically the old and new one look exactly the same. I really don't have a preference over either one:

 

Hm... that is a tough one Sotha. But I guess like that old saying goes: if it isn't broken don't fix it!

 

The old ones look good to me

Edited December 10, 2013 by Goldwell

[rebb]

Great work guys

[AluminumHaste]

Important: does this window also have the dark/yellow lit/moon lit variants the original window had? In order to replace the old one, it of course must have the same skin variants as the older one.

 

Not yet, I'm waiting for feedback on this one first, before I do the others. Right now that texture is unoptimized, IE it's 2048x2048, and the normalmap and diffuse are TGA not DDS. The original is like 256x256.

 

EDIT: lol just read the comments, I guess I'll give up on replacing the window textures as most people have no problem with the normal ones.

Tthey look god awful to me but then I hate low res, blurry, jpeg compression raped textures.

[Goldwell]

Not yet, I'm waiting for feedback on this one first, before I do the others. Right now that texture is unoptimized, IE it's 2048x2048, and the normalmap and diffuse are TGA not DDS. The original is like 256x256.

 

EDIT: lol just read the comments, I guess I'll give up on replacing the window textures as most people have no problem with the normal ones.

Tthey look god awful to me but then I hate low res, blurry, jpeg compression raped textures.

 

The new ones do look better but the old ones look good to me too. But I dunno I don't really have an eye for textures yet so I guess my opinion doesn't really count (I actually hate doing textures)

[RJFerret]

Well, jpeg artifacting doesn't jump out at one in screenshots so much.

 

The new one is a marked improvement over the old in multiple ways, but subjective input will always fall both ways.

 

For example, my subjective is a vast preference for the more diffuse lighting, I just cringe when I see duplicated windows without variety on buildings, and distinct details result in that more readily. Of course, symmetric aspects negate flipping/rotating options too.

[161803398874989]

Honestly I like the new ones better.

[PranQster]

I like the new ones better also. The highlights change according the the observer. Look at the old ones... each has a static highlight area of the texture in the center. All look the same. With the new ones, each window looks slightly different than the other two.

Edited December 12, 2013 by PranQster

[SteveL]

I like the new ones better also. The highlights change according the the observer. Look at the old ones... each has a static highlight area of the texture in the center. All look the same. With the new ones, each window looks slightly different than the other two.

+1 for the new windows. That difference is very noticeable even at a distance like in Sotha's example above, and of course you want them to look good close up too, which the old frame certainly does not.

[kyyrma]

Finally putting some work into my sewers. After the stressful ordeal that is visportaling large outdoor areas, building sewers is pretty like much zen-meditation. I friggen' love sewers.

 

View 1

 

View 2

 

Honestly, I want to build nothing but sewers from now on. Simplistic geometry, easy to light, visportaling works like a miracle... What is not to like? Who cares if the players thinks its the most boring trope of gaming! Mapping should be about mappers, not players!

 

Edit: Here is what the sewers looked few hours prior.

Edited December 20, 2013 by kyyrma

[Melan]

Those are some, ahem, good-looking sewers!

[Sir Taffsalot]

@ Kyrrma: If you like making city missions but enjoy the stress free visportalising that sewers afford, then why not combine the two? Have a city FM but instead of navigating it by the streets or rooftops, you navigate it by the sewers. Instead of entering buildings by lockpicking doors or climbing through windows, you now climb up through peoples toilets. You could even have a few of the AIs using the new pissing animation for added realism.

[kyyrma]

@ Kyrrma: If you like making city missions but enjoy the stress free visportalising that sewers afford, then why not combine the two? Have a city FM but instead of navigating it by the streets or rooftops, you navigate it by the sewers. Instead of entering buildings by lockpicking doors or climbing through windows, you now climb up through peoples toilets. You could even have a few of the AIs using the new pissing animation for added realism.

 

That's actually pretty close to what I'm doing right now, and I requested the pissing animation particularly for this map. The map does have a street level, but it's heavily guarded, so to navigate the player might go back and forth between the streets and the sewers using manholes and public privies. Some buildings also have sewer access.

 

It's not a particularly big map, but I've put a lot of effort on planning it so that the player has a lot of freedom on how and in what order he tackles his objectives.

 

@Melan: Cheers! They really need to be dirtied up though, sewers aren't supposed to look that good

Edited December 20, 2013 by kyyrma

[Melan]

@Melan: Cheers! They really need to be dirtied up though, sewers aren't supposed to look that good

Bits of hanging vegetation ("grass" clumps or ivy), moss and stuff like that also help. That, plus sediment.

[Sir Taffsalot]

Don't forget some pipes and maybe some glowing mushrooms for additional light. There's also a particle effect for dripping water and you can use the sound of dripping water on a speaker too. I used this effect in the sewers in Let Sleeping Thieves Lie and I think it added perfectly to the atmosphere.

[RPGista]

First sewer I remember seeing with water that is actually black and murky, and not pristine, river water. Thanks. Like the structure too.