Deadeye fails at help... he always gives bad advice... get my example it's better.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/529356/button%20thing.cap

~Sol

So,... I'm confused...

How can they be making "software" where the "software part" of the "software" is only "part" of the "software"?

Are they giving away free computers with it or something?

Have they invented half-flacidware? Like, a combination of hardware and software combined?

Have they figured out some way of making software out of something else besides 1's and 0's?

I r confused.

~Sol

You could post a tutorial on tiling. That'd be awesome.

As I seem to take way too long at it.

Yeah, might be an idea... it's not all that hard the way I do it, perhaps a tutorial sometime in the next day or two could come in handy for a few peeps.

~Sol

It's in the next build thanks to Rich

~Sol

Ok, minor-ish cosmetc update.

Added some cool sky effects, a sun, and some glassy looking rock effects to the ground. Nothing new in the game play department, but a nice little lift and tuck for the graphics for now.

~Sol

Wow this looks great

Nice work mate!

~Sol

Here is a great tutorial, including Photoshop plugin for making normal/bump maps from a height map. Great stuff!

http://www.wolfensteinx.com/surface/tut ... pping.html

Check it out

~Sol

Hahaha awesome

~Sol

[quote:fw5m2tpt]They don't have hundreds of people working for them these days though... not animators anyway... plus, a lot of that time is rendering footage :/

Since this discussion is about the art and what shows up on screen, I understand why you wouldn't count the people in finance or such, but a lot of the people are engineers and concept artists, rigging and texture artists, etc. If they're contributing to what eventually happens on screen - like writing the software to make the stuff that happens on screen possible, like fur, hair and cloth - then I really don't think they shouldn't be counted. Animators are one piece of a film. Even in 2d movies there's the animators, inbetweeners, ink & paint, background artists... Watching the credits of any 3D animated movie shows hundreds of people ****** involved.

Also, the rendering happens concurrently and overnight. The film isn't finished then everyone waits to render, because not only do the movies take too long to render to do that, but then there's editing/compositing to do after the rendering's complete as well. I maintain my stance that 3D movies take as long to make. Well, good ones, anyway.

Yeah I totally get that... I agree in fact since the level of detail that goes into some of the models is mind blowing... like Aki from Final Fantasy... what was it again? over 2 million hair strands or something insane like that? Still... rendering does consume thousands upon thousands of hours in the process, even if it is done concurrently with the progress of the project.

And yes, I realise there are more than just animators there... without everyone else the animators would just sit there with their thumbs up their asses. I guess this, if anything, reinforces my original point of my (exaggerated) 200 person team... but I was referring in context mainly to the artists and animators and not everyone else. But yes, you are right... there are certainly a large amount of people involved, behind the scenes as well, that make things like this happen.

Hell, Blizzard employ 2,700 people... so much for "never needing 200 people on a team" or whatever.

~Sol

[quote:1zaebhkr]If you say 200 people is unrealistic, then fine I believe you... but why does it take feature length animations made "the old way" hundreds upon hundreds of people to make over a course of 5+ years? Because they didn't have 3d, and they didn't have "bones"... everything was hand painted... frame by frame... from scratch.

3D animated movies take about that long to make too.

They don't have hundreds of people working for them these days though... not animators anyway... plus, a lot of that time is rendering footage :/

~Sol

Image links are broken... any links from dropbox have to be from the "public" folder, or subfolders contained within the public folder.

Also, will check this out tomorrow... bed tiems for nows!

~Sol