An Update on modeling, OZ, and stuff

[EternalBlack]

Ok, so i know i promised some vid tutorials on creating trees at the very least... however, i am still stuck on getting my mic to work. I am almost ready to simply use another computer for the sound file and then overlay it onto a recorded tutorial. I also am stuck finding a high quality vid capture program that i like... most ive tried (free) have had there issues and have annoyed the crap out of me. Trying to record for more then about 5 min, and the compiler within the programs seems to get angry with me. So, maybe ill break it into 5 minute segments, tho this is quite annoying as i would prefer to make each tutorial a single file.

Beyond the annoyances I have found, I have also started work on creating some fresh zones along with attempting to break down the graphics engine in an attempt to better understand what I can and cannot do with it.

A few things Id like to be able to use:
-Higher res textures then 2048x2048
--Simply because I want higher quality on my terrain and dont want to have to attempt to manually break a high res texture into tiles and then blend the edges... so far this has failed badly.... the terrain has a white edge along the seam.
-I would like to figure out if the engine could support bump mapping
--The entire feel of the game would be enhanced tho as of right now, any object bumpmaped simply compiles as white
-I would like to see if multiple layers of clipping can be applied
--This would mean zones that look closer to the revamp of the commonlands from live including grass and whatnot rather then simply static blades of grass here and there... tho this may be the only option
-I would personally like to see support for the blend based textures instead or in addition to higher resolution support.
--This would make creating quality zones much much faster as well as look much better. Using heightmaps for textureblending would add to realism and could negate necessity for higher res support beyond 2048x2048.
-Normal Mapping
--I know this is a stretch, but if normal maps were supported... well... zones would be in a hole different state then they are... and the size of the files would be tons smaller... instead of needing to increase poly count on pointless things simply to get rid of the (o, thats a box... nice house) feel.

-Texture animation for .s3d or OZ compileing to .eqg formats
--I know its beed said, but texture animation is beyond necessary... unless you like still motion water... that is more like ice... and if eqg was cracked... then even more would be possible.


Ok, enough of my ranting of what I would like to have at my disposal to create zones, and now for a few screen shots of some stuff that was done using the current limitations as well as lower quality low poly trees with lower res textures to enable better seeding and higher volume of trees.








In this photo, you can see the breakdown of the texture at a closer standpoint... the entire zone was given a single 2048x2048 bmp for the ground to enable simple painting of paths and whatnot. The original bmp was generated through baking for the max blended material into a single image... however, the resolution simply is not enough to look even remotely decient... unless u like flying above at about 1000 feet looking down.

All trees are created with the lowest polys needed as well as 512 res textures.

Let me know any input...

Also as a side note, windows 7 x64 does support OZ 8.3... however any newer version crashes upon compile.

[Sakrateri]

Heya, as far as I know it is possible to use several images on one object to make texture animation and have moving water, But the best thing to do is you can use the new water in any zone you want by altering the WaterSwap.ini file located in your Resources\WaterSwap folder.

[EternalBlack]

Thanks for the note about the water. Personally, Id like to be able to get a bit more out of the eq engine seeing as its older and therefore doesnt put as much of a beating on older computers however... As the current project unfolds... our team may be switching to another engine to further our progress.

At the moment however we are content using the eq engine simply because we like the eq feel for now.

[Sakrateri]

What are you and your team trying to accomplish (out of curiosity)?

Are you trying to make a game to sell or something free to play??

Or just a hobby interest to see what you can do together?

[EternalBlack]

Currently we are trying to generate a bunch of free stuff... however, this is a preamble to what we hope to do eventually. For now, free and the eq engine works. I have worked with Torque, Unity, and Panda and they all seem promising however, I am not a coder nor do i really want to learn much in the way of code... id rather stick to modeling and textures. Our team keeps changing... We considered starting from scratch using one of the above mentioned engines however seeing as we do not have alot of people doing code, this would prove to be the break point. To start with for now, we are going to completely scrap the eq build used on servers as of now. Then we are going to start with a 100% custom built zone along with basic quests. A storyline and background are in the works as well. Also, after looking through our library of models, soon we will be generating a large volume of new zones very rapidly seeing as many of the models simply need new textures (objects i mean) as we will not reuse a zone a second time simply retexturing it... (that statement is somewhat incorrect tho i dont want to spoil some of the details... tho it may be too much already).

Rather then remodeling every character model and all mobs within the game... we will stick with what is already there (for now) as this will also increase the speed at which we can begin alpha testing of the new server/zones.

We do however eventually want to see of the .eqg format will be broken down or perhaps enhanced texture support to allow for better quality without breaking the poly count to some rediculous number.

[RichardoX]

We should collaborate. I could share some tips and tricks in your tutorials if you need any input.. I was working on my tutorials until I hit a major roadblock (as my w7 64bit) simply would not work for me. I have my compiler PC ready and I am moving at the moment...

[RichardoX]

Here's an old project I used to work on called "Hazard Adventure VII". It was an alpha name but the idea behind the server was all custom zones and when you spawned, you would select a heroic class which you would play throughout. Each tier (level) you beat, allowed you to progress to a new zone with more events and sieges.. etc...

(Btw, this was in 2007 when I was very newbish with 3ds max)

I used a lot of WoW models.

[RichardoX]

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