Normal mapping
I just got normal mapping (with or without specular lighting) integrated into the game engine properly, so we can render detailed bumpy surfaces such as wrinkles in cloth or ornate carvings. We are making sure to keep the normal mapping toned down and realistic, so we can avoid the shiny-plastic look plaguing many recent games.
Woah! That looks… AMAZING! I looked at that first one and thought, “Wow, it’s like somebody got Blender’s soft body effect into a game!”
That’s impressive, especially the first shot. I’m hoping that these won’t just be fixed texture maps, so we can, for example, manipulate the sheets on a bed, etc.
Yeah, the first shot looks great. Are these types of objects going to be manipulated by the physics part of the engine, or are they just solid models?
Great job David!
based on what he said, it looks like these are solid models. it would take a very detailed physics library to render sheets realistically (not to mention a really good graphics card). and besides, its not like its that important anyway…
We waited a month for this? I’m sorry to be mister assy here, but we were promised a combat update!
Welcome to game developement. It’s hard to predict how long stuff will take. Really though, David is working on programming tools needed for doing the combat. Tools aren’t real exciting to look at though, so he coded this up so that we have something to looks at.
Well, at least you recognize that you’re being an ass. No, you weren’t promised anything. Updates come when they come.
Sorry, but I don’t want LU2 to end up as another Red Faction 2.
If you haven’t played it, Red Faction was an awesome ps2 game, but when they made the sequel, It had great animation and and texturing, but a shoddy, inferior physics engine. I think everyone agrees that the second one was worse.
The point is, THQ spent all their time on graphics and voice actors, and they didn’t make the GAMEPLAY better. It seems like you’re delaying the combat changes so you can make more graphical effects. This is a bad road to go down.
We know exactly what we are doing; please do not distract us by posting flamebait in the blog. If you must post it somewhere, the forum is much more appropriate.
The bed is awesome, the pile of cloth is nice, but the jar just stands out as being low poly.
And on the subject of RF2, why did they rip out everything good about the predecessor!?
“Let’s remove the sweet destructable enviroments, make a new plot that totally sucks, and just overall make a game that sucks!”
“flamebait”?
The jar is very low-poly, but it is also about two inches tall (nothing there to show scale), so it should be ok
The bed is simply extraordinary. Will it be possible for the player to be able to change the physics and mapping in these things? Pressing a button to pick up a specific part of the cloth bedding, and have it change its mapping and reacting realistically = +20 points.
Thumbs up! And a special thanks for this: “We are making sure to keep the normal mapping toned down and realistic, so we can avoid the shiny-plastic look plaguing many recent games.”
Sweet!
I must agree, this looks realy nice.
@ those of you who wanted cloth physics:
It’s a texture, so you can’t realy bick up layers of a texture, now can you?
But, based on what leDoOd mentioned: changing the mapping would probably just be as easy as making footprints in the snow/sand
Though, I don’t expect that to happen
No, seriously, what is “flamebait” supposed to mean? I don’t play counterstrike.
MacWiggy, it means that you are trying to get a rise out of people. You seriously thought “we waited a month for this?” among other patronizing comments were benign?
Uh-oh! Someone actually critisized you! The Revolution has begun!
Well, I think your “criticism” was a bit uncalled for. We never really were promised any combat updates. David is very busy, y’know, with stuff other than Lugaru 2.
But he and the rest of the team definitely know what they are doing.
It’s not like they have a deadline, and therefore it’s not like “all time spent making the game look good means less time to make it play good.”
So maybe they want to get most of the graphical features done before they start implementing important gameplay stuff.
Besides, I’m pretty sure David has started his work on the combat editor.
I think Jeff said that it’s just not very interesting unless he can post a video/screenshot of actual fighting.
“maybe they want to get most of the graphical features done before they start implementing important gameplay stuff.”
Most people would go Vice-versa. No ice cream until your homework is done.
” it’s just not very interesting unless he can post a video/screenshot of actual fighting.”
Why not just post a blog with text, saying what’s going down. Like I stated earlier, not everything has to be flashy. (Well, not in those exact terms)
MacWiggy, go to the forum. You will be much happier there.
Ha ha! Hey Mac, since you are such an expert on game developement, maybe you can explain how you are supposed to produce game assets before the graphics features are in the engine. I guess I get the “ice cream” all the time since all I do is work on art assets.
I would think graphics would come before and during the development of core game structure. If David and Jeff posted a bunch of stick-rabbits fighting a stick-wolf, then people like MacWiggy would be asking for graphics instead of gameplay.
Hello! I’m new here, so this is my first comment, and I don’t really want to sound cheesy. I’ve been a big fan of Lugaru ever since the first one came out! Your progress is astounding, and the textures and models are even more so! I can’t wait to see what you’ve got in store next!
The rock at the top(I think that’s what it is) looks quite realistic! The bundle looks soft(so this is a conformation that there will be clothes?
) My favorite though is the pot! It looks like one that when you touch it a little light-colored powder would get on your hands from it. Nice job!
My only recommendation would be to make the string on the top bundle less rigid/square looking. Otherwise, top-notch stuff!