Tsoidahl Prad Group Renovation

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Tsoidahl Prad Group Renovation

Postby Justintime9 » Sun Jun 08, 2014 2:18 pm

Shorah everyone.

About a year ago I started work on updating Tsoidahl Prad for the Gehn Shard. It was quite a tedious process as many of the textures and lighting had to be changed, and polished. And as time went on I just didn't have the time to work on it. Since then I haven't been paying much attention to the GoW. But since the release of Gehn 20 and the GoMe Pub released, it got me thinking maybe I should get back to the project. But I really don't think I'll have the time now to put my all into it. So I had an idea.

I'm not entirely sure of the details of its construction, but I feel like the new GoMe pub was a collaborative effort at some level. (And in a sense, all Gehn related stuff is. Even ages like Fehnir House must be adapted to the MOUL engine, and implemented by the Gehn staff. Keeping that in mind, do you think a collaborative effort on Tsoidahl Prad is possible? My age building skills aren't what they used to be, and there's quite a bit of talent on this forum. Though I know everyone is probably focusing on their own projects, if anyone would like to join a team to work on this project it'd be awesome.

Of course I know that's easier said than done. I tried to get Yinfara off the ground since the GoW forum was first created. Lots of great people contributed that, but it just wasn't enough. But I think this project is manageable. The age is already made. It just needs some polishing. And the hand of more skilled writers than I. Plus it would take significantly shorter this way I think.

So let me know what you think of this idea. It'd be a shame for this age to just fade into obscurity when it could be truly great.
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Re: Tsoidahl Prad Group Renovation

Postby Doobes » Sun Jun 08, 2014 4:29 pm

As the creator of the Pub you mentioned, I'll chime in here. The new GoMe Pub *was* a collaboration in that I worked closely with the GoW to get it ready for Gehn Shard. They would do a bit of scripting, some collider work, and update parts of PyPRP to make it export better, then pass the blend file back to me after they made many helpful suggestions about such things as collision, cosmetic changes, etc. Not only that, but I had Nev'yn acting as a fresh pair of eyes throughout the entire building process, bringing many good ideas to the table as well.

However, most of the "grunt work" (ie modeling, texturing, AlcScripting) was done by me and me alone.

While a collaborative effort would be ideal for larger fan Ages (Adrael being one example), an Age builder must be ready to go it alone if they really want the project to get finished. The Pub was nearly a year's worth of work at a nearly constant pace, and while it got frustrating at times, the end result was well worth it and very satisfying.

Luckily, since none of us are on a deadline like Cyan was, we can spend all the time we want on a project until it looks the way we want it to be. So I do hope you find your team (and I'll certainly offer advice, tips on Blender/PyPRP stuff, and maybe a model or two here and there if you'd like), but don't be afraid to tackle most of it yourself. I would also recommend that you put it out there and let others look at it, either through screenshots or "beta" versions, and then they can give you their honest opinions. Make changes to it based on their suggestions if you feel they are correct.

As was proven with the Pub, nobody knows Ages better than your fellow explorers, and sometimes, they can notice and suggest things you may have otherwise overlooked. ;)
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TOC - 82340, DI - 44387
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Re: Tsoidahl Prad Group Renovation

Postby Justintime9 » Sun Jun 08, 2014 4:47 pm

Thanks for the advice. The pub looks awesome by the way. I was pretty blown away when I linked in. The "free wifi coming soon" sign was a nice touch. :D)

That's sort of what I figured though. That you'd done the majority of the work. So maybe what I'll do is be a lot more open about the project. In this thread (viewtopic.php?f=117&t=6092) I got a lot of feedback, and it helped. But I didn't put out any beta versions or the blendfile. That would probably be beneficial. Even if someone wants to just go through it and fix little issues I haven't noticed. Or what would be awesome is if people fiddle around with areas that are more their area of expertise. Textures, Lighting, Camera Regions, etc. Because honestly, some issues are just over my head. :P
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Re: Tsoidahl Prad Group Renovation

Postby Doobes » Sun Jun 08, 2014 6:22 pm

Justintime9 wrote:Even if someone wants to just go through it and fix little issues I haven't noticed. Or what would be awesome is if people fiddle around with areas that are more their area of expertise. Textures, Lighting, Camera Regions, etc. Because honestly, some issues are just over my head. :P


I've dabbled in pretty much all of that. One thing I've enjoyed about Age building is problem solving on my own. You can always check the wiki and forums here, try something in the blend file, save the backup and export. See what happens. A lot of my learning was trial and error.

I will say that, without a doubt, lighting is the hardest to get right, but when it DOES go right, it looks great. :)
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Re: Tsoidahl Prad Group Renovation

Postby Justintime9 » Sun Jun 08, 2014 7:06 pm

Yeah, it really is a lot of trial and error. I made all my ages when I was in High School and had time to work on them. (Maybe that's why I had no social life. xD) But now, even if I do have the time, I just don't have the stamina I used to. Maybe I just need to get back into the swing of things. I am quite proud of the amount of stuff I did learn. I like to think my ages are pretty decent.

And lighting is really hard. Honestly, what really got me to make good looking ages was discovering Lightmapping. I literally Lightmap EVERYTHING. Since then I've learned there's a lot more that should go into it. Vertex painting, texturing, etc. But LMing definitely helps a lot.
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Re: Tsoidahl Prad Group Renovation

Postby kaeebonrai » Sun Jun 08, 2014 10:51 pm

Actually, we discussed a lot of the process, i guess, in the Gehn.20 release video (I believe Deledrius was confused about the creator of your age, though XD)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Br81R-mQI <-- check this out for some insight into the process, I guess. XD

Welcome back, by the way!
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Re: Tsoidahl Prad Group Renovation

Postby Deledrius » Mon Jun 09, 2014 7:04 am

kaeebonrai wrote:(I believe Deledrius was confused about the creator of your age, though XD)

Oh, yes. Sorry, wrong "J" name. >_< And yet I managed to remember the Age name correctly? Oops. Impromptu memory fail.
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Re: Tsoidahl Prad Group Renovation

Postby Justintime9 » Mon Jun 09, 2014 8:17 am

Do you what time in the video you talk about it? I'll probably watch the whole video later, but don't have the time right now. xD
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Re: Tsoidahl Prad Group Renovation

Postby Deledrius » Mon Jun 09, 2014 9:10 am

Most of the talk about Age development is near the beginning, but there are bits spread throughout the video. I also mentioned the trouble we had with the animation-conversion bug causing the doors in your Age to fly off their hinges (and the lamps in the GoMe Pub to swing wildly), and that it's fixed now. :)
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Re: Tsoidahl Prad Group Renovation

Postby Annabelle » Mon Jun 09, 2014 3:49 pm

One thing that you should help Justintime with is the door bug that enables to woggle through the wall and explore the weird design of Tsoidahl :lol: . It's very impressive but I know we shouldn't be able to do such a weird move as to cross a wall because of a woggling effect.

It tends to be a lot easier when you start the marble machinery in the courtyard and you come all the way back to the first room door. As the door open or close you just need to stand inside the wall (hinges side) and run-jump being parallel to the wall (wall you are inside). You'll eventually cross the perpendicularly wall and find yourself on the other side.

It might not work in a MOUL environment though. If you cannot figure the whole process, I could do a small video to show you the ease in which an avatar can cross the uncrossable :lol: .

----

Also maybe someone good at sketching ages could help Justintime with the weird overlapping sceneries issue (courtyard visible through the huge fence at the bottom of the staircase / cavern lake from the balcony) to find a way to re-arrange his age to make the whole more consistent :)
Annabelle ;)
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