Springheel on 19/12/2006 at 16:16
Quote:
Or you can, you know, give the guard a sword AND bow.
Yes, mappers will be able to do that fairly easily. The throwing random objects is obviously only for AI who haven't been given a specific missile weapon.
Re: those bafford images above...just to avoid any confusion, those were made independently by someone without using The Dark Mod at all (which is why you can see the Doom fists). They aren't our textures or models.
demagogue on 22/12/2006 at 04:10
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
I can think of a lot of words to describe the original Thief's graphics. "Shiny" is not one of them.
I think he used the term "shiny" in reference to the Darkmod shots, exactly in the way you're thinking. The Darkmod textures are too shiny, whereas the original look was far from it.
I have noticed the same thing in some Darkmod screenshots. Walls (esp of rock and wood, where you wouldn't expect it) can to look a little like plastic, a little too much reflection, a little too "clean" - e.g., if it's a rock texture, its surface looks like it's been hand-worn or buffed over time -- when what is called for is something much more dulled, rough, chalky, "sooty".
I gather this has something to do with the way reflection is controlled for the textures at issue (their specular map?), and this kind of thing can be fixed by just having better textures and tweaking currently shiny ones later on. It's not like a fundamnetal problem of the engine. I hope so.
edit: Ah, I just saw Springheel's post. I should pay better attention to which screenshots have official material and which ones don't. I still see a tendancy towards some shininess. But anyway, I'm not worried about it in the end for the same reasons.
OrbWeaver on 22/12/2006 at 11:27
Quote Posted by demagogue
I have noticed the same thing in some Darkmod screenshots. Walls (esp of rock and wood, where you wouldn't expect it) can to look a little like plastic, a little too much reflection, a little too "clean" - e.g., if it's a rock texture, its surface looks like it's been hand-worn or buffed over time -- when what is called for is something much more dulled, rough, chalky, "sooty".
There are two separate issues regarding the shininess.
Firstly, some mappers create specular maps for textures which do not require them, such as the aformentioned weathered rock. This is partly due to the texture creation tutorials for Doom 3 which often give the impression that all three maps (diffuse, normal and specular) are mandatory, when in fact textures may require only two or even one.
Secondly, while Doom 3 allows you to control the colour and intensity of the specular highlight, it does not allow you to control the fall-off ("glossiness" or "hardness"). The hardcoded default value gives a metallic/plastic-looking result, whereas for surfaces such as tile a much tighter fall-off is required.
ZylonBane on 22/12/2006 at 15:19
Quote Posted by demagogue
I think he used the term "shiny" in reference to the Darkmod shots, exactly in the way you're thinking.
Yes, I was agreeing with him.
Martin Karne on 22/12/2006 at 20:52
If you're are going to clone old levels, at least use more detail that the originals.
New Horizon on 22/12/2006 at 21:18
Quote Posted by Martin Karne
If you're are going to clone old levels, at least use more detail that the originals.
It was a test by someone applying for Beta Membership, if I remember correctly, and they didn't have access to our tools/ textures. It didn't need to be more detailed...or perfect, as it was a quick and dirty proof of concept to show they could use the D3 Editor. It's not official Dark Mod material, it's a quick mockup...so for heavens sake people, show some restraint when pointing out all these 'terrible' flaws.
Martin Karne on 23/12/2006 at 06:11
Oh that was, better label it as a mapper test / trial.
OrbWeaver on 23/12/2006 at 09:27
Quote Posted by Martin Karne
Oh that was, better label it as a mapper test / trial.
Not sure what you mean -- they are private images made by an individual, not associated with the Dark Mod, and loaded onto ImageShack by that individual. All the "official" Dark Mod images are on the (
http://www.mindplaces.com/darkmod/screenshots.php) screenshots page.
Jashin on 23/12/2006 at 20:25
Not bad for a 1:1 test run.
But yeah, it's way too plain for today's graphical standard. And I wouldn't call that wooden chair a throne.
Still, I can't imagine a fully furbished Bafford. It's going to be different from the original no matter how you slice it. Not a bad thing though, if it's more atmospheric.
Jeshibu on 4/1/2007 at 01:21
(
http://mindplaces.com/darkmod/) New update! Yay!
The new screenshot looks gorgeous, and the coder post gives some good insight on how hard it must be to think of (not to mention implement) everything the AI must be able to do.
I'm not sure I like lights that are switched off to count as evidence of an intruder though. Usually there'll be a lot of people in say, a mansion, who could have turned it off. Fuel-based light sources can also be unreliable and douse themselves by accident or just run out of fuel.
If they become suspicious when they see a light go out right in front of their noses, or an entire wing of the mansion has suddenly gone dark, that's a different matter, of course.
