sELFiNDUCEDcOMA
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Content Count
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Joined
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Days Won
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Everything posted by sELFiNDUCEDcOMA
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Hmm... I wonder how it would look with the new Coruscant skybox textures I've been working on... Jana Lorso is a Mirialan and they have a funny skin color; or at least that is my excuse as that was my first attempt at a human face for TSL . Human faces are very hard to improve due to the game's renderer. Actually, anything that is pale in colour, like flesh, is very hard to improve as it usually ends up looking washed out in-game. If you look at the human face textures via an image viewer / editor, you'll see that they have far more detail than what you'll able to see in-game. Lorso was a test-case, and I may not get around to redoing her as there are a lot more other textures for me to do. Plus, as I said, she is a Mirialan, and they have a yellowish sickly colour to their skin -- plus, she does work for Cerka, after all.
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Scripting is not the only thing that put me off; it was more than a year ago when I gave module editing a shot and found it a pain, so it's a bit hard to recall but scripting wasn't the only thing. Anyway, I'm sure the NWN lexicon is good, but I know from Fallout scripting that with each DLC, and with the follow up New Vegas, that new functions are added. NWN probably doesn't have the new KOTOR functions and other sources for these would be a pain to find -- take TXI files, I know you guys made a wiki page about it, but, you're missing a lot based on the sources I've found. A lot of the tutorials I've found are dated and/or basic; dated in that they are using tools that won't work under windows 7 or don't exist anymore. I might give it another shot, as last time I tried my hand at it it was to add elements to the cut-content area of Nar Shaddaa docks. Having had a look at what the latest TSLRCM adds, I ain't happy with 2 droids and some containers with stuff. But, creating and placing, editing custom containers just never seemed to work for some reason -- probably because I was using KOTOR tools' module editor to do it. I also had some droids of my own that I could make appear but not get various settings to work -- problem with a lot of tuts is that they cover the basics and gloss over quite a lot; they make a lot of assumptions as well, but I guess writing good tutorials is not everyone forte. There's another element as well that I found absolutely bizarre, and that was that in order to test for changes, I had to use a save game where I hadn't visited the area yet; I couldn't just go back to Nar Shaddaa and head to that location as the changes wouldn't be uploaded at all. That to me seems like a major, pain-in-the-arse, time-consuming, hurdle to mod development; especially for large complex mods. I don't recall finding anything about any work around for this. But, I suppose you have an answer for this too..? (I hope, probably something to do with a console cheat / debug codes or save game editing...)
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Creating custom modules is where the "fun" is. Weird scripting bugs is what puts me off, in that the scripting language is not very well documented. I don't recollect there is any reference where I can look up various functions where it tells me what it does and how to use them. But, I find that it is not so much knowing how to code or script in a language, that most programming, is understanding the idiosyncrasies of a language and how to oversome them. That is like 90% of where the effort of coding comes from, getting what should work, to actually work based on how the game interprets it -- simplest example, try coding a web page and then seeing if they look the same in Internet Explorer and FireFox . I don't think that has a simple answer, but at its heart, is that it needs to show the level / map, all its architecture and obejcts, as 3D objects. The current limitation with the KOTOR tool is that the module editor needs to first have some kind of map layout file generated for it so as to represent it in 2D. This is a useless bottleneck that within the freely available tools of today, should not exist. When KOTOR tool was created, there was not for example, WPF for C#.net. All windows GUI programming was via GDI or some such rubbish, and that was all 2D only. WPF replaced it and it allows for 3D graphics, not the bleeding edge graphics of games, but still, it allows you to represent 3D data easily without having to know your way around Direct X 3D -- which is far more low level. And as far as a module editor is concerned, the rendering requirements aren't high -- you could get away with wire-meshes with polygons rendered a solid color. You can also get libraries that build upon the WPF functionality, and essentially, you can build a tool that anyone can use as long as they have the latest .Net installed -- which is highly likely. And most of all, being C#.net means that it is more future proof in that it can be maintained a bit more easily (code and libraries for it like reading Targa files, are readily available) along with allowing others to take up where your work left off more easily -- especially as I doubt that Microsoft will abandon C#.net any time soon, rather, they will build upon it.
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According to StarWars.wiki: "Zeltrons were a near-human species, made physically distinctive by their skin and hair, which came in different shades of red ranging from pink to deep red to black." I'm assuming they specifically mean hair color here. The thing with universe lore and canon, is that it changes. Fans may not realise it, but, it does. Changes every time a new movie comes out or book. Things get changed to suit current needs and potentially future needs as well. Sometimes these changes are good, other times, they are a tad moronic. Take the Star Wars films, in the original first film, Obi Wan meets Luke and R2 and C-3PO, yet, he has never seen these droids before apparently. Yet in the prequel movies he sees and interacts with these same two droids ALL THE TIME! He knows what they look like, their quirks, and definitely, their names. Even Luke's uncle (Owen) has seen these droids before, especially as C3 was originally owned by them and helped out on the farm. Yet when C3 and R2 appear one day being peddled by the Jawas, he seems not to recollect them at all. Maybe droids are so common as to be unforgettable and seen as all being the same. However, C3 is such a quirky character -- even with a memory-wipe -- that I find it hard that you would forget ever meeting the droid. Yet Luke's uncle seems to have Alzheimers much like the strange dirty old man living in the hills does too, who likes to lure young boys away from their families with far-fetched tales of the force and enthrall them with amateur magic tricks . Zeltron lore to me seem like something that is rather fluid, not concrete, and can be adapted to suit the purpose at hand. In my opinion, the Luxa color is a pink, but kind of like a strawberry-blonde kind of pink; a rosy-shade that along with pheromones, exudes a sexual "readiness" if you like. The color is perhaps because her mother was a Zeltron but her father was not. Which would explain the conflicting aspects of her personality, as the way she acts (her profession) is not entirely fitting to how Zeltrons are made out to be. She is cold, calculating and cunning. Her Zeltron gifts are tools she uses to get her way as are the henchmen to her side and the weapons she uses in combat. A Zeltron who may like to "have a good time" but is entirely motivated by other reasons in her life and career. My current feeling is that if people don't like the texture, they don't have to use it and can go with someone else's or with the game's standard texture. Personally, I find the nipples rather funny, as I like playing with the conventions of the PG Star Wars universe to make it more mature for a mature audience. Plus, have seen far worse in commercial games along with in other mods -- some of which were authored by female modders .
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It's not so much the age, it's more the lack of good tools that is the problem. The people that had skill would have gotten feed up and bored with the lack of progress and simply moved off to modding other games where modding is less like hacking. Those that remain, tend be those that got into and only have interest in modding KOTOR and TSL and seemingly, nothing else. I'm sure I appear to be just good at "skinning," but the truth of it is that I find it at times rather boring, as I am more interested in modding playable content for games, like altering existing and adding new quests and game mechanics, not just making games look better -- I'm actually a qualified programmer, not an artist, and I started out as a level designer . I'm also finding my current play through of the game boring, as there is nothing I haven't seen or done before. The main reason I started the play through again was for the M4-78 mod release -- which I haven't gotten to yet on account of the texturing. Once I've finished it I'll probably carry on through to the end of the game, and finish off my texturing as I go as I'm finding it is pushing my texturing skills further. However, I'm not sure I'll continue on after that as the tools are piss-poor. I know there is KOTOR tool, and it makes a lot of things possible and easier, but level and quest design (module editing) it ain't that great at. Anyway you cut it and well minus all the bugs and lack of functionality in other departments, making a top-down 2D map editor for a 3D game, just ain't going to work very. The only way I'll stay on is if I decide to make my own major quest mod, which I have ideas for -- and had then for quite some time -- but, I think the lack of tools is going mean that I'm gonna get fed up with it, and decide that the time invested in it is time better spent elsewhere where at least there are good tools already for me to make use of. Even if I decide to go with the scaled back mod based on the original idea I had. Plus, I already have one large mod to complete for Fallout 3 which I'm in the middle of a major update of that is finally adding new playable quests. And once that is done, I probably will be putting my skills to use making a game for a commercial end instead of increasing the longevity for someone else's game, and putting more money in their pockets instead of mine .
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The following set are of the Zeltron Luxa at Telos Citadel station...
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Some alien tex screens along with showing Nar Shaddaa textures so far...
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@ Fallen Guardian: I think the statues can be improved some, especially the base, but considering how the original looks... it is a big improvement, even to me still even though I've seen it enough to be familiar with its presence. The sign is still early work, in that I want to make it a new animated sign. Still, I think as is it looks way better to the low-quality smudge of the original. What really lets it down is that the walls they usually appear on are slightly slanted forward, which means that part of the tops of the signs are usually cut off in some way. If I get around to figuring out the best process, I'll try and make a version of the sign model that slants inwards slightly in order to compensate for it; as much as I can considering that those on a wall at 90 degrees to the floor may then have issues with parts of the bottoms being cut off -- the better option would be to have two versions and then edit the module file so that both are used in different places; but that route has various problems. @ MrPhil: I'd like to, not so much because it doesn't fit the newer textures, but more so because I never really liked it along with the shield effects -- they were too strongly applied and generally I found them to be ugly. However, that depends upon how they were implemented. To explain, it seems that the lightning shader applied to the NPCs that are struck uses the Sith Lightning texture to a degree, but, it also seems like it is using some other code-based elements to make the whole NPC tinged blue -- I as yet have found no other texture that it could be using that explains it, so it must be procedurally generated to a degree. I could test to see how much the Sith Lightning texture affects how blue it is, but, I doubt it will have much impact. My guess is that you would need to find the settings for this effect, which may be in a 2DA file, or, it may be something hardcoded into the game's EXE. Lastly, it could also be in a shader file -- probably a compiled DLL -- that the EXE calls upon to determine how to render the effect. EDIT: actually on further investigation I discovered it doesn't use the Sith Lightning texture at all but another FX texture. This is very much changeable. @ Disturbed205: If you meant invisible, then I could create one, however, this is so easy for anyone to create if they really wanted to -- all you have to do is open up the EBO_scaf.tga texture in your paint program of choice -- as long as it supports image transparency -- and then use the selection tool to select it all and then hit delete. You should then be left with a blank transparent texture which you then save and place in your override directory. That should do it unless it the background to the original texture is black and not transparent. In which case what you should do is add another layer to the texture and fill that one in with black; making sure the layer is above the original, you then flatten the image down into one single layer and save it and place it into you override folder. But, this will only make the texture "invisible," not the mesh that it is painted on. That will remain and will block your ability to move in certain areas, not to mention, various characters will still use markers in place and do stuff like spot wielding -- except now they will be appearing to be spot wielding nothing at all. For this reason in particular along with the first of it being very simple for anyone to do, as long as they know how to use Google to search on tuts on how to do this stuff with their image editor of choice. That I probably won't be doing one .
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Before I start showing before and after of alien textures, I thought I'd show my early test-case in way of (human) characters... In case anyone is interested how my Sith Lightning effect ended up... FYI: the screens also show the new Quarren and Gamorrean textures.
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So, I've been busy with my texture work, currently focused on doing NPCs -- aliens. But, to have a break I switched over to doing some of the effect textures; one of which was the Sith Lightning... I think so far it's turned out pretty good considering this was a quick mockup test I did to see how it initially looks in-game. And yes, that is Nar Shaddaa in the background .
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The original darker floor and wall textures are meant to be newer "patch" pieces installed by the robots for repairs. It might be a bit harder to spot via the screens, but they're still present as it were in my updates. I've gone with a different wall patch texture, as it also gets used on the floor in places -- the newer one makes more sense to me. But, it and the floor texture are actually less worn, darker and have more of a specular gloss to them compared to the other floor and wall textures -- which you can see from some of the shots (not all) depending on the lighting in the area. Honestly though, there were just too many different styles of textures in use in particular for the floor. I know they were trying to go for a certain feel with it, in that the Ebon Hawk is supposed to of seen better days; but, it was just taken a step too far. If I could, I would still make use of the other floor texture with the holes, just in other ways. Actually, would love to switch / replace what textures are used and how for certain things. For example, I really don't like how the new patch floor texture is used at he wrong scale in places and on the wall in one area. I would really like to change the scale and replace that wall tex with something else more appropriate. But I think this is how it is going to be for now.
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Because whoever at Obsidian did the texture work should have realised less is more. And that's my nice answer . Plus, I couldn't get the other texture with the holes to look good and match everything else.
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Final of this set.
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Ebon Hawk internal continued...
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Well, thanks for all the positive comments folks. I've been busy for a while with other things but thought I'd spend some time on the weekend to finish some things for the Ebon Hawk so as to make some before and after screens to show. The ones below are the Ebon Hawk on leaving Peragus -- I'll show the T3 tutorial wrecked version at a later date. BTW: the after screens below have been brightened slightly as to make it more like how the textures appear in-game.
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Harbinger external set... I spent additional time on the Harbinger tex, redoing it as a 2048x2048 texture using some new techniques to add additional detail to it. The ship is so big that the 1024x1024 version was struggling to make do. I think the space backdrop is also 2048x2048 on account of the Ebon Hawk tutorial section where one of the space textures is used at the wrong scale; meant I had to increase the size of others to get it to work which also diminished the brightness of the smaller stars. This then affects the perceived brightness of the screenshots below but it isn't as dark in-game. Anyway, I also redid the Ebon Hawk tex to the larger size to increase detail; the result is shown in the previous screenshots posted. I also created this version of one of the screenshots to use as my notebook's 1366x768 desktop:
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Peragus external...
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@ VarsityPuppet: No the graphics brightness setting is at its default. How the screenshots are shown varies from program to program. For example if I view these screenshots within Windows Photo Viewer, then they are too bright, so much so that the blackness of the space backdrop becomes large discoloured pixels. If I view them via Paint.NET they look as they do as if I am viewing them here. All this via the same desktop yet each program has different color profiles it is using to base how to show the pic on screen. But as I said, it is brighter in game, even with the updated textures altering how the scene is rendered. @ Zhaboka: Things are brighter in game, the screenshots in particular when it comes to space, seems far more darker out of game. Anyway, I just got through updating the asteroid textures and I'm not keen on changing them as it means that I would have to work on them to fit the rest of the textures as Vasilii created his asteroid replacer to work with the vanilla textures. In that context they work well, in my updated textures they may not but rather stick out like a sore thumb. If after a while I decide that the asteroid texture isn't good enough, then I'll try and update using Vasilii's texture instead .
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Peragus hanger final...
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Peragus Hanger continued...
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Peragus hangar area...
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Peragus continued... these are for the miner quarters areas.
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I think I will release it as a proper download release once I've completed a few things: Do Harbinger textures, Complete the few missing textures for Peragus and Telos, Revise Telos texture specular, Probably rework very first textures that were for the Telos restoration zone, All droid enemy textures that appear in these areas, All the placeable object textures that appear in these areas, Maybe all the character textures for those that appear in these areas -- maybe just major characters, Probably rework the UI textures as well, especially some of those mouse cursors. Though, I think I will also be updating various models first as I want to be more thorough with the update. Don't see the point in just updating textures for stuff like weapons where they are so low-poly and base texture so low in quality where I might as well start from scratch. But I'll only do this if I can get permission from people to use their models and textures. Anyway, that would delay things a bit as it might take a while to track down some people I think. But, it should be a size-able portion of the game remastered by that point.
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@ Sith Holocron: I've pretty much done all the textures for Peragus and the Ebon Hawk. There are some bits that I need to get around to doing, one or two textures I need to find first before I can do that though. Though I have not done the inside of the Harbinger yet, I have done the outside of the Peragus mining facility and that includes the Harbinger tex. But, you'll have to wait for me to post it up first .
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@ Hassat Hunter: Not to mention that the file sizes are huge! At least 1024x1024 for all textures; pretty sure one I checked out was using 2048x2048 as default. Think about how "big" those textures are when you factor in that the default for the vanilla game are 256x256. That means that one texture can fit 64 vanilla default textures if 2048x2048,16 if it is 1024x1024, and, 4 if 512x512. I don't think that when these modders (who are probably very inexperienced in their defense) have bothered to do the calculations, especially considering, that the texture files have to be in TGA format to be used in game. Hell, even if you could get them in game as DDS it would still be a large file in way of mbs. And the real kicker of it is, that all that *extra* texture data that is supposed to provide greater "HD" detail in game is pretty much lost as the render can only render so much. If you look at modern games, their standard is usually something like 512x512 in way of dimensions -- if not still 256x256. They get greater *detail* from their textures in-game due to their game's render and newer techniques like normal / parallax mapping. Even without these you would still get better detail from a more modern renderer from the base diffuse texture in-game, especially from post-processing shaders that can sharpen images, provide HDR and bloom effects, along with smoothing jagged edges. Anyway the point of my rant is that the other HD projects I've seen are failing to get the most out of what the renderer can do. My default texture size is 512x512 in that most of my textures are upsized by doubling their dimensions. Any more than that is a case of diminishing returns as you get less and less for more and more memory taken up by these textures. My current max is 1024x1024, but, that's for very large objects like ships where the extra size means more visible detail in game that would be lost on anything smaller.
