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Re: [Character] The "Bear Clan" character returns!
Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2013 6:29 am
by Andrige
I love Phoenix-engine's hot-loading of assets, lets just put it that way.
Two hours of finicky drawing on the palette-map, I've gotten the character to be highly customizable in how it looks. It has three palette patterns: stripe going from muzzle down to belly, then the area which isn't the stripe pattern, then an additional layer that is put on top of both previous ones that lets you darken the legs/hands and the ridge along the back.
It is by default set to gray (the color on the diffuse map isn't exactly needed any more) so I'll have to look into at least creating a default color.
Re: [Character] The "Bear Clan" character returns!
Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2013 8:33 am
by akazi
Sweet.
Re: [Character] The "Bear Clan" character returns!
Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2013 11:21 am
by last
I hope that you make a good palette map so that different color areas will blend nice with each other. (don't make sharp edges unless needed)
Re: [Character] The "Bear Clan" character returns!
Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2013 12:48 pm
by Andrige
last wrote:I hope that you make a good palette map so that different color areas will blend nice with each other. (don't make sharp edges unless needed)
Aye, I have added fur-fringes to the areas, but I'll be sure to look at it closely.
Re: [Character] The "Bear Clan" character returns!
Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2013 2:36 pm
by Andrige
I am having some issues with LoD (level of detail) reducing the poly count of the model when not far away from the camera at all. Since I had to adjust the camera to be higher up and farther away to make the character more playable, it is just in that LoD range so it pops between low and high detail all the time.
Any ideas on how to fix it? Or is it hard coded into the engine itself?
Re: [Character] The "Bear Clan" character returns!
Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2013 4:49 pm
by akazi
Very nice. I also noticed the LOD problem with the wolf, unfortunately I do not know if it's hard coded or not.
Re: [Character] The "Bear Clan" character returns!
Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2013 10:05 pm
by Andrige
akazi wrote:Very nice. I also noticed the LOD problem with the wolf, unfortunately I do not know if it's hard coded or not.
Ouch, that's bad. I'll take a look at the code and see if it's specified anywhere, otherwise I'll see if David would want to share with us how it could be fixed. It's going to be a problem in the long run for modders me thinks.
Re: [Character] The "Bear Clan" character returns!
Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 12:18 am
by Thomason1005
It looks awesumn, the scars are just badass, wait its body paint?
Re: [Character] The "Bear Clan" character returns!
Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 1:20 am
by Endoperez
Andrige wrote:akazi wrote:Very nice. I also noticed the LOD problem with the wolf, unfortunately I do not know if it's hard coded or not.
Ouch, that's bad. I'll take a look at the code and see if it's specified anywhere, otherwise I'll see if David would want to share with us how it could be fixed. It's going to be a problem in the long run for modders me thinks.
Since it's also a problem with the wolf, yeah, I think this is going to be fixed. The problem might also affect the floating camera of the dialogue editor.
Re: [Character] The "Bear Clan" character returns!
Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 2:23 am
by Andrige
Thomason1005 wrote:It looks awesumn, the scars are just badass, wait its body paint?
Yeah, preferably they'd be white paint, but that's not possible since the palette map is applied multiplicative. It's just the first pass though, I'm sure alternative fur pattern is of better use.
Endoperez wrote:Andrige wrote:akazi wrote:Very nice. I also noticed the LOD problem with the wolf, unfortunately I do not know if it's hard coded or not.
Ouch, that's bad. I'll take a look at the code and see if it's specified anywhere, otherwise I'll see if David would want to share with us how it could be fixed. It's going to be a problem in the long run for modders me thinks.
Since it's also a problem with the wolf, yeah, I think this is going to be fixed. The problem might also affect the floating camera of the dialogue editor.
Alright. If I can't fix it, it's bug report time. :p
Re: [Character] The "Bear Clan" character returns!
Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 10:36 am
by Andrige
Refining the palette and diffuse map even more. I also found the part of the character's script that handles the random coloring, and I took some time creating new suitable palettes for the bear.
Still no solution on the LoD though (see previous post). I sent the question over Twitter to Wolfire but no answer yet.
Re: [Character] The "Bear Clan" character returns!
Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 2:36 pm
by RagdollZombie
Looks amazing!

Re: [Character] The "Bear Clan" character returns!
Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 3:46 pm
by Andrige
RagdollZombie wrote:Looks amazing!

Thanks! It shouldn't be far from release to let everyone try it out, and then I'll just patch in more animations when I feel like it. So stay tuned.
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I've spent so much time now fixing the palette, but now it is finally done. It's done in the sense that I won't make more work on it before release, but there might of course be more to do later.
I've also removed the body paint in favor of eye colour randomization.
P.S. Did anyone like the body paint? I'm uncertain myself, that's why I removed it.

- 2013-11-26 00_32_58-Overgrowth.png (119.24 KiB) Viewed 5046 times
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I also got word from David about the LoD. A fix will be added into the next update that adds a scale variable (since he's messing around with character/joint scaling) that at the same time also adjust the LoD threshold.
Re: [Character] The "Bear Clan" character returns!
Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 4:11 pm
by akazi
Andrige wrote:
P.S. Did anyone like the body paint? I'm uncertain myself, that's why I removed it.
Not really to be honest. The eyes are a lot more mesmerizing.
I also got word from David about the LoD. A fix will be added into the next update that adds a scale variable (since he's messing around with character/joint scaling) that at the same time also adjust the LoD threshold.

Re: [Character] The "Bear Clan" character returns!
Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 10:26 pm
by Thomason1005
Id rather go with the body paint, as the eyecolor is only notable in dialogues... Maybe a variation with two fur colors and 2 body paint layers?