96 replies to this topic

[Monophobe]

I've decided that I need something to get me out of the habit of making the odd character here, the odd model there. A project to really focus on and get stuck into, and whilst I know the new NiGHTS game is coming out, this is something I've had in mind for a while.

I'm going to try and remake the first level of NiD.

I'm an artist, not a programmer, so at some stage I'm going to need to find some clever code monkey to stick the assets in an engine for me. I'm not claiming this will ever play exactly the same, but even getting the models in an engine and being able to fly around collecting stuff would be an achievement.

Anway, with this in mind I set to work last night on the most important aspect which is of course NiGHTS his.... her.....its-self

Just need to model the hands and texture the body which shouldn't take long (all textures are being hand drawn by the way, I'm not ripping anything from images, etc. - this is all for my own development so there would be no point doing that), then I can get it rigged (the body is now properly unwrapped).



2478 triangles so far:



I'll post more as it gets done.

If anyone reading this feels they could contribute in someway then please let me know, however don't be offended if I don't take you up on it. Other than the coding, this is intended to be a personal project to accompany my portfolio.

Hope you like.

[Mitsuu]

oo, looks really nice, though his eyes are looking in opposite directions it seems.

[Monophobe]

Old render before I shifted the highlight and pupil but yeah, well spotted, lol.

[Mitsuu]

you're gonna keep the black and white right? it looks wonderfully awesome!!

i can't wait 'till this is done, it looks excellent already.

[Monophobe]

Lol, no I'm not. That's just a placeholder material so I know that I've unwrapped the model properly. If I can get every square properly square then the texture I make won't be distorted when applied.

[Monophobe]

I'm working off promo/fmv images from the original game colours wise - namely this one:



Think it might differ on some other shots but i'm happy with that for now. Things like that are simple 2 minute changes, i'm more bothered about getting all the models done and then trying to find a kind soul to help me start putting it together into something playable.

[iLLViLLAiN]

It sounds great what your trying to do. I really want to see the end result

Would you say your about 2% done?

[Monophobe]

lol, I have no idea how far. Just finished unwrapping the model, gunna sort the normal map and do the rest of the texture then rig him. After that i'll probly knock up the terrain for the level and make the basic items to collect and that way I have enough for a coder to be going on with to create what would be a truly basic 'game'. I know plenty of programmers from my course and through other forums, but how many would be interested in the project I don't know.

Who knows, maybe this will be my entry to the coding world. I'll just take things as they come for now.

[Mitsuu]

in the world of remakes, that's like, the ultimate cheat!!

i know a couple of good, friendly programmers that might help you. though, they're working on projects of their own.

[Monophobe]

Well even if I could use the old code it wouldn't be "cheating" in my eyes. Like I said, I'm an artist. This is to go alongside the rest of my portfolio. I want as little to do with coding as possible, lol, remaking all the artwork is gunna take long enough.

But no, the Saturn was notoriously a complete bastard to code for which is one of the reasons there was so little 3D stuff actually on it. Plus getting the source code will be impossible, it might be stuck away in the vaults of Sega somewhere, but you can't grab code once stuff has been compiled. Even if you could, I'm looking to run this on a PC.

Nah, this will need a new engine.

[Monophobe]

You only get source code usually for games you can mod, that have editors, etc. There wouldn't be any point with something like NiGHTS as I've said. Anyway, none of that matters for now. Just need to add the waist coat and bake the soft shadows into the texture, but for now it's bed time (5:19am, silly me :S )

Progress:


GoodNiGHT folks.

[Monophobe]

Just about to render out the final model of NiGHTS for those that are interested. I made the hat rounder as it nears the points, as I've kept things very low poly anyway so a few extra wasn't an issue. I also decided to shrink the ruffle/collar ever so slightly as it was the one part that didn't look right, even though it measured up to the original game model.

I've added a specular map (that makes stuff shiny if you're not used to these terms) and a normal map to give the jacket stars more emphasis. I also decided to add some lacy detailing along the sleeves and small detail on the gloves, again using the normal map so the poly count wasn't altered.

So there we have it (renders are done). My version of the classic NiGHTS character which now needs to be rigged for animation.

Remember that this is a large close up render, and you would never see the character this close in the game, so small errors in the texture, or areas that aren't quite as sharp as the rest would not be noticed. Just figured people here might like a proper look.

Hope you like, it's been great fun to make



....Now, which bit to start next I wonder

I've just started rigging the model which (again, for those not familiar with this sort of thing) involves creating a skeleton that fits within the model. It is this skeleton that is animated so that the model/mesh deforms around it. Once you have made your skeleton though, you have to go through each bone one by one and essentially define which parts of the mesh that particular bone has influence over.

This process of editing the 'envelopes' can take a long time, but is necessary so that you don't get bends in the wrong place, or part of the mesh being left behind when the skeleton walks away, stuff like that.

HOWEVER; I always find it amusing to see how things are behaving prior to altering any of these settings and here is the result,



Check out them funky legs, heheheh.

Right, its 5am again (oh why do I do it) and bedtime. GoodNiGHT all.

[animejosse]

Those legs look painful XD Poor NiGHTS.

[Monophobe]

Hehe, indeed they do, but like I said, that's why editing the skin envelopes is so important. Have to say that what you see there is actually pretty good for a completely unmodified rig. Some I've had in the past result in the model trying to pull itself apart when you set it walking or something, lol.

@submas13: I do all my modelling in 3ds Max and then use Zbrush and Mudbox for sculpting (for normal maps) and touching up seams on the texture unwrap.

[Roam]

Those funky legs look rather painful..

[Monophobe]

Figured I'd make a start on another piece tonight but fancied something quick so I've knocked up the Ideya Palace / start point for the level. The higher res version needs to be made for the normal map and naturally it needs texturing, but I thought you guys might be interested in seeing the base models and random bits as I progress.

Original:


Remake:

[Gun6]

Ba-da-bah-bah-baaah, I'ma lovin' it.

I like the star engraved on the floor of it.

[SCRiBBLER]

sounds wonderfully awesome. I'm going to start a remake myself soon, but since i'm terrible at 3d coding, i'm just going to be doing it in 2d, sidescroller style, which i'm pretty darn good at, but hopefully making it as accurate as possible otherwise.

good luck with this, keep posting updates, i'll be watching

[Monophobe]

sounds wonderfully awesome. I'm going to start a remake myself soon, but since i'm terrible at 3d coding, i'm just going to be doing it in 2d, sidescroller style, which i'm pretty darn good at, but hopefully making it as accurate as possible otherwise.

good luck with this, keep posting updates, i'll be watching

If you're a 2D coder, perhaps you could help with a menu system or something like that? Like I said, I don't code at all. You got any examples of what you can do? Also, what do you work in?

It looks like a blue gingerbread Ideya Palace.

[SCRiBBLER]

If you're a 2D coder, perhaps you could help with a menu system or something like that? Like I said, I don't code at all. You got any examples of what you can do? Also, what do you work in?

well just in the registered version of gamemaker 6.1, but that's a pretty sweet programme in my opinion, and totally underrated. it's not the best for 3d unless ya have 3d modelling software though.
anyhoo, i'm not entirely sure i can be arsed currently to be frank, i'm starting on my own one the now, but i may whip up a wee sploodgy for ye if i have the time. i wouldn't like to commit myself to helpingyou though, cos i'm ferosiously unreliable.

[Monophobe]

Lol, no worries. Just if you were interested.

[TomTom]

Oooh pretty

I like it! No I wub them!

[Monophobe]

This is a bit of a bump really, but I'm still looking for a coder for this project, or possibly someone that knows UnrealEd a fair amount (considering using a top down camera, ala Alien Swarm and doing some camera/character rotation trickery to get the right look).

I really really would like to get this off the ground, but until I have someone to work with on it, I'd be better off spending time on original works - in terms of my portfolio you understand.

Anyway, the final layout for NiGHTS that I put on my portfolio site is below. Come on people, help me find a coder

[Monophobe]

Well that's the initial idea yeah. Even if it just ended up as a playable level that you could fly around and collect stuff in, but the link system and 'level goal' werent necessarily in place. Enough to show the concept, which would certainly be a great showreel piece for myself and a coder. But ultimately yeah, I'd love to get it so that it was properly playable. If it got to that stage, then it wouldn't take too much work to create completely new levels.

[Mitsuu]

you could always go to zfgc.com and see if anyone there is willing to help. i doubt it though seeing as most people there are already working on something.

[Monophobe]

Thanks, I've posted in recruitment there tonight. Also sent Suri a message through Youtube regarding their work on getting NiGHTS assets running through the XNA framework (useable on PC/xbox 360)

[Monophobe]

Well, today I have been messing around in Blitz3D and can.... fly around (I basically swapped my model in for the airplane in a sample file). I also tweaked the camera to be side one and put a sky plane in. Just a muck about really as my coding knowledge is minimal to say the least.

HOWEVER, ba ba da da da bah!

It seems I may have found a coder over at the site Mitsuu suggested. He's going to do a few test things as he's not done much 3D coding for a while, and then knock up a space that can hopefully deal properly with the 2D movement on a 3D plane, possibly with collectable items. Then we'll take it from there, based on the results of that.

The main thing is, this will be done using XNA, which uses DirectX9, which to those of you less technically inclined, means that this can potentially look very pretty indeed should I wish to push it that far.

Obviously for initial phases, I wouldn't worry too much about making everything look top notch, but once the core mechanics are in place, then I can go to town on the visuals.




Until anything developes, please "enjoy" the arse water that was my efforts earlier today. This will truly be a footnote on the development of NiGHTS into Dreams: Second Slumber (oh that's right! I've named my baby project!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwBFF6XLksI

[Monophobe]

So, the guy who was going to help had to drop out before starting due to other commitments.

Thankfully he suggested I contact Infinitus from the ZFGC boards and tonight we've set things in motion. He really knows what he's doing it seems and has written game editors, games, even his own coding language in the past. Basically it seems he's the perfect guy for the job. Plus he lives in England which means I don't have to stay up all night to get to speak to him as I would have with MiNalien.

So where are we. Well Infinitus hasn't actually played NiGHTS before, but we're dealing with that situation. Until then, when he can get a real feel for how the game handles, I've sent him a "test" level. This is very much a land of bugger all, but you'll understand it has the core elements for the start of such a project - i.e. a character model, a level, a "track" to follow and some lights for good measure.



Once the control scheme is down in a basic sense, then things can start to move on.

Oh yeah, and I also put the title screen in the first post here. Hope you like it.

[Monophobe]

*proud*

Just finished my skybox texture and I'm proper chuffed with it

Based very much on that of Spring Valley but almost entirely remade (only parts of the mountains are original, and even those parts have been bombarded with layer masks, blending modes, etc, etc.)

Obviously with this being a texture I have worked hard on I don't want it stealing, hence the watermark. Hope you like it, and I look forward to getting it into the game

Spring Valley Reference:


My Skybox:


And just for fun:

[animejosse]

It looks very nice so far! The texture is lovely.