4Aces

[KMA]

I just finished as much of my model (not associated with F:NV) as I want to right now (it still needs a little work, but is good enough for what I wanted).

 

I am starting on the Texture Optimization and then will begin my usual texture upgrades. I will be generating the HiRes versions first, and then down-sampling them to Vanilla sizes. What I need to know is if people want the same type of work that I did with FOOKU (for F3) where I added in extra dirt and scarring, or if you just want the increased size, detail, and sharpening.

 

Remember that I do each one of these manually, they are not batch processed so it will take more time to add in extra detail. Since I am custom generating the bump maps, I can only afford the time to choose one of these.

 

 

EDIT Starts (23/10/2010 12:00 EST)-

 

I have scanned the first 1525 textures to optimize them. Since there are 22075 in total I still have a lot to do. But based on what I am seeing so far there are two things I can report:

 

1) It looks like either someone at Obsidian or Bethesda fixed all the errant (blank) Alpha channels, and I am not finding many. That means that I will not be able to reduce the system load like I did with the F3 textures (~21% if I remember correctly).

 

2) At least 65% of the textures are straight from F3 so I can just copy & paste from my mods and save a great deal of time. This might change as I get further into the textures, but I doubt it will drop below 50% (so these mods will happen 2X as fast - Yay!).

 

On another matter - I will be redoing the posters since some did not like the effect I used in the F3 versions.

 

EDIT Ends

 

 

Cheers,

 

4Aces

 

Webpage

[KMA]

The optimization pass is finished. I did not bother with the 6000 face and body mod textures (height maps to alter each person's appearance) since they were all the same filesize and dimensions (e.g. 128x128). If one had an Alpha Channel then it would have been double the size.

 

So scanning the remaining 14550 resulted in 38 being fixed in the first pack and 115 in the second for only 150 total. This is only a 1% saving (which is the smallest I have ever seen in a game - much smaller than I was able to do for F3!), but it did show me that there is a much larger optimization to be made. I have contacted Obsidian for the necessary information, but in the meantime I will begin replacing the Vanilla F3 files they used in F:NV with my F3 mods.

 

Since they are not using the dirty/scarring method, I will not be using that process on the textures that are introduced by F:NV.

 

 

 

EDIT

 

I managed to get the standard size port of all my F3 textures to FNV done already. Thanks to about 60% of the files in FNV coming from F3 directly (unmodified), it was faster than I thought. After getting a chance to look at some of the FNV textures while I was doing this, I think that this upgrade of the remaining 8K files will also be faster than I had first thought.

 

So far it looks like about 30% of the 'new' files are just F3 textures that were cropped and renamed or are just hue-shifted that will not require new bump maps at all. If they were cropped I can do the same to my original bump map and not have to generate a new one, saving a lot of time.

 

Before I can start on this I have to port over the HiRes files, but that will be easier since I can just look at my standard-res folder and see which files get copied. When this is done I will upgrade the ~8K FNV files to HiRes standards (full process and enlarging), and when they are all done I will simply shrink them (which is easier and results in a higher quality image) to standard size.

 

Something you should be asking on the forums is why the combat knife sledgehammer were cut? They are traditional Fallout weapons, and it seems unbelievable that they would remove them while putting in things like a 9-iron (golf club). At least the ripper and super-sledge are still in it...

[EDIT - It turns out they just cut half the textures for the combat knife and I only noticed the ones that were missing - my bad].

 

As for the DMG site, it still appears as if it is down and the mail server with it. If it is not back up by dinner time tomorrow I will start making arrangements to host my F3 files on another site. I did discover that my BSA packing of the F3 will not work, as good 'ol Beth changed their BSA standards again. Since I had to use the FNV version of FOMM (Fallout Mod Manger) since the F3 will not work without F3 being installed (it makes sense it would not launch the game - but I thought the BSA packer/unpacker would still work). Since they were packed with FNV-FOMM my BSAs would only work with FNV, which means I have to reinstall F3 just to pack the BSAs with the F3 version. I think I will just release them as loose files as I doubt many people are interested in them anymore. Let me know what you think, if you are planning on getting them.

 

(In case you were going to suggest using the FO3_Archive_Utility, it will not let you set the level of compression and I want it to be 0%). Thanks anyway.

 

It seems that Obsidian likes rusty textures. Most of their new textures are rusty variants of the original textures, especially for the bots and armor. On that note, can someone that has played FNV tell me if there are any overly shiny objects in Vanilla FNV? If so please send me a picture so I can fix them as I process the textures (they are probably bump maps that are missing their Alpha Channel).

 

A rusted, yet shiny Protectron? Sure, with EverShine even the worst finish can look like a million bucks!

Disclaimer: Do not come into direct contact, inhale while applying, or look directly at EverShine. This product

contains lethal chemicals. Enjoy!

Special Note: Can also be used as weed killer, insecticide, or embalming agent. Other uses are strictly forbidden by law.

[KMA]

My site now has 18 comparison shots of Hires. I am done the Alpha stage, and am at Beta testing, so this will likely be out much sooner than I had anticipated. Working full-out and not touching the 'net helped a lot, so I will continue to be here (or anywhere) infrequently until I release.

 

Cheers!

[KMA]

The ModCraft webpage Is done! It has all the links for all my FNV files, with full descriptions. There is a support forum and I have started a thread for any Texture based issues you find. A few known issues are listed and they are being worked on.

 

The gameplay mod is getting ready for its major test, and I have rebalanced the Power Armor completely, so now it is much more logical. I still have a little work to do, separating out power armor helmets for the repair lists, but that should only take an hour. Now if I can only find some power armor in my game (I just stumbled on combat armor mk II) and I do not want to cheat and read a guide.

 

I have also started another thread there to see if any other modder is interested in teaming up to get this done more quickly. The response will determine if I do form a team or not.

 

Please let me know of any download issues, and remember that ModCraft is doing this for free. So if you appreciate not having 10 part-files at 100 kb/s (download speed), then you can earmark part of any donation to me and I will send it to them. I want this service to remain free as much (if not more) than you do. With this kind of free service, hopefully no one will take my mods and stick them in torrents again. There should be no reason to do so.

 

Anyway, enough chatter - go get 'em.

 

Cheers,

 

4Aces

(Click my name to go to my page for the latest information - frequent updates)

Edited December 5, 2010 by KMA