DCUG: Released But Still Under Construction

[Borgaster]

This mod promise be the Best mod of DC Universe ever !

[BentonGrey]

Why thank you, Borgaster!  I hope it will live up to your expectations!  I am finally getting back to work on it.  I hope I'll be able to post a Developer's Journal soon.

Unko, I have sent you that message.  Thanks again for touching base!

[Borgaster]

Why thank you, Borgaster!  I hope it will live up to your expectations!  I am finally getting back to work on it.  I hope I'll be able to post a Developer's Journal soon.

Unko, I have sent you that message.  Thanks again for touching base!

Thank you very much , Benton !

[BentonGrey]

As promised, here's a new Developer's Diary, giving some insight into what I've been up to, how I've been doing, and what is on the horizon for the DC Universe according to Grey!  This one features a preview of the first few missions of my Aquaman campaign, and a lot of nitty-gritty info on how to do more with maps. 
https://bentongrey.wordpress.com/2021/06/05/dcug-developers-diary-5/

[deanjo2000]

Amazing, lots of really cool stuff going on here. Everything is just so well done and the missions really come alive for the characters.

[BentonGrey]

Wow, thanks Dean!  That means a lot!  I'm really trying to create a well-crafted, polished version of the mod for this update/expansion.

[Borgaster]

This mod is simply amazing ! I can't wait for the new update. It is a pity that don't have more modders creating mods for this game. Freedom Force is best game ever of all times for play with comics super heroes !

[BentonGrey]

Why thank you, Borgaster! 

I completely agree about  and  .  And I really wish we had more modders still creating.  But that's part of why I'm making the DCUG, in hopes that folks will want to tell their own stories too, and that I can give them the tools to do that.

[BentonGrey]

Howdy guys, I'm working on an Atlantean palace map for my Aquaman campaign, and I'd really love some feedback.  To be clear, this is just a modification of the excellent palace map.

Here's what I've got so far.  I want it to look 'underwater-y', and I am relatively happy with it, but not entirely.  I'm not 100% sure about the texture for the columns, and I'm wondering if the floor and walls should be different textures, though I'm not sure what to change.  Finally, I'm really not happy with the throne.  It's supposed to be gold, but it doesn't look right.  The tapestries are going to be updated with a new color and the Aquaman symbol, but that's not done yet. 

:EDIT: I've revamped the map, got new textures for the floor and the columns (thanks to ND for that idea!), and I'm generally happier with it.  What do y'all think?





I'm also thinking about adding some other objects to the map, as it seems a bit bare.  Any suggestions?  Ohh, and does anyone have any suggestions for a shell-like object that I could use for the back of the throne?

[Randomdays]

I'll look at things for a possible shell back.

For the bare room, how about some armed guards at attention, just for looks, and some court figures - chamberlain, vizier or what have you. Maybe some giant clams, opened or closed?

[BentonGrey]

RD, you read my mind!  Here's what I've just come up with:




I found a shell object on 'Mato's Aquagirl skope, actually.  Check out the throne I put together in Nifskope, using your dolphins!

[Randomdays]

Great Benton.

You of all people would know this, but is there a mesh or skin for his 60's troublemaking imp friend, Quisp? I've been reading some of the 60's comics and he's popped up a few times.

RD

[BentonGrey]

Thanks!  I'm inordinately pleased with myself about the throne, haha.

Yes!  Ha, Quisp does indeed exist.  I actually thought I had him in the DCUG, but apparently I don't.  Weird.  I think he was made by Kssaints.  Apparently I don't have him, which vexes me.

[Randomdays]

Don't be vexed! Its bad for your health.

I'll have to see if I have him then, unless someone else has him available?

RD

[naitvalis]

I like the map so far Ben, and add more stuff to have a rich throne room is a good idea, i don't know maybe also some statue, but what i would really like to see is something that could gave an underwater feeling, maybe a transparent light blue big object that simulate the water, or some bubbles effect here and there...you have understand what i mean, always congratulations for your many works.

[Randomdays]

How about a large statue honoring Neptune, trident in hand?

Also, some lighting scattered around  - some glowing crystals or globes of light like will o' wisps.

Some fish swimming randomly around.

Oh, and maybe some rays of soft blue or green light to help give it an underwater feel

[BentonGrey]

Good ideas guys, thanks!

The water texture effect is something that I've considered a lot for these underwater missions, but there's not a good way that I've discovered to do it that works for gameplay and different camera angles, etc.

I've got some bubbles in the previous ocean floor map, coming up from the sea bed.  Do y'all think that would look out of place in the palace, or would it just feel 'aquatic'?

I feel like I once saw a map where someone (I thought CmdrKoenig, but I'm not sure) had replaced the pigeon ambient effect with fish.  If I can figure out how to do that, it would be really cool.  Unfortunately, I can't find the map in question.  Anyone remember it?

Anyone know how to add colored lights to a map?

[Randomdays]

For the colored lights I think you can mess around in nifskope with the color wheels and change the shading and emission level. A light cone coming off of it or from above could be a simple semi - transparent mesh in a cone shape, using whatever basic color you want. Its been a long time but I think one of the early nighttime missions in FF did this with the street lights.

If that's not much help, I'll look around after I recover the files I just lost. Edit - same with the maps - I know I have a bunch CmdrKoenig's map tucked away.


RD

[UnkoMan]

Hey, this Atlantis map is looking GREAT. Love that floor.

One way to make it look "underwatery" might be to have little bits of mist floating around. It could give the impression of the sort of wavy things they always draw in comic book underwater scenes.

Also... bubbles? Pockets of bubbles? Maybe there's a way to suspend one of the FX?

Coloured lights I actually have a GREAT object for that in my city maps! I edited some regular light object? I forget the process, but the map is littered with various coloured light objects in purple, pink, blue, green.
http://heroforce.freedomforceforever.com/unkoman.html

EDIT: I think I had to edit values in nikskope, like RD mentions. If you can find the object and take it out, I'm pretty sure all you'd need to do is change the colour value.

As for a CONE of light, yes I do believe the streetlamps in FFvsTR has a cone effect. Is that a transparent object with a texture? If it IS, and I get the base texture I can easily whip up a "ray beam" style skin to go on there.

EDIT 2: Don't know how hard it is to take models and pose them?
https://www.models-resource.com/ds_dsi/finalfantasyiii/model/31406/
But if somebody could make this into a static pose and I got the skin file, I could easily put a statue skin on it.

[spydermann93]

I figure for posing that mermaid, it would have to be rigged to a skeleton then it could be posed. All of that should be doable in Blender.

[naitvalis]

Another obvious trick is to make any character with that swimming animation i mean the flyng ones instead of walking and also use melee powers according to this, i know it is so obvious but gave really an immediate understand that the characters are underwater.

[Randomdays]

Not sure who did it at the moment, But for swimming characters to have that bobbing motion and to animate well, there's a Triton (from the Inhumans) mesh with some great kfs. I know that I use this a lot for the fish and other creatures I've imported, and I think a lot of the Namor, Aquaman,and other swimmer meshes use the same kfs.

For the mermaid, it doesn't necessarily need rigging and kfs if its a statue - you can manually adjust the pose of the mesh to any position by changing the mesh itself.  For the Invisible Jet and Batplane meshes I just did, I stripped out the armature and posed Batman, Robin and Wonder Woman in sitting positions with their arms out to line up with the vehicle's control stick.  The thread's in the "Meshes" forum

For the cone of light, I don't know if you even need a texture. I think it would be similar to the selection ring which is semi transparent and has a natural purple color, which could be altered in nifskope. A blank white texture might work if you changed the lighting on it, or the material color in nifskope.

RD

[UnkoMan]

I do remember looking at the textures of the streetlights.
I can't recall if they were a solid gradient or a tone, but... It would be very easy to make a sort of "ray of light" texture and put some ripples like it's underwater.
https://ak.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/11752739/thumb/1.jpg

Basically map an image like this to fit the square correctly. Not sure how that would look in game. Would it be weird to have the wavy bits on only a conal shape?

[spydermann93]

I'd say the light would only make sense if there are light sources in the throne room.

The "mist" could be a good idea to give some movement. Bubbles not so much since there wouldn't be air in there, right? Do DC Atlanteans have air pockets in their throne rooms?

Utilizing the swimming keyframes would definitely be the best way of showing you're underwater. And perhaps deeper, darker colors? Like, they could still be colorful, but perhaps a deeper blue filter if that's possible?

I'm just throwing ideas and thoughts out.

[Randomdays]

Agree on the light cones - much more likely to be seen in shallow water from above, but you could have light sources on the walls projecting them.

Mounted lights on the walls or pillars, like Unko mentions, or floating light globes might fit the theme better.

RD

[BentonGrey]

Wow, lots of cool stuff here, guys!  I actually already have all Aqua-related characters in the game in two versions, one with land keys and one with swimming keys, so that part is covered.   I'll have to make a video later of Aquaman 'flying' around, fighting Manta's minions.  It really doesn't look half bad.

I think in terms of creating new lights and such, I'm a little hesitant to get into it, though I do imagine that would look really awesome.  I think I understand, haha, but I'm only vaguely aware of how lights work in the map editor. 

I actually have thought about trying to create an object that was a bowl with luminescent fish in it to serve as lights on some of the columns, but I'm not entirely sure how to go about it.  Maybe just globe lights, like RD suggested...

Spyder, dry or wet buildings depends on the era and version of Atlantis.  In mine, it's all aquatic.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the thoughts and ideas!

:EDIT: Okay...so I found the Python command that created the warp effect in  #1.

def DreamFXIncrement():
   state = Mission_GetAttr('fx_state')+1
   Mission_SetAttr('fx_state',state)
   if state == 1:
      print "state 1"
#      Mission_SetDreamSinParams(1, .015, .25)
#      Mission_StartDreamWave(5,-1,0)
#      DreamFXStartPulsing()
   elif state == 2:
      print "state 2"
#      Mission_FadeDreamSinParams(1, .02, .3, 1)
   elif state == 3:
      print "state 3"
      Mission_StartDreamWave(5,-1,0)
      Mission_FadeDreamSinParams(1, .03, .35, 1)
   else:
      print "problem in DreamFXIncrement?"
def DreamFXStartPulsing():
   regTimer('DreamFXPulse',10)
def DreamFXPulse(event):
   if Mission_GetAttr('final_cs_playing') == 0:
      print "pulsing"
      Mission_FadeDreamSinParams(1., .02, .3, 1)
      regTimer('DreamFXPulseStop',1)
   else:
      print "final CS playing; no pulse"
def DreamFXPulseStop(event):
   regTimer('DreamFXPulse',10)
   state = Mission_GetAttr('fx_state')
   if state == 1:
      print "state 1"
#      Mission_FadeDreamSinParams(1, .015, .25, .75)
      Mission_StartDreamWave(0,0,1)
   elif state == 2:
      print "state 2"
#      Mission_FadeDreamSinParams(1, .02, .3, .75)
      Mission_StartDreamWave(0,0,1)
   elif state == 3:
      print "state 3"
      Mission_FadeDreamSinParams(1, .03, .35, .75)

I...MIGHT be able to use this to create an underwater effect, or it might be too much and not practical for gameplay long-term.  It'll take some experimentation.  The script documentation has a page on this, but I'm not really sure I can parse it.  Presumably I could tweak the settings to cover the entire map and provide just a little ripple, but I'm really not sure what the various numbers represent, exactly.

Spoiler

Warp Effects
These functions manage the screen warping effects.

Mission_SetEffectEdgeFade(bActive, edgeFadeWidth)

Turns on/off fading the warp effect off at the screen edges to keep the screen from looking rubbery.

Mission_SetWaveEnvelope(bActive, fadeIn, fullOn, fadeOut, speed, amplitude)

Sets parameters for the moving envelope around the waves. Fade units are in radial screen distance from the effect center, speed is in screen distance per second.

Mission_SetWaveRadiusParams( WorldRadius, MaxOffScreenRadius)

Sets the size of the wave effect.WorldRadius is the size of the sphere surrounding the effect.  MaxOffScreenRadius is the distance in screen units outside of the frame that the center point is clamped to if it falls way outside the view frustum.

Mission_SetWaveSinParams( waveFrequency, maxWaveFrequency, WaveAmplitude, WaveSpeed)

Sets the screen space wave parameters.  WaveFrequency is the number of waves visible across the WorldRadius when viewing close to the center.  The frequency will increase as the camera moves further away from the effect's center.  MaxWaveFrequency is the maximum number of wave undulations across the projected.  worldRadius distance that will be visible, no matter from how far away.  WaveAmplitude is the amount of compression that the wave does on the screen space.  WaveSpeed is the speed of the wave from the center of the effect (this can be negative).

Mission_FadeWaveSinParams( waveFrequency, maxWaveFrequency, WaveAmplitude, WaveSpeed, fadeTime)

Like Mission_SetWaveSinParams, but the 4 parameters are smoothly faded in from the current parameter values.

Mission_StartWave(fadeInDuration, fullOnDuration, fadeOutDuration, centerPoint)

Starts the wave screen effect.  The effect will fade in for fadeInDuration seconds, will be at 100% for fullOnDuration, and will fade out for fadeOutDuration seconds.  The effect will be positioned at centerPoint in world coords.

Mission_SetDreamSinParams(waveFreq, waveAmplitude, waveSpeed)

Like Mission_SetWaveSinParams, for the dream sequence full screen vertical wave effect (but without the maxFreq param).

Mission_FadeDreamSinParams(waveFreq, waveAmplitude, waveSpeed, fadeTime)

Like Mission_SetDreamSinParams, but the values fade in in fadeTime seconds.

Mission_SetDreamYScale(yScale)

Determines how much the dream wave effect will track the vertical camera in the frame.

Mission_StartDreamWave(fadeIn, fullOn, fadeOut)

Like Mission_StartWave, but for the vertical wave dream effect.  Note that if fullOn is less than 0, the effect will fade in and then run forever, until you call Mission_StartDreamWave(0,0, 5), which will begin fading the effect out immediately over 5 seconds.

[BentonGrey]

So, Superpowered Yank made me a nice symbol for my Shadow banners, but I can't get the thing to brighten up properly.


I've turned every color bar up to the top of the brightness on every entry on the mesh, but nothing changes.  Anyone know what the deal is?

[Randomdays]

Not an expert on that kind of thing, but does it have, or need a glow skin, with it?

Adjusting the color emitter wheel ( I think the bottom right one?) always worked for me.

This might help - read the "render settings" area about shading and lighting.

RD

[BentonGrey]

It doesn't have a glow, but I can try adding one and seeing if that does any good.

The color emitter is one of the things I was talking about.  I turned all of them all the way up.  No luck. 

What's the render settings area?

[Randomdays]

oops - forgot the link

http://niftools.sourceforge.net/wiki/NifSkope/Working_With_Nifs_101_:_Basic_Use

edit - reading this again, this might be more for just viewing in nifskope itself, but since its the nifskope home, it might be the best place to do some searching.