Model/Animation ModLab .
Modding Tools, Modding Models DataBase, Modding the Modders
Quake ModelDatabase
Models Customization, Animated Hands/Claws
Gear, Armor, Robe, & Co : Outfit
Game Design, Spells, Charm/Domination Spells Game-Play in RPG games
(Mind Shield vs Suggestion, Charm, Domination, Command, Sleep, Maze, Confusion, and Illithid psionic ...)
WIP Reports, Suggestions & Request

Bullfrog/Dungeon Keeper (II) In Baldur's Gate Style

Dedicated to all the Games Designers that make us happy by their creativity ... ! :



-Happy New Year! , Friends of Baldur's Gate .

In Isometric View : (before custom hands addition) vs DK I in sprite cession,



With Custom Hands (details) :



Credits & Process :
DK I sprite from DK Comm./Keeper Klan,
QuakeArmyKnife use as model viewer, Quake 3/ q3-md3/ 3ds script importer, to import Dark Mistress/Horny Models from Quake Comm.,
Models Rigged/Skinned/Customized (hands mesh from Diablo Model/Heroes Of Storm) & Animated via Iclone/3DXchange Pipeline,
with Iclone/NWN 1 animation/motion Template, by me, salomonkane, in this year of 2015 .



About :
http://dungeon-keeper.net/index.php?option...r&Itemid=86
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBjFcUvtJRU
http://perso.numericable.fr/~gazkole/malak...rials/tut13.htm
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/14...n-veteran-users
http://steamcommunity.com/app/257350/discu...14844065074125/

However comes me to think... Wouldn't even better to use the engine of temple of elemental evil which has the models in 3d for make a remake of baldur's gate? Probably someone has already wondered that i guess... Still, using that one i think would be awesome, since other the gameplay which is already D&D ruled, you shouldn't have to make a "gif" version of the models...

Model/Animation ModLab .
Modding Tools, Modding Models DataBase
Game Engine, Game Engine Recycle & Improvement/Durability, Infinity Engine vs Aurora Engine, from Neverwinter 1 to The Witcher 1
Central and Eastern Europe's Games industry/Creations
Latin (Spanish/Italian) Classical, Comics, Games, Arts School
Realistic/Historical Background/Scenery/Folklore/Combat/Duel Animations, Fencing
Weapon Proficiency/Weapons/Weapons Style/Fighting Strategy : Two Handed Sword, Two Weapons Mix (like Sword + Dagger) Fighting, Ranged vs Melee,
Custom Shield Defense, Fencing Cloak Animation,
Bottes Secretes/Artful Thrust Custom Animations, Custom/New Weapons as Rapier etc .
Middle-Age, Later Middle Ages Period, Elizabethan era, Renaissance
Gear, Armor, Robe, & Co : Outfit
Knight, Paladin, Bards, Commoners, Medieval street Folks Interaction
Fighter Kit : Berzerker, Wizard Slayer, Kensai
Rogue Kit : Blade, Swashbuckler, Jester
Custom Mods Kits
Non Player Characters stereotypes with gender, ages, (Faerûn) races, profession/social condition diversity
Nobles, Beggar, Bateleur, Prost., Merchant, Artist, Artisan, Innkeeper, Smith, Alchemist, Devin, Prophet, Gypsy, etc.
Profession Skills, Social Life (Eating/Drinking, Hunting, Fishing, Trading, Gambling, Music Playing, Acting, Relation Ship, Flirt, etc./Custom Animations) & RP
NPCs, FriendShip/Romances Mods & Customs Acting Animations
Baldur's Gate Principal Protagonists/Antagonists Customized : The Wise Alaundo/Sarevok, etc ...
Scenery Background : Circus, Bazaar, Carnival, Market Places & others Animated City/Out-land Map
Medieval Quotidian Lives/Events like :
Procession, Tournament, Street Animation/Demonstration ( acrobats, jugglers, beast master, dancers, flame breathers) etc.
Guilds, Politics & Intrigues, Tattoos, Esoterism, Heraldry & Emblems, ... Sociology & Symbolism in RPG Background
Fantasy, Dark Fantasy Games, Sword & Sorcery Literature,
Illustrators Artists, Inventory Bam Artists, Portraitist
Humor, Non-Sense Humor, British Humor

, ,


,

CD Projekt RED/ The Witcher Saga, enter in the Baldur's Gate ... :




Some Characters from The Witcher (I/II) :




Dancing with a Sword :

*Edit* :




An personal composition with & from Severance Blade Of Darkness, Codemaster | Rebel Act, Motion Capture (Mocap) integration,
(pretty good realistic "beat' em up fashion" fighting animations, btw ),
On Geralt the Riv (with Rogue Outfit dlc.), The Witcher's main Character, from Xnalara Comm., 3D Model Rip :
In Sword hand-guard/hands Iclone Motion Layers/Tuning/Cleaning, (WIP) Editing (I enjoying a lot of fun to do this ) .

(*) : Geralt W1 with custom Katana in Raven's Armor suit (with various issues to fix/tuning, like Charac/foot contact/shadow, light/specifics textures render, hands/shoulder/Skin/flex/torsion, foot-step Animation floor contact/synchronisat°, & respect of Animation Principles vs Isometrics RTS/RPG/Turn Based Games Animations Simulations diversity, especially : fighting animations style/velocity/power/timing, typical stereotypes sequences to Render) .

,



Few Captures from an Item/Weapon Customization Project, in .BAM workflow :




Credits & Process :

All Models riped by myself, except those explicitly credited (here : Xnalara Comm.) for Proof of Concept/Integration Pipeline Conversion Purposes .
Fighter/Barbarian Mocap rips from BOD Comm./Arokhslair.net (FYI, there are various tools/BOD Comm. including a script for 3ds Max that allows to import animated models) .
For TW1 : NWN/The Witcher Mdb importer script (nwn max plus),
For TW2 : Blender w2ent importer script/.RE/.W2ENT Converter Soft. (In this case you need Fragmotion/.Fbx export, the soft have a sprite creator btw),
For the both, Models Calibration/ BOD Motion Injection/Layers Editing in 3DXchange/Iclone Pipeline
Katana from tf3dm, Dak'kon's Zerth Blade blue cyan Effect make in Iclone with Material/Texture Editor .

,


About : (Synchronicity )

,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_basic_prin...es_of_animation
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/34...ism-in-games/p2
http://neverwintervault.org/catalog?field_category_tid=800
http://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/h...ion-main-gauche
http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Aurora_Engine
http://www.tbotr.net/modules.php?mod=Downl...loads&sid=2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5EGQ0zGwEU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ0z0E9lQI0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GoDokw5a_k
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Jones%27_Medieval_Lives
http://uncannyknack.deviantart.com/
http://www.sassart.com/
http://www.justinsweet.com/GALLERY/INDEXES/Concepts1.html
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthrea...nd-Dale-artwork
http://www.vancekovacs.com/
http://www.stormbringer.net/mouser.html
http://www.stormbringer.net/elric.html
http://www.baldursgatemods.com/forums/index.php?topic=4374.0
http://www.shsforums.net/files/file/905-megamodkits/
http://blade-of-darkness.bigtruck-canada.ca/
http://www.moddb.com/games/severance-blade-of-darkness
http://www.arokhslair.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=11
http://artvault.tumblr.com/post/3605836026...ept-art-by-jose
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjAvOBbvXRw
http://www.shsforums.net/topic/44311-what-id-like/
http://www.shsforums.net/topic/36352-poll-...-blade-changes/
http://www.shsforums.net/topic/38511-chris...one-said-about/
http://www.shsforums.net/topic/41865-item-pack-v18/
http://baldursgate.wikia.com/wiki/Dak%27kon%27s_Zerth_Blade
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/29...ons-zerth-blade
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/29...e-dakkons-blade
http://www.blackwyrmlair.net/~dl/Magic_Items/Katanas/
http://www.baldursgatemods.com/forums/index.php?topic=7017.0
http://cp8.hostable.com/~a3890hos/arundors_abode/


Request :
It would be pretty cool if some modding tool/script developers add/give the possibility to import/export (in .FBX), NWN2/The Wicher 1/The Witcher 2 animations ...

(...)

Look, i've followed a course of traditional-medieval-weapon-training and it's not cool as it seems. Believe me.
However, i've extracted the models from soul calibur 2 using olke explorer as you say some posts ago, but i don't understand... How can i open the pkg files with any 3d modeling program? I can't find any plugin around...

Model/Animation ModLab .
Model Ripping
Modding Tools, Instructions
Ripping Model How to,
Support Versions Platform sorting,
Files Explorer/Extractor/Viewer
Model Format vs Model Export
Model Viewer vs Model Importer vs Model Exporter
Constitution of Workflow Model Editing vs WorkStation Configuration/OS (PC, Win 32/Win 64, Microsoft (XP,Vista, Seven, etc.)/Mac/Linux)
Looking for alternative Workflow/Debugging/Issue resolution
Case of Study
Soul Calibur 2

Hi Nico.,

Detailed/Recapitulated Process, here,

a) Source used :

Precisely : Its depending, a bit/ the source of Soul Calibur game .iso using (is it a GameCube, XBOX first one version, PS2 version, HD Online XBOX360 ... ?)

You are right, there exists PKG_Packer/_Unpacker tools (*) & others alternative, but I would like to propose to you this guideline :


b ) Models Assets files Identification/Exploration :

I've provided a link/model importer in the precedent Post, here :
http://forum.xentax.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=10060, in the attachment you have a .VMX 3dsmax plugin importer

c) Alternative :
You have also one MilkShape 3d .VMX files plug-in import alternative .
https://www.mediafire.com/?r49e64tb29t3glb

How to/Issues :

Firstly you need to mount your Game Iso in an virtual disk or /Console Games Files Explorer/Emulator to explore/arboressence files to find :


By E.g :

For GameCube :
DolphinEmulator (open your Iso then : right-click on game image bander/Properties/Files System/root.olk -> extract files)

Then :





Here you have an extract of concordance table about Models Refs. :

437, 445: Nightmare (P1)
438, 446: Nightmare (P2)
439, 447: Nightmare (P3)
453: Soul Edge (P1)
454: Soul Edge (P2)

For Information (for some of our SC FanBoys readers ^^) : some special guests are used in different console games version :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soulcalibur_II

I attire your attention that the 3ds max .Vmx importer it's apparently a WIP version (animation importer would be very welcome), indeed some skeleton/mesh fixing issues remains, & often the Milkshape plug-in don't import/export the skin correctly also, moreover you need to reconstitute the texture on the model, hopefully the UV are not broken .
In substance to animate the model correctly in this workflow & to integrate it in Infinity Engine : it's seem you must :
Re-assign the Texture, in most of the case re-skining properly or fixed some weight issue on it .
Tedious task or interesting job, depending your motivation in CG 3Dmodel creation.
Enough, in my case (in case of animation purposes), animated the model with IK/FK method, and/or convert it in Iclone Pipeline (via .FBX export, with some possible issue between 3ds/Milkshape compatibility in case of Model Editing/Tuning/Transfer) for animation/motion re-injection purpose as I've to try to demonstrate in this topic/project.

Take care about the fact that those plugs-in, softs, games are too much vintage for modern configuration, then by experience XP in 32 bit it's the most stable config. to enjoy this retro-modding hobbies .

But you guys don't worry, here your are maybe in the most difficult case of import Model ripping (except maybe ripping game "in live" from emulator).

To make your debut, I suggest to everyone to try/use Noesis (the tool could import a huge amount of 3d model, to visualized them, animated in some case, & export it in various usual format) : it's really a fantastic swiss-army-knife in matter of asset explorer, and lot of more (apparently you can use Kinect MoCap inside/model, what could be interested me a lot to create some hand-made motion for more Infinity Engine animation/reconstitution possibility) .
For identification/testing/model issue it's an indispensable utility/tool also.

Work Flow Screen (MilkShape 3d/Iclone 3DxChange):





Issue :



Resolution :

This is the mostly mesh/skin/importing Issues encountered in this Case Study with .Vmx importer script in 3ds & with .Fbx format export used in Milkshape/3DxChange .
In 3ds the rig is not properly imported on the mesh, in MilkShape/Iclone3DxChange the skin it's not properly assigned on the Weapons Arm, it's seems that some weight information are lost in the .Fbx export transfer from Milkshape to 3Dx .
But Astaroth Model imported most better in 3DX (something to deep search here/issue resolution) .
In some case with hard issue or because it's most convenient/yours skills, it's could be better to re-rigged/skinned the model mesh (on .obj by e.g.), or try various Model Format export combinations with various 3D Soft, or find some people/community that have rebuild always the model (as Xnalara model Nightmare Version that I've converted in animated sprite, but in this case the rig could be quite different/originals, such as no hand/clothes rigs = no hand/spring effects animation possibility) .

Textures are loaded/exported via VmxTEX Editor (*) .

Tips:
You can observe that I use some transveral tools like IrfanView Image viewer (that can read .dds), & DeskPins "Always on Top" windows a very handy widget, as-well Greed Xplorer/SC Viewer (*) that help me to reassign texture properly in 3d soft used .

(*) : https://www.mediafire.com/?7aiogb7zg6dwune

About :
http://forum.xentax.com/viewtopic.php?t=4582
http://www.richwhitehouse.com/index.php?co...nc_projects.php
http://8wayrun.com/threads/modding-soulcalibur-3.2908/
http://www.milkshape3d.com/ms3d/download.html

P.S. :
About various questions that I haven't not the time to answer before /Infinity Engine Advanced Animation Project,
I will provide an Q/A Post soon (about my ethical/organizational/timelines/Mods projects approaches) .

Happy Modding ...

Ah... i need to create an intere iso file to view the vmx files? As matter of fact, if i open the root.olk of my soul calibur2 with olkexpl i see no vmx file:[attachment=4106:Cattura.JPG]

.....or maybe not. I've found a thread where a guy says that in the ps2 version most of the files like the vmx are not recognized when you open them with olkexpl. Lol. i'll have to buy the xbox version for extract that damn model

Model/Animation ModLab .
Model Ripping
GUI Character Creation Customization
Faerûn Races Phenotypes, AD&D 2nd Edition Compendium
Dwarf, Character kits & Race Attributes
Fighters Kits : Berzerker, Barbarian
Dwarf Warrior Kits : Dwarf Wild vs Slayer
Baldur's Gate vs Warhammer NPCs, Dwarf NPCs & Alignement : Kagain vs Gotrek
Dwarf Ladys/Woman/Female Troll Slayer Custom Model
Fantasy WorldBuilding/Dwarf Culture
WarHammer Universe' & Character Design
Fantasy Miniatures, Stop Motion & CG Pipeline design Prospective

,

WarHammer (MMO): Age Of Reckoning [Mythic] vs Warhammer: Mark of Chaos Saga [Black Hole] vs Warhammer 40 000 Saga (RTS) [Relic],
In Baldur's Gate (Sprites) Rage!


- "Give' me Death !",

AOR Slayer In NWN 1 seq. (*) :

,

,



(*): (in skinning/spring effects, test/tuning phase)

Gear/Model/Skin Variants (in WIP) :



(...)

Credits & Process :

For AOR Model rips, a Mix of Tools to rebuild the assets by comparison method, to take advantage of "T" Pose (*), to get Charac. Texture (**),
and add possibility to use GUI Character Creation Customization, in spriting perspective, by me, salomonkane :
Asset Mesh Exploration & Comparison, Non Textured Character Mesh (*), Weapons/Texture/export with Machinima Studio,
From GUI : Characters Model Variants & Textures (**) riped with 3D Ripper DX in gaming live,
Model rebuild, rigged & skinned in 3ds, cleaned (smooth/transparency/model/texture/gear/armor, spring/hair/beard effects) in Iclone Pipeline, Slayer War Cry Animation from D III injected with/D III Modding Tools (as previously mentioned) on/Iclone Pipeline .

(...)

All Credits to Various Warhammer Community,
Modders & Professional Artists, original Studios/Producer/Creators that would be involved in those magnificent works around Warhammer Background !

(...)

I can't believe it. I've opened the xbox version of sc2.. And inside there is no olke file. LOL. Only a folder "video_TS"

Model/Animation ModLab .
Model Ripping
Ripping Model How to
Modding Tools, Instructions
Case of Study
Soul Calibur 2
Accuracy & Dedicated Tool
Iso Explorer, Game Platform & Version differences

Iso Files Exploration/Extraction Issues Resolution :


Hi Nico!,
Did you have try with this tool : C-Xbox Tool 2 (you may google it) to explore/extract the files, otherwise maybe you can use GameCube Version .

,

In Olk Explorer :



Results :

,

Model Preview from Milkshape, export in .FBX in 3DS,

But it seems that Skin/Weight issues remain ... (in 3DXchange) :



Stay to reskin/fix it .
But for sure one stable version of export plug-in for this game, for our sprites prerender modding purpose, would be very welcome .

Thanks Solomon. If wasn't for you i would probably already given up. Doing this sort of things sometimes is frustrating, becouse lot of times they turn into dead ends. I'll search for a decent gamecube iso, then i'll extract them. I wonder if also the dreamcast version of soul calibur 1 maybe has the olke file inside.. Hmm...

Teaser : (...)

Villains from the Realms
Sarevok, Sarevok Armor, Sarevok Helm, Sarevok Sword, Sarevok Character Kit, Improved Sarevok,
Magic/Cursed Armor,
Sarevok Npc vs Custom PC, Armor for Fareun races Phenotypes,
Custom Item, Custom Item Quest, Npcs Mods & Co ...
Game/Character/Scenario/Design.
Concept Art/Original Capture Model Footage : Bioware/Black Isle
3D Cinematic Model vs In Game Sprite Model
3D Character Creation vs 2D Sprite Integration

,

A little model (wip.) preview, initiated after a brief private discussion with one of our (Black Wyrm's) modder resident, around Sarevok Character Improvements ... :

,

Original sprite vs Sprites Cover textured V°s :



vs Colored, Mesh Scales, V°s :



Originals Renders :

Few finds about Sarevok Character :

,

Sarevok Inventory .Bam & Paperdoll : (***)

Custom GUI & Inventory icons from Baldur's Gate Comm. :



Battle Stances :



Armored Sarevok with Weapon equipped (Sword of Chaos ?), Cloack & a little Particle Effect in NWN battle animations tests ...



Credit & Process :
Original Saverok Armor Mesh from NWN Comm., model rebuild (*), animated with injection process by me S.K., in 3ds/Iclone Pipeline.
Various NWN tools used for this purpose : NWNViewer, nwnexplorer, NWN Toolset etc ., tutorial (**) & dedicated 3ds max script : as NWNmax plus .

Question : : How to export NWN models from game with appearance & inventory ?
(*) : Is it possible to export from NWN Toolset (or from others NWN Tools) : Complete Armored, (Winged), (Tailed), Creature/Monster in .mdl format ?
- By some graphics NWN dedicated tools ? With some editing files process (compiler/decompilation ?, 2da editing, etc .)
- Or its necessary to rebuild them with all inventory/parts items in one 3d soft (*) ?, TY .

About :
Various materiel, resources & tutoriels that in my investigations, help me a lot to rebuild & understand the NWN (Assets) making off,
NWN Community : You rock guys!
http://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/h...e-sarevok-armor
http://gtproductions.net/index.php?tab=codetut (**)
http://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/other/nwn-omnibus
NWN World Builders Ultimate DVD
https://kerzenburg.baldurs-gate.eu/showthread.php?t=42865 (***)
http://www.shsforums.net/topic/36705-bg2-sarevok-paperdoll/
http://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/3954/...rade-and-armour
http://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/4526/...fficial-artwork
http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/59376-let...-maevar/page-21
http://baldursgate.wikia.com/wiki/Sword_of_Chaos_%2B2

(more info to come ...)

Ah Solomon maybe this time i could be of some help to you... I think you already know that more than half of the models used from bioware for the infinity engine games are the same ones used after in the dark alliance games. I've found how you can extract the models from those games (which is not exaclty legal, but i guess it's really illegal only put the models for downloading after all) all you need is the iso and this program--> https://github.com/bigianb/bgda-explorer (you have to compile it before using it) and then..

Ah Solomon maybe this time i could be of some help to you... I think you already know that more than half of the models used from bioware for the infinity engine games are the same ones used after in the dark alliance games. I've found how you can extract the models from those games (which is not exaclty legal, but i guess it's really illegal only put the models for downloading after all) all you need is the iso and this program--> https://github.com/bigianb/bgda-explorer (you have to compile it before using it) and then.. [attachment=4146:temp.JPG]

Sorry for the doublepost but the site seemed to be crashing when i was uploading the image but instead... it wasn't.

Reverse Engineering/Retro Modding : Game Historical Research
About Ethic in Modding
3D Asset for Pre-Rendered Sprite Modding purpose
NWN (I) BioWare Aurora Engine
BG Dark Alliance Snowblind Studios Engine (*)
PC Games Engine vs Console Games Engine

Hi Nico., Thanks for your help, very promising info. about Dark Alliance Assets!

NWN I, Complete : Armored, Equipped, Winged, Tailed Creature Model Export, Issue :

In fact in the Post above, I talk about NWN : "I" opus,
About possibility to export Model in 3ds (&/or Blender ...) with its Tool-Set Appearance, cause actually I need to rebuild the all parts of the armor Mesh on a SuperModel to animated it . I would prefer to export, if possible, the Model with its custom appearance from the look we can give it in the NWN toolset itself (with Wings, Tail, Helm etc ... of our choice), it would be give more diversity & fun for some Model Candidate to Sprite ...


Baldur Gate Dark Alliance Saga :
Dark Alliance 1

QUOTE(Nico)

Well, the Drizzt picture you've posted from Dark Alliance Engine, is very impressive !
I've try to install the tool you've linked, earlier (in 2012) then I've read about it on Xentax, but the Prerequisites as Visual Studio 2012, was stopped me, cause I can't install this version with my configuration, it was very frustrating ...
I've try at this moment to rip Model from Game itself via 3D Ripper DX (in particular Dark Alliance II, witch I will to convert in sprite : Ysuran Auondril, the Moon Elf Necromancer), but the Game wasn't very well emulated at this time .

Today I see with a great satisfaction somebody that's able to read the asset from : Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance I, that's great! :
You said :

Are you able to extract assets with rigs & weight, UV, textures ? With animations ?
Anyway we will also to explore deeper this Pipeline via PM, & give a feed back to our audience later ...

Infinity Engine Making Off : (**)

I'm literally "fanatic" about all info./stuff concerning Infinity Engine original creation Making Off :

Did you have some source/more info to linked about it (**) ? TY .

In any case, in my turn, in a few times, I'll post some crucial infos from some forgotten Black Isle Dev. Diary ... .

,

Ethic :

Concerning the exploitation of games Assets, in Gaming Modding Spriting Purposes :

- I rely on that kind of legislation/gentlemen's agreement :



- As well as being in a approach of knowledge exchange and promotion of artistic creation .

Source : http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/14261/P15


About :
(*) : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowblind_Studios_game_engine

Yeah, about this, there's a little issue by the way, and i'm not yet able to resolve it. The fact is, that the program which extracts the models when extracts them some faces results inverted. I have no idea why happen this, but considering how did convert the first release the models, i guess we could consider ourselves already lucky
[attachment=4147:temp.JPG]

So i've tried to revert the backfaces, but doing that on all the model results to simply invert every face from one side, so it's useless. I'm not yet able to fix the problem. I tried to fix them one by one, but anyway not everyone get fixed, and when i tried to import the model inside a game for testing (vampire the masquerade redemption is the game i usually use for testing) it crashed, so i think it must be this problem.

This is the best i could do with my favorite character, Mordoc: [attachment=4149:m1.JPG] [attachment=4150:m2.JPG]

As you can see, his back has lot of faces darker let us say, but technically they're inverted. I'm still learning 3d modeling, so i still have no idea what's that issue.

Baldur's Gate Monsters & Ecology
PC Games Engine vs Console Games Engine
BG Dark Alliance Snowblind Studios Engine
Vampire the masquerade redemption game Engine
Characters, Characters & Spell effect associated/Kits Concepts design
Modeling/Mesh Issues

QUOTE(Nico)

Cool!, That's said : You have able to rip model from Dark Alliance 2 also !,

I' like a lot the Visual effects used by this vampiristic Boss :

Especially his use of "shadow" sphere/Necromancy missiles style effects :



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJjfisJb0jE (at 5'27)

I wonder to try to clone/reproduce it for some ideas for kits like : Black Flame Zealot



Vampire the Masquerade Models & Game Engine
Vampire saga have pretty good models/animations inside, & if I'm correct some enhanced high textured enhancements have been planed by the active modding community ...

Mesh Issues/ UV mapping issues, ... ? :


-Me too ,
Here for the moment I' can't distinguish if it's polygon/textures issues or something else ...
Maybe (in my experience with this kind of stuff), some UV maps info don't correctly exported on the Model, & the render engine don't correctly assign textures coordinates ...,
We need to work on this ... .

About :
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Mordoc_SeLanmere
http://weiducommando.forumsactifs.com/t644...s-etudes-de-cas

Ah well, no i simply forgot that vampire the masquerade redemption doesn't support any image bigger than 512x512. I've resized the mordoc texture and now it works. So the inverted faces doesn't really affects the functionality in the game after all. Anyway, i can help you with that, but with the conversion into bam not much.

Advanced Infinity Engine Animation Project
Baldur's Gate Mesh Base Cover
3D Model Character, Building & others Assets making for Mapping Purposes
Modeling Skills, Animation Skills, Character Artist & Character Animator
Low poly/high poly, polygonal modeling vs digital sculpting
Inverse/Forward Kinematics, vs Motion Capture vs Animation Cloning/Injection

Modding Project,
Preliminary & Tranversal Tasks
Division of Task/Task force :

Hi Nico,

As you know, I'm trying to rebuild/customize some of the original IE models,
May be you can try to accomplish some of the Baldur's Gate Character textured base mesh cover, & I try to rig, skin & animated it ... ?

Character Design Resources :

Look at some of this original creations asset information that I've gleaned about :

,


What we need to know, to better understand/grab : it's the structure of the Models/Animation itself ...
Number/Size of the Models Polygons, Mesh Body, Rigs/Bones structure & Skins type, Texture type, Animation Procedure used, etc ...
Any valuable information that's could help us to re-create the Assets with its "old-school"- touch .



One more gems :



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeWnC9DB32o

,

Something similar ..., No ... ?

Advanced Baldur's Gate Mesh Prototype Candidate :
Noober

It's could be a pretty good step if we begin to try to reproduce some BG original Model with simple clothes/armor for the beginning,
like Noober Character by eg ... :



About :
http://baldursgate.wikia.com/wiki/Tolerating_Noober

Credits :
Respect to all the artists & especially here, for original Character/Animator Artists that would be involved In Infinity Engine Models creations Assets ...
Big Up !

Advanced Infinity Engine Animation Project
Baldur's Gate Mesh Base Cover
Hands Mesh Rigs/Skins Issues
BG Dark Alliance Snowblind Studios Engine
Adrianna, the Sorceress



Pipeline Export Validation
Issues to fix, & or adaptation about :

Hi Nico, thanks for the Compiled Version of the Dark Alliance engine Tool, as you know now the tool export only textured, rigid mesh body, but that's enough for me to recreate & fix the previous issues that's I have before about D A Models .
Thank's again .

Before :



After :

Here the (armored) Adrianna Model mesh, cleaned/rigged/skinned by me, with NWN and Diablo III animations injected .



Baldur's Gate Mesh Base Cover Prototype
Hand's Issues:

Here I've try to inspired myself by the glove/muffle style hand (that you've could observe in the short clip with Ogre character above) for the rationalization of rigging prototype process for our next base mesh improved character tests/conversion/creation in the rigging/skinning process ...

Prospective :
Actually we try to see If some very promising possibility could be realized, like exporting complete animated characters (& maybe Placeables/Scenery, or VFXs ?) from the Dark Alliance Games Engine ... .

Credits & Process :
nicotine caffeine & friends for explanations and share of compiled version of BGDA-Explorer, of course the Tool Dev. himself, Snowblind Studios/Producers for the Assets exploited for modding spriting purposes .
Iclone 3DxChange/Iclone Pipeline, 3dsMax & associated exporting scripts (for D3 & NWN) .

It has been a pleasure. Now i'm working on use those models in nwn2. After all, until now, it's the only 3d game which has a remake of Baldur's Gate isn't?

Advanced Infinity Engine Animation Project
Baldur's Gate Mesh Base Cover
BG Dark Alliance Snowblind Studios Engine
Games Engine Intricacy : Aurora (NWN V° vs The Witcher) vs Electron Engine (NWN 2) vs Infinity Engine
Animation Export necessity & issues
Dark Alliance I, DA II, Champion of Norath, CN II, The Bard's Tale
Dark Elf Avatar
Avatar GUI Customization
The Bard's Class/Kits : Artist & Fighter Custom Animation, Bards Songs Customs .VFXs
Famous Forgotten Realms NPCs : Volo/Elminster
PC/NPCs : Haer'Dalis, Bards Kits : expert fighter kit, Blade kit/Kensaï kit
Avatar/Races/Customization : Tiefling tail

,

Snowblind Studio, Black isle Studio, InXile Studio : The Console Games RPGs Heritage

Welcome Followers !,

Today it's a nice day, I can confirm to you, that most of Snowblind Studio Engine Games assets could be ripped for our modding purposes,
Here they're some screens of various Models that we could see (animated in the most of the cases)/export (in .Obj, but hoping some .Fbx/animations support) from BGDA-Explorer :

,

,

,

Base Mesh :

Always looking for some/more substitute/alternative/enhancement choice of Base Mesh model for the Baldur's Gate remake Asset/Sprites Data Base that I project to do/working on, this is a Dark Elf Female Top-Less Model, who's could be customized with Hair, Armor Weapons & Co,
(btw, here I conserve hands/gloves rigs for the test) ... :




Others Transversal Works/Request,
Elminster Model remake,
Improved Bards
Volo & Haer'Dalis NPCs, Custom Fighting, Acting, Bard's Style Animations
Tiefling Tail
NWN 2 & The Witcher Animations Export Request



Well, talking about Baldur's Gate Reloaded, I've always thinking that It could be something to do with this fabulous work on NWN 2 engine in matter of Model Asset/Maps retro/conversion for spriting/mapping purposes in Infinity Engine ...
Especially with some NPCs Model, like Elminster Model, that I would like to integrate with full playability in Infinity Engine ...

But the most important thing for the success of my enterprise it's would to be able to export Animations from NW2, at least animated rigs/skeleton base mesh that I could be reintegrate to the mesh later, because in NWN 2 they are all the NWN 1 animations + The NWN 2 news one, a freaking awesome possibility to animated RPG/STR style Models in lot of Mods Projects .

Bards Class Custom Animation
Singing, Instrument Playing, Acting etc . :

, , , ,

By eg I want to give to the Bards a lot of more animations/.VFXs, (& incidentally more interactive/dialogue/lore action & co)
the Flute/Luth/Harp instruments animations playing from NW 2 could be feet very well for this purpose ... .
And of course I would like to give more expert fighting art animations (The Witcher Animations would be perfect for this) /body expression to one avatar/Bard Class/Blade Kit like Haer'Dalis with animated tail (as we can do in NWN 1 Toolset) ...



One capture from one of my workflow, trying to reconstitute/rebuild The Bard character, (I like so much this funny & so absurdness game) ...

Credit & Process :
3Ds/Iclone Pipeline, BGDA explorer,
Female Dark Elf : rigged/skinned animated with injection process by me salomonkane,
Models provided from Dark Alliance Engine, from Games developed by : Snowblind, Black Isle & InXile studios,
Animations from Iclone Template & NWN I .

About :

(NWN I MeshMod), (NW II),

http://www.ironworksforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38011
http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/top...2#entry12495230
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Volothamp_Geddarm
http://www.baldursgateworld.fr/lacouronne/...html#post280254
http://www.baldursgateworld.fr/lacouronne/...html#post285078
http://www.shsforums.net/topic/39299-bard-...d-mode-for-bg2/
http://www.gibberlings3.net/readmes/readme...nd_silence.html

Yeah, the animations of Elminster especially with the original BAMs were pretty buggy. I remember i imported the bams for use the character on Icewind Dale (1 or 2 i don't remember anymore) and i got CTD becouse the weapon attack was bugged. Anyway i think most of the BG1 models should be directly redone, the only one worthy was Sarevok. About extract animations from NWN2 be damn if i know how to help you. I'm trying to understand how it works to link the models to the nwn2 default skeletons, but i haven't yet obtained any result.

Ah, another thing. Talking about something that could be more inherent to your interests, i don't know if it's possible, but in my opinion, the most interesting animations i've ever seen, are those of "Monster Hunter" (4 ps2). The fighting is the most realistic (but also in Dark souls to be honest) but i like especially some 'idle' animations. The ones from DS you should be able to export without too much effort i guess, since i've seen the models and various mods around the net.

Interlude ... :

, ,



A little Gift to our Community, because a lot of effort could be seen actually on the Spot to develop & share creativity,
Then I decide to make my part ... :

,

Dedicated to all Riskbreaker addicts ... .

Enjoy Yourself,
See Ya!, Salomon .

Process & Credits :
Soon ... .

Lol how did you extracted Ashley? I was trying to do that some time ago but i didn't obtain any result. Well especially since i was trying to use 3d ripper for doing that and i've seen that it's useless using it with the pcsx2 or epsxe.

Sprite Model Data Base
Custom Model Fan-Made
3D Model Sketch/Fantasy Model Archetype Cover
Personal Experimentation/Works in Production Pipeline
3D Sculpting Software/Free (Modding) Model Builder Software
Sculptris by Pixologic
Case Of Studies : Arcanum Bestiary, Familiar/Followers, Custom Familiar Animations, Custom Summoning Animations

Hello Everyone !, I hope that you have enjoyed this summer, and take enough cool/relaxing time ...

Ok, here begins a serious stuff :

,

Since I begin to learn modeling,
I plan to sketch/sculpt some Archetypes Monsters/Originals Creatures coming from various Isometric Games that I like ... :

, ,


Of course the model, here, need to be more detailed (like in Zbrush later) & the animations tuned (spring effect/tail by .eg), but I'm pretty happy to validate this new building option (modeling/painting/texturing) in my Pipeline .
The models could be also customized (more horns, wings etc., etc.), and for one of the most funny part, could be animated in/with animations cloned/retouched/remakes/customized, by injection process,
(here animations provided from : NWN/Diablo 3) .

*Edit* :

In summoning interactive action :

, ,

Familiar in walk style tests (I plan to create a muzzle for this fellow & hold/release leash custom animation for his master) .

Credits & Process :
Model sculpt in Sculptris, rigged/skinned in 3dsMax, converted in 3DXchange for Iclone & animated by injection process, by me salomonkane .
Original Arcanum of Steamworks and Magick Obscura Models by Troika Artists (Leonard Boyarsky/Jason Anderson/etc.) .
* : Nosferatu Model from Vampire Bloodlines

About :
http://www.rpgamer.com/games/other/pc/arca...arcanumart.html
http://www.terra-arcanum.com/sierra/world/...tures-krag.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20060614232913/...um.com/gallery/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpxeHxpH8hU
http://terra-arcanum.com/drog/dest/uap.html
* : http://forums.blackwyrmlair.net/index.php?...st=0#entry50628


P.S. :
I have no information concerning the making of animated models of Arcanum, if anyone has any sources to communicate about it, it would be very nice, thank you.

I.E. "Bamisation" Cooking
Case of Studies : Kain Character from Soul Reaver Saga
Question of Graphics design & Mater of taste concerning Character Palettes
Render, Engine Render issues & Solutions, Adaptations

Hello,

Preamble :

So, as promise, by Popular Demand, I decide to share with you my (quite limited) knowledge concerning the implementation of new animations release in Infinity Engine .

You need to know, that this subject concerning a lot of various transversal & complementary tasks :

Like to be able to use/know/have/developed : dedicated modding & eventually professional software, a veritable sense of organization, some graphics knowledge/skills about drawing, colors theories & lighting/shading/render, notions of animation,
a strong culture about I.E. Games & Mods, etc. etc., & may be the most important of them a lot of empiric tests in your dedicated pipeline inside your testing workflow .

Manifesto :

Dedicated to the old good times of IE Modding beginning,

My goal in matter of Infinity Engine Modding it's articulated around three objectives :

I have 3 prior Projects :

1 : Create a huge data base of animated Sprites/Scenery (*), this is Advanced I.E. Animation Project ,
2 : Making an Adventure/Quest Mod in Kara Tur/Ninja World/Maps Background for the original Baldur's Gate Campaign,
3 : Build a Total AD&D Conversion Mod in a Dark Sun Campaign .

(*) : (With extended A.I./Scripts/Custom Animations/VFXs) .

All this Projects/Stuffs : should be in priority/exclusively devoted to Vanilla Baldur's Gate Saga, at destination to the olds fashion Mods Support like BGT aka Baldur's Gate Triology,
for facilitated the perenity of all the earlier mods/modders works.

That's it Folks, and now, by Modders For Modders !, I will try to explain how to integrated some news fellows in our favorite Game ! .

Integration of a new Sprite in Baldur's Gate, Bamisation Process :

Part (I) :
About the good Usage of Modding Tools :

I begin with this Picture :



As you can see it's a render of Kain 3d Model in a sprite, render view from BamWorkshop 2 .
To obtain this Sprite I have to do this tasks (*) :
a) Export my animation in Animated Images Sequence, here .Gif, with/without some options : like resolution/anti-aliased, etc .
b ) Run the .Gif in BamWorkShop 1 -> adjust the palette index to set Transparency & Shadow
c) Export the Sequence in .Bam
d) Run the Sequence in DLTCEP -> center & compress the frames
e) Run the .Bam in BamWorkshop 2 -> to visualize the animation from various Previews .
(*) : (in among : extract/calibrate the Model, add its texture, injected animations here : from Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale, add spring/physics effects, compose the lighting & coloring of the sprite,
with my Pipeline : 3dsMax + Iclone & others tools to extract the model/& after : render this Gif concerning the Sprite Test itself to illustrate this Post) .

To be continued ...

I.E. "Bamisation" Cooking
Case of Studies : Kain Character from Soul Reaver Saga
Question of Graphics design & Mater of taste concerning Character Palettes
Render, Engine Render issues & Solutions, Adaptations
About usage of Blur/Smooth Effect on the Pixel render

Part (II)
Artistic creative thoughts ... :

Blur or not Blur that's the Question ... ?

OK, here this is a In-Game render .Gif of our testing .Bams Sprite Character Actions :

,

I try to give the more closely BG style aspect to the Character (not too smoothe, to preserve details & not too much pixelised to give a shiny aspect) .

Shadow Configuration :

As you can see here I give to the shadow a high opacity in my 3D render Workflow/Sprite (Iclone), in BG we have some options about shadow translucency, I can/must take care about it ... .

Concerning Composition of this Test :

I will to give for this In-Game Test the opportunity to mirroring my Sprite (fixed in the editing Area process in DLTCEP) & play a critter (here the Birds flying) animation on it in order to perceive the contrast/fluidity of the Sprites action sequences animations test, &
of course to visualize/compare the Main Character vs Kain aspect, the water overlay animation is used in the same spirit : to give more means of evaluations/comparison/scenery/background .

N.B :
Test .Bam on line (see Attachments) , , :
You can visualize this sequence from BamWorkshop I, II (with Background Preview), & from DLTCEP ( http://www.baldursgatemods.com/forums/inde...sa=view;down=69, http://www.gibberlings3.net/tools/dltcep.php ).
FWI, I use this updated Version of BamWorkShop I : http://www.shsforums.net/topic/57564-bamworkshop/

I.E. "Bamisation" Cooking
Case of Studies : Kain Character from Soul Reaver Saga
In Game Render Sprite Actions Tests
About Slots, Sequences & I.E. Games Animations Variants
Animations Editing & Composing/ Artistical Path/Issues
Common Issues/Unexpected Effects :
Sprite : Truncatures, Pixelisation, Transparency/AlphaBlending, Specifics Animation Issues (like Walk Animation Speed/Sliding effect), Intelligent Weapon/Sword/Custom .VFXs etc .
Graphic Editing/Creation : .Bam image file, Missing .Bams, Inventory .Bam, Weapons .Bam, Paperdoll Character's .Bam, Icons .Bam .

Part (III) :
Character Design/Artistic Parti Pris :
Sprite Size, Animation FPS, Sprite Color vs Light & Day/Night Cycle Engine Render, Sprite .bam Offset adjustment, & others Tuning issues/fixes

In Action ... :



Here, Kain, "kick some butt", with his claws jab ... ,

And below, some nasty spells on the goblins faces :

,

Details : (cast), (conjure).

Some Explanations on the next Parts ... .

I.E. "Bamisation" Cooking
Cosmetic Mods : Familiar, Animal Companions, Birds Of Faerun,
Convocation, Shapeshift,
Case of Studies : Great Owl
In Game Render Sprite Actions Tests
About Compositing
About Scripting, Scripting Customization, Coding

Greetings my Good Fellows,



Today I introduce a little part of one Component of my Advanced I.E. Animation Project,
It's about birds, especially Birds of Faerun, these animals could IMHO enlightened the Forgotten Realms in various matter :
Like critters, animals companions, familiar, etc., in fact all the Ecology & Eco System in the Realms .
Of course in this way the Interactivity/Game-Play of the Game could be pleasantly improved .
The Kits & Classes (Bards, Sorcerer, Wizards, Druids, Rangers), Races (Elves), Alignment, that have some natural acquaintances/relationship with them could be also have some more fun to play, like in Strategic Way.
In addition, we could also introduce some of the RP concept of Profession (I think especially about falconry/raptors) with some custom animations for the PC & NPCs (Eagle Dressage/Riding Giant Owl, etc.) .

Picture/Render (*) :



You can observe that in matter of Tone, Color Temperature, Contrast, Brightness, Lighting ... : the Sprite feet better than the Kain Sprite before, it's because I have adjust some parameter to adapt it with the Infinity Engine Render behavior .
As well I had to fix the Sprite .bam Offset adjustment to adjust the Owl Sprite/Circle Position .

(*) : (you can use "Ctrl+" to better appreciate the render by increasing the size of the .Gif) .

Prospective :



Well, they are a lot of possible Mods/Modding declination concerning the owl character itself : various size, colors, A.I. scripts, and of course design .
Some of concepts materials preview here :

, ,


Credits & Process :
Original Owl Model & some Animations about from Iclone Template, Conversion of the Model, Creation of Customs Animation, Bam Compositing, by me salomonkane, making in Iclone, to serve & protect the Forgotten Realms Modding Flavor ( ) .
Bamisation make with usual graphics editing I.E. Tools : BamWorkshop (I/II), DLTCEP, & Near Infinity for some Data Collecting .

About :



Mods :
WTP Familiars
http://forums.blackwyrmlair.net/index.php?...amp;#entry52723
Animal Companions
http://www.shsforums.net/topic/56242-animal-companions/
Pipeline :
http://www.baldursgateworld.fr/lacouronne/...html#post281548

I think Kain is a bit too slender compared to the vanilla chars if you want my opinion. By the way i've been able to extract the models from mk armageddon if you need some character from mortal kombat. (of course the ones from ix and x are far better, but they're only some of the roster)

I.E. "Bamisation" Cooking
Case of Studies : Kain Character from Soul Reaver Saga
In Game Render Sprite Actions Tests
Kain Optimization
Kain Size/Proportions
Quest Mod in Kara Tur Project Models Assets

Hello Nico.,

Criticism :

Thanks for the comments/criticism/observations :

Absolutely agree ,
BTW, if you paid attention on Kain animations, you can observe that in some sequences : Kain is bigger than others ones, its because I try to calibrate the right size for this character :
Could it to be like an elf size ? human ? demi-orc, or bigger ?, like a BG vampire ? & that about Raziel vs Kain size, etc ... :
Are they some RP sources about the Phenotype of this kind of Characters ?, etc .

Some Renders/Concepts Mods Arts :

, ,

Requests/Models Suggestions :
Mortal Kombat Stuff :

,

MK Armageddon


Sure, , they are very interesting Models in this Sequel, especially those looks Heroic Fantasy Style/Quest Mod in Kara Tur/Background .
Models are rigged (skin/mesh/weight/bones), textured (UV/Coordinates) as well ?

About :
Kain/Raziel Appearances
https://www.google.fr/search?q=legacy+of+ka...920&bih=950
MK Armageddon Characters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_dOxqtoM4g

P.S : email-send .

Well.. Kain should be the same size of a normal human, since he was, before becoming what he is. About mk i answered in the mail but i repeat here as well: i used a trick with 3d ripping taught me by another guy (who discovered by case). So i can extract them but not in "T-Pose". Of course after some specific hits characters tend to end enough in an "arrow" kind of stance, which is good enough for rip them. About Liu Kang i've ripped just him in the "zombie" version, but there aren't his classic fatalities in mk Armageddon, so no dragons pal. But if you want to add some new dragons in Skyrim there's an infinite bunch.

Black Isle & Bioware "Savoir-Faire"
Original Asset Tools & Making Off Rediscovering
2D Sprite Editing/Batch Process & Vfxs
Works on the Indexed Palette & 3D Visuals Effects Pipeline

Hello Everyone, I wish You one Happy & Creative New Year !

Original Custom Sprite Making Off :

Actually (concerning this discussion), I'm very proud to have begin to understand & concretize 2 new important aspect/process in the I.E. re-making Sprite process :

It's about 2D Graphics Editing, and Spells Effects/VFXs Making, I'm now able to reproduce/customize/remake some of this kind of assets, in the Black Isle/Bioware style (*) .

This is some samples about :



This custom animation about one of the original monsters assets looks maybe trivial, but to be able to scale correctly it and give some custom colors that correctly playing/rendering in Game (**) ... is not a simply affair : in the World of the Infinity Engine ... : )

Below,
This various comparisons illustrated that's could be a good palette indexation, between original and custom sprite :






Spell Sprite Customization :

For the Spell Sprite Customization, like colors/editing, the process is quite different & a bit less difficult :



And the result its, for my taste, quite beautiful ... .

Spells/VFXs Creations :

Some Captures from my In-Game Testing Workflow within 3D Vfxs/2D Sprite creations/tests :



Some contrast difference behind monsters variants remain /BWS preview/In Game Render (here for the red one Skeleton, I try to give a cramoisi/crimson effect), but, concerning visual effects :
Textures/Effects/Renders looks pretty similar/originals Icewind Dale .Bam Effect above, No ... ?

VFXs render :

Finally,
Just one render of kind of Ball Of Fire/Flame Effect creation Test :



See Ya, salomonkane .

(*) : By discovering some archive/developers diary about & with use of some earlier tools dedicated about .
(**) : Without commons Issues & with correct Shadows

P.S. :
@nicotine caffeine (I didn't forget your suggestion/request about M.K.), thanks a lot for the link concerning PST fan-made/originals/goodies creation assets, I will use it on the topic later ... .

Infinity Engine Original Assets Remastering
2D Sprite Editing & Vfxs Cooking
Works on the Indexed Palette & 3D Visuals Effects Pipeline
Advanced I.E. Animation Project Catalog .
About Big Animation Size Importation Issues in Infinity Engine


Original/Custom Sprite, Advanced Palettes comparisons:

Case Of Study : IceWind Dale Golems serie :

Here they are some more animations (from IWD), between original & custom recomposed sprite assets, in various colors and size :

,
, ,

I feel that in case of translucent textures the customization show very cool ...


Case Of Study, IWD1 Dragon :
Big Sprite Data/Integration/Creation/Bamisation (render more : 256X256) :

And now, some Dragons (from IWD again) repaletized ... :


, ,

Question :
Is it a way to import Big Size Sprite Custom Animations in "IWD Dragon .Bam Format" in the BG2 Infinity Engine's V°, without to do to split them ?
May be something to dig, here, about this "specific format" ...

By the way.. Since you are quite skilled with bam workshop (for me 'twas a nightmare) can you resize the planescape torment bams to the BG/IWD ones? (I don't know if maybe you have already talked about that here, if yes sorry i didn't see it)
Becouse time ago, when i was modding BG/IWD/PT i wanted to play with NamelessOne also in the other games, but when i tried to resize his bams i didn't get 'nice' results.

Infinity Engine Original Assets Remastering
2D Sprite Editing & Vfxs Cooking
Works on the Indexed Palette & 3D Visuals Effects Pipeline
Advanced I.E. Animation Project Catalog
Planescape Torment Sprites
Study Of Case : Ignus
About Translucency/Shaders/ Render Issues in Infinity Engine
About Resizing/Scales Sprites vs Pixellisation
About Effects/VVC/Management in the Infinity Engine Render
Custom Sprites Shadows for missing Shadows


,

Planescape's Characters In Baldur's Gate Background :



In fact, I already work on this, especially on Ignus, that's one of the most (in-)famous/(hell-)larious/character from the Infinity Engine NPCs design ... : )



Render/Issues :

, ,

But, as you can see, in this case, I must to deal/tune (with) the translucency of the Sprite (its seem too dark for me in some Maps/Night cycle vs vanilla Fire Elemental), in among (on my Images Editing Pipeline) : with Intensity/Contrast ..., and/or in the Engine itself (with dedicated I.E. tool like DLTCEP) : with the editing of Effects Component (as Effect/VVC/Bams) ...

Bam Resizing :

About the N.L.O, himself, of course I want to convert him in BG, with the ranking scale (75%), without pixellisation .
They are some of works, because lot of various sequences, and may be it will be necessary to recompose some of frames to correspond with the BG's action style animation ... .

Missing Shadow :

About Ignus again, you can observe that the sprite have not shadows, I thing it's an original voluntary design choice, but I would like to customize some of them for Ignus sprite, another skills to apprehended/learning/2D in my to-do list ...


Credit & Process :

"Bamisation" (.Bam animations : export/conversion/testing/engine integration) & Customization (as colors, scales, etc.) make by me salomonkane, with Modder's Workflow (as Infinity Explorer/DLTCEP, BamWorshop : I/II) & with others image animation tools .

About (*) :




http://www.shsforums.net/topic/29324-pst-animations-to-bgii/

(*) : (drag mouse/click on the .gif to animate it)

And then...LIMLIM FOR EVERYONE!!!!
P.s. By the way i see in the thread of spellhold studios you linked there's still a my comment of years back when i was doing these edits as well.

3D Model Pre-Rendering vs Infinity Engine Sprites Making/Integration Process
Works on the Indexed Palette/ Pre-rendered Sprites Production Pipeline
Study Of Case : Vanilla Sprites & Titan Quest : Boss Monsters (Elder Beholder, Giant Exotic Spiders, Seven Heads Hydra)
About Translucency/Shaders/ Render Issues/Fixing Issues in Infinity Engine Games Render
About Resizing/Scales Sprites vs Pixellisation Tuning/Fixing
Texture, Shadows, & others Customization Options
Advanced I.E. Animation Modding Project Catalog


,

And Now we entered in one another Dimension,

, ,
(* : .Bam pined )


, , ,

In Game Render Preview :

, (here, .Gif in low res°),

Huge Size Boss :



Dedicace & Credits :
Big Up ! to all Animators & Special Dedicace for those involved in the Infinity Engine Games , and last but not least : Respect to all the Modding Tools Developers ! .
You'll Never Walk Alone, ... .

2.5 D Model Pre-Rendering vs Infinity Engine Sprites Making/Conversion Process
Works on the Indexed Palette/ Pre-rendered Sprites Production Pipeline, Tools
About Resizing/Scales Sprites vs Pixellisation Tuning/Fixing
Texture, Shadows, & others Customization Options/Issues fixed
Transluency & VVCs Effects, Projectiles Effects
Case of Study : BipBoy/Fallout Tactics, Fallout Saga
Advanced I.E. Animation Modding Project Catalog



Hi,
Here the goal it's to try to demonstrate that we could to "fall out" ( with the use of the right tools/options) : the complex case of intermixed shadow/texture/background palette (*),
cases that we can encountered in some 2D animations as with Fallout Tactics .Gifs ripped animations... :

,

(*) : Typically, like with the (rad-) scorpion skin,


,

In the same vein, sometimes we need to give more or less translucency for our animations integration purposes, the Effects that could be used inside the Engine itself give some opportunities to tune the animation render ... .

S.K. .

About :



FOT Game :
http://www.nma-fallout.com/forums/fallout-...ics-modding.24/
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_Tact...erhood_of_Steel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2563o8BnuQ

Some Essentials Tools (revised/improved), for C.G. creations purposes, concerning .Bam Conversions :
https://github.com/NearInfinityBrowser/Near...s-BAM-Converter
http://www.shsforums.net/topic/48136-cente...tion-correctly/
http://www.shsforums.net/topic/45358-neari...-35#entry587696


P.S. :
Could somebody explain how to export sprite in a big size from FOT Engine (like for scorpions, etc.) ?
(cause here : scorpion & some others sprites seem too little in comparison with the BG's Characters models sizes, & I prefer not to re-scale sprites to avoid too much pixelisation ...), TY .
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Radscorpion_...lout_Tactics%29

2.5 D Model Pre-Rendering vs Infinity Engine Sprites Making/Conversion Process
3D Model Infinity Engine Sprite Palette Integration/Creation
Works on the Indexed Palette/ Pre-rendered Sprites Production Pipeline, Tools
About Resizing/Scales Sprites vs Pixellisation Tuning/Fixing
Texture, Shadows, & others Customization Options/Issues fixed
Indexed Palette via Batch Modification vs Hand Painting Palette Modification vs Mask/Filter Tool/Editor Feature
Translucency & VVCs Effects,
Shadow Translucency & GUI Shadow Options Effects vs Modding Conversions Limitations
Path-finding, (Angle) Original Modified Sprites with Orientations Limitations & Infinity Engine Games Animations Slots Variants, Sprite in specific Map Render Integration
Foot Circle Size Options & Adjustments vs Characters Modding Design/ .Bam Conversions/Integration
Sprite Colors variety & others Texturing Tuning Option,
Modified Sprite Characters Acting Animations Design vs Infinity Animations Canvas
Case of Study : Scorpion/Fallout Tactics, Ignus/PST, Kain/LOK (LC GOL, DLC)
Advanced I.E. Animation Modding Project Catalog



Ok, then, after use of a lot of tricks, I'm able now to play with the FOT scorpion Model inside Infinity Engine :


: Here the original, intermixed Background/Skin/Shaded Shadow riped sprite, & below my convert sprite : (automatically) re-palettized, re-sized (with the use of the right scaling compromis/pixelisation tool option algorithm), in foot-circle adjustment test :



Here,
Because of the complexity of the case, I had to make various tests/observations/results around the palette/textures/scaling/shadow modifications consequences on the final render ...,
This, in the perspective of the best possible shadow shading results for I.E. integration & to avoid some issues (like pixels troncatures/liserais) & to have some nice shadow render,
For the moment in this special case, we have the possibility to "simulate" a translucent shadows for the FOT scorpion,
Maybe later we can to recompose a true indexed shadow with alpha channel (*) in some batch process (like layers mask) for all the frames without to do painting them by hand or others time consuming process .
(*) : (& the possibility for the sprite to play with shadow/option translucency in game render)

Various Big Sizes Scorpions, Characters/Shadow Opacity Simulation, Tests renders :

,

Albinos/Glowing Scorpion Character Concept Design test (without shadow then) :

, ;

Somebody Else (lol) :

(Chosen One in WIP),

Hello guys!
I'm also seeking a way to extract 3d models and textures from Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance. I've worked with GameCube version and Dolphin emulator and trying to use several tools such as 3DRipper DX, Ninja Ripper, Tex Mod and some others. There is two problems with extracted models: some polygons inverted and, more serious problem, broken smoothing groups. Your tool can handle this problems?

We've been on the matter too. There is no quick way to fix that. You can edit face by face with 3ds max, or you could try to fix all together, but usually it doesn't work very well.

That's not good It's easy to invert normals face by face, but almost impossible to recreate smoothing groups. Especially on advanced meshes, such as tiles.

BTW it's very interesting that in BDGA levels consists from very limited number of tiles and static meshes. But every mesh has its own texture with pre-rendered shadow map. Very unusual approach.

What are you talking about. If you want to fix a smoothing group almost every program has the tool "auto smoothing groups" which (after you set the density, usually 60) automatically smoothes a group/mesh. After LOT of work i fixed every face of the model of Mordoc, and now it's perfect... So, yes, it's a long work, but it is absolutely doable.
About the tiles and verious pieces of levels, i know nothing, since it didn't interest me. So i couldn't say.

Interlude


Hello Everyone,


Sorry for the delay about unanswered questions (like by PM, ), and for the lower activity on the topic, but I spent many time to learn/develop/increase some skills in fine arts foundations, especially penciling, in the order to better understand digital sculpting, animation ... & texturing, and for sure to build some new/remake assets for our favorite game ... :

Here an overview of my drawing evolution illustrated with sketches/cover/studies around some iconics characters/artists/artworks, or dynamic poses, or effects/techniques like drapery/lines circling etc., on various support from Fantasy, Comics, to Artistic Anatomy .




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See you very soon Folks!, take care, S.K. .