Final development news

[HwitVlf]

It's mind blowing that one person made everything in that video from scratch. It's really quite an impressive achievement.

I'm rooting for you 100% and I'm sure you'll pull it together just fine!

[Verdite]

Sorry about that guys. Its not like me to say something like that, I have just been under alot of pressure recently and problems keep popping up when I least expect them... Anyway sensibly speaking I know I can finish my game by the end of July. If I dont, I will work more to complete it. Its not too late to revoke that promise, is it?
June - October is a busy time for me, so I suppose I let the pressure get to me.

Anyway, to make up for it I am attaching some images, ones a concept art I drew when I first started Rathmor, it was going to be a relative of the saerir (jumping guys) which remains an undecided piece. I attached the saerir's concept sketch for those who forgot what they look like 

[Guyra]

I'm looking forward to playing this! I'm setting up a WinXP PC connected to the TV, which will be perfect for playing this when it's done! :D

[Verdite]

Good to hear from you again Guyra! I will be sure to send you a hard copy to Norseland when I get round to it.

I've been discussing lighting transitions through level warps in another thread, and I think I have found the best way to go from a very light scene to a dark one. So I made a video to show, sadly the sound wasnt synced properly. Anyway, its a low quality vid but it shows off the workaround and my new lighting setup. The player character carries around a stone that reacts to dim light, almost like an automatic lantern. The lamp gives off a goldenrod colour to illuminate the immediate vicinity (10m)
This might not seem like a big deal on the surface, but consider how many times the player has to view lighting sources, and the way lighting affects detail and immersion.

http://youtu.be/DnDdSrUSq-g

[HwitVlf]

That warp idea is really great! The transition is barely noticeable now. The KF games had transition areas very similar to what is in your videos. They give the console time to stream in the next maps resources. I've seen the development maps for KF(US) and it was laid out in square tile maps just like SoM. They just hid the transitions with a series of doored chambers or an S shaped hallway.

The texture on the Saerir is really excellent. How long does it take you to make a texture like that?

[Verdite]

That texture is actually one of my older pieces. I dont recall how long it took, but some creature textures take me 1-2 hours to make, or there are some which can take up to 4-5 hours if created from scratch. Alot of game devs nowadays use occlusion maps taken from a high poly, multi-res sculpt, then export the second tier resolution model (say if there are 7 or 8 divisions)

The occlusion mapping saves alot of time, but I found certain ways around that with manual UV mapping, making the process faster. Basically, I think that occlusion textures taken from renders can be too unrealistic if there are too many polys, it makes the 'defining shadows' less realistic. Skin textures need to have a stretched look, and occlusion taken from a sagging high poly model often doesnt hit that mark.

 

[Guyra]

Good to hear from you again Guyra! I will be sure to send you a hard copy to Norseland when I get round to it.

It's good to be back! And I'd love that! :D

[dmpdesign]

The player character carries around a stone that reacts to dim light, almost like an automatic lantern. The lamp gives off a goldenrod colour to illuminate the immediate vicinity (10m)

Wait...what?  How is this accomplished with SOM?

I am confused.

[Verdite]

That lighting is created by modifying the lighting (RGB to create a goldenrod colour), then having a low draw distance - 10 meters, and no fog set at zero to simulate a lantern. There is one heavy problem, and that is the lanterns red cast upon a texture doesnt mix with the existing texture's colour, meaning the textures colours are essentially swamped out.

This is fine for outdoor areas that are viewable in both day and night (night being 'lantern lit') because the player can see the difference between the regular textures and the effect of the lantern light.

[Verdite]

Its been quiet around the Rathmor board recently, mostly because I have been doing so much work on Rathmor that I dont have alot of time to do updates. Rathmor is coming close to its release date, so I would like to add a few screenshots and a small update for anyone following this project.

News

- 26 levels in total, 23 fully populated with enemies

- Experience chart finished and well balanced

- Well balanced enemy difficulty - I've been going back to calculate, refining animations and difficulty again and again for hours

- Beta of chapter 1 tested, thankyou to all who helped iron out bugs and emulation errors

- New BGM

- Alot, alot, alot of new NPCs

- Lots of new objects, nearly finished

- Magic table complete

- All dungeon levels in chapter 1 evented

- Right and left hand slots. Choose what gauntlets or accessories you want to use on either hand. You can customise how you want to play based on what you use, for example using a heavy gauntlet on your left hand will lower your casting ability

- Alot of left hand items, magic assists, defence assists...

- Loot table being worked on, about 5 hours of polishing loot and pairing it with enemy difficulty so far

- New sound effects

- New enemies and bosses

- Polished alot of animations