A new year... lets have a plan this time around...
by Andy Wright · 01/02/2011 (1:23 am) · 14 comments
Well, first off happy new year to everyone, hope christmas wasnt as much of a headache for everyone as it was for us lol... we spent 12 hours of christmas eve held hostage in Heathrow terminal 1 with a tired hungry 18 month old... after escaping that though everything was pretty good lol... and already were into the new year... and back to the dayjob on monday too... booo!...
Anyways, this year ive actually set myself some targets, i never usually bother as its normally the cliche stuff like quit smoking, spend less time annoying the missus for the hell of it etc... which are always doomed new years resolutions from the start.
First one is to properly learn mesh based modelling, ive not really touched any modelling in a while now, as all i know is BSP based via Deled/Hammer, and due to being as dense as a rock at times, i just found it a bitch moving from the old school mapping methods into mesh based with milkshape etc, while still working with hammer. I always found myself going back to hammer to do stuff cause i was comfortable with it and knew its limitations. So i took a dive into world design and texturing as a distraction to get away from modelling for a while. and its worked, ive been following some guides this week and honestly... touch wood... it feels like what im practising is actually stayin in my head this time around! brucey bonus...
The second one is to continue with world design, i love it, it all started off just as a distraction, but god am i loving some of the eyecandy you can make with torque. Im now really looking forward to getting back onto a proper game project with brokeass and making some proper living and breathing worlds for people to shoot the livin doodahs outta eachother in!
While mapping, I started making myself my own library of detail maps, then went into giving the whole set normal maps, then going onto displacement maps. which over time ended up turning the whole lot into a 'world creation' kit of sorts. we still have a bit of work to do before it can be released however its still very much at the front of my mind. I have so much stuff i would love to include in with it, its just getting the time with everything else in my life to get it all done lol.
So yeah, basically this is just me, talking alot of codshit and just putting these targets down on paper if you will, to keep my self with it.
anyways, obligatory eye candy. Weve messed around with the terrain source to allow 4096 resolution texture maps on terrains plus a couple other adjustments, all in search of the holy grail that is great detail up close, mid range, and long distance while not being excessive to the point that nobody can run the level at the end of the day lol... and We've now got it running at 90-100 FPS with terrain in view (SSAO,HDR,Bloom,DOF,godrays,5000m view distance) and 60 with a small village of dexsoft desert oasis models in view, and a small mine enterance from Alan's goldrush pack. Looking good for it being a usable method for a game map.
When just the terrain is in view, metrics usually kicking out around 2mil poly's and its rarely over 100 drawcalls with 6 texture layers on the terrain, each with detail and normal/parallax. With gideon that goes upto around 280 (180 for just gideon?!)
The map's laid out off Ari's original newbie starter zone map from Ruin. Once i have all settlements and landmarks laid, i will dive head first into tackling the large flat areas with some micro terrain to break it all up and feel more like a structured zone usually found in mmo's.
Anyways enough rambling... heres the wall of pics...
Anyways, this year ive actually set myself some targets, i never usually bother as its normally the cliche stuff like quit smoking, spend less time annoying the missus for the hell of it etc... which are always doomed new years resolutions from the start.
First one is to properly learn mesh based modelling, ive not really touched any modelling in a while now, as all i know is BSP based via Deled/Hammer, and due to being as dense as a rock at times, i just found it a bitch moving from the old school mapping methods into mesh based with milkshape etc, while still working with hammer. I always found myself going back to hammer to do stuff cause i was comfortable with it and knew its limitations. So i took a dive into world design and texturing as a distraction to get away from modelling for a while. and its worked, ive been following some guides this week and honestly... touch wood... it feels like what im practising is actually stayin in my head this time around! brucey bonus...
The second one is to continue with world design, i love it, it all started off just as a distraction, but god am i loving some of the eyecandy you can make with torque. Im now really looking forward to getting back onto a proper game project with brokeass and making some proper living and breathing worlds for people to shoot the livin doodahs outta eachother in!
While mapping, I started making myself my own library of detail maps, then went into giving the whole set normal maps, then going onto displacement maps. which over time ended up turning the whole lot into a 'world creation' kit of sorts. we still have a bit of work to do before it can be released however its still very much at the front of my mind. I have so much stuff i would love to include in with it, its just getting the time with everything else in my life to get it all done lol.
So yeah, basically this is just me, talking alot of codshit and just putting these targets down on paper if you will, to keep my self with it.
anyways, obligatory eye candy. Weve messed around with the terrain source to allow 4096 resolution texture maps on terrains plus a couple other adjustments, all in search of the holy grail that is great detail up close, mid range, and long distance while not being excessive to the point that nobody can run the level at the end of the day lol... and We've now got it running at 90-100 FPS with terrain in view (SSAO,HDR,Bloom,DOF,godrays,5000m view distance) and 60 with a small village of dexsoft desert oasis models in view, and a small mine enterance from Alan's goldrush pack. Looking good for it being a usable method for a game map.
When just the terrain is in view, metrics usually kicking out around 2mil poly's and its rarely over 100 drawcalls with 6 texture layers on the terrain, each with detail and normal/parallax. With gideon that goes upto around 280 (180 for just gideon?!)
The map's laid out off Ari's original newbie starter zone map from Ruin. Once i have all settlements and landmarks laid, i will dive head first into tackling the large flat areas with some micro terrain to break it all up and feel more like a structured zone usually found in mmo's.
Anyways enough rambling... heres the wall of pics...
#2
01/02/2011 (11:39 am)
Awesome images, Andy! Very nice level design skills. Can't wait for more blogs about all the cool stuff that's cooking at BAG's. :) 
#3
01/02/2011 (3:07 pm)
this looks nice. 
#4
01/03/2011 (1:09 am)
Looks great dude! Consider me on the early adopter kit for the terrain texture pack! Id also be interested in whatever mods you used to support 4k textures. 
#6
The way terrain looks in the distance is something I have spent a while working on so that it looks detailed without any tiling from a standard diffuse map by using a single diffuse over the whole terrain and a modified base so that it uses a 4096 terrain texture instead of a 2048 that stock has.
I havent done much atall this year in all honesty due to my father getting ill, the terrain kit i was working on is still planned however i cant say at the moment when it will get finished.
01/22/2011 (2:07 am)
Thanks Mack.The way terrain looks in the distance is something I have spent a while working on so that it looks detailed without any tiling from a standard diffuse map by using a single diffuse over the whole terrain and a modified base so that it uses a 4096 terrain texture instead of a 2048 that stock has.
I havent done much atall this year in all honesty due to my father getting ill, the terrain kit i was working on is still planned however i cant say at the moment when it will get finished.
#7
02/16/2011 (5:27 am)
Andy what software did you use for that terrain?
#8
02/16/2011 (5:51 am)
Geocontrol 2 for the heightmap and diffuse 
#9
02/27/2011 (6:44 pm)
beautiful landscapes....
#10
Been playing around lately working on methods of getting the nice large scale terrain with some good microterrain so it feels more like a proper playable zone, avoiding the mass flat areas. hopefully will have some screens sorted out soon, getting close to something im happy with
02/28/2011 (8:45 am)
Thanks Maria,Been playing around lately working on methods of getting the nice large scale terrain with some good microterrain so it feels more like a proper playable zone, avoiding the mass flat areas. hopefully will have some screens sorted out soon, getting close to something im happy with
#11
02/28/2011 (5:08 pm)
... in "feeling," it reminds me a bit of georgia o'keeffe landscapes, black hills, red hills... but you have excellent realistic detail!
#12
The aim for the maps in the long run is to come up with stuff comparable to the great rift valley in kenya but a bit more dry and arrid.
however, on a side note, started playing Arcania: Gothic 4 yesterday, and by god that is what a AAA game should look like imo, not the (imo) rushed and overhyped stuff that activision monkeys churn out for the franchise... so been having more of an exploration of the terrains in that to see their techniques.
03/01/2011 (12:54 pm)
well alot of what ive been playing around with is different desert-like styles like the screens above, and learning general techniques on getting more out of my heighmaps.The aim for the maps in the long run is to come up with stuff comparable to the great rift valley in kenya but a bit more dry and arrid.
however, on a side note, started playing Arcania: Gothic 4 yesterday, and by god that is what a AAA game should look like imo, not the (imo) rushed and overhyped stuff that activision monkeys churn out for the franchise... so been having more of an exploration of the terrains in that to see their techniques.
#13
03/02/2011 (7:51 am)
That is very impressive. You are on your way to matching the real valley in detail. One heightmap? Ok, how many textures? Is Arcania based on T3D's engine... also very nice trees.
#14
I use 4096x4096 heightmaps, at 2m per pixel. then i have a 4096x4096 diffuse covering the whole 8192x8192 terrain. then depending on the detailing from the diffuse underneath, I create a new texture layer, with the same diffuse spreading over the whole zone, but with a different detail and normal map tied to it. basically painting down the detail maps where i want while keeping the diffuse intact for the distance views. I'm mostly at a point where i have to find a balance now between sheer scale of things, and filling the areas in between, while balancing the ammount of stuff in the scene, reducing view distance + fog etc.
03/02/2011 (9:20 am)
nah JoWood Studios made Gothic 4, using Trinigy's Vision 8 engine and physX, and personally its one of the best looking games ive seen in a while when it has all the bells and whistles set up on max, rather retardedly though, it seems print screen is disabled and theres no screenshot binding option... bravo...I use 4096x4096 heightmaps, at 2m per pixel. then i have a 4096x4096 diffuse covering the whole 8192x8192 terrain. then depending on the detailing from the diffuse underneath, I create a new texture layer, with the same diffuse spreading over the whole zone, but with a different detail and normal map tied to it. basically painting down the detail maps where i want while keeping the diffuse intact for the distance views. I'm mostly at a point where i have to find a balance now between sheer scale of things, and filling the areas in between, while balancing the ammount of stuff in the scene, reducing view distance + fog etc.
Associate Steve Acaster
[YorkshireRifles.com]
You'll find it reverts to forgetting stuff again after you learn something else new.
Nice pics.