3d Links Awakening Dungeon update 15

Level 1 - Tail Cave quadrant A4 is complete.



testing out how the pure pink looks when semi transparent.

3d Links Awakening Dungeon update 14

Level 1 - Tail Cave quadrant A5 is complete

3d Links Awakening Dungeon update 13

Level 1 - Tail Cave quadrant B4 is complete



While I have been making several posts lately, I know that I am making fewer actual quadrant updates. I am sorry about this, I am trying to get used to my new diet and exercise routine (wouldn't you know, after working a year at McDonalds and two as a Game tester, I've put on a little weight) quadrant updates should speed up again shortly.

Also I was asked by one of my close friends to be the reverend (long story, short version is I am a priest of a generic religion set up to allow people of different faiths to be easily wed) for him and his fiancee's wedding, so when ever they decide to do that, I won't be making updates that day.

(for those wondering, I've already lost around 7 lbs during my first week, yay me!)

Specular/Bump map explination

Since not every one knows what a shader is, or what bump or specular maps are, I thought I should explain it using textures from the shader test post.

Please note that for this demonstration I have increased the size of the textures by 1600% so you can see them better.

First off, the base map:



The base, or diffuse, map determines the basic colors of a texture, all the dungeons and other places show so far are only using a base map. The one above (level1_blue_tile) gives the impression of blue stones set together in a pattern.

Next is the Bump map:



The Bump map is a gray scale image used to add depth to a texture. White areas will appear to be raised, while black areas will appear sunken, you can control how raised or sunken an area appears with lighter or dark shades of gray, the lighter the shade, the higher it will appear. Notice I made the tops of the stone pure white, the edges of the stones gray, and the cracks between the stones black, as seen in the shader test, this makes the cracks seem to sink into the floor.

Next is the Specular map:




The Specular map is another gray scale image, this one controls how shiny a texture is. Just like with the bump map, lighter areas are shinier then darker areas. Here I made the tops of the rocks shiny, the edges kinda shiny, and the cracks not shiny at all, I also made the darker areas on the top of the rocks less shiny then the rest of the top, but shinier then the edges.

Next is the Specular Color map:



The Specular Color map controls the color of the shininess that the Specular map creates, so instead of everything having a white shine to it, you can give gold a golden shine, or in this instance, the top of the rocks a pinkish shine with reddish under tones.

There is another type of map called the Alpha map, it is a gray scale image that controls how visible a texture is, pure white areas are completely visible, black areas are completely invisible, gray areas are semi-visible. I didn't use an Alpha map in the shader test so I don't have an example.

And finally there is the Shader its self, the Shader is not an actual texture, you can think of it sorta like a recipe and all the maps I've shown you ingredeants, the Shader tells the game how to make a texture look by combining all the above maps together to make some thing amazing.

This concludes our lesson for the day, I hope you learned something new.

3d Links Awakening Dungeon update 12

Level 1 - Tail Cave quadrant C4 is complete.



Sorry, no sexy shader magic in this one, that was all done in a separate file, all the more reason for those who know java programming and can get shaders working for us to contact me.

shader testing

Please note, NONE of this is in game.

I have been messing around with lighting, specular maps, and bump maps lately, seeing how things look.



For instance, here the ground has a bump map (makes a 2d texture look like it has depth) and a specular map (makes parts of it shiny! Yay shinys!) applied to it, which makes it pop out a bit.



This shot (click for full size) shows the above ground texture combined with very (very) rough lighting set up, rest assured I would not have such harsh lighting in the actual game, but I would love to have some neat lighting effects, especially around torches.

Incidentally, if you are familiar with Java programming and wanted to help out, knowing how to implement shaders would be a great skill with which to get you on board... wink wink... please?

3d Links Awakening Dungeon update 11

Level 1 - Tail Cave quadrant D4 is complete


There were supposed to be some big block things in this quadrant and the last, but since I can't tell which ones the player can move and which ones the player can't from my screenshot maps, I'm going to have them all be scenery.

According to Ryan, the main source of that lag we are encountering is not due to the high poly count of the overworld (since the computer ignores polys you can't see) but is from the collision map, right now the game is checking for collisions all over the island, instead of just the area visible to the player.

I am going to continue trimming down the overworld, but I'm going to shift focus more towards making the interiors again.

I've got some other really cool stuff to show you guys, but that will have to wait til later.

3d Links Awakening Dungeon update 10

Level 1 - Tail Cave quadrant E4 is complete.



Still working on the overworld, shaving around 2000 polys off of each area, I figure I can work a few quadrants in as well.

Short break

Since the over world has not been running very smoothly in game lately, I'm taking some time to go back and remake it. No, I am not remaking it from scratch, I am just reducing the poly count in places that are needlessly complex. This should only take a week at most, and the only difference you will notice in game is a better frame rate.

3d Links Awakening Dungeon update 9

Level 1 - Tail Cave quadrant E5 is complete.