Dear IndieDB,
that might sound strange for such an early state, but I already reworked one of the prominent models of Cropling. Lets take a look on the new wolf again !
old:
new:
comparison:
While creating and animating more and more animals I found the old wolf to be to lowres to keep up with the new generation of 3D models I've done for Cropling. So I didnt goofed around for to long and redone him. He even got a detailed face now, thats mainly because of the "dialogue system" which will feature facial closeups. This is of course also important for all the animals, since you will be able to interact with them. Communication isnt always about talking. :)
I am also working on the cities right now, but the programming can take up so much time till it works as desired, its crazy.
So please allow me to tease you with additional night impressions for now.
I've written a custom radial blur shader which enables me to provide those rays of light. I think they add greatly to the atmosphere and makes it a little more creepier to walk at night. I hope you like them too !
thanks and like always, I'd love to get some response and am eager to answer all questions !
wow looks amazing :) shared your game on fb and will share it on twitter soon too.
keep up the great work *cheers*
You're to nice thank you very much CatBerry !
Have you already seen the Cropling Facebook page ?
Facebook.com
I have to say that the Polygon comparison is not that great...Most of the added detail is not necessary, and won't be seen, based on the camera view that you're using in the game.
What I would suggest is taking detail away from the bottom of the model, places where you won't be looking at it much if at all.
Higher Polygon-counts can cause severe instability on lower-end PCs, especially with custom-built shaders. And this is a game you kind of want as many people to play as possible...
Also, the new one looks more like a Bob-Cat than a Wolf, but still looks like a Wolf. o_o
Hehe, well thats a comment that I like, great constructive criticism. You are in general very supportive (throughout all the updates I posted here.) thank you for that Templarfreak. :)
About the rework: You have to keep in mind that the facial closeups will be seen in the upcoming "dialogue system" which I mentioned in the update.
(Eventhough the wolf doesnt talk, you will be able to interact with him and read his expressions .)
I think I really did a horrible job at explaining what I mean.
I thought of it like a GUI-Overlay of the face from a sideways angle, only that its animated using the actual model !
(cant even find a proper example... Noobfeed.com )
And, yes: I always keep an eye on the polycount. Thanks to the
general camera angle you never look far in the distance, which is helping incredibly, performance wise. :)
About the Bobcat: Now that you mention it... Its true somehow o_o
On this opportunity, I want to ask you how you feel about the light effect at night. (since you commented on the last night screenshot) Do you think this is an improvement to the older version or did it get worse all in all ?
Be open and honest, I appreciate that. :)
About the Bob-Cat thing. Maybe it does look alike from the frontal perspective (2nd picture) but it's because you can't see his long snout.
Oh right, that certainly adds to the catness. :)
Maybe the 3 of us have just discovered the "bobcat perspective", we could get rich by applying for a patent ! hehe :)
The more one looks at this wolf from this particular angle the more it resembles a cat like creature. I don't know if you want to add a big predator cat like a bob-cat or a mountain lion in the game but if you do, you can use the second picture as a concept art for the modeling :)
...And it is how I became a game concept artist :)
I like, no love the night scenes and the wolf looks great.
Night effect looks very nice.
Do you also plan to include leaf trees? They would be a nice addition to pine trees and those dead ones.
Ohh, and remember about keeping the game playable - watch out for FPS parameter.
Yes ! There will be leaf trees. :)
wild ones and even agrigated ones !
Yeah, I agree. Some leaf trees would be nice but they might create some problems. They would look weird during winter season... Unless they would be replaced by other tree model (one without leaves) then.