[Freelancer Mod News]Updated DX9 Engine for Freelancer
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Goulash wrote:
Was going to say emissive textures are nothing new as they have always been there, i can’t tell from these shots the subtle difference you claim there is. What is impressive however is the specular mapping, very cool indeed.So both of the mc80s images have glow maps. In the bottom one there is quite a striking difference with how the light is cast.
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I see what you’re doing with those glows and it makes sense, but forgive me for thinking they look a little over done, on that mc80 anyway.
I must have clicked back and forth the two images 1900 x 1200 fifty times just to make sure, but the lighting is just so soft it looks more like the bloom from a star or an engine than an artificial light source. Doubt there’s much you can do about it really though.
Now, now FF, I’m just saying, I don’t want any trouble!
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I agree with with Timmy about this, looks more like bloom. You’re forgetting that on modern gfx cards a number of effects can be forced onto FL, mine looks like it already has DX9 on it sometimes with the effects i have added. What’s really missing is the shader support which thankfully you’ve already added. I’d be careful about going too nuts with this glowmap effect, personally i’d wind it back a bit but that’s just my opinion. At least make it scaleable for users.
One other thing i find odd is the reflection of the sun on the planet, it’s not a billiard ball, what would the light reflect off of in the first place? The detailing of the texture however is exemplary
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Um… Perhaps water? Just a wild guess.
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Doubtful as atmospherics would reflect the light which is why you won’t see this effect in reality and why it doesn’t look very good in games. Seen this in many games and it always looks wrong. On stations and ships it’s fine, but not on planets. Anyway, make it an option if you can, then people can choose it if they wish.
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If you don’t like it, don’t use it guys, but if you want to bring realism in a game about space ships flying at FTL speeds…
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Yeah, we’ve had to push back the release to Q1 2012 for a variety of reasons.
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We’ll of course be maintaining it, considering how much of a beast it is. We might also do larger-scale “expansions”, though nothing set in stone for now.
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I have discussed that topic with Wodka quite a while ago and the problem was he didn’t have enough knowledge of how to develop an engine. Since I am developing one myself I have to say it is easier. If I had the time I would have finished it way before them with all the features plus more. But as you might have noticed concerning the .obj -> .sur converter my developing speed is not that high due to time restrictions
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I never knew you were working on your own engine, Schmack. Do you have a demo at all?
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Some internal stuff but as long as you can’t really use it I never saw a sense in making an official video or pointing out to everyone that I am developing an engine (like certain others do ^^). If I am at a point where it is usable I might think about it to attract people helping us developing content for it. Currently I am working on rendering and file format optimizations. Network physics sync is finished and seems to work stable. I could post images but I don’t want to much attention. Let’s just say the graphics are about at current game standard level. Of course you need good models and textures plus material settings to get really good pictures.
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Schmackbolzen wrote:
Of course you need good models and textures plus material settings to get really good pictures.I just discovered for myself that Freelancer has no any shaders. :-?
AI, Render and NPC animation/motions contolled by AI… game dev-ing is a real fun. Bit by bit you make an engine, long proccess though.
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@ Schmack - why not convert some FL models to use in your engine. This would give you an idea of exactly how FL and your engine compare to each other…
