Myst Online: URU Live Forums

Re: D'ni temple (in production)

Joey Zoonishii — Sat Nov 13, 2010 2:52 pm

Author: Joey Zoonishii

Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2010 2:52 pm

I have to say that I love the layout of this temple, not to mention the thought behind it.

~Joey Treestarer

Re: D'ni temple (in production)

matthornb — Sat Oct 02, 2010 4:04 pm

Author: matthornb

Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 4:04 pm

BTW, I got a message asking for permission to load this into an Uru: CC age download system, etc - if anyone wants to load this (the D'ni Temple level) into the various fan age delivery systems, I won't list those systems by name here but I'll just say that you have my general permission to do so and to run this age wherever Uru fan ages are displayed, downloaded, and explored.

Re: D'ni temple (in production)

matthornb — Thu Sep 30, 2010 9:34 pm

Author: matthornb

Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 9:34 pm

Thank you, janaba1.

I'm not finished with this first area quite yet - I may still add some background music to it to enhance the atmosphere of the place, and implement some basic footstep sounds.

Other than adding some audio, though, I don't think I'm going to modify this area any more.

I'd like to move on to the next one.

Re: D'ni temple (in production)

janaba1 — Thu Sep 30, 2010 8:09 pm

Author: janaba1

Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 8:09 pm

This is such a beautiful and contemplative place and quite complex and rich
in detail already... It was also cool to search for the way to the upper room...

With a little tweak here and some polishing there and of course with music and
sounds, a journal etc. you could very well have partaken in the D'ni locations contest...
This is a wonderful work, matthornb, and I can't wait to see and explore the second
area and to enjoy the animations (water, fire, steps etc.), sound/music and book
implementations... Thanks for releasing and sharing this part so far...

Re: D'ni temple (in production)

matthornb — Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:17 am

Author: matthornb

Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:17 am

Okay, I finished the first area, and zipped and uploaded the files to UruContinues.com.

That's all for now - I'll start working on the second area of the D'ni Temple soon, in between my (many) other projects.

That'll take a while to do - depends on how much trouble I have with the animations, sounds, and the book implementation - but once I've got the second area done, I'll move on from there...

This isn't perfect, but it isn't half-bad for a first age, I think.

Re: D'ni temple (in production)

matthornb — Wed Jul 28, 2010 5:14 pm

Author: matthornb

Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 5:14 pm

I've lost the original texture files for this model when one of my external hard drives crashed. That means I only have the baked textures, and thus can't relight the model.

So I'll have to work around that, and redesign the D'ni Temple in two separate sections, not all in one piece, because if I connected the two sections, there'd be some lighting problems resulting from that.

In any case, I'll try to get the D'ni Temple (the first area of it) finalized sometime in the next few weeks. (Having some confusion with Blender's texture system still)

Re: D'ni temple (in production)

matthornb — Tue May 11, 2010 2:47 pm

Author: matthornb

Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 2:47 pm

Okay, I took some advice from people in the GoW, and turned off the ShadBuf setting in Blender.

That (plus the improved modelling efficiency and a few other tweaks) made the level run about 3x as fast.

Then I got a new PC and had to install Blender, Uru, etc, all over again. And reapply all the textures because the links to the texture files weren't there. There are still a couple of surfaces where the textures are wrong.

Still, give me some time; I have a new video capture showing the level running, and you'll see that it looks better than it used to.

Will try to upload that video soon - it doesn't show any new areas (still working on those) but will show the same ones running smoothly at higher graphics settings.

That means the textures will look nicer, the framerate smoother, etc.

Re: D'ni temple (in production)

Slightlybartfast — Wed Sep 30, 2009 1:00 pm

Author: Slightlybartfast

Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 1:00 pm

Fantastic! looks great.

Re: D'ni temple (in production)

matthornb — Mon Sep 21, 2009 1:18 am

Author: matthornb

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 1:18 am

Thanks for the feedback!

This is going well, though I'm distracted at times by other stuff I want/need to get done. This is, after all, only one of many projects I'm working on.

I've been examining the model, and I've eliminated about 700 polygons. If the player can't see a polygon - like the bottom of an object sitting on the ground, or a surface facing a wall - it doesn't need to be there and I can safely remove it.

This has pulled down the poly count to 21,060 for the current version. It's not a big difference but it should help slightly.

The temple - as seen in the video - is only 40% of the planned size of the final complete version.

Next I'll be enhancing some of the details and adding new areas to the model.

Re: D'ni temple (in production)

sideshow118 — Mon Sep 07, 2009 12:31 am

Author: sideshow118

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 12:31 am

Excellent stuff here! It's great watching your learning curve. You've come a long way since your first post on this thread. I'm sure you're an inspiration for others attempting thier own ages. Keep up the good work!

Re: D'ni temple (in production)

matthornb — Sun Sep 06, 2009 11:43 pm

Author: matthornb

Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 11:43 pm

I'll release a version when Cyan Worlds responds to the FCAL request I sent them a while back.

I sent a fairly large FCAL request document to them, which included concept art for this and two other ages, as well as the full story of the age(s), which goes beyond what's been posted in this thread to include some additional plot elements.

I'm going to keep creating new iterations of this and whatever version I have when they finally respond to the FCAL request, will be the first one I release publically.

I figure Cyan is too busy on their MagiQuest project right now to spend much time dealing with FCAL requests from Myst fans.

They're pretty shorthanded right now so it may take a while longer before anyone at Cyan replies to me.

Re: D'ni temple (in production)

Atrion — Sun Sep 06, 2009 11:31 pm

Author: Atrion

Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 11:31 pm

Video looks good. I can't wait till I can explore this temple myself. Do you have any idea as to when you might release a version of the Temple to the public?

Re: D'ni temple (in production)

matthornb — Sun Sep 06, 2009 11:27 pm

Author: matthornb

Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 11:27 pm

XNA is freeware. It doesn't cost anything.

Look at: http://creators.xna.com/en-US/quickstart_main

In any case, this scene is not in XNA anymore, it's in Uru!

I just posted a Flash video of the environment running in Uru on one of my websites: http://www.triumphantartists.com/temple.html

The candle flames are gone temporarily until I can get the Bink animation to work.

The black surfaces now have working textures. The whole level is running, but framerates are pretty low. I'll try optimizing geometry and textures some more before attempting to add new areas onto it. I think I can reduce polycount in a few places without any visible loss of quality.

Running this scene in Uru reveals a lot of things that could use improvement. The light glows, for instance. But it's definitely a great feeling getting to explore it in the game engine for the first time.

Re: D'ni temple (in production)

Nalates — Sun Aug 30, 2009 9:57 pm

Author: Nalates

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 9:57 pm

It's getting better and better.

What were the costs associated with getting XNA running?

Is there a cost or license needed if one sells their game to the public? If they distribute for free?

Thnx

Re: D'ni temple (in production)

Squid — Sun Aug 30, 2009 8:05 pm

Author: Squid

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 8:05 pm

Niiiccee!

I like the new tree very much!
My only suggestions are to make it look more "weathered" and to keep up the good work!!!