Draco - Saturday, 10 January 2009

[Draconisaurus]

Name: Draco Astreus
Position: Team Leader, 3D modeller, event scripter, sound design, level design, texture design, every other frakin thing
Occupation: Aspiring Game Designer, Restaurant Front Worker, Wandering Wizard
Age: 21
Listening to: The Crash - Bloom 06


Okay listen up I'm not going to go into lots of detail here other than restating that work's been progressing well with the split-up levels, if a bit slowly (due to other factors). From now on you'll probably be seeing screenshots where parts of the finished environment are not to be seen because they're not in that particular splinter level.. so don't get scared if you see big open spaces in the background. K let's go.



That's all for now, have fun and keep modding...

[TheGuy]

Bloody hell!

That gass station is good, looks professional. And the waterfall has come along VERY well O_O... the helicopter is on FIRE!? *dies*

[Draconisaurus]

Hehe, Thanks This use water is of course thanks to you though I did make some new objects for varying stretch of the texture, which affects apparent speed and is important to factor in when needing different widths of water flow.

[Shadow Wolf]

HOLY CRAP DRAC no wonder 'DS has been so long in coming, the helicopter... just, words fail me man...

[Nick3069]

NICE!!!
So, let me get this straight, JPDS1 will be split in separate levels and JPDS2 and JPDS3 will be on an other custom engine?

[Draconisaurus]

Glad people are enjoying this peak..

So, let me get this straight, JPDS1 will be split in separate levels and JPDS2 and JPDS3 will be on an other custom engine?

No and kind of. JPDS1's been downscaled considerably to remove the entire Embryonics Administration. It's not that big of an area removal but it was to be quite thick with content. The final state of JPDS1 is being split up into several sublevels only for the purpose of working on the level and all will be recombined for the final product. Splitting them up aids in focusing what's worked on, faster loading times in all apps, and distribution of work (when I can manage it..) to other members, so they can work on one part while I continue to hack away at another.

JPDS1, 2, AND 3 are planned to be made for this new engine we're starting up after our Trespasser endeavors. This means that the first level will be reimagined for the new engine and the other two will get their shot at creation. Some redefining of the 1/2/3 progression will probably take place too, but yeah, the second version of JPDS1 will be altered in some fundemental ways - JPDS was originally started with many ideas in mind that were in place only because of the engine being used. The Plains, for example, were put in because they were not in the original game and we all wanted to see it.. and the Hunters storyline was carried into JPDS1 because there's ample material for it in the original content and the Camp was never seen in the original game. There probably won't be any mention of the hunters in the next engine, as it's not essential to the central DS plot and was only going to be a subplot of DS1.

[machf]

The waterfall looks artificial... I mean the surrounding terrain looks like cement. Is it supposed to be?
Some things remind me of some places in the Pens level...
And damn, I never got to finish plan D (or was it Plan E?):

RangerCopter.jpg (25.93 KiB) Viewed 20397 times

VisitorCopter.jpg (26.98 KiB) Viewed 20398 times

I was going to release those for Trespasser's 10th anniversary instead, as the earlier plans (A, B, C) weren't ggoing to be ready... I had converted and split them, only needed to add some physics objects to them, but then I started work and forgot about them completely. Drac's picture just reminded me of them...

[Draconisaurus]

The waterfall looks artificial... I mean the surrounding terrain looks like cement. Is it supposed to be?

Hmmm.... well no it's not supposed to be cement. It's not an easy thing to set up - the terrain was not allowed to be detailed enough (due to overall limits) do sculpt the sides of the stream in terrain, so for some time I've known that I would have to do it using rock objects (I *suppose* I could try turning it all into grass but I believe it might become more obvious that way).

Some things remind me of some places in the Pens level...

Of course.. No I really wouldn't be surprised, seeing some of the things I cobbled together from retail elements.

I was going to release those for Trespasser's 10th anniversary instead, as the earlier plans (A, B, C) weren't ggoing to be ready... I had converted and split them, only needed to add some physics objects to them, but then I started work and forgot about them completely. Drac's picture just reminded me of them...

Ah, heh cool. Remember that you'd also need to double up the blade objects, as they are one-sided, not to mention some empty mesh space inside those doors. For the JPDS1 edition, I actually had to make non-moving blades and then frak them up.. luckily there was already a bit of unused texture on the main bitmap for this.
But yes, the InGen heli you see there is a heavily damaged version of the JPOG heli, for those who didn't immediately recognize it. It was actually pretty fun and required some creative thinking.. and saved buttloads of time.

[Shadow Wolf]

The waterfall looks artificial... I mean the surrounding terrain looks like cement. Is it supposed to be?

But yes, the InGen heli you see there is a heavily damaged version of the JPOG heli, for those who didn't immediately recognize it. It was actually pretty fun and required some creative thinking.. and saved buttloads of time.

i was thinking it might save arseloads of trouble if you did make it artificial like the one in JP the novel... also do you remember a discussion we had about the chopper a while back?

[Draconisaurus]

Hmmm no I don't, and what do you mean by artificial?

[Shadow Wolf]

Hmmm no I don't, and what do you mean by artificial?

the bands of rock seem too narrow... (I'll tell you about the chopper in IM)

EDIT: Machf, do you have any plans for that chopper?

[Draconisaurus]

Ohhhh the rock. Hmm.. *sigh* I think I'll just try giving them a grass+moss texture instead.. they're def. not artificial, nor are any streams in JPDS that these are supposed to go to.

[machf]

Hmmm no I don't, and what do you mean by artificial?

the bands of rock seem too narrow... (I'll tell you about the chopper in IM)

EDIT: Machf, do you have any plans for that chopper?

I was going to release them for people to use in their levels... the doors are detached, as well as the rotors and landing gear. That was my backup-backup-backup-backup plan for Trespasser's anniversary, and then I completely forgot about it...

The waterfall looks artificial... I mean the surrounding terrain looks like cement. Is it supposed to be?

Hmmm....
well no it's not supposed to be cement. It's not an easy thing to set
up - the terrain was not allowed to be detailed enough (due to overall
limits) do sculpt the sides of the stream in terrain, so for some time
I've known that I would have to do it using rock objects (I *suppose* I
could try turning it all into grass but I believe it might become more
obvious that way).

Not grass, but dirt/mud. This way it looks like an artificial stream, rather...

Some things remind me of some places in the Pens level...

Of course.. No I really wouldn't be surprised, seeing some of the things I cobbled together from retail elements.

Trees, mostly.

I
was going to release those for Trespasser's 10th anniversary instead,
as the earlier plans (A, B, C) weren't ggoing to be ready... I had
converted and split them, only needed to add some physics objects to
them, but then I started work and forgot about them completely. Drac's
picture just reminded me of them...

Ah, heh cool. Remember
that you'd also need to double up the blade objects, as they are
one-sided,

Do you think I'm a noob?

not to mention some empty mesh space inside those doors.

Actually, the doors are fine after you detach them correctly.

For
the JPDS1 edition, I actually had to make non-moving blades and then
frak them up..

New blades for the static chopper is something I haven't made (yet). I've considered using textures only, and animating them when needed...

luckily there was already a bit of unused texture on the
main bitmap for this.
But yes, the InGen heli you see there is a
heavily damaged version of the JPOG heli, for those who didn't
immediately recognize it. It was actually pretty fun and required some
creative thinking.. and saved buttloads of time.

It also has more polygons than you'd have thought, doesn't it?

[Draconisaurus]

Not grass, but dirt/mud. This way it looks like an artificial stream, rather...
Well maybe a mud-to-grass transition..

Ah, heh cool. Remember that you'd also need to double up the blade objects, as they are one-sided,

Do you think I'm a noob?

Weeeell, TresCom is "made of n00bs and machf"..

Actually, the doors are fine after you detach them correctly.

Actually I was referring to the interior (ceiling etc.), I know the doors are fine.

It also has more polygons than you'd have thought, doesn't it?

Meh.. I've been familiar with the model for quite a while, despite my not owning JPOG. Its poly level doesn't really surprise me for a game like that; the dinos can be pretty high poly too. And since you get to fly the helis around a lot, it would be classified as a "hero" model, so it should get a decent detail level.
I was quite surprised that there was an interior at all, but then I haven't played the game enough to know what's shown..