Draco - Wednesday, 11 April 2007

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Draco - Wednesday, 11 April 2007

Post by Draconisaurus »

Name: Draco Astreus
Position: Team Leader, 3D modeller, event scripter, sound design, level design, texture design
Occupation: College student (freshman)
Age: 19
Listening to: Sonic 2 - Chemical Plant (remix) 8)
Estimated JPDS release date: Summer '07


It's time for another update. It's 4:08 am and I just handed the level over to Slash about half an hour ago.. he's gone off to bed like a smarth JPDS Team member. :P Anyway, I've been doing quite a lot of work on the level. Most of it is just continuations of what you all saw before... but it's looking way better, and there are some brand new things to see.

Image Image | Image Image
^comparison shots^
Image Image Image

Something I've been waiting to do for a long time is make the water for the river and lake on the far side of JPDS1 (a few miles or so from the starting point). Because of the emense size of each, I can't very well make these things with water objects. I actually considered making it a lot of different water objects at one point.... the Swamp taught me better. It's fairly greenish (subject to change) to reflect the theoretical contents of the water.. and it moves along just like the ocean texture.. oh and I used Unwrap UWV for the first time ;) Awesome modifier!!!! :D Anyway, you can also get a glimpse here of the terrain texturing going on... inspired by Mickey and continued by me.. just wait till you see it for yourself. I'm in awe, honestly. The Tres devs would be jealous...

Image

Yay, this has to be one of my favorite JPDS images to date... amazing mood. Can't wait to further develop this area. Gotta love pines! :yes: Actually I plan on revamping all of the pine models. Stay tuned.. ;)

Image Image Image

Some more cool images.. the second one shows off most certain spikey death below, also you'll notice the shirt opacity has been returned to its former self, so it's no longer the skimpier one you're all familiar with from NPC and LJ, I desided ultimately that showing more of the shirt visually looked better on her anyway. :) Hmmm oh yeah and I brought in the billboards finally, for use at the barrier rim between JPDS1 and 2... Wasn't sure how good they would look, but they seem pretty good to me.

Image

Ohhhh what's this? hmmmm.... ;)


PS: Internet went down... so I'm posting this now instead of last night >_>

- Drac.
Last edited by Draconisaurus on Wed Apr 11, 2007 7:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Slugger »

Looking very nice Drac. 8) Making progress, I see? :P
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Post by Second Illiteration »

Everyone is always hating on the billboards, but used correctly, the can work quite nice.


Good to see water in the river now...playing the beta, I noticed how "dry" everything was.

Also, from these screens, old screens, and checking out the beta, I must say that the foliage placement and ground objects are all laid out fantastically.

It's going to be a great level, (though pt 2 with the carnotauruses will be better :wink: )

And hopefully we will get to see the aviary in the jpds series...
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Re: Draco - Wednesday, 11 April 2007

Post by machf »

Draconisaurus wrote:Name: Draco Astreus
Position: Team Leader, 3D modeller, event scripter, sound design, level design, texture design
Occupation: College student (freshman)
Age: 19
Listening to: Sonic 2 - Chemical Plant (remix) 8)
Estimated JPDS release date: Summer '07
Summer is already over around here, so I guess you mean Winter... ;)
It's time for another update. It's 4:08 am and I just handed the level over to Slash about half an hour ago.. he's gone off to bed like a smarth JPDS Team member. :P Anyway, I've been doing quite a lot of work on the level. Most of it is just continuations of what you all saw before... but it's looking way better, and there are some brand new things to see.
There's a dam there?
Something I've been waiting to do for a long time is make the water for the river and lake on the far side of JPDS1 (a few miles or so from the starting point). Because of the emense size of each, I can't very well make these things with water objects. I actually considered making it a lot of different water objects at one point.... the Swamp taught me better.
What do you mean? It crashed?
What I found out is that you shouldn't clone water objects, but you can copy them.
It's fairly greenish (subject to change) to reflect the theoretical contents of the water.. and it moves along just like the ocean texture.. oh and I used Unwrap UWV for the first time ;) Awesome modifier!!!! :D
For the first time?
Anyway, you can also get a glimpse here of the terrain texturing going on... inspired by Mickey and continued by me.. just wait till you see it for yourself. I'm in awe, honestly. The Tres devs would be jealous...
Go ahead and ask them. ;)
Yay, this has to be one of my favorite JPDS images to date... amazing mood. Can't wait to further develop this area. Gotta love pines! :yes: Actually I plan on revamping all of the pine models. Stay tuned.. ;)
Better make completely new ones... with LOD meshes and all.
Some more cool images.. the second one shows off most certain spikey death below, also you'll notice the shirt opacity has been returned to its former self, so it's no longer the skimpier one you're all familiar with from NPC and LJ, I desided ultimately that showing more of the shirt visually looked better on her anyway. :) Hmmm oh yeah and I brought in the billboards finally, for use at the barrier rim between JPDS1 and 2... Wasn't sure how good they would look, but they seem pretty good to me.
Technically, those are sprites, not billboards ;)
(According to the same source that named the "impostors", "billboards" are fixed, while "sprites" rotate around their vertical axis to face the camera)
Ohhhh what's this? hmmmm.... ;)
A jeep sunk in quicksand, of course...
PS: Internet went down... so I'm posting this now instead of last night >_>

- Drac.
Yes, that sort of thing has happened to me too...
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Post by Draconisaurus »

Slugger wrote:Looking very nice Drac. 8) Making progress, I see? :P
Thanks, lol yeah you could say that ;P
Second Illiteration wrote:Everyone is always hating on the billboards, but used correctly, the can work quite nice.
Agreed! I was impressed by how well they looked when I was playing Nem's --- oops :-X
Second Illiteration wrote:Good to see water in the river now...playing the beta, I noticed how "dry" everything was.

Also, from these screens, old screens, and checking out the beta, I must say that the foliage placement and ground objects are all laid out fantastically.

It's going to be a great level, (though pt 2 with the carnotauruses will be better :wink: )
Hehe thanks, the moss terrain objects really help it feel less dry too I think, and yeah the carnos will be cool ;P JPDS2 will be impressive mostly in that I plan for all the models to be originally made for JPDS, as were most of those in TC_Isle.. (though actually I plan to make a new spas for JPDS1 ;)) We'll have to see though, I may end up using a fair number of OG dino models. However..... I would like to model a new velociraptor for DS2. The Isle rap is nice but I'm afraid it's a tad too high poly when you try to create confrontations with multiple raptors.. slows down framerate a lot even on this new graphics card.
Second Illiteration wrote:And hopefully we will get to see the aviary in the jpds series...
Lol yeah don't worry, that's definately a go. The question is whether it will be part of JPDS2 or its own side-level... also, it's part of an optional route through the levels, that will load a different SCN for JPDS3. ;)
machf wrote:
It's time for another update. It's 4:08 am and I just handed the level over to Slash about half an hour ago.. he's gone off to bed like a smarth JPDS Team member. :P Anyway, I've been doing quite a lot of work on the level. Most of it is just continuations of what you all saw before... but it's looking way better, and there are some brand new things to see.
There's a dam there?
Erm yes? There's been a dam in JPDS since about the 2nd or 3rd month of production, posted a number of screens of it over the years heh. Actually I now plan to "fix" it, so that it's not cracked up like it is in Trespasser.. back then I would have considered that too much trouble, nowadays it seems like a fairly simple task, at whatever time I have to put aside for it.
machf wrote:
I actually considered making it a lot of different water objects at one point.... the Swamp taught me better.
What do you mean? It crashed?
What I found out is that you shouldn't clone water objects, but you can copy them.
Actually this was a bit of discovery on JPDS's part. I figured out that there is a maximum size of water object, based on the complexity of the local terrain (for example, my water objects from some locations will crash when put inside the cave, even when you're just loading up the level for the first time and it's kinda far away), the size of the water object, and probably also your available system resources. It's the sort of render crash that happens after a certain delay following complete level-load.
machf wrote:
It's fairly greenish (subject to change) to reflect the theoretical contents of the water.. and it moves along just like the ocean texture.. oh and I used Unwrap UWV for the first time ;) Awesome modifier!!!! :D
For the first time?
Heh yep! ^^;; I was always confused by it in the circumstances I tried to test it before... I've been reading up in a big fat Max 3 book I have, and then I did the F1 info thing and discovered exactly how it works... neat stuff. Not difficult to use at all, just perplexing when you don't understand what's really going on..
machf wrote:
Anyway, you can also get a glimpse here of the terrain texturing going on... inspired by Mickey and continued by me.. just wait till you see it for yourself. I'm in awe, honestly. The Tres devs would be jealous...
Go ahead and ask them. ;)
Hahaha I will probably do something along those lines, though either after release or when production is more like 90% overall complete...
machf wrote:
Yay, this has to be one of my favorite JPDS images to date... amazing mood. Can't wait to further develop this area. Gotta love pines! :yes: Actually I plan on revamping all of the pine models. Stay tuned.. ;)
Better make completely new ones... with LOD meshes and all.
Nah... not for JPDS1. JPDS3 is going to be an enormous Pine level, with a huge descending terrain leading to the shore.. and very thick. All those pines will be freshly made by yours truly, and I'll do my best to fabricate new textures at that time. For now.. I have some ideas for how to spiff up the Trespasser pines. I finally figured out what they were trying to do with them, and why they don't look very good. They had to cut down the faces a lot and so "branches" that stick out were originally supposed to more represent a recognizable pine tree form, but yeah they were greatly reduced... I'm also going to reskin all the bark (w/new textures), and make the green not as brightly colored. It should end up looking very good.
As for LOD models.... yeah actually that's something I even forgot about with the wollemi pines. With JPDS1 I plan to employ a strategy where large groups of foliage are merged into single models (especially ground foliage, but not only), thus rendering in perfect clarity from afar regardless of draw distance... still several things about that to test. One thing this will mean is that new JPDS1 trees will not be directly accessible in the basement by the point of release (there will be invisible meshes holding the original trees' physics in place), so I'm probably going to release new "foliage packs" seperately as times goes after JPDS1 is released, for tres level creators eager to use them for their own projects... ;)
machf wrote:
Hmmm oh yeah and I brought in the billboards finally, for use at the barrier rim between JPDS1 and 2... Wasn't sure how good they would look, but they seem pretty good to me.
Technically, those are sprites, not billboards ;)
(According to the same source that named the "impostors", "billboards" are fixed, while "sprites" rotate around their vertical axis to face the camera)
Ahh well I got the term "billboard" directly from the models. Regardless of the "official" term used, the Tres devs named them as such at the time, I plan to keep using the term since "sprite" in my eye more refers to an image generated by the engine rather than a model. ;) Anyway I'm not sure what use such objects would be if they did not always face the camera..
machf wrote:
Ohhhh what's this? hmmmm.... ;)
A jeep sunk in quicksand, of course...
Hehe close, but no cigar. :thief:
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Post by machf »

Draconisaurus wrote:
Actually this was a bit of discovery on JPDS's part. I figured out that there is a maximum size of water object, based on the complexity of the local terrain (for example, my water objects from some locations will crash when put inside the cave, even when you're just loading up the level for the first time and it's kinda far away), the size of the water object, and probably also your available system resources. It's the sort of render crash that happens after a certain delay following complete level-load.
Cloned water objects will make the level crash when you approach a certain distance from them (everything's fine as long as you don't walk nearby)... are you sure your case is delay-related?
Nah... not for JPDS1. JPDS3 is going to be an enormous Pine level, with a huge descending terrain leading to the shore.. and very thick. All those pines will be freshly made by yours truly, and I'll do my best to fabricate new textures at that time. For now.. I have some ideas for how to spiff up the Trespasser pines. I finally figured out what they were trying to do with them, and why they don't look very good. They had to cut down the faces a lot and so "branches" that stick out were originally supposed to more represent a recognizable pine tree form, but yeah they were greatly reduced... I'm also going to reskin all the bark (w/new textures), and make the green not as brightly colored. It should end up looking very good.
You want to make them look like in the oldest screenshots?
As for LOD models.... yeah actually that's something I even forgot about with the wollemi pines. With JPDS1 I plan to employ a strategy where large groups of foliage are merged into single models (especially ground foliage, but not only), thus rendering in perfect clarity from afar regardless of draw distance... still several things about that to test. One thing this will mean is that new JPDS1 trees will not be directly accessible in the basement by the point of release (there will be invisible meshes holding the original trees' physics in place), so I'm probably going to release new "foliage packs" seperately as times goes after JPDS1 is released, for tres level creators eager to use them for their own projects... ;)
You and who else...?
(Don't misinterpret me, I'm asking if anybody else is making new foliage)

And speaking of trees, have you seen this?
http://www.speedtree.com/gallery/

(Yes, I've been thinking about that too)
Ahh well I got the term "billboard" directly from the models. Regardless of the "official" term used, the Tres devs named them as such at the time, I plan to keep using the term since "sprite" in my eye more refers to an image generated by the engine rather than a model. ;) Anyway I'm not sure what use such objects would be if they did not always face the camera..
To be honest, after quoting that paragraph I didn't know what to comment, then it looked like the right place to mention the three different flat objects (billboards, sprites and impostors)...
machf wrote:
Ohhhh what's this? hmmmm.... ;)
A jeep sunk in quicksand, of course...
Hehe close, but no cigar. :thief:
Are you saying it's not a jeep, or it's not quicksand?
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Post by Draconisaurus »

machf wrote:Cloned water objects will make the level crash when you approach a certain distance from them (everything's fine as long as you don't walk nearby)... are you sure your case is delay-related?
Well by saying there was a delay.. doesn't mean much. Before my new graphics card I think it just crashed immediately with over-sized water objects (after complete level-load) so I'm guessing the new card has a slightly better ability to cope with it but still definately doesn't make the cut.. just holds in there a bit longer. Not really an important factor...
machf wrote:
Nah... not for JPDS1. JPDS3 is going to be an enormous Pine level, with a huge descending terrain leading to the shore.. and very thick. All those pines will be freshly made by yours truly, and I'll do my best to fabricate new textures at that time. For now.. I have some ideas for how to spiff up the Trespasser pines. I finally figured out what they were trying to do with them, and why they don't look very good. They had to cut down the faces a lot and so "branches" that stick out were originally supposed to more represent a recognizable pine tree form, but yeah they were greatly reduced... I'm also going to reskin all the bark (w/new textures), and make the green not as brightly colored. It should end up looking very good.
You want to make them look like in the oldest screenshots?
lol sort of. Mickey would like that ;) but I've only seen certain pine species represented in those old screens. It'll be a little diff.. and hopefully better.
machf wrote:
As for LOD models.... yeah actually that's something I even forgot about with the wollemi pines. With JPDS1 I plan to employ a strategy where large groups of foliage are merged into single models (especially ground foliage, but not only), thus rendering in perfect clarity from afar regardless of draw distance... still several things about that to test. One thing this will mean is that new JPDS1 trees will not be directly accessible in the basement by the point of release (there will be invisible meshes holding the original trees' physics in place), so I'm probably going to release new "foliage packs" seperately as times goes after JPDS1 is released, for tres level creators eager to use them for their own projects... ;)
You and who else...?
(Don't misinterpret me, I'm asking if anybody else is making new foliage)
Hah I'm the only modeller for JPDS at this time. :? So yes I'm making the new foliage.
machf wrote:And speaking of trees, have you seen this?
http://www.speedtree.com/gallery/
Actually I haven't.. and I don't have a ton of time to browse that site, is that the site you mentioned once before that will auto-populate a level with relatively high-poly trees? That's cool but to be honest, I'd rather make the trees myself, since I am a modeller. ^_~
machf wrote:
machf wrote: A jeep sunk in quicksand, of course...
Hehe close, but no cigar. :thief:
Are you saying it's not a jeep, or it's not quicksand?
lol it's not quicksand. I thought it would be easy since I mentioned this earlier...
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Post by machf »

Draconisaurus wrote: Hah I'm the only modeller for JPDS at this time. :? So yes I'm making the new foliage.
Well, I was speaking in general terms, not just about JPDS... Trespasser levels will benefit from new foliage, but who else has been making any lately?
machf wrote:And speaking of trees, have you seen this?
http://www.speedtree.com/gallery/
Actually I haven't.. and I don't have a ton of time to browse that site, is that the site you mentioned once before that will auto-populate a level with relatively high-poly trees? That's cool but to be honest, I'd rather make the trees myself, since I am a modeller. ^_~
I don't remember mentioning anything before, and I just found about this one a couple of days ago... they sell a library of game-ready trees, with MAX plugins and something else, and they have a demo called "Trees of Pangaea", depicting several different environments. The screenshots look beautiful, they may give you some ideas...
machf wrote:
Hehe close, but no cigar. :thief:
Are you saying it's not a jeep, or it's not quicksand?
lol it's not quicksand. I thought it would be easy since I mentioned this earlier...
That's the swamp you mantioned, then? I though you implied you had discarded it after having too many problems or something...
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Post by Draconisaurus »

Nope, had to heavily alter it, but never discarded the swamp - and that's not it, sorry. They are kinda similar in ways but definately distinct in JPDS1. And I may look more into that site with the trees when I have the time...
Last edited by Draconisaurus on Thu Apr 12, 2007 1:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by TheGuy »

Wow, that looks awsomely awsome. Now thats Trespassers engine being pushed to the limit!
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Post by Draconisaurus »

TheGuy wrote:Now thats Trespassers engine being pushed to the limit!
Ohhhhhhhh trust me. We haven't *really* gotten there yet, but we will. :| ^_^;;
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Post by Second Illiteration »

Is it the marsh then?
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Post by Draconisaurus »

LOL you're on the JPDS Team! So I hope you know the right answer haha.. and yes, it's the Marsh. :P
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