KotOR II High-Res Icon Suite

[DarthParametric 3,785]

They don't, they use TPC natively. Although functionally, it's pretty much the same as any other RGBA format. I'm not even sure why Odyssey reads TGAs. It must be some holdover from Aurora.

[Nomnisang 23]

 

Experimenting with GUI element's and .tga gradient masks. 

 

 

Also, experimenting with layout.

[milestails 264]

Most impressive! Keep at it!

 

BTW: Your screenshots are the best screenshots I've seen in some time.

[Kexikus 995]

Looking good again, but on your first screenshot, the outlines of the arrows are too thick for my taste. I think it'd look better if those were a bit smaller

[Jorak Uln 458]

I'll keep experimenting and see what works.

 

Finally started messing around with alpha masks in .tga's.  I've never needed to use this kind of format before.  I tried dropping PNGs into the override folder, and of course the game didn't use them.

 

 

So I did a quick mockup.  At this point, I'm really glad I keep my original documents, because if I had to remove those individual pixels by hand I'd give up now.  Truly, though, I'm happy with the results.  These critical strike icons are at 256x256.  I still think that 128 scales better, but that's just me.

 

Also; to whoever it was at Bioware who decided that icons should use Targa's:  Why?!?

You removed the black background by hand??! With the right tools it should be a matter of seconds, not hours...

 

Honestly, dont bother with it - if its too much of a hassle to remove it  per hand, then just work on the mod like before and release it with black borders. 

Some guys can make it transparent after release - or me, although im not sure if i find the time.

[Nomnisang 23]

That was a quick and dirty edit of the original resolution. I have the original docs saved. Those white pixels are artifacts from editing the 128x128 targa files. Doing the same exact mask at ahigher resoltion and scaling it down to an appropriate size eliminates those artifacts. If you check out my level up icons, those have gradient masks and com out much more interesting.

 

Honestly, though, if I did want to edit the teargas, I would just need to drop in a black background before masking.

 

What's cool about this project is all the little workflow problems I'm learning to solve. I'm actually more excited about what I'm learning than about replicating the icons.

 

At this point, I'm feeling comfortable working on the GUI.

[Jorak Uln 458]

Its good to see the progress  - i especially like the layout experiments of the gui - for example you could also try  to change the portraits to be in the middle and only the heads displayed (like Mass Effect) -

but one thing i would like to see are some glowing edges & glossy effects - these would make the textures look recently:

(im not working with PSD so i dont know the really good tutorials but sth like this:)

 

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/glossy-emblem-text-effects-photoshop_tutorials/ 

[Nomnisang 23]

Its good to see the progress  - i especially like the layout experiments of the gui - for example you could also try  to change the portraits to be in the middle and only the heads displayed (like Mass Effect) -

but one thing i would like to see are some glowing edges & glossy effects - these would make the textures look recently:

(im not working with PSD so i don't know the really good tutorials but something like this:)

I actually love the idea of doing Mass Effect style character transparencies.  What I could also do is have a fog transparency of red or blue depending on their light or dark side level.  If anyone has some high resolution icons for the party members, I'd love to sample them.  Failing that, if anybody knows of a good green screen texture pack, I could drop that into Telos or something and start getting high res shots myself.

 

One thing to note on the Character Portrait Layouts:  I cheated to get the level up icon in the corner.  I didn't change the code or anything.  I simply took my icon and moved it to the corner of my image, rather than centered.  So you have a 256x icon in the top left corner of a 1024x image that's masked off.  I have no idea how I would move character portraits to the center, or move the health bar, etc.  I don't have any coding experience. My experience is limited to editing values in plugins and managing permissions for a Minecraft server back in 2011.  If someone can point me towards a Gui tutorial, I might be able to get started...

 

i should also look into the layout for the buff and negative status arrows, and see about moving those to the side, or to a lower corner.

 

As for glossy: I'm fully capable of doing something like that, but glossy tends to scream early iPhone to me.  I'd much rather keep the UI matte with light gradients.  Still, I'd like to start taking on the menu tab icons, as well as the equip screen icons.  I might start experimenting in the not too distant future.

 

With regard to the menu icons:  Has anyone else ever been bothered by the options and settings tab having a hammer as it's icon?  In most games, it's usually a wrench or a gear, but those are used for skills and feats.  If you were to make KOTOR today, what kind of icon would you make it?

 

What it'd really like to do are some more physical health and force points bars.  I'm love to design them to look like tubes with water flowing through them, with bubbles floating to the top.  Unfortunately, I'm really not sure how the life bars work, currently.  The assets I've looked at thus far have just been lightly covered edge caps for the character portraits.

[Kainzorus Prime 205]

I'm clearly seeing some white pixels where the transparency wasn't completely applied over the removed black background. It should be remedied.

[Nomnisang 23]

I'm clearly seeing some white pixels where the transparency wasn't completely applied over the removed black background. It should be remedied.

 

That was a quick and dirty edit of the original resolution. I have the original docs saved. Those white pixels are artifacts from editing the 128x128 targa files. Doing the same exact mask at ahigher resoltion and scaling it down to an appropriate size eliminates those artifacts. If you check out my level up icons, those have gradient masks and com out much more interesting.

 

Already figured out how to take care of it.  The next status update will account for artifacts.

[Nomnisang 23]

 

I've run into a snag with the portrait transparencies.  While messing around, I found that there is a layer behind it.  I'm diggin' through KotOR tool to see if I can find the actual layer and mask it, but so far, the last two Sage green files that I've masked haven't been the file.  I'm sincerely hoping that this isn't something with a sage green overlay over it.

 

By the way, the mandalore image is a quick and dirty edit I made to help me find problems like these.  I plan to either find much higher resolution images to sample from or to swap a green screen texture into a level and start snapping some of these.

[Kainzorus Prime 205]

Portraits were never meant to be transparent, actually. So there's little wonder the green background shows up there.

[VarsityPuppet 1,085]

 

I've run into a snag with the portrait transparencies.  While messing around, I found that there is a layer behind it.  I'm diggin' through KotOR tool to see if I can find the actual layer and mask it, but so far, the last two Sage green files that I've masked haven't been the file.  I'm sincerely hoping that this isn't something with a sage green overlay over it.

 

By the way, the mandalore image is a quick and dirty edit I made to help me find problems like these.  I plan to either find much higher resolution images to sample from or to swap a green screen texture into a level and start snapping some of these.

Personally, I would not worry about the transparent portraits. As cool as it would be, I think getting the HD icons in play first would be better.

[Nomnisang 23]

Agreed.  But I did learn a few things from messing with that.

[L0ki194 82]

Oh wow, that looks really good. Even though it's a subtle change, it still makes a very big impact I find. Keep up the good work!

[Malkior 476]

Definitely noticeable compared to the power blast and grenade icons in your pic. Excellent work!

[Nomnisang 23]

Conditioning.  I'm going to use what I've learned making this icon to improve the heal icon in the future.  This silhouette will also be used for other similar icons as this project moves forward.

 

 

As for the future of this project:  I think that it's time that I start zeroing in on releasing some of these to the community.  The plan from here on is to work on the icons that appear on the combat screen, rather than the menus.  That means the attack icons, blaster icons and sword/saber attack icons.  That also includes Attack force powers like push, wave, destroy droid and the like, as well as buff powers.

 

I'm sure that I'm forgetting some essential icons, but I'd like prepare to release what I'm calling Suite One.  If anyone can think of a category that needs to be released with the first Suite, let me know, and I'll work to include it.

[VarsityPuppet 1,085]

//Abridged

So all attack-based icons, All Force Powers? I feel like there are only a few force powers that don't show up in the combat screen. Might it be worth just finishing off the Force powers?

 

Ultimately it's your call.

[Nomnisang 23]

So all attack-based icons, All Force Powers? I feel like there are only a few force powers that don't show up in the combat screen. Might it be worth just finishing off the Force powers?

 

Ultimately it's your call.

There's just under 90, so it's fewer than the feats.  Those also include power trees, and a bunch of them are assets with an arrow added.  That said, I should probably sit down and figure out how many of these I have left to produce.

 

 

I've just finished designing Wound, but I feel like I need to rework the colors.  Ultimately, I'm happy with the design.  I think the silhouette I've designed is perfect for what I need.

[Kexikus 995]

I'd probably make two packs, one including all force powers and one including all feats. And maybe make a 0.1 version of the latter including only those feats used in combat, so that everything on screen looks good when using this with the force power pack. And then there would be a third pack including everything else that's not part of the first two^^

But in the end it's your call of course.

 

And also, great job on everything you've shown lately

[134340Goat 116]

Sorry to necro, but is this mod still going? Looks very promising, especially if it can work for both games

[Kexikus 995]

Nomnisang hasn't been online for about 1.5 months, so I fear the worst. But I also really hope that the situation is only temporary and he'll return at some point

[Sith Holocron 2,479]

Feel free to PM authors for updates instead of doing a thread necro.

[Nomnisang 23]

Hi, woah!  Sorry for the delay.  The short story is I was in process to get promoted at my job, so I worked my butt off and got it.  Since then, my work load has increased, so I haven't made time for side projects.

 

What does this mean for the project:

In the last several months, I've spent most of my photoshop time screwing around.  I have kept the project in the back of my mind, and plan to continue.  While my professional life will continue to be busy through the holidays, my off-time will be getting more consistent.

 

For anyone who is curious, here's a list of the current icon set that I plan to produce.  Everything highlighted in green has a completed design.

If anyone has an opinion on icons that should be added or removed from this list, please let me know.  These are all icons that end up on the main gameplay screen, and include powers that I expect players to use the most.

 

I'd like to start making more dramatic updates in the future, meaning I don't plan to post each icon as I complete it.  Expect posts in the future to include multiple skill trees or mile stones. 

[Sith Holocron 2,479]

Italics added.
 

The short story is I was in process to get promoted at my job, so I worked my butt off and got it.

Just in case folks missed this part of his update: Congratulations on your promotion!