Redesigning the Empires art

Discussion in 'Art' started by Redskull, Aug 15, 2014.

  1. Redskull

    Redskull Member

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    The current vehicles use three sets i think, wheels, tracks and body on seperate sheets.
     
  2. f1r3w4rr10r

    f1r3w4rr10r Modeler

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    Yes, they do. But that is more a necessity because of the way the tracks are animated. I was interested if you want to use multiple sets for the tank to increase the texel resolution without having to use the next larger texture resolution.
     
  3. Redskull

    Redskull Member

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    That might be a good idea, perhaps a 1024x1024 texture just for the turret and 2048x2048 for the body?
     
  4. f1r3w4rr10r

    f1r3w4rr10r Modeler

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    Even three 2k textures would still be smaller than one 4k. So just use what gives a good resolution.

    Only thing I don't know is when less texture pixels are outweighed by number of files to open, if you want to look at performance.
     
  5. Candles

    Candles CAPTAIN CANDLES, DUN DUN DUN, DUN DUN DUN DUN.

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    Because everything is precached, the effect of opening more files only happens at map load. There's no effect in the actual game.
     
  6. f1r3w4rr10r

    f1r3w4rr10r Modeler

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    Great. That means you can reduce used memory compared to the next power of two resolution. So go for it, if you can and think it's viable.
     
  7. Redskull

    Redskull Member

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    That's good news, I will probably use two 2048x2048 textures in that case.
     
  8. ViroMan

    ViroMan Black Hole (*sniff*) Bully

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    lmao, for a second I was thinking.. who the fuck made a john shandy tank? Stealth rainbow road tank.
     
  9. complete_

    complete_ lamer

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    that tank looks fun to drive, unlike the current one
     
  10. flasche

    flasche Member Staff Member Moderator

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    two 2048² textures would mean about 4 times the resolution in comparsion to our current med (a single 2048x1024 texture).

    its not that i think its too much for todays gfx, but the tank will stick out like a lit christmas tree in the middle of a new-moon night in empires.
     
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2014
  11. f1r3w4rr10r

    f1r3w4rr10r Modeler

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    Well we have to start somewhere. You think I will make the texture for my pistol that low res as well? ;P
    Oh I wanted to ask: Do you want the .blend file for the pistol to have a look at it?
     
  12. flasche

    flasche Member Staff Member Moderator

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    well yes i guess you can always reduce resolution in photoshop afterwards ...

    (and did you mean me with the pistol? send me whatever .blend you like, looking at other peoples work can be quite enlightening :D )
     
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2014
  13. f1r3w4rr10r

    f1r3w4rr10r Modeler

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    What are you talking about? It's just one parameter in Substance for me. ;P
    But yes, you should always make textures at a higher resolution and then downscale. Just rerender normal maps on their corresponding resolution if you can, because otherwise you can get artifacts.
     
  14. Redskull

    Redskull Member

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    Alright, I've managed to render out normals and AO for the main body so far, here are the results with a cavity map and a grey base-color slapped on:

    [​IMG]
     
  15. ImSpartacus

    ImSpartacus nerf spec plz

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    Oh wow, that grill in the front is sexy as fuck. I couldn't really tease out the details from your previous post, but it's hot.
     
  16. Ikalx

    Ikalx Member

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    That's really awesome dude. I can only say I can't wait to see it in game.
     
  17. f1r3w4rr10r

    f1r3w4rr10r Modeler

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    Looking good so far, just remember that AO and cavity are not meant to be slapped on the diffuse. Technically they are only there to block out ambient light. So the closest you'll probably get in a blinn shader is to mainly putin on the specular, and just a really low opacity on the diffuse.
     
  18. flasche

    flasche Member Staff Member Moderator

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    sure its not meant to be multiplied with the diffuse? thats what everyone does ...
     
  19. f1r3w4rr10r

    f1r3w4rr10r Modeler

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    The thing is that the non-PBR lighting in Source doesn't really use an AO or Cavity texture in that sense. PBR is more accurate and actually uses a separate texture input for AO.
    AO maps in general are not very accurate to most lighting conditions and more closely represent the lighting of a model on an overcast day.
    So just slapping a 100% opacity AO and Cavity on your diffuse is going to make the lighting on the model look pretty weird. It will most likely look more like Warcraft's painted comic look. So my suggestion would be to first multiply the Diffuse with the AO on a pretty low opacity, then do the same with the Cavity. Do the same with the Specular.
    For further reading, here's the article on the Source shader you should use for the model: https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Phong
    I also already wrote a quick step by step tutorial in another thread here: http://forums.empiresmod.com/showthread.php?t=18308
    Materials for Unreal Engine 4: https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Engine/Rendering/Materials/MaterialInputs/index.html
     
  20. RappemongO

    RappemongO Member

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    You can also use them to paint scratches on exposed edges or gathered dirt in corners for the diffuse and spec maps.
     

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