Update #61: In-game Art

[Tuckey]

Probably better characters stand out from there environment so that they don't get lost in the background details. Characters are just as I wanted them btw.

Edited August 7, 2013 by Tuckey

[Godwin]

This is exactly what I wanted the game to look like. Well in Obsidian lads and ladies!

[Draxyle]

That looks like a genuine infinity engine game as far as I'm concerned.

[StrangeCat]

I think it looks really good.  Needs VFX though and your characters need some work.  They don't really stand out I think you will need to maybe go wild with color or something with NPC's as part of the party, there is just something missing that gives them a real individuality.   Over all you guys are heading in the right direction for a Baldur's Gate 2 style experience.

 

Good Job!

 

 

[J.E. Sawyer]

All of the cloth parts on the party members (and the enemies, actually) have tint maps applied so you can go buck wild with colors if you'd like.  E.g. the character at the center of the party in red brigandine.  We initially set him up with mustard yellow brigandine and purple pants.  He certainly stood out, but looked pretty garish.

 

Ultimately, those color choices are all up to you.  Companions will come with defaults that we think look good, but if you want to alter their primary/secondary colors, you can.  We're trying to always leave cloth areas on the arms and legs (at least) to use the primary/secondary color channels.

[WDeranged]

Beautiful screenshot, exactly what I've always imagined an updated Infinity Engine game should look like 

[J.E. Sawyer]

Oh, one other thing: everyone in that screenshot is a human or elf.  We have orlans, aumaua, dwarves and (soon) godlike models as well.  Since this was mostly about showing the environment and some of the new armor types, we didn't switch out the races.

[centurionofprix]

 

How will the shadows/lighting work in the final product? The environment is gorgeous, but the conflict between the apparent lighting of the scene and the way the character models are illuminated makes the latter seem out of place.

 

The character models only have one shadow cast from the scene's directional light.  Per-character point light shadows (especially multiple point light shadows) would get computationally expensive very fast.  The characters are lit using dynamic lights placed in scene, but real-time lighting is never going to perfectly match the pre-rendered lighting of the scene.

 

For what it's worth, I think circular shadows in no particular direction might be less jarring. The shadows being, at times, cast against the lighting of the characters' surroundings has a strikingly unnatural effect in the screenshot (though I don't know if this is less or more apparent in motion).

 

It looks lovely otherwise.

Edited August 7, 2013 by centurionofprix

[Elerond]

Screenshot looks nice, although characters, especially in chamber, look floating over the floor instead of standing on it. But I think that with bit stronger and more adjusted shadows will make it much harder to notice (and I think that it would also help if characters would look like they are moving). I love how colorful and detailed scene itself is and character models and equipment look fabulous.

 

Excelent update as always.

[Gfted1]

Beautiful. Im impressed with the amount of detail I can see on the characters.

[Tarthus]

How are you guys handling cover? I don't mean tactical cover, I mean buildings and things that the characters walk behind. Do they become transparent when the party walks behind them, or does the player just lose sight of the party? The strategically-placed broken column made me wonder.

[J.E. Sawyer]

How are you guys handling cover? I don't mean tactical cover, I mean buildings and things that the characters walk behind. Do they become transparent when the party walks behind them, or does the player just lose sight of the party? The strategically-placed broken column made me wonder.

 

Portions of the character become translucently rim-lit with their selection circle color when they move behind occluding geometry.

[Chilledfish]

It looks very Baldur's Gatey, I love it!

[NoTorious]

Only a bit to bright but great.

[rjshae]

The level of the detail in the scene is very nice, especially for the creatures. There's a good mix of toned-down hues and it looks like an actual place rather than feeling contrived. Bravo! The shadows... well they're not perfect. But it's enough to provide depth to the scene, so I can live with it. Also four of the creatures around the glowing light look a little cookie-cutter; they're nice, but appear cloned (apart from the weapons). A little size variation would help, as would slightly different garb.

 

Thanks for the update!

[Hormalakh]

It looks awesome. Very nice. One question: are the elves the shorter ones or do you have humans of varying height in this game? some of the enemies (VERY COOL LOOKING BTW) have varying heights.

[Hiro Protagonist II]

I thought it looked a little more Icewind Dale. I hope they can blend both Baldurs Gate and Icewind Dale into the game. Perhaps different areas will look more like one game than the other.

[Hormalakh]

Also what is a skaen?

[sirchet]

I am very pleased with what I've seen.

 

I am also very happy with the way it almost appears to be an Infinity Engine make over.

 

As I've said before, you guys really know what you're doing.

[Tuckey]

Skaen almost sounds like a dark crystal reference.

[LordCrash]

Wow, so AWESOME!

[Zeckul]

It's very impressive how close to the two pictures are. Very rarely do you see an in-game screenshot so closely match the design art.

 

That said, I'm not too happy with the obvious rendering mismatch between characters and environment. This has been an issue for all hybrid 2d/3d games; it was an issue on ToEE, on Sacred, on Beyond Eternity, etc. Characters are always distinctively sharper and simpler than their environments. This is why I always was somewhat skeptical of the approach, but every approach comes with its compromises I guess. If this one allows you more creative freedom or less time spent optimising poly counts then it's still probably for the best.

 

With that said I am wondering what approach will be used for environment animations. The Infinity Engine had abysmally low-framerate pre-rendered ones. With 120hz monitors becoming more popular, I hope environment animations won't be pre-rendered at a fixed framerate.

Edited August 7, 2013 by Zeckul

[Zed]

Looking great!

The shadows are better than ToEE, at least (http://static1.fore.4pcdn.de/premium/Screenshots/d9/ef/63355-vollbild.jpg) :D

 

The stone debris in the corner near the door clips in the wall, that's the only nitpicking I'll give.

[greenmonster]

Loved the armor variety and color! Everyone is distinct. I want some the red suit.

[curryinahurry]

Looks great.  Any critiques I might have would be nit-picky and likely not noticeable during an actual run-through of the game.  I really like the colors (the guns that 2(?) of the characters are holding could have a bit more metallic contrast in order to stand out) being tuned towards the understated.

 

Cheers

Edited August 7, 2013 by curryinahurry