Cloning Facility

Creating new content for Trespasser!

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TheIdiot
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Re: Cloning Facility

Post by TheIdiot »

machf wrote: Sounds just like when I decided to use the terrain and assets from the Pens level to make the Fort level... and THAT "small project on the side" eventually grew more complex, too. May I say, "welcome to the club", or is is too early yet? ;)
:lol: Too early I'd say, considering I think Pens holds the longest development time that I know of for a mod in general.
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Re: Cloning Facility

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Re: Cloning Facility

Post by tatu »

Looks like Trespasser, but also do not look like Trespasser. This looks so cool. Imagine the day we get Isla Sorna into a similar state, while not as detailed on the foliage maybe, but when we redo all terrain objects and add small stuff like sea stars etc :D
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Re: Cloning Facility

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tatu wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 6:29 pm Looks like Trespasser, but also do not look like Trespasser. This looks so cool. Imagine the day we get Isla Sorna into a similar state, while not as detailed on the foliage maybe, but when we redo all terrain objects and add small stuff like sea stars etc :D
:D Glad to hear it, thanks. I'm hoping this level establishes how easy (though time-consuming) it is with the superior CE rendering to make a really nice-looking level. And there should be some relatively fresh puzzles coming your way in it as well, plus some hopefully cool fancy AI scripting. I'm not just going for elaborate visuals.
The advantage with doing a smaller level like this is that I can get away with doing excessive detail everywhere, since there aren't going to be that many objects overall (though I'm already at 38000ish, more than a lot of retail levels, at only a quarter the size!). The Isla Sorna Project is so large I would fear decorating even the first half of BE like this without crashing the game! And I could probably do with making better TrnObjs for this level, but I was too lazy when I first started so these will have to stay for now. :P
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Re: Cloning Facility

Post by Rebel »

Very cool, pic, T.I. The level of detail is very impressive. ;)
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Re: Cloning Facility

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Thanks, Rebel! I plan on adding more detail to the beaches if I can find some time as well, and replacing the old TC Isle logs I just lazily re-skinned with higher-poly ones. And of course that boat you made for me in the screenshot still needs some enhancement. :wink:
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Re: Cloning Facility

Post by Draconisaurus »

Looks pretty awesome. Def. dig the atmosphere. Normally don't go for modern graphicalness but those normalmapped rocks are pretty nice to look at.
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Re: Cloning Facility

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Thanks, Drac. The normal maps really help to sell the rocks. Really wish the terrain had normal maps as well since it looks somewhat "meh" with the fancy rocks around, but I've mostly tried to hide that by placing a ton of rocks and bushes to cover some of the uglier terrain. There is a patch of "fake" terrain in the level that uses the rock texture, which looks sooo much better than the non-normal-mapped terrain around it.
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Re: Cloning Facility

Post by spinaxoraptor »

Looking good man. :)
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Re: Cloning Facility

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Just a test screenshot in 4K. I might end up switching back to 2K as my FPS is reduced from 45ish in 2K to 25-30ish in 4K...Trespasser just really wasn't meant for this level of detail at such a high resolution. The menus also look kind of terrible since they're only 640x480, and the HUD is very small, so small in fact that the black letterbox bars I use to hide it are extremely thin this time around. :P
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2K downsized version, for those with smaller screens, or if you don't want to wait for the huge image to download.
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Re: Cloning Facility

Post by Draconisaurus »

Pretty nice. I can't get over the nice ambience in this level. Encouraging to be aware that you've also worked a lot on the AI.
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Re: Cloning Facility

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Draconisaurus wrote: Mon Jun 26, 2023 4:24 pm Pretty nice. I can't get over the nice ambience in this level. Encouraging to be aware that you've also worked a lot on the AI.
Thanks! I am pretty happy with the lighting, I feel like a lot of levels neglect to really utilize the decent lighting/shadowing that Trespasser has. It's a shame we don't have point lights, though, despite it seemingly being something the developers wanted to implement as evidenced by GUIApp.
The AI tricks I've used thusfar have worked out nicely. I still need to do some messing around here and there with the couple of CAnimals I have so far as they're not as good as they could probably be, and I have a couple of tricks I want to implement as well. There won't likely be very many animals in this level, though, as I want to make sure there's good pacing and the level itself is rather small, and realistically I doubt there could even be any surviving medium-sized hypercarnivores alive on an island like this, considering the already-small herbivore population (I considered this in the level's backstory - i.e., I came up with a cheap excuse to have large dinosaurs viable on such a small island despite it being completely unreasonable). I really am trying to be careful that there's not too much walking, not too much fighting. And I think very important is having a goal at all times, like "I see that building over there in the distance, I need to get there, but first I have to follow this path and do this puzzle". Once you reach the goal, you should then be able to immediately have a new goal that you need to work toward - maybe it's going back and solving a puzzle with something new you've achieved, or from the hill top building you've reached you can see a facility in the valley below. That keeps the player moving toward something rather than just wandering around in the wilderness which is a trap a lot of Trespasser levels can fall into, especially the ones that use heavy fog (no offense, JPDS, I still like you too :P ). The fog in this level isn't especially heavy, but objects and terrain obscure things I don't want you to see from far away. :wink:
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Re: Cloning Facility

Post by codemuk3y »

I watched a good video recently about how Breath of the Wild solved the open world problem, might be useful for anyone here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZzcVs8tNfE
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants" Isaac Newton
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Re: Cloning Facility

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codemuk3y wrote: Tue Jun 27, 2023 11:55 pm I watched a good video recently about how Breath of the Wild solved the open world problem, might be useful for anyone here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZzcVs8tNfE
I don't really have a lot to say about Breath of the Wild being as revolutionary as it seems to be regarded as, but I understand why it's seen that way. Nintendo has always done a great job of making their open worlds interesting, the "looping" and interconnected world design of BOTW seems more like the next increment in a process that's been developing further and further since the original Legend of Zelda. Not saying it's bad whatsoever, but I just feel like Nintendo has over the years always been improving upon the same already very good formula. The only overworld in a 3D Zelda game I dislike - having only played the 3D ones post-Link to the Past - is Twilight Princess as it just feels too big with too little to see. It falls into the trap I mentioned of having space soley to have a lot space, rather than to facilitate exploration. Wind Waker has a lot of travelling as well but the fact that you can see other islands on the horizon has always made the trip between them feel shorter to me, because I have a clear goal related to the exploration.

Usually I look at overall world design (for lack of a better term, the "big picture", or I guess you could call it "strategic planning") from a "point A/point B" perspective. I've always felt that in an adventure game such as this one, if you don't have a point B that you need to reach once you reach point A, then the player will feel like they're meandering aimlessly. The trick once you have established the two points is to put obstacles in the way that impede the most certain way forward, because that way when you force the player to diverge from the path between the two points, they aren't just solving a puzzle to proceed into the great unknown, they're solving a puzzle to continue on the way to the goal. You can even notice this sort of philosophy if you read the early Tres walkthrough, although ultimately this sort of thing didn't really make it into the game in many places. The in-between area is where you might have an action sequence, a puzzle, something nice to see, maybe a small off-the-beaten-path bonus. But you should always still be heading for a clear goal.
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Re: Cloning Facility

Post by Draconisaurus »

Thanks! I am pretty happy with the lighting, I feel like a lot of levels neglect to really utilize the decent lighting/shadowing that Trespasser has. It's a shame we don't have point lights, though, despite it seemingly being something the developers wanted to implement as evidenced by GUIApp.
I do still wish the GUIApp lighting options dream had come about. We have the source code for GUIApp right? I suppose it's always possible some day someone will figure out how to implement it.
Goal-oriented
Still think this is a great contribution of yours to Trespasser. It really does make sense. Hmmm how well does TC Isle live up to this in your eyes?
You can even notice this sort of philosophy if you read the early Tres walkthrough, although ultimately this sort of thing didn't really make it into the game in many places. The in-between area is where you might have an action sequence, a puzzle, something nice to see, maybe a small off-the-beaten-path bonus. But you should always still be heading for a clear goal.
Hmmmm. I am thinking of IJ1 as I read this. Retail IJ1 is pretty much an exploration path with no clear goes visible. However, if you look at early builds, you see there were a number of puzzles set up, if a bit unfinished. Construction debris and fallen palms were meant to be used for puzzles to proceed, where you wouldn't just be walking and taking out Dinosaurs. Thankfully Tatu's Isla Sorna mod restores a bit of this.
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