WR - General Chit-Chatter/Tidbits

[Skittles]

By and large, the areas in FO1 and FO2 were small and simple enough that I didn't really have to resort to the in-game map--mental mapping was enough. A map note function might have made them useful, but it was by no means necessary, because I generally navigated based on peoples' locations rather than buildings and terrain.

Assuming it wouldn't be more hassle than it's worth, 'hand drawn' maps probably deserve a different look and approach than the Pip-Boy generated style. I'll try to think of a good example to post an image later, but something that makes a point of marking rough approximations of landmark objects in the game world rather than very accurate demarcation of buildings and such would be more usable for me and more consistent with the presentation style you seem to be going for in the above image. At the very least, changing the pixels for solidly drawn lines would improve readability and aesthetic.

 

[Surf Solar]

Some "Where's wally?" game:

(it resembles the Riot Armor on the right known from New Vegas - and no, there won't be any NCR)
Thanks to the FOnline community, we now have shaders almost cloning the appearance of the old 2 critters appearance. The guy in the trenchcoat in there is actually a higher poly 3d model with all animations fluently ongoing by the game, instead of rendering thousands of frame files one by one. Ofcourse it still is not 100% matching, but this would be impossible. Would you guys be ok with the quality this bald guy has compared to the 2 other critters on the image? The good thing this brings me (or us) is that there are LOTS of layers we can use. You can choose hairstyle, skin, etc at the character creation, as well as you can equip gloves for each of your characters hands, boots, trousers, sidepacks (in later game), backpacks, helmets, shirts, armors and so on. There is a fuckton of possibilities this way, and even if it goes against Fallouts "armor=whole appearance" it is better this way. You could mix different low protection items with higher carryweight bags to be a true mule. You could be a total tank but with lower AP this way. So, this is not really done for "larping" but for having more possibilities to combine different armor sets.

 

[sea]

Man, and you say my maps are nice. :p That's some seriously impressive work, especially the custom interface. Any chance of seeing some more custom sprites/models, preferably at in-game size rather than zoomed-in and grainy?

 

[Surf Solar]

Thanks, but there's a bit too much brown on the Interface, I'm looking for another color that would fit in there to break with the brown everywhere.
As for the custom models, I'll later make some screenshots and upload some, thanks!

 

[sea]

I would say brighten up the bronze/gold just a little bit, as well as the lights. A "bullet belt" kinda look could also work on the sidebar. I think the brown is nice (it contrasts with most of the environments you've shown), it just needs slighlly more variety and colour. Even a mild increase in saturation across the board would do a lot.

I also just want to say that I have no clue how you have managed to do such crazy-awesome stuff in the old Fallout 2 engine. Hats off to you for being, among other things, apparently a magician.

 

[Semper]

I also just want to say that I have no clue how you have managed to do such crazy-awesome stuff in the old Fallout 2 engine. Hats off to you for being, among other things, apparently a magician.

it's a custom engine made by russians for their fallout online game and has nothing in common with the aged fallout engines besides reused assets. dunno exactly what surf solar created for his mod but it ain't matter. it looks awesome and i can't wait to play.

@solar: the blending of the 3d models with the sprite based critters works well! imo the only noticeable difference will be in motion where the 3d stuff will animate way more smoother, but that's a plus. any chance of redoing all the sprites? :D

 

[Grim Monk]

Post Apocalyptic Plot Seeds:
http://sites.google.com/site/thunda...otes-details/post-apocalyptic-adventure-ideas

Maybe this list I just found might be of interest to you...

 

[Surf Solar]

Nice, thanks! Some of them stretch it a bit though, like "Meet an omnipotent, godlike being". The hell is this supposed to work?

@Sea, yep, Semper already told it, I am using the FOnline engine which is much more flexible and modern than the old FO2 one.

Semper, no way we can redo all those sprites, what a nightmare work. ;D But that doesn't mean there can't be lots of new ones, like for the different armor parts I described above.

 

[Grim Monk]

Nice, thanks! Some of them stretch it a bit though, like "Meet an omnipotent, godlike being". The hell is this supposed to work? :p

http://www.paforge.com/
That's where I originally came across that list.
Most stuff seemingly relates to TSR's "Gamma Worlds", however there is a bunch of other information for PA settings.

A thing of interest might be the old Fallout PnP, from before Bethesda got the series:
http://www.paforge.com/fallout.html

A word of warning though, you'll have to download PDF files to view most the stuff.
That's why I linked the "PA Plot Seeds" list from another site...

 

[Surf Solar]

I am moving flats and thus won't be able to post/work much the next 1-2 weeks, so don't think this thing is dead when I am offline all the time.
I have a bunch of things prepared to post here before, hopefully it'll make it till saturday (when I'm moving).

I've tried to make some new buildings (they are based off of salvaged artwork from the Van Buren Demo) lately, still looking for some ways to make it more detailed, adding rubble, debris, some graffiti on it etc. Eventually, there's an entire big city like that to explore, you can now walk and navigate on the roofs there aswell and so on.

You could actually even help me here - I am looking for inspiration to create new wall-art, the Fallout 50ies Art Deco style has lots of these stone faces on walls, corners and so on, very grotesque, screaming figures if anyone gets what I mean. Can someone tell me how these were called so I can look up for some references?



Also, I've partly solved the problem with the snow effect slowing down the CPU, it is much better now but still looks not as good as I want it to be (the snow is too severe aswell, making it hard to see items on ground without the "highlight items" key).

 

[Lexx]

Why do you always add so big filters over the screens? It sophisticates the original look and can't be correctly judged anymore. Can't remember when I've seen a screen from you which wasn't somehow distorted.

 

[Surf Solar]

Why do you always add so big filters over the screens? It sophisticates the original look and can't be correctly judged anymore. Can't remember when I've seen a screen from you which wasn't somehow distorted.

How about, I actually like it the way it looks like this and in the end these filters are in the game?
Besides this, there isn't even any "filter" used in the previous picture, all I did was resizing the picture and adding a black frame around it.

 

[Lexx]

A bit aggressive, huh?

The character models aren't normal looking and everything is very pixelated / noisy, plus these bright 1px outlines...

... make it look to me as if the image was edited after you made it. This isn't the first image of this "type" which you have posted, therefore my comment.

If it looks like that in the game, then... well... sorry and stuff. It just looks way too distorted to me.

 

[Grim Monk]

You could actually even help me here - I am looking for inspiration to create new wall-art, the Fallout 50ies Art Deco style has lots of these stone faces on walls, corners and so on, very grotesque, screaming figures if anyone gets what I mean. Can someone tell me how these were called so I can look up for some references?

Art Deco Relief
http://www.google.com/search?gcx=c&client=ubuntu&channel=cs&q=art deco Relief&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=Pa8tT_OZJsPv0gG_-6XqCg&biw=1280&bih=938&sei=Pq8tT57oN-XY0QHvx8SQCw

and Art Deco Gargoyle
http://www.google.com/search?gcx=c&client=ubuntu&channel=cs&q=art deco gargoyle&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=sK0tT-_xA8Kv0AH6mtTLCg&biw=1280&bih=938&sei=s60tT-iaO6Xq0gHrx7C4DQ

Is this the stuff your looking for?

 

[Surf Solar]

If it looks like that in the game, then... well... sorry and stuff. It just looks way too distorted to me.

I fail to see the reason to moan and gush about this since this everyone has the option to just disable post processing shaders. But if one seeks long enough, there is always ground to complain, eh?

Grim Monk: Thanks, that was what I am looking for.

 

[Lexx]

I fail to see where I did moan and gush about it. In fact, it seems like you fail to see that my comments only had been about your posted screenshots on which I can't really see shit. But if one seeks long enough, there is always complaints to find, eh? Probably you are taking this way too serious.

 

[shihonage]

Media is media, in-game is in-game. I think Surf Solar understands the difference. For showy purposes sometimes things are exaggerated and over-stylized. This is why we often have game trailers using strange camera angles that would never work from character control standpoint and aren't actually in the game.

 

[Surf Solar]

Media is media, in-game is in-game. I think Surf Solar understands the difference. For showy purposes sometimes things are exaggerated and over-stylized. This is why we often have game trailers using strange camera angles that would never work from character control standpoint and aren't actually in the game.

Exactly. All of this is work in progress and I want to show the new things that I work on, it'd be useless if I show the unfinished stuff since it would look boring to see a box with no details attached yet (the buildings other side for example) - that's why the picture gets cut to a more interesting perspective. It also, like I already said, got resized, so naturally the picture appears a bit more distorted - which is picture editing 101 and should be obvious to everyone. And last but not least, grain and similar shaders (=post processing) is optional and can be put on or off at the end users whim, so no one can say "I am forced to play it like this" like it was with the Piss Filter in the new Deus Ex (if I remember correct) - this was said before aswell.

Sorry for going into lengths with such trivial crap, but it is not the first time Lexx "criticises" such inane stuff cross-site wise and I grow a bit wary of it.

 

[Lexx]

Haha, oh well. You are the one who responds aggressively and like an ass. I just asked why it's looking how it looks, which you took as if I've been shitting on your head. Sorry, can't help that.

 

[Quetzacoatl]

Surf Solar might be suffering from Drog syndrome. Hopefully this won't last.

 

[Surf Solar]

Surf Solar might be suffering from Drog syndrome. Hopefully this won't last.

Believe me, I have nothing against critisicm, I even think you people here are too lighthearted with me and could be harsher on the negative sides, I however have a problem with people who seem to seek for stuff to moan about just for moanings sake. Sorry if I got a bit touchy on this page, I try to avoid it.

 

[Quetzacoatl]

Surf Solar might be suffering from Drog syndrome. Hopefully this won't last.

Believe me, I have nothing against critisicm, I even think you people here are too lighthearted with me and could be harsher on the negative sides, I however have a problem with people who seem to seek for stuff to moan about just for moanings sake. Sorry if I got a bit touchy on this page, I try to avoid it.

Can never be too careful with modders these days.

 

[Surf Solar]

Sorry for the lack of news lately - I am still in the "moving flats" business and this wont likely change over the next 3-4 weeks. I also promised to do beta tests for other projects so please don't think this here is dead just because the lack of updates.




However, we will soon be seeking for fresh meat to the team. If you ever wanted to get some small ideas of you discussed in a supposedly harsh fallout enviroment, this could be your chance.

We are looking for people with either:

a) Experience in building critters history, lore, locations, weapons, again lore and so on. You dont have to work in the industry, but some slight experience or atleast a (50 words) summary example would be enough. Willingness to use dialogue editors is entirely optional, but nice if you want to use these too.
b) People experienced in C++ or Python. Can never hurt to ask for.
c) 2d/3d artists. You, again, don't have to be a pro. It is enough if you only want to drop by each week and drop some small stuff - I am doing most of it, but I always could use some additional hand at the rendering etc aswell as just some second pair of eyes.

For all of these interested, I will send you a small background lore piece of file, so you can easily see if the thing we are doing is of interest or not. Just drop me a message here on the 'dex if you want. And unlike others, I will listen to every single suggestion myself, if you want, you can send this stuff directly over IRC: on channel #whatremains on irc.forestnet.org

As you can see - nothing really totally advanced what we require. The most important thing to me is that you understand the theme we are going for and have fun at what you are doing. The rest is up to us.

 

[The_scorpion]

a) sounds cool but i'm lacking the language skills and fallout in-universe knowledge for that. Also time But there should be a score of people around here that qualify.

 

[Surf Solar]

Sorry for the long time delay on any news in here - even though there is still a lack of manpower currently (which will hopefully remedy itself in start of/middle of may) the game is not dead.

I've learned a lot about 3d modelling in the last few weeks since I finally have a more powerful rig, so creating new assets can be much more speed up. I have also changed a bit of stuff on the general User Interface to make it less looking like the original fallout in structure, it looks more cleaned up and in different order now. I will post a draft when I think it is ready. I also had some new ideas about some new locations, written down they look really good and tie in well to the rest, let's see how it will play in the game. :]

Since we have weather in the game and tinkered around with making rain, snow etc. randomly appear on maps that lay in appropriate geographical locations (so one day map XY can be sunny, the other day foggy or rainy and so on) - I have thought about implementing a random chance for flashes/thunder on the maps. The flash could lighten up the enviroment for a tiny fragment of time giving you a small bonus to PE or tohitchance, and in the very rare event that you actually stand on the hex where the flash hits, you get some electrical damage (sudden death is maybe a bit too harsh?). Note that this can apply and happen to any NPC wandering in a town aswell (but would be, as said, a very RARE event) - so there could even be a chance that NPC dies without you being the reason for it. Since the game is designed that there is still a chance to proceed in it even when crucial NPC XY dies, it would work. But would it be fun? What do you guys think?

And last but not least, some area I am working on at the moment. It will also be some sort of first "hub" for your character(s) at the start of the game depending how you solve some quests and if you are in the mood to do optional exploring out there in the woods.