Trespassing

Over the weekend i had some free time, so i loaded up the island in Sandbox with the intent of taking some new screenshots. But as usual, i got distracted and started working on the island instead.

I actually got a lot of work done and the lighting is now looking very nice indeed. Im constantly surprised that after a little break from working on the island, i can return to it and somehow squeeze a little bit more out if the visuals.

The Starting Beach

First Signs of Life

The Helipad

Please excuse the quality of the pics, they were taken in the editor and the draw distance for some objects is set to low, so they can look pixelated in the distance.

I find it difficult to do it justice with a single screenshot, because it looks so much better in motion, with the vegetation moving and the light and shadows flickering. I think a large percentage of the (photo) realism is the depth of field (which is very subtle in these pics), which although restricts the viewing distance, immediately gives a photographic quality to everything. I cant wait to record a video of a walk through so you can see how its looking.

I think i’ve spent more time working on the lighting than any other part of the island. It has taken a long time to get the textures sorted and to come up with a nice work flow for the vegetation and terrain, but the lighting is something thats constantly been updated and has made the biggest impact on the quality of the visuals.

Im confident that when i start work on the new map, it wont take long to catch up to where i am now, as the learning process it out of the way. It will be made even easier with a faster system that hopefully wont crash every ten minutes!

On the subject of a new system, i want to give a huge thank you to everyone who has donated to the project so far. Not long after the last update, i received two donations that pushed the savings up enough for me to buy an 8gb stick of DDR3 memory for the new system! My current system has only 3gb, so that will be a huge improvement. Thank you so much!!

I can work towards a CPU now, which due to price and good customer reviews, i’ve decided to go with an AMD FX-8350. Once i have that, i can hopefully assemble everything and fire it up. Im going to have to get a new case though, as my current one is just way to small and ill need it to house the old system anyway. If anyone has some advice on a really nice budget case, that would be great.

I’ve actually got some free time over the next couple of weeks while i wait to hear back about school, so im going to put some extra time into the island and try and get everything from the starting beach all the way to the first monorail station finished. Now obviously it wont be 100% final, i just want to get it to a point where i can record a video of a walk through. That way, when i start working on the new map, i can at least show you guys how its looking right now. Please remember that i cant record a video till i get the new system, my current system just cant cope when i start recording.

Now im still not even sure ill be able to make a complete 8192×8192 map. The current level is 4096×4096, which is already a very large level (thats 4096 metres), and although the new map will mostly consist of more ocean space around the island, with a 10% increase in land mass, that 10% actually equates to an additional 400 metres of land and more importantly, a huge increase in surface texture size.

The great thing about CryEngine is that the surface texture can be split into many smaller pieces, with each piece given its own specific resolution, ranging from 64×64, all the way up to 2048×2048. This means that the ocean floor can be set at a lower resolution than the terrain, because it’ll be under water and not visible. This will hopefully save a lot of memory, but it will be interesting to see just how much memory this map demands, even for just the terrain and first initial surface generation.

In the event that an 8192 map is not possible, ill just make do with the current map and continue with development as usual. I just hope i dont get to 80% completion before i find out.

Hope you like the new shots!

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It has been way too long since i posted an update, but to be completely honest with you, there is not a lot to update on.

I’ve been really busy with life, work, photography and potentially going back to school. I love photography and have been doing it for about 8-9 years, and although i can take a technically nice photo, i want to learn how to take a good photo. I can recognize that i am yet to develop a photographic style, and i think if i studied photography and learnt about the art of composition and framing, i might be able to take it to the next level and make a living out of it. I’m still assessing my options, because i’m not sure if a degree in visual arts (major in photography) will satisfy my needs, or if i’ll have to go to a dedicated photography collage to get the education i want. My location is a limiting factor, because i don’t have a lot of options where i live, so correspondence with a once-a-week commute to Melbourne might be required for anything more then just university.

As for news on the project, i’m in this tough position of not being able to do a hell of a lot until i get my new system together, as the project is at a point where i cant work with my current system. I have only got the new motherboard, and still need a CPU and memory. Also, i’m not too sure if the new gear will fit in my existing case, or if my PSU will be up to the task of powering it all, ill have to wait and see.

Another set back has been the lack of news from CryTek in regards to an SDK for Crysis 3. Without that, there’s no way i can port the project over and start working with the new engine.

There has been little point continuing work on the island if i’m going to port it or change the map, so it has not progressed since i last showed it off. Sorry if its a let down for those expecting fresh screenshots, but there’s no point spending time on something that’s not going to be used.

After playing through Crysis 3, i have to say that although the new engine is amazing and the new effects look spectacular, the performance hit is pretty high, and i have my doubts as to the engines ability to handle the island with the level of detail i want. There are a few large maps in Crysis 3, but nothing compared to what i have made, and my island is nowhere near complete yet. Still a lot of new vegetation species, textures and models to be made!

I’m going to have to wait till i have a new system and can test out the Crysis 3 SDK (if they ever actually release one) to see what its capable of, but i think the best solution would be to scale up the current map to the exact size the levels were in Trespasser (currently about 10% smaller), and then continue using CryEngine2. CE2 has proven itself to be a very high performance engine, and although its lacking some of the nice water effects and particles etc, the extra resources required would put it out of reach of a lot of people. Again though, i cant start this until i have a new system, as the jump to a larger map size is too much for my system.

The proof is in the screenshots really, and i’ve been very impressed with what CE2 is capable of, and with a better system, the visuals are only going to improve anyway. Hopefully with some more people on board, we can get some of our own nice water effects similar to that of Trespassers. The water ripples in C3 are nice, but they can be pretty full on, particularly when they are brighter then the available ambient light and appear in unlit areas.

The good news is that i’m still super motivated and i cannot wait to start working on the island again. Every day i visualize new areas and document ideas, and David is still working on his awesome models, which i will now show a little sample of.

Now i’m not a fan of showing off untextured WIP models, but there’s not a lot i can show you right now, and these are pretty awesome (and old btw).

As you can see, the level o detail David is putting into these is amazing. All this detail will be captured using normal maps, so none of it will go to waste. The white InGen vehicles were the most common vehicles throughout Trespasser, so for a model you will see regularly, you want it to look good. There will be variants to the textures, with layers for overgrowth, moss, leaf litter, pine needles, etc, so that cars that have been left under trees or in damp jungles, will have realistic weathering. There will also be some damage variants, so your not seeing the same model all the time.

You will be able to open these vehicles up and search them for items. Depending on how the interaction system works, i would like the glove box to be interactive too, so you can search them for boxes of bullets, handguns, first aid, etc. The tail gates will open too, so you can load stuff into the back of any working vehicles, so you can easily transport heavy objects if need be.

Here is a more up to date shot of the barrels i posted in the last update.

This shot shows the different levels of decay and damage they will all have, so you wont be seeing the same damn barrels everywhere. I think you’ll agree it would be nice to find decayed damaged barrels at the bottom of a cliff, or hidden under layers of vegetation, rather than a nice shiny new one.

When i got back form our holiday i got the three Jurassic Park Adventure books and have been reading through them when i get the chance. I’m hoping to use some of the info in there as reference for this project, but time will tell if its of any use.

I hope you all went and seen Jurassic Park 3D!

O.M.G It was amazing and i was truly blown away by how good it looked. I can only imagine how long it must take to mask all those scenes and create the different layers of paralax depth. You can see some strange annomolies when looking at some of plants leaves in really dense scenes. They cant cut out every leaf of every tree, so it creates this bizarre effect, but it doesn’t get in the way of the movie at all. I’m just a picky bastard

I got to see it at IMAX in Melbourne, which was even more amazing considering the quality held up on such a large screen. It has started showing locally, so i think we are going to see it again next week. Seriously, if you haven’t seen it, go now if you still can. The only chance you’ll get is in another twenty years time they convert it to 3D holographic with smell-o-vision. Mmm, Looking forward to the West Indian Lilac

Anyway, that’s it for now. I’ll try and get a few up-to-date renders from David and post them next week.
I owe you guys a lot of updates!

Cheers.

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I’ve been meaning to post about some new Members of the Trespassing team for a while now, but I’ve been a bit distracted with other things.

Firstly I’d like to Welcome David Henson. David is a 3D Modeler and Texture artist who has previously worked in the games industry and is currently working on some very nice models and textures for this project. I wish i could show what David is currently working on because it looks awesome, but its not ready for viewing just yet! So here are just a couple of models he has made so far.

The poly count for the Barrels will most likely increase once we have Crysis 3 and can use its models as a reference for our own. There may also be variations with dents and possibly tears, and some that are full with caps on them. Time will tell.

I’m really looking forward to showing you more of Davids work, i’m sure you will love it.

The next person i’d like to welcome is Rich Douglas. Rich is a professional composer for video games and films, who has very generously offered his services on this project for Free! Rich is a very talented man and i’m extremely grateful to have him on board! Be sure to head over to his site and listen to his work.

Here is a track he specifically composed for this project as an example of his work.

Awesome stuff!

As the project gets closer to completion and i know what is required, i will work with Rich on composing some new tracks that compliment the original score by Bill Brown, and also some new harder edge stuff for action sequences and cut scenes. There might also be some dynamic music that changes according to the action. This will all depend on how it affects the ambience of the game though, as silence may be the best option to help portray a real sense of loneliness, with tracks only being triggered at key points in the game.

As you can imagine, i’m very excited that these two chaps have offered their services, and i cant wait to post some more of their work in the near future!

Finally, before i go missing for a week or so, here’s another simple render of the Embryonics Administration building. This time its a bit of a night time shot with internal lighting. This one shows a bit more of the surrounding buildings too, which i will point out, are far from complete.

Back in a week or so!

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Sorry for the lack of updates guys, things have been pretty busy and i haven’t had a lot of time for the project.

When i have had time, I’ve been working on a high detailed model of the Embryonics Administration building from Jurassic Park 3. This building has been quite hard to make due to the lack of any decent reference photos and limited camera angles. I took a lot of BluRay screen captures and found quite a few photos taken years after the film was made, but there was still not many interior shots available. Scale was a struggle to get right in the beginning, but once i had the exterior scale looking right, it was a lot easier to work on interior.

The movie portrays an interior layout that doesn’t match the exterior shots. The characters walk into a room with some vending machines, then into a hallway that feeds directly into the large hatchery. However, the exterior shots show that there is a small area between the main building and the hatchery, which equates to a longer distance then they walked. My solution to this is to assume some shots were cut to speed up their progression, and i have added a few additional rooms and hallways to fill the space.

Leaving the vending machine room, players will walk down a long hallway and into a clean room, which when operational would have blown away any foreign debris on peoples clothing. From the clean room, players will enter a small security sign-in office, then onto another hallway that feeds into the hatchery. This all fits within the exterior design and matches the scenes from the movie.

I have not yet finished the model, there is still a hell of a lot of work left to do, but i thought i’d show a few simple renders.

The model is a pretty clean model and has not had any damage added or signs of age. Edges are still quite square and may be rounded off later on, depending on poly counts. My priority is accuracy rather than extreme detail, as i want it to feature all the right details and be useable for realtime rendering. The desk for instance is not as rounded as it could be, but this is extra detail i can add later depending on the final poly count.

The exterior shutters have not been added as they will only be in the way for the moment and there is not yet any roofing or glass added.

I plan to make the hatchery as detailed and accurate as i can, along with the animal cages in the next building. The exterior shots show a lot more buildings in the distance, but how many of these will be made depends on terrain space and then if i can find a suitable use for them.

I have my holiday next Friday which is going to be awesome. The weather doesn’t look too great, but i dont care, i’m just looking forward to a relaxing time and excessively indulging I stuffed my left shoulder on Monday which was a bit of a scare, but luckily it was just a mild tear that has responded well to some treatment and it should be all good for the holiday. Its absolutely ruined my sleep this week though!

Anyway, that’s what i’m working on while i wait for Crysis 3 to ship, and hopefully once i get back from the holiday i can focus some money on the rest of the parts i need to get a new PC together. Once this is done i can hopefully progress a lot easier and things should start looking a lot better.

Cheers.

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Before i post an update on the project, i thought i’d post my decision on hardware.

I’m going to go with a the AMD FX-8350 8 core CPU, because its a real bargain for the performance, and the motherboards can be had very cheap. In fact, I’ve already purchased a motherboard and as soon as im able to, ill order an 8350.

Now for some software.

Check this video out:

Watch the whole thing and try not to be impressed. Those water caustics.. oh boy. Everything is just lovely, but i just pray that the terrain issues have been sorted!

I’m going to fire up the latest CE3 Free SDK build to see if its still the same..

Update:

Well after a quick test this afternoon, the terrain issues appear to be fixed, which is awesome news. There are some pretty serious performance issue though, so dont expect to see any CE3 work any time soon. I have no plans to use the Free SDK anyway.

Once i get some new hardware and Crysis 3 is out, i will look into porting the project over.

Cheers.

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Due to the lovely people that you are, I’ve received enough donations that i’m able to buy a new Motherboard!

A huge thanks to everyone who has donated. Without you guys i wouldn’t be able to buy any hardware for a long long time!

I think the motherboard is the best place to start, as its the backbone of the system and i can add to it as i get new components. I’m really not sure what brand to buy or what features to look for, im really only going on what i need to support the hardware i want, with a little room for future upgrades.

I’m in no way loyal to any brands, I’ve always let price dictate my purchases, so i’m looking at a very budget system that gets the job done. I’m not in a position to be picky about brands or benchmarks, i am after all relying on donations at the moment.

I don’t really care if i have an Intel or AMD CPU, i’ll just buy whatever gives me the best bang for my buck, so the motherboard i buy will need to suit what CPU is the best value.

So im asking for you help in putting together a really good budget system that’s built around the CPU. I need help deciding on a CPU that’s cheap and powerful, so i can then buy a motherboard and get things rolling.

I have come up with a budget that i think will allow for a really good system.

$100 – Motherboard (needs two pcie slots for an extra card one day)
$200 – Memory (32gb)
$300 – CPU

These prices must include postage to Australia too.

I haven’t factored in a new PSU as i only just recently bought one and i think it will be good enough to support the new system.

My current graphics card is a 2gb Radeon 6950, which is a DX11 card and will be good enough for the new system.

I will be putting my own money towards this system as soon as we are back from our holiday Next month, so don’t be too worried about the generous budget I’ve allowed for memory and CPU. I know i could spend much much less to get a system significantly faster than i currently have, but i’m not just after a machine that plays and edits Crysis 1, but also Crysis 3. If there’s a chance i can port this project over to the Crysis 3 SKD, then i want to be able to without running into more limitations later on.

So there’s a little challenge for you guys, to come up with the best budget system you can. Please be aware that the prices must be solid and not be specials that are for a limited time. I need to be able to buy these components later on at the same price.

I’ll have another update soon about the project,

Stay tuned!

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