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Pretty?

axedice

Cipher
Joined
Sep 11, 2007
Messages
465
Location
Mersin
Other than the plasma ball in the middle that looks like a light bulb, I think the first image is still the better. Both the pentagram and the red glow goes along with "the catastrophe came because of some high magic gone wrong" theme. Blue makes the atmosphere more science-fictionish.
 

Elhoim

Iron Tower Studio
Developer
Joined
Oct 27, 2006
Messages
2,878
Location
San Isidro, Argentina
Ratatosk said:
Elhoim said:
Yeah, I like it too. Too bad we are limited in the kind of effects we are able to use...
Glow is a big no-no for TGE? We are using the TGEA version of the game-engine and it holds all the eye-candy you could ever need. I thought there was somekind of free FX-upgrade pack available for TGE...

We are using v1.3 of TGE, which AFAIK doesn't support them... I would be very happy with glow, specular and bump maps...

You said you are using TGEA... On which game?

Ratatosk said:
Elhoim said:
You seem to have good experience with 3DS, right?
Who, me? I´d like to think so ;) Started using 3DStudio back in the DOS-era... Those were the days...

jejeje... I'm not very proficient with 3DS, as I've only been using it for a couple of months. PS is my specialty, though.
 

Nick

Iron Tower Studio
Developer
Joined
Apr 21, 2004
Messages
317
Location
Over the hills and far away
Ratatosk said:
Glow is a big no-no for TGE? We are using the TGEA version of the game-engine and it holds all the eye-candy you could ever need. I thought there was somekind of free FX-upgrade pack available for TGE...
Nope. No shaders, no bump, no glow, etc.
 

NiM82

Prophet
Joined
Jun 21, 2007
Messages
1,358
Location
Kolechia
I like the original orange/red, but I don't like the way the pentagram seems to been dug into the slabs. I think it would look better if it had custom shaped slabs and perhaps a slightly elevated lip.
 

MetalCraze

Arcane
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Messages
21,104
Location
Urkanistan
fuck shaders, fuck bump, fuck glow, fuck etc. the graphic design is already nice, now finish a goddamn game, will you?
 

Frau Bishop

Erudite
Joined
Aug 16, 2005
Messages
2,147
Location
Mitten im Vaterland
Oh shut up skyway! Don't you understand how important it is to discuss the light(n)ing and the shadows!? That's what cRPG are all about! The only reason why you will read about AoD in the printmag of your choice is because... it's so fucking finger licking purdy!
 

tardtastic

Scholar
Joined
Jul 26, 2007
Messages
240
1.3 of TGE? Isn't the upgrade to 1.5 free? 1.5 is what I've got, though I'm having such an impossibile time finding development literature relating to systemic programming (character creation, combat systems, parser and dialogue trees, etc.) that I'm stuck in dork-about-in-FPS-mode phase.

Anyhow, no, I don't think it's pretty. It's functional, but it could be far more aesthetically involving in design terms. If your focus is in choices and dialogue and whatnot instead of environment, though, then I don't know why you should be concerned with it being "pretty" in the first place.
 

Naked Ninja

Arbiter
Joined
Oct 31, 2006
Messages
1,664
Location
South Africa
While the upgrade is financially free, if they have a lot of custom code then upgrading their codebase isn't free, time wise. Could be more hassle than it's worth if they don't have a pressing need to upgrade.
 

AdrianWerner

Novice
Joined
Jan 26, 2004
Messages
55
Jasede said:
I wouldn't say that. BG2 had stunning visuals, lovingly hand-drawn, something AoD will never attain simply because 3D is inherently uglier than 2D, sprites be praised.
.
I'm not so sure about that. Plus BG2 characters looked like utter crap, 3D models are huge improvement
 

Naked Ninja

Arbiter
Joined
Oct 31, 2006
Messages
1,664
Location
South Africa
Hmmm, I agree the blue is uglier, but I have to wonder why the rest of the light in the 2nd image is now green? They 2 cool colours don't contrast well, which is partially contributing to why it looks bleh.
 

GhanBuriGhan

Erudite
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
1,170
I am not gonna tell you which one I like best, becasue it really depends on the setting. Here is what my associations with each are to help you decide:
pic 1 (VD): fire magic, violent demonic forces, barely contained in steampunk machinery. A place with potential physical dangers, burning, explosions.
pic 2 (Elhoim): Ghostly magic, cold but strong, harnessed with some daring into an evil machinery. Still, more magic than technology. A place with dangers to the mind more than the body.
pic 3 (Ratatosk): A cold magical force, harnessed safely by technology. If you read the manual, nothing bad is going to happen. There is power here, but it is at your service, not somethiing with a will of its own.
 

Gosling

Liturgist
Joined
Nov 4, 2006
Messages
467
Location
East of the Sun and West of the Moon

Pretty, but blatantly generic. And the acid orange-red mutagen substance makes my eyes hurt.
Why of all the possible variants did you decide to show us a boring pentagram and four glowing cylinders in a small dark room?
I mean it looks okay, but what kind of feedback are you expecting to get? Why not show more important locations offering more insight into the gameworld and the game's artistic style (like those Mountainpass and Fortress screenshots)?

It would also be nice to include charachter models/figures into the screenshots to give a sense of scope and perspective.

P.S.: to everybody else: why are pentagrams inherently gothic? Even the word itself is greek in origin. To me pentagram is an ancient occult symbol not particularly tied to any period. Where do such associations come from?
 

Jasede

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jan 4, 2005
Messages
24,793
Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
I can tell you.

From stupid kids wearing them thinking they look cool. It's especially funny when they're satanists and forget that they're supposed to wear them upside down.

Fun fact: The first thing I think of when I see a pentagram is... Ultima 8. The game had the most perfect magic system(s) in any CRPG ever. Good times.

Edit: When they say "gothic" they don't mean the period, they mean the emo kid dress style. At least I think so.
 

Gosling

Liturgist
Joined
Nov 4, 2006
Messages
467
Location
East of the Sun and West of the Moon
Jasede said:
I can tell you.

From stupid kids wearing them thinking they look cool. It's especially funny when they're satanists and forget that they're supposed to wear them upside down.

Fun fact: The first thing I think of when I see a pentagram is... Ultima 8. The game had the most perfect magic system(s) in any CRPG ever. Good times.

Edit: When they say "gothic" they don't mean the period, they mean the emo kid dress style. At least I think so.

Ha, I thought they were referring to the high middle ages art style or that whole gothic Romanticism aesthetic.

As for kids, thor's hammer > pentagram :D
 

elander_

Arbiter
Joined
Oct 7, 2005
Messages
2,015
A few quick comments:
* use a different symbol than the pentagram, there plenty if exotic symbols you can find from wiki or google
* TIGHT CORRIDORS WARNING! i can see Baldurs Gate TB hell of tight corridors happening again
* dirty textures are cool, but why certain textures are strangely so clean??
* too dark inside shadows
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
28,024
Naked Ninja said:
While the upgrade is financially free, if they have a lot of custom code then upgrading their codebase isn't free, time wise. Could be more hassle than it's worth if they don't have a pressing need to upgrade.
That's the reason.

GhanBuriGhan said:
I am not gonna tell you which one I like best, becasue it really depends on the setting. Here is what my associations with each are to help you decide:
pic 1 (VD): fire magic, violent demonic forces, barely contained in steampunk machinery. A place with potential physical dangers, burning, explosions.
pic 2 (Elhoim): Ghostly magic, cold but strong, harnessed with some daring into an evil machinery. Still, more magic than technology. A place with dangers to the mind more than the body.
pic 3 (Ratatosk): A cold magical force, harnessed safely by technology. If you read the manual, nothing bad is going to happen. There is power here, but it is at your service, not somethiing with a will of its own.
Good post, Ghan. Thanks.

Ratatosk's concept looked great, but it's too sci-fi, while we prefer cruder, more steampunk-ish look. Overall, considering the nature of the setting, I think the original shot does the best job explaining why everything had gone to hell.

Gosling said:
Pretty, but blatantly generic.
I'm not claiming that this is the most innovative and brilliantly original shit you've ever seen, but describing it as "blatantly generic" is a bit too much, don't you think?

Why of all the possible variants did you decide to show us a boring pentagram and four glowing cylinders in a small dark room?
No reason. I literally thought that it looked pretty and I posted it.

I mean it looks okay, but what kind of feedback are you expecting to get?
The kind that I've already got.

Why not show more important locations offering more insight into the gameworld and the game's artistic style (like those Mountainpass and Fortress screenshots)?
An article dedicating to and showing AoD environments is coming.

elander_ said:
* use a different symbol than the pentagram, there plenty if exotic symbols you can find from wiki or google
What symbol should we use? I'm addressing this question to everyone.

* TIGHT CORRIDORS WARNING! i can see Baldurs Gate TB hell of tight corridors happening again
Tactical. There is no party to manage and lead through the corridors, and a single character can be more effective in a corridor.

* dirty textures are cool, but why certain textures are strangely so clean?
We'll look into it.

* too dark inside shadows
We were trying it for sneaky characters. It's actually pretty cool to literally hide in shadows vs pretending that you do. Anyway, since we are having problems with shadows anyway, I doubt we'd use dark shadows in the game.
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
28,024
serch said:
I like this one, Irontowerers:

ouroboros

PS: Tomorrow is Thursday.
That's the symbol of the "scientific" house. Besides, while it's a cool symbol, it's not something that could be associated with drawing power from other planes.
 

Jasede

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jan 4, 2005
Messages
24,793
Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
How about an octagram? It's just as symbolical and avoids the association with gothics and "generitude".
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
28,024
More stuff for you to complain about:

"Inspired" by Petra's awesomeness. We start with the front shot...

hellgate01rt1.jpg


...move to isometric view....

hellgate02ej6.jpg


...and go inside...

hellgate03ym9.jpg


Notice the crude elevator in the upper right corner, machinery that control's the power flow in the lower right, and "secret doors" in the main chamber. The main chamber is trapped. There are (would be) bodies on the floor (teh looting time, if you can disarm the traps). If you can't see the hidden doors or don't know about them, you will have no choice but to assume that the passage has collapsed and turn back. If you can't operate the machinery, you can't get access to lower floors and eventually to the other side of the mountains, and will have to seek another way.
 

GhanBuriGhan

Erudite
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
1,170
I love Petra, but this is amost al little too close to the real thing. How about stacking another three tiers of columns on top of the first, just to emphasize the fantastic? Or adding some more "chapels" or niches with statues to the sides and higher up?
(Add the usual gameplay before gfx polish and finish the F***ing game already disclaimer here)
 

Gosling

Liturgist
Joined
Nov 4, 2006
Messages
467
Location
East of the Sun and West of the Moon
Vault Dweller said:
Gosling said:
Pretty, but blatantly generic.
I'm not claiming that this is the most innovative and brilliantly original shit you've ever seen, but describing it as "blatantly generic" is a bit too much, don't you think?

It's a pentagram in a small dungeon(?) room. It could belong to ANY game. Okay, there are wires hinting at technomagic. But besides that the picture has nothing to offer. And wires+cylinders had been done before too btw - take Watcher's Keep in SoA/ToB for example.

I mean it looks okay, but what kind of feedback are you expecting to get?
The kind that I've already got.

I'm really looking forward to this game and would love it to have good graphics and artistic direction. But 3 pages of discussion re: the colour of the pentagram in a room that we will most likely only visit only once is a bit counterproductive. Feedback and idea swapping are important, but not in that minute a detail.
I appreciate that you posted this screenshot, it's just that I was expecting something more grand and revealing, with more game-relevant subject matter to discuss. Anyhow, it's not a big issue, I was just curious why you'd decided to share this particular pic (and got an answer). And besides, you've just provided plenty more material for nitpicking - so I'm finally content. :)

Why not show more important locations offering more insight into the gameworld and the game's artistic style (like those Mountainpass and Fortress screenshots)?
An article dedicating to and showing AoD environments is coming.

Awesome! Will it be posted on the Codex or some other gaming site?
 

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