MXL Sigma: Screenshot Thread

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whist
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iwansquall wrote:I need more info on if I can play around with particle engine or not.
Simple result from using particle editor in Unity.


Particle generator was pushing it a little too far really. They really just draw dots and move them across the screen. That's a 90's particle generator.
I definitely wouldn't be able to reproduce that unity effect in D2, plus I don't particularly wish to rewrite their particle generator
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Sir Legar
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iwansquall wrote:Download Link Below:
Arreat Summit Background Unity Test


This is looking great. Maps would be a lot more immersive if there was an advanced particle system.
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Muilpeer
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Sir Legar wrote:
iwansquall wrote:Download Link Below:
Arreat Summit Background Unity Test


This is looking great. Maps would be a lot more immersive if there was an advanced particle system.


Let's be honest, in which maps do we really see much background? It's mostly in A5. As much as I love the backgrounds in A5, I think there are way more important things that contribute to the look and feel than the backgrounds in A5 ;)

What I love the most, is that you can actually walk out of town in A5 on the bottom side and stand next to the barbarian cooking meat on the grill and the smith working on something :) Can't we make NPC's out of those guys? (j/k of course).
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Sir Legar
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Muilpeer wrote:
Sir Legar wrote:
iwansquall wrote:Download Link Below:
Arreat Summit Background Unity Test


This is looking great. Maps would be a lot more immersive if there was an advanced particle system.


Let's be honest, in which maps do we really see much background? It's mostly in A5. As much as I love the backgrounds in A5, I think there are way more important things that contribute to the look and feel than the backgrounds in A5 ;)

What I love the most, is that you can actually walk out of town in A5 on the bottom side and stand next to the barbarian cooking meat on the grill and the smith working on something :) Can't we make NPC's out of those guys? (j/k of course).


Well, don't think of only background when we mention particles. Maybe advanced weather cycles? Thunderstorms, heavy snow etc.
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Inertia
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So this isn't the best example because it seems the program doesn't even show the background you see in-game, but essentially if you wanted to add fog to the background, you could probably create a new object graphic and just place them manually over the map. In this example, I made a new object graphic and replaced an existing object and placed it using win_ds1 edit. I haven't tried adding a new object, but I imagine it's possible. In this map however, you would have to expand the level's size as right now you can't add objects away from the cliff because the map ends around there.

Image

You can even make the objects animated if you had the time to make it look good. Also, you could technically add other effects like ice blowing in the wind or glowing mist, etc.
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shnurr214
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damn inertia nice stuff man. when you are making assets for d2 do you model them in max or maya and then have to convert them through some magic or are you able to work in 2d software like photoshop?

im really interested in trying to create some d2 assets just to mess around.
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Inertia
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shnurr214 wrote:damn inertia nice stuff man. when you are making assets for d2 do you model them in max or maya and then have to convert them through some magic or are you able to work in 2d software like photoshop?

im really interested in trying to create some d2 assets just to mess around.

It's usually both. I've made 3d models using maya and rendered them into 2d sprites that I usually end up modifying or enhancing in Photoshop. For this example though, it's just Photoshop. I just made a dynamic brush to make the clouds.

As for conversion, in some ways this is the hardest part. Most things look terrible when converting to D2 because of how limited the palettes are. You also have to use really buggy programs that haven't been updated in years and usually don't work very well.

For .dc6 files you can use DC6 Creator. This is used mainly for static images like item graphics, automap graphics, gui, backgrounds, etc.

For .dcc files, I only use CV5. It's terrible and bugs out a lot, but it is by far the best program for .dcc editing. The rest are somehow even worse. There are some workarounds for the bugs in this program though, but it's super annoying and usually requires re-saving your file using multiple image editing programs. It's a nightmare, really. You also have to create .cof files that control how the animations work. Usually, you would use a hex editor to create these, but iirc Jetaman released a program that does most of the work for you. These files are used for pretty much anything that's animated (except for map tiles like lava).

For .dt1 files, use dt1 tools. The problem here is that making new map tiles is like using CV5 in that it's a process of re-saving your image files in certain formats using certain programs. You also have to make sure your tiles align properly in-game and you also have to create an .ini file that controls how every tile works in-game. Making new tilesets will often result in a ton of game crashes and other issues. I've only completed one tileset and it took months to make. I also don't even know if it'll be used or not. As for the process, you're basically using a combination of Photoshop and irfanview to save as .bmp and then .pcx. If you do not do this process correctly, your map tiles will look awful in-game (rainbow colored, basically). Again, this file format is used for making new map tiles or modifying them.

All these programs should be available on The Phrozen Keep website and you can also find more information on these file formats as well as tutorials in the forums.
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iwansquall
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I dont have photoshop at office laptop (where i have done layering in paint.net)
So colour palette are definitely off.

► Show Spoiler

Not sure if I can share it here lol, but i feel colour definitely a bit off.
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Inertia
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@Iwansquall if you send me the files I can probably fix the colours for you and make it work in-game. It seems the background changed to a blue colour, but I don't know exactly what you did.

Also, I believe the background repeats itself over and over again in-game, so you should make sure that the cloud overlay has a seamless texture. I can't really tell from the image if that's what you did or not though. If you don't do so, the image will probably look bad when it repeats (it'll kind of look like it has an outline).
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iwansquall
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Basically whist gave me 1 big picture with repeating pattern of background, from my understanding it is just 1 big picture for the background.
Blue-ish basically just my attempt to add mood to the background. Original background was received in almost black & white.

That picture I uploaded is the same size as the one whist gave me.
I just added clouds in separated layers and tweak the background colour (might be too much i guess :P)