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Suggestions Thread: Art Assets (models, textures, images, sounds)

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  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    @gugulug5000 Well, that was not so straightforward. Let me know if you have questions.



    -Put portraits and soundsets in easily accessible file locations so that if we cannot actually incorporate BG, BGII, and ID into NWN, then we can just simply do it ourselves. The reverse being true to incorporate files into the old IE games.

    -Expanded color options/palettes for weapons and items. Same with containers, world objects (like doors), and monsters.

    -Lore friendly height scales for player characters in character creation. Also possibly lore friendly skin color palettes for different races (as suggested by @Maloney ).

    -Tattoo overlays that can be placed over skins, as opposed to entirely new skins with tattoos on them. Custom tattoo positioning, and the ability to make and import custom tattoos.

    1 - not sure what exactly you mean here. There's now a card for https://trello.com/c/nBQZC32I/170-improve-the-override-folder-function

    2 -added to https://trello.com/c/rcJR6nLP/71-customizable-features-on-companions-familiars-parts-vfx-colors-races

    3 - added to https://trello.com/c/tCi8XcXE/128-improve-character-creation-ui

    4 - https://trello.com/c/GlgyuPv8/173-improve-tattoo-overlays-custom-tattoos
    gugulug5000ProontAtrophiederic
  • gugulug5000gugulug5000 Member Posts: 248
    @JuliusBorisov Looks good to me.

    What I mean with the 1st one was in reference to how everyone wants BG, BGII, and ID portraits in NWN and vice versa. What I meant to say was that if it's not possible to formally implement them into the game, then make it easier for users to add them to their own games by leaving the portraits/soundsets/whatever in an easily accessible location. This way, if we want the portraits to be put into the different games, then all we need to do is find the portraits in the folder and copy them to the portrait folder of the other game. It was mostly an idea to be a workaround for legally being able to implement the different portraits/soundsets into the different games. Hopefully that makes sense. Thanks for adding these things to the Trello Board.
  • krynnmeridiakrynnmeridia Member Posts: 14
    edited March 2018
    I had another thought: I'd like a way to view NWNX's added visual effects in-toolset. Having to go in-game to view a weapon's visual effect was really annoying and contributed to me not really ever using NWNX. (I know, I'm incredibly lazy.)

    Edit: Whoops, mixed up NWNX with NWNCX! Sorry about that!
    Post edited by krynnmeridia on
  • LaputianBirdLaputianBird Member Posts: 107
    edited March 2018

    I had another thought: I'd like a way to view NWNX's added visual effects in-toolset. Having to go in-game to view a weapon's visual effect was really annoying and contributed to me not really ever using NWNX. (I know, I'm incredibly lazy.)

    That likely was NWNCX (Client Extender) - which isn't going to be available for EE

    NWNX is a server-side extender, doesn't add things like weapon vfxs
    TheAmethystDragon
  • 1varangian1varangian Member Posts: 367
    edited March 2018
    I have another request if animations and sound effects will get retouched at some point. Right now, combatants in heavy armor dodge a lot. When an attack misses because of armor AC, present it with the armor deflecting the attack instead of a dodge. Like a hit without damage.

    It wouldn't be purely a cosmetic change either since it would relay information about the defenses. I.e. if someone dodges a lot, try to hold / knockdown / stun them. If their armor blocks damage like a tank, don't bother. Also lightly armored evasive fighters and heavy tanky fighters would look and sound different in combat.
  • LaputianBirdLaputianBird Member Posts: 107
    edited March 2018

    I have another request if animations and sound effects will get retouched at some point. Right now, combatants in heavy armor dodge a lot. When an attack misses because of armor AC, present it with the armor deflecting the attack instead of a dodge. Like a hit without damage.

    It wouldn't be purely a cosmetic change either since it would relay information about the defenses. I.e. if someone dodges a lot, try to hold / knockdown / stun them. If their armor blocks damage like a tank, don't bother. Also lightly armored evasive fighters and heavy tanky fighters would look and sound different in combat.

    There is no way for the engine to detect the reason for the missed attack, and the concept however is blurry: since AC is cumulative across the various sources of it, how can you tell if the missed attack is due to Armor AC or to Dodge AC?
    It's possible to add some sort of scripted system that could simulate such differences and decide in each occurrence what source of AC to consider as the one causing the miss, but still the engine would lack the logic to play a certain animation when the attack was dodged and when it was deflected.
    Combat animations are hardcoded in the engine, and changing its logic would require deep reworking
    Proont
  • 1varangian1varangian Member Posts: 367

    I have another request if animations and sound effects will get retouched at some point. Right now, combatants in heavy armor dodge a lot. When an attack misses because of armor AC, present it with the armor deflecting the attack instead of a dodge. Like a hit without damage.

    It wouldn't be purely a cosmetic change either since it would relay information about the defenses. I.e. if someone dodges a lot, try to hold / knockdown / stun them. If their armor blocks damage like a tank, don't bother. Also lightly armored evasive fighters and heavy tanky fighters would look and sound different in combat.

    There is no way for the engine to detect the reason for the missed attack, and the concept however is blurry: since AC is cumulative across the various sources of it, how can you tell if the missed attack is due to Armor AC or to Dodge AC?
    It's possible to add some sort of scripted system that could simulate such differences and decide in each occurrence what source of AC to consider as the one causing the miss, but still the engine would lack the logic to play a certain animation when the attack was dodged and when it was deflected.
    Combat animations are hardcoded in the engine, and changing its logic would require deep reworking
    Seems simple enough.

    A 20 AC PC has 8 armor AC and 12 dodge AC (base AC is dodge). 40% misses call for armor block animation, 60% of misses call for dodge or block animation.

    Natural armor is the same as armor.

    Deflection AC would be cool if it actually showed as magical deflection sometimes.

    And luckily Beamdog is in the business of unhardcoding and enhancing source code. =)
    Atrophiederic
  • LaputianBirdLaputianBird Member Posts: 107


    Seems simple enough.

    A 20 AC PC has 8 armor AC and 12 dodge AC (base AC is dodge). 40% misses call for armor block animation, 60% of misses call for dodge or block animation.

    This doesn't seem to have anything to do with what you posted above:

    When an attack misses because of armor AC, present it with the armor deflecting the attack instead of a dodge. Like a hit without damage.

    Since you were implying the concept of a specific source of AC as being the cause for the missed attack.

    On the other hand, what you are implying in your last post is different, it's exactly what I meant by:


    It's possible to add some sort of scripted system that could simulate such differences and decide in each occurrence what source of AC to consider as the one causing the miss

    It is somewhat doable, but would require a change in the engine logic in order to accommodate the cosmetic change. Even moreso if you also want feedback on what caused the miss in order to be able to decide whether to use specific attack types based on the opponent's defense style.

    Furthermore, the cosmetic change itself would require creating new animations on the models level
    Xorina
  • 1varangian1varangian Member Posts: 367
    Dude it's just a suggestion that would improve the game. No point turning it into an argument of some kind.
  • LaputianBirdLaputianBird Member Posts: 107

    Dude it's just a suggestion that would improve the game. No point turning it into an argument of some kind.

    There is no argument.

    Giving context to a suggestion can lead to improving it, and improving it can make it more palatable for the devs, hence increasing its chances to be implemented
    ZwerkulesProontricoyung
  • 1varangian1varangian Member Posts: 367
    edited April 2018
    Another useful thing that comes to mind is a VFX editor, like in the NWN2 toolset.

    I remember creating or changing spell effects or other visual effects in NWN2 was really easy, but in this toolset it's impossible.

    Most of the spell effects really need to be toned down a lot. Spellcasters look like a big mess after a few buffs and protections.

    A great approach would be to only quickly flash the protections when they are activated. Some of the biggest offenders also come with long durations: all Elemental protections, Shield, Shield of Faith, Protection from Evil, Spell Resistance, Protection from Spells, Premonition etc.

    I would also have the "skin" line of spells only (subtly) change your actual skin, not armor and weapons.
    shadguykrynnmeridiaProontAtrophiederic
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714

    Another useful thing that comes to mind is a VFX editor, like in the NWN2 toolset.

    I remember creating or changing spell effects or other visual effects in NWN2 was really easy, but in this toolset it's impossible.

    Most of the spell effects really need to be toned down a lot. Spellcasters look like a big mess after a few buffs and protections.

    A great approach would be to only quickly flash the protections when they are activated. Some of the biggest offenders also come with long durations: all Elemental protections, Shield, Shield of Faith, Protection from Evil, Spell Resistance, Protection from Spells, Premonition etc.

    I would also have the "skin" line of spells only (subtly) change your actual skin, not armor and weapons.

    https://trello.com/c/IFw91k5U/183-vfx-editor
    AtrophiedericProont
  • FreshLemonBunFreshLemonBun Member Posts: 909
    It would be nice to have an extended color palette with channel swapping or mapping.

    That is color modified by saturation scale and brightness scale, for both body and armor parts. Also a function to swap cloth channel with leather channel, swap cloth channel with skin channel, swap metal channel with leather channel and so on. Not just color but channels/materials so metal shiny reflective color effects apply to cloth, leather and so on, and matte cloth effect applied to metal.
    AtrophiedericHunterRayder93
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714

    It would be nice to have an extended color palette with channel swapping or mapping.

    That is color modified by saturation scale and brightness scale, for both body and armor parts. Also a function to swap cloth channel with leather channel, swap cloth channel with skin channel, swap metal channel with leather channel and so on. Not just color but channels/materials so metal shiny reflective color effects apply to cloth, leather and so on, and matte cloth effect applied to metal.

    https://trello.com/c/X3smrVno/186-provide-an-extended-color-palette-with-channel-swapping-or-mapping
    Proont
  • DerpCityDerpCity Member, Moderator Posts: 303
    I'm excited that size scaling made its way into the most recent development build! Fighting supersized rats and tiny dragons will be a go when we get the ability to set their collision radius and their size modifiers through script as well. :smile:

    However, I'd like to make a suggestion; is it possible to have a function that sets the walk/run functions independently of all of the animations? The only reason I would want to scale the animation speed (outside of cinematics that I don't know how to make) is for their walking and running animations so they look normal at their new size, but unfortunately this translates into their other animations, causing animations to be cut off early or desync when in combat, for example.
    JuliusBorisovGM_ODA
  • XorinaXorina Member Posts: 138

    A minor thing, but can we get the original menu music back? I've always preferred it to the menu music from Hordes of the Underdark.

    How about a choice of either?

  • DerpCityDerpCity Member, Moderator Posts: 303
    @Xorina There is an option in the NWNPlayer.ini (I think, might be somewhere else) to set what menu music you want, based on the name of the music file in game. I have it as the HotU final boss theme, for instance. You might have to do some digging to find the file names, though.
    voidofopinionJuliusBorisov
  • XorinaXorina Member Posts: 138

    It would be nice to have an extended color palette with channel swapping or mapping.

    In similar vein the new digital vibrance setting really helped with the livliness of the NWN scenery, original is washed out by comparison - Vibrance grants it a lush, even Technicolor feel.

    OTOH it can be a tad too vivid, one could argue (say green tones), so High contrast settinghelps tame it. I keep the new shadow detail setting off to make the game smoother (have only a 1GB vidcard!)

  • XorinaXorina Member Posts: 138

    blockquote class="Quote" rel="1varangian">When an attack misses because of armor AC, present it with the armor deflecting the attack instead of a dodge. Like a hit without damage.

    Yes with a clang or "chingg!" sound or something (My Paladin Char Xorina has up to 34 AC)

  • FreshLemonBunFreshLemonBun Member Posts: 909
    It has been a while but I haven't seen any release of documentation for art features yet like specular maps and that other thing about layers or something?

    I think it would be helpful if Beamdog released good documentation or tutorials so content creators know what to do with these new features.


    @Xorina Unfortunately I'm in the group of ppl that dislike the high saturation option. It actually gives me a headache and I turn it off because I prefer the more natural color range.
  • XorinaXorina Member Posts: 138

    I@Xorina Unfortunately I'm in the group of ppl that dislike the high saturation option. It actually gives me a headache and I turn it off because I prefer the more natural color range.

    Yeah, I think my samsung vdu isn't that great even though both brighness & contrast are both at 50%

  • ShadowMShadowM Member Posts: 573

    VFX suggestion: We already have a VFX_BEAM_CHAIN. Could we one day get a VFX_BEAM_ROPE? There are so many instances while building that I wished there were a rope beam.

    This is another Trello one
    LINK
    NeverwinterWightsJuliusBorisov
  • AzimnAzimn Member Posts: 24
    This is more of a question but can the engine support using plts with normal maps? I love the visual upgrade but hate you can't change the colours.
  • ArcanaArcana Member Posts: 4
    Pretty much agree with everyone's suggestions here, thus far.

    Tropical tileset
    Something I never quite liked was the cheap implementation of the "Tropical" tileset.
    Where's the jungle features?
    Buildings should at least be somewhat re-textured to fit in a more southern or exotic scenery.

    Stuff I would love to see are dinghy boats, more exotic Features such as Bazaar, a jungle outpost, straw or adobe huts or ruins like in Diablo 2's act 3 (Kurast, Travincal). Or a temple site suited for Yuan-Ti / lizardfolk.
    The rural Tree hedge terrain could be revamped into a "jungle hedge", the standard rural houses need more curvature and exotic components.
    There was some excellent lizardfolk huts as placeable objects. That would be a good start.

    Thanks and keep it going Beamdog :)
    shadguyProontGM_ODA
  • Grizzled_DwarflordGrizzled_Dwarflord Member Posts: 168
    Greetings and salutations:

    Unless my old bloodshot eyes deceive me -- and they often do -- this appears to be an Art Asset Suggestion thread. My suggestions are both simple and yet genius:


    Githyanki -- maybe like 3 or 4 creature models
    Astral Plane Tileset


    I'm not sure if there's anything in the community that approaches this, or if it does, does so with the love and brilliance that I so desire. But just those 2 items alone is like a veritable Pandora's Box: it opens up so many more ideas.

    Thank you
    ProontGM_ODANostariel
  • AzimnAzimn Member Posts: 24
    I have a suggestion could Beamdog officially add in some of the best community assets? Such as some of the great tilesets from the vault? Some of which are just as good or several are better than the stock ones. I know you can use them as haks but adding them officially in a patch means everyone would have access. Plus if we had a path to submit content that could be voted on and added in to a patch that could help jump start the CC community as the author would have the work be included as official NWN content an accolade I'm sure many would be excited about and Beamdog could get great free artwork.
    pscytheGM_ODARifleLeroy
  • ProlericProleric Member Posts: 1,269
    @Azimn that has been suggested a few times, but there are complex legal & community issues, a bit like pro-am sports.

    As it stands, players & builders can already access both official and fan-made content easily, and the CC community is very active, witness the monthly challenges.
    ProontJuliusBorisov
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    edited July 2018



    Githyanki -- maybe like 3 or 4 creature models
    Astral Plane Tileset

    For tilesets:
    https://trello.com/c/4c2OooIX/24-add-new-tileset
    https://trello.com/c/Rhnmdtsr/42-update-tilesets

    For races:
    This one is interesting. Everyone, have a loot at the Models & Animation section of the Input board. Should any new card be added there to cover this request? We have one part of https://trello.com/c/tCi8XcXE/128-improve-character-creation-ui implemented now (regarding custom races).
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