Melak: Thanks, man. I certainly love making these bad guys.
Talon_UK: Yeah, going for an easily distinguishable difference from the human ships, in shape, orientation, and color. Glad you like the cockpit update!
So the base screen is very close to being done... Here's a test of the "You have this ship selected" effects.
You'd obviously never see all of them selected at once, and there's no guarantee that all the ships will be available every mission. If not, you'd see something very much like this:
And here it is with nothing selected, but all the ships broken out into layers.
Anyhow, hope you enjoy!
Looking very cool, nice selection highlight effects, and am really loving the background when you see it naked of ships. I'd suggest comping a shot will all the ships in, but with just one selected so you can get a truer idea of how the selection process would look, but so far looks good to me.
Okay! So the background plates are definitely finished, as are the individual ship layers and selection effects.
I've also mocked up an example of what the selection screen might look like at game res... http://www.hedfiles.net/SelectTest4.gif <45MB
And now I get to do the fun part - All the bubbles and krill effect overlays!
Thoughts?
Enjoy!
This is looking amazing, Howard. I truly hope that all your work doesn't end up being shelved due to a stalled project like has been the case in the past with some of your excellent work that has deserved to be seen more broadly than in a few art forums on the internet.
I only have two comments - One - on the ship selection screen, it is not immediately obvious that all of the ships in that shot are "docked", as they sit a strange angles. I imagine that's part of the idea of portraying them as "alien" and not a slave to our views on aesthetics, alignment etc - along with the fact that they are probably in a zero-g environment, but it still doesn't "read" that they are docked, ready to fly.
Not sure if that bugs (pardon the pun ) you or not. To my eye, I'd prefer to see them straight, or at least aligned to similar angles to each other. I love the atmosphere going in that shot though. Very alien and very moody and threatening. :cool:
The other comment is on the alien cockpit, which looks amazing but I'm missing your more pronounced "hex" effect from your pic "Acockpit05.png". Your latest version has toned down that fading hex pattern on each side of the cockpit significantly, possibly to the point that it is not immediately identifiable any more. Personally, I really loved the fact that you could immediately figure out that you were sitting behind the "red bits" on the ships because of that effect - it gave a great sense of continuity between the exterior and interiors of the ships.
Comco: Thanks for the awesome feedback, sir! I also hope that this doesn't end up on the cutting room floor... but I have high hopes, since this very ship selection screen has already been hooked up (in a slightly temporary way) in game already! Played it, seen it in motion. That being the case, I have a lot of confidence in this project.
So - I don't think I'm going to change how the aliens are laid out... mostly because I agree with you. To a human eye, this is extremely disorganized, and the orientations of the ships seems very much off. But I like that, since it's an aquatic alien hangar bay, it would be laid out significantly different to anything you or I am familiar with. I will say that the human verison of this screen is going to be much, much more organized and familiar to those of us who've ever seen a picture of a carrier flight deck.
I also completely agree with the cockpit comment, I shall try and bring that strong hex pattern back into the sides, without messing up the viewing angle too much.
So here's the latest in the Alien launch bay, with 3 layers of FX! The first is the looking background bubbles, particulate, caustics and godrays (all compressed to one layer), the second is the near dockingclaws, cables, bubbles and more particulates, and the third is a highly defocused particulates and foggy layer that serves to blend everything nicely together into bloody pea soup.
I also did a test simulating a little bit of camera wobble throughout the sequence...
Looks really beautiful mate, the water effects are spot on, and the parralex scrolling really adds a lot of depth. Interesting that you made the hanger sub aquatic, had the feeling it would be in vacuum with the alien aquatic atmosphere being within the ship and them getting on board through those umbilicals behind the fighters. though thinking about it human ship hangers are mostly filled with atmosphere, so it makes sense. So the alien spacecraft can operate underwater? Cool, that makes sense. Will be interesting to see what system you put in place to keep the fluid atmosphere in place for the hanger entrance out into space, just a standard forcefield, or something more sophisticated?
TALON_UK: Thanks! Yeah, the decision to make the alien hangar also completely underwater...was honestly an easy one for me, for exactly the reason you posted. If it's good enough for the humans, it's good enough for the aliens. I think you'll like what I've got in mind for the alien launch sequence.
Okay, so... between bouts of working on the Hognose, I've tackled a mockup of the main menu for the initial release...
Thoughts?
Oh, they totally light up when you mouse over. They also flash when selected, and look pretty. :P Anyhow, thought it'd be a good idea to get the Options screen up and running as well...
Edit: Here's the old version: http://www.hedfiles.net/optionsmockup01.gif
I dunno... It's certainly holographical, but is it too cluttered?
It definitely was too cluttered and unreadable... here's the new one...
The new options screen looks great, much more readable than the old one. I think that it would be much better if it were statically positioned tho, I can see myself chasing the little check boxes and mis-clicking all the time
Badi_dea: Yes! Thanks, and the menus will only shift underneath the player's cursor...It's a lot like the functionality of the Crysis 2 menus.
And I thought you guys might like a look at the planet images I made for these menus. It's the planet Pellagra, of the Luyten's Star System. It's the main character's homeworld, and one of the first worlds to fall to the aliens. You can see the massive terraforming efforts taking place in Pellagra's oceans...They're starting to look suspiciously like the interiors of the alien ships.
The world is 80% procedurally generated (the coastlines, climates, oceans, and landmasses. The textures that make those areas up are sourced from satellite data. I can stick in a new seed and have a completely different planet in seconds.
Enjoy!
Hey are you gonna support 5.1 sound like creative labs x-fi sound card and better? I have noticed a trend these days from games to not even show what type of sound options are used just volume for sound fx and voices it is really annoying. I still have a logitech z640 5.1 system from waaaaaaaaay back maybe before 2005 and it still works great. Probably better than the new low end 5.1 stuff from logitech. All my older pc games have 5.1 option but only a rare few new ones have it and even then it is not used right.
ochiro76: Yes, as far s I know we're very definitely supporting true 3d surround sound, and all the associated goodies. That options screen is very preliminary - many of those items are imaginary at this point.
So, progress on the Hognose:
I
really like how she's looking. I think I'm going to do the engine fairings next, then the torpedoes, then the main fusalage.
Thoughts, questions, concerns?
Enjoy!
On the menu - the new version looks great, however I would cut down the amount of movement/"spin" on the menu a bit. It looks great but I think it's overdone at the moment. I think something around half the current amount of rotation would be less difficult for the user to interact with and still show off the cool holographic "depth" you've got going on with the menus.
Tovette: Eww. Thanks, but Eeeeew. So the outline was accomplished by clone/referencing the mesh of the fighter, applying a push modifier, and flipping the normals. I then put a animating gradient on that new mesh, using the old uvs - made for a pretty cool effect!
Comco: Thanks, sir. The menu movement in game will eventaully be completely driven by where your cursor is on screen - it wouldn't be rotating on its own. I did the automatic animation in the mockup to show how the thing w8could* rotate, not how it *will*... if that makes sense.
So updates on the Hognose:
Next up are the round bits on the sides, and the torpedoes!
Been away for a while, nice to catch up and see what you've been up to, those options screens look great, and am loving your planetary view work, that is mostly procedural you say? Nice work. Will have to look into how you've done that.
Hognose is coming on nicely too. Nice to come back and see an almost finished piece of work. One crit I would give is that the main body looks a little plain and devoid of detail, are you planning to add something to this area, on the back and the belly of the vessel? I'd suggest maybe some form of exhaust vents on the top and bottom in line with where the missiles are slotted into the hull. Then when these massive weapons are launched you might even have an effect of the exhaust thrust gases from the missiles being vented out through these details in addition to the thrust coming from the missile itself. Might add a nice little detail and a cool additional effect to the weapon launch sequence.
Either way top notch work as ever. Always a joy to check out this thread.
Tovette: So I'm averaging around 300k polys. The Diamondback is 204K, The Hognose is 300K now, and will most likely be at least 100K more when I'm done, and the Cobra was 325K. I'm not doing any work in Zbrush - I've never really gotten into ZBrush... mostly because I actively despise the interface. If I were to do that sort of sculpting, I'd most likely use mudbox - where objects are objects, and the world is 3d. Not 2.5d. :P
Thanks, RoadWarrior!
TALON_UK: Thanks! Glad you like it all... I'd be willing to share the planet stuff, if you want.
The main body of the Hognose is completely unfinished - I'm still detailing out that area - and lo and behold! I did definitely plan on having there be vents behind the torpedoes - I actually just cut in the detail for those last night! I don't know if we can have the launch effect - mostly because I don't think we can have multiple sprite sheets for every torpedo fired...and it would look silly to have the torpedo fire effect and a torpedo launch...and then have the torpedo still there.
Okay, so here's the update!
Still working my way towards the back of the model - still trying to decide if this one will have a rear turret...If it does, that will drastically change how I go about that rear area.
Thoughts?
Enjoy!
1 Crit, the torpedos are too dirty, warheads in general, with the exception of dumb bombs, are usually kept very clean. Plus the contrast would look very cool.
Also I would go with two small Remote turrets in the, one dorsal, one ventral, anything between the engines will have too small of a firing arc, and you would need two then to provide maximized coverage.
Posts
Love the family of bug ships you built, all of them look quite alien
Also liking your latest cockpit view, much better.
Talon_UK: Yeah, going for an easily distinguishable difference from the human ships, in shape, orientation, and color. Glad you like the cockpit update!
So the base screen is very close to being done... Here's a test of the "You have this ship selected" effects.
You'd obviously never see all of them selected at once, and there's no guarantee that all the ships will be available every mission. If not, you'd see something very much like this:
And here it is with nothing selected, but all the ships broken out into layers.
Anyhow, hope you enjoy!
I've also mocked up an example of what the selection screen might look like at game res...
http://www.hedfiles.net/SelectTest4.gif <45MB
And now I get to do the fun part - All the bubbles and krill effect overlays!
Thoughts?
Enjoy!
I only have two comments - One - on the ship selection screen, it is not immediately obvious that all of the ships in that shot are "docked", as they sit a strange angles. I imagine that's part of the idea of portraying them as "alien" and not a slave to our views on aesthetics, alignment etc - along with the fact that they are probably in a zero-g environment, but it still doesn't "read" that they are docked, ready to fly.
Not sure if that bugs (pardon the pun
The other comment is on the alien cockpit, which looks amazing but I'm missing your more pronounced "hex" effect from your pic "Acockpit05.png". Your latest version has toned down that fading hex pattern on each side of the cockpit significantly, possibly to the point that it is not immediately identifiable any more. Personally, I really loved the fact that you could immediately figure out that you were sitting behind the "red bits" on the ships because of that effect - it gave a great sense of continuity between the exterior and interiors of the ships.
So - I don't think I'm going to change how the aliens are laid out... mostly because I agree with you. To a human eye, this is extremely disorganized, and the orientations of the ships seems very much off. But I like that, since it's an aquatic alien hangar bay, it would be laid out significantly different to anything you or I am familiar with. I will say that the human verison of this screen is going to be much, much more organized and familiar to those of us who've ever seen a picture of a carrier flight deck.
I also completely agree with the cockpit comment, I shall try and bring that strong hex pattern back into the sides, without messing up the viewing angle too much.
So here's the latest in the Alien launch bay, with 3 layers of FX! The first is the looking background bubbles, particulate, caustics and godrays (all compressed to one layer), the second is the near dockingclaws, cables, bubbles and more particulates, and the third is a highly defocused particulates and foggy layer that serves to blend everything nicely together into bloody pea soup.
I also did a test simulating a little bit of camera wobble throughout the sequence...
http://www.hedfiles.net/SelectTest9.gif
But I don't really like it.
So, any thoughts?
Enjoy!
either way, excellent work fella.
:thumb:
Okay, so... between bouts of working on the Hognose, I've tackled a mockup of the main menu for the initial release...
Thoughts?
Edit: Here's the old version:
http://www.hedfiles.net/optionsmockup01.gif
I dunno... It's certainly holographical, but is it too cluttered?
It definitely was too cluttered and unreadable... here's the new one...
And I thought you guys might like a look at the planet images I made for these menus.
The world is 80% procedurally generated (the coastlines, climates, oceans, and landmasses. The textures that make those areas up are sourced from satellite data. I can stick in a new seed and have a completely different planet in seconds.
Enjoy!
So, progress on the Hognose:
I
really like how she's looking. I think I'm going to do the engine fairings next, then the torpedoes, then the main fusalage.
Thoughts, questions, concerns?
Enjoy!
What did you use to give the alien ships the outline?
On the menu - the new version looks great, however I would cut down the amount of movement/"spin" on the menu a bit. It looks great but I think it's overdone at the moment. I think something around half the current amount of rotation would be less difficult for the user to interact with and still show off the cool holographic "depth" you've got going on with the menus.
Comco: Thanks, sir. The menu movement in game will eventaully be completely driven by where your cursor is on screen - it wouldn't be rotating on its own. I did the automatic animation in the mockup to show how the thing w8could* rotate, not how it *will*... if that makes sense.
So updates on the Hognose:
Next up are the round bits on the sides, and the torpedoes!
Thoughts? Enjoy!
Excellent work on the screens and the Hognose. Such a cool desing you have there.
Hognose is coming on nicely too. Nice to come back and see an almost finished piece of work. One crit I would give is that the main body looks a little plain and devoid of detail, are you planning to add something to this area, on the back and the belly of the vessel? I'd suggest maybe some form of exhaust vents on the top and bottom in line with where the missiles are slotted into the hull. Then when these massive weapons are launched you might even have an effect of the exhaust thrust gases from the missiles being vented out through these details in addition to the thrust coming from the missile itself. Might add a nice little detail and a cool additional effect to the weapon launch sequence.
Either way top notch work as ever. Always a joy to check out this thread.
Thanks, RoadWarrior!
TALON_UK: Thanks! Glad you like it all... I'd be willing to share the planet stuff, if you want.
The main body of the Hognose is completely unfinished - I'm still detailing out that area - and lo and behold! I did definitely plan on having there be vents behind the torpedoes - I actually just cut in the detail for those last night! I don't know if we can have the launch effect - mostly because I don't think we can have multiple sprite sheets for every torpedo fired...and it would look silly to have the torpedo fire effect and a torpedo launch...and then have the torpedo still there.
Ok true. The interface is designed by someone from bizarro earth but once you get past it, the stuff you can make is crazy awesome.
Still working my way towards the back of the model - still trying to decide if this one will have a rear turret...If it does, that will drastically change how I go about that rear area.
Thoughts?
Enjoy!
Also I would go with two small Remote turrets in the, one dorsal, one ventral, anything between the engines will have too small of a firing arc, and you would need two then to provide maximized coverage.