Dwemer Progress Thread (2)

[TheImperialDragon]

Just might mention this...

I've been working on a slightly more modular version of the tileset (which I attached). Haven't gotten to re-UV mapping it a touch better, or making Durdain, Ghogiel, Wizard... (contributors to the tileset) versions of the pipe textures, or the collision, or figuring out why the normals are wacko, but I'd figure I'd mention it.

Once I get started, shouldn't take too long.

[Seniosh]

Pretty nice modular tileset. When do you think you'll have it (or any other dwemer set) done by? With this, and RideWithTheWind's stuff we can finally charge ahead full-steam with dwemer construction.

I must say that having a set which is at least partially modular is a good idea. It keeps things simple, and allows everything to integrate nicely, even if you have to create the pieces yourself.

[RideWithTheWind]

Here are the dwemer exterior ruins!

http://putstuff.putfile.com/95994/8031746

I PM'd Razorwing for him to check out if there's no major issue.
Dwbridge2 and dwbridge2broken have a very small seam when you tile them together. Also dwbridge1 is not meant to be tiled with dwbridge2, but I'm doing an interconnection piece so consider it does.

I'm not able to set the material settings (glossiness...) correctly, so I let the default values.

I also have a small issue with dwbridge1end, the mesh is darker than it should, I probably added vertex painting without noticing it. But I can't find a way to remove it (there is no "allowvertexpaint" branch in nifskope, and blender doesn't want to make any change to that dark color).

[Ghogiel]

Originally posted by RideWithTheWind

I also have a small issue with dwbridge1end, the mesh is darker than it should, I probably added vertex painting without noticing it. But I can't find a way to remove it (there is no "allowvertexpaint" branch in nifskope, and blender doesn't want to make any change to that dark color).

you can select the nitrishapedata block in nifskope and in block details set has vertex colors to no. voila.
however in that piece all of the trishapes have vert colors turned off. :S
I bet importing it to max, giving it a once over and then setting a new material up and rexporting it will sort it.

[Seniosh]

Those are marvelous pieces! Even using the Morrowind placeholder textures they look awesome. Please PM Razorwing, and ask him when these pieces will be put into the game. I hope they'll be placed into the ESM immediately so that we may start work on Dumac

[Razorwing]

Good job RideWithTheWind! :goodjob:

[indent][/indent]- The texture "dwrvwall20.dds" is missing from the download. Could I get a copy of it?
[indent][/indent]- Could you please change the texture directory from "textures\dwemer" to "textures\ST\dwemer"?
[indent][/indent]- Can you create _far models for the models? _far models are used to display large models in the distance, so if you create them then players can see Dwemer ruins on the horizon, or stand in a valley and look up and see a Dwemer ruin high up in the mountain. There's nothing special about _far models, they're just lowpoly versions of a model saved with the same filename except it has the suffix _far at the end. Often enough you already have a lowpoly version of the model - the collision mesh - which you can texture to make the _far model.
[indent][/indent]- The models "dwhouse.nif" and "dwhousedouble" have a few polygons on the inside of the main structure, on the back of the pylons. Since the player can never see them, do you think you could you delete those polygons? They don't add much to the facecount, but they can obstruct the view for modders.
[indent][/indent]- When you're finished, could you include an esp file where you've hooked up the nifs? The nifs should be in a folder called meshes\ST\Dwemer\Exterior. If you like you can start the IDs with "StDwrv" (like TheImperialDragon did).

Thanks in advance.

Originally posted by RideWithTheWind
Dwbridge2 and dwbridge2broken have a very small seam when you tile them together.

The vertices are not exactly where they need to be (image), but your program probably rounded off the numbers to make it look like they were. Is there a feature in your modelling program that lets you increase the decimals shown when positioning vertices?

Originally posted by RideWithTheWind
I also have a small issue with dwbridge1end, the mesh is darker than it should, I probably added vertex painting without noticing it. But I can't find a way to remove it (there is no "allowvertexpaint" branch in nifskope, and blender doesn't want to make any change to that dark color).

I think there are two factors in play. One is that the textures your models use lacks normal maps, which confuses Oblivion's lighting system. The other is that the ambient light on the NiMaterialProperty is set to dark grey, which will probably make the model look like it's in permanent twilight. Personally I set all the color settings to white, but Bethesda doesn't always do that so I can't say there's a right or wrong answer. Mostly I think it's the missing normal maps that cause the problem. I understand the textures are placeholders, but it can be a good idea to create normal maps anyway so that you can rule out a problem with the model.

Normal maps are easy to make with the freeware program CrazyBump, which I use a lot myself. All you need apart from it is another program that can convert textures to dds format; if you don't have Photoshop then a good freeware alternative to converting dds textures is DXTBmp. DXTBmp also has another perk, namely that it's handy for creating opacity textures (icons, leaves etc). Always save normal maps as DXT1 unless you consciounsly want to include a specular texture in the alpha channel. A normal map without a specular texture saved as DXT3 or DXT5 will display as brightly as the sun.

[RideWithTheWind]

Understood. Just give me a couple of days...
Here's the missing texture: http://putstuff.putfile.com/96245/8172743

The vertices are not exactly where they need to be (image), but your program probably rounded off the numbers to make it look like they were. Is there a feature in your modelling program that lets you increase the decimals shown when positioning vertices?

Never seen such a feature. I'll try to move the mesh a little in nifskope to fix the seam.

The entrance is in progress:
- http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6048655
- http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6048657
- http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6048656
Should I soften the edges of the roof?

Original vs mine: http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6048660

Door system: http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6048658
In the red circle, a ball should block the entrance, and the door should be the same as the interior, if it's o.k. with you TheImperialDragon (if so, could you send it to me? Not the doorway, just the round door. Thanks

[Dave_91]

I think it looks tremendous, RideWithTheWind. Well done! :goodjob:

Should I soften the edges of the roof?

However I do think it looks just a tad sharp (the roof), perhaps smoothing it would be a good idea? Brilliant stuff though nevertheless.

[RideWithTheWind]

I smoothed a little and it's better like that.

Before I start to make all the lods I'd like to know if I do it right, like this 200 faces tower:
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=60502...280345.jpg[/img][/URL]

I don't know from what distance it will be seen so I'm not sure about the detail level.

I think I also have to create low-res versions of the textures, isn't it?

[RideWithTheWind]

Textures for dwemer exteriors are done (brand new color/normal/specular maps)! I hated photoshop 3 days ago but now I like it as much as blender!

First, the one I'm the most proud of:
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6073955
1024x256 (original is 256x64).

Another trim. The brown in the center is a recolor of a velothi texture
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6074354 (512x128)

Trim 15, ugly here but nice in-game
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6073956 (512x256)

This one is very important because 4 different walls are just recolors of the same texture:
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6073957 (1024)
Specular map is very dark because stone is not a reflective surface.

Example of recolor: http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6073958 (1024)

Stilgar's:
-RUSTPIPE/FLOOR (1024)
I made the rivets for the normal map only, and the result is quite cool...
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6073952
-Wall 11: http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6073953

I think they look nice in-game. However they look also cleaner, which is not perfect for ruins. But let's say that the dwemer made very strong materials. Or maybe the ruins are kept clean by robots like in Miyazaki's "castle in the sky"?

Anyway, screenies (towers have been altered + complete re-UVmapping):

http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6073943
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6073944
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6073945
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6073947
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6073948
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6073949
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6073950
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=6073951


One question: I saved most of the normal maps as dxt3 (which is too bright in direct sunlight if you don't change the specular map as I did). My problem is that the minimal distance to see the kind of reflection effect is too short. For instance, I can see the reflection of the sun on anvil's lighthouse from 500m, but that distance reduces to 200m for my meshes. There must be a nifskope setting for this but I can't find it.


There's still a lot of work on the meshes, sorry for Dumac guys but exterior work will be delayed (max 1 week).