...And the sun shines again!!
by Koushik · 06/16/2008 (8:15 am) · 8 comments
Ok, I'm rewriting this blog for the second time... and boy, is it loaded with news.
A small apology from my end. I had promised a lot of stuff to a lot of people and all of a sudden I was absconding. I've had a disastrous past month or so. First, I was plagued by the death of a very close family member. I was in depression for a while, and didn't feel like doing anything at all. Luckily, as a blessing in disguise, I broke my leg a week after that which got me bed-ridden for a couple of weeks. It was a time of deep thought and contemplation for me, and as they say, life must go on....
Getting back to where I've left off... The TGE normal-mapping code is up for grabs now. I'd really like to thank Ari and Jon of BrokeAss Games for testing it out first. You can find the resource here. Let me know if you have any problems.
Now, back to more shiny stuff (that's why you're still reading right?)
I thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce the two projects Ive been working on.
Project: Top Secret
Project: Top Secret is a community-designed game. There's a developer contest on for dev teams to make the game based on the community design - its a little far-fetched, but I've been prodding along for a while now. Initially, there were 14 teams registered, now there are only 3 left, unless the others are hard at work in area 51, which is a little unlikely, even by my standards... ;)
For this project, I've been working on getting a distintive art-style, predominantly shader-driven. Ok, enough ranting, check these:
This one uses some effects from a new post-processing framework I've been working on. The lighting is a new technique that I've tweaked to get working, and is based on a spherical harmonic basis - a similar lighting equation is used in TF2 and a modified version is used in HL2, I believe.
Flat Tryals : Unleashed
This is my game - my dream game of sorts. Its intended to be a remake of FLAT Tryals, which was the first "complete" 3D game demo I ever wrote, hence it has a sentimental significance. In fact, FLAT Tryals won me a copy of TGE at a gamedev contest less-than-a-year ago, and thats why I'm part of the TGE community, and THAT is also why you're reading this! :P
I wanted to take the original game to the next level - you know make it real fancy looking... The game is a total spoof of everything, including itself... ;) and is meant to be one hilarious experience! Let's hope it works out as expected...
Shiny?
Anyway, there's no real shiny"ness" this time, except for the next two pictures. Like I mentioned, I've gotten a new post-processing framework in place, and here's a sneak peak of a WIP depth-of-field effect... Enjoy!
Now, back to my scientific visualization routines - get that xray-imaging-simulator-volume-renderer wrangled out!
A small apology from my end. I had promised a lot of stuff to a lot of people and all of a sudden I was absconding. I've had a disastrous past month or so. First, I was plagued by the death of a very close family member. I was in depression for a while, and didn't feel like doing anything at all. Luckily, as a blessing in disguise, I broke my leg a week after that which got me bed-ridden for a couple of weeks. It was a time of deep thought and contemplation for me, and as they say, life must go on....
Getting back to where I've left off... The TGE normal-mapping code is up for grabs now. I'd really like to thank Ari and Jon of BrokeAss Games for testing it out first. You can find the resource here. Let me know if you have any problems.
Now, back to more shiny stuff (that's why you're still reading right?)
I thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce the two projects Ive been working on.
Project: Top Secret
Project: Top Secret is a community-designed game. There's a developer contest on for dev teams to make the game based on the community design - its a little far-fetched, but I've been prodding along for a while now. Initially, there were 14 teams registered, now there are only 3 left, unless the others are hard at work in area 51, which is a little unlikely, even by my standards... ;)
For this project, I've been working on getting a distintive art-style, predominantly shader-driven. Ok, enough ranting, check these:
This one uses some effects from a new post-processing framework I've been working on. The lighting is a new technique that I've tweaked to get working, and is based on a spherical harmonic basis - a similar lighting equation is used in TF2 and a modified version is used in HL2, I believe.
Flat Tryals : Unleashed
This is my game - my dream game of sorts. Its intended to be a remake of FLAT Tryals, which was the first "complete" 3D game demo I ever wrote, hence it has a sentimental significance. In fact, FLAT Tryals won me a copy of TGE at a gamedev contest less-than-a-year ago, and thats why I'm part of the TGE community, and THAT is also why you're reading this! :P
I wanted to take the original game to the next level - you know make it real fancy looking... The game is a total spoof of everything, including itself... ;) and is meant to be one hilarious experience! Let's hope it works out as expected...
Shiny?
Anyway, there's no real shiny"ness" this time, except for the next two pictures. Like I mentioned, I've gotten a new post-processing framework in place, and here's a sneak peak of a WIP depth-of-field effect... Enjoy!
Now, back to my scientific visualization routines - get that xray-imaging-simulator-volume-renderer wrangled out!
About the author
Recent Blogs
• TGE Shader Pack• Shaders galore!
• Major announcements!
• TGE normal mapping
• TGE fur-rendering!
#2
06/16/2008 (11:49 am)
The depth-of-field is looking great. One of the little things that makes a big difference. :) 
#3
06/16/2008 (5:55 pm)
Great character model, but... the skin texture seems rather blurry. I hope it's a placeholder... =)
#4
I don't know if it is the model or the shader but the character of P:TS looks too much smoothed out. The details such as the belt, cape, knee-patches looks blended into the character, a bit weird.
Curious to see more of your work, good luck in your life.
06/17/2008 (12:01 am)
The DoF seems to be a very realistic effect but how does your eyes feel after a long duration of game play? Is it more relaxing than the classic rendering?I don't know if it is the model or the shader but the character of P:TS looks too much smoothed out. The details such as the belt, cape, knee-patches looks blended into the character, a bit weird.
Curious to see more of your work, good luck in your life.
#5
I haven't tried the DoF in a full-game, so to speak, but yeah, it makes the entire scene a whole lot more realistic... add in some lighting and a few sparkling effects, and lo! you want to wait and see the screenshot ;)
The textures on the P:TS model were a little smoothed out. I was hoping to get some cartoony feel without using normal-maps, but looks like I'm going to have to alter the textures a bit.
06/17/2008 (5:55 am)
The pics I uploaded are compressed JPG, so there's a loss in quality - the BMPs were too large for my puny internet connection to handle :(I haven't tried the DoF in a full-game, so to speak, but yeah, it makes the entire scene a whole lot more realistic... add in some lighting and a few sparkling effects, and lo! you want to wait and see the screenshot ;)
The textures on the P:TS model were a little smoothed out. I was hoping to get some cartoony feel without using normal-maps, but looks like I'm going to have to alter the textures a bit.
#6
I'm also wondering what ut would look like in a RTS like kind of view.
Could you provide a screenshot?
06/17/2008 (11:18 am)
and what about performance?I'm also wondering what ut would look like in a RTS like kind of view.
Could you provide a screenshot?
#7
I could get some shots from the torque fps demo using the free-roam camera. That might show you what it looks like in an isometric-ish environment.
08/04/2008 (11:05 pm)
There isn't much of a framerate drop. There is basically one render-to-texture and another full-screen quad render pass. I didn't have very significant frame rate drops on my GeForce 6200FX.I could get some shots from the torque fps demo using the free-roam camera. That might show you what it looks like in an isometric-ish environment.
#8
One screenshot would be appreciated, that would be very kind. 8-)
08/04/2008 (11:41 pm)
@Koushik: thanks for the reply.One screenshot would be appreciated, that would be very kind. 8-)
Torque Owner Stephan - viKKing - Bondier
Sorry to read about your real life problems. I wish you all the best for the future.