OutpostHD Graphics

[White Claw]

Your choice.

Sounds good. I suppose we'll cross that bridge if/when we get there.

I am so happy with the graphics work being done here. This is amazing to see.

Thanks man. The encouragement is very motivating.

[havkyp]

The agridome structure is intended on being sleek and modern looking. The original OP1 has three tiers of agridome. I haven't gotten to the point of making three yet, but this could easily be a Tier 3 structure. I think, "in reality" the crops would be in high danger inside any kind of glass structure on the surface, exposed to direct radiation and debris.

I agree about the initial buildings needing to feel utilitarian. That was something we were also discussing. Though the trick still comes back to not having every structure look like a pile of concrete with a few minor changes. Tbh, it took quite a bit of thinking to get the command center to not simply be a dome with a couple lights on it.

I could give it a try to fatten up the lander a bit.

Thanks for your quick responses to my long post!!

I have to say I love both the (1) updated greyer-whiter color scheme of the structures, and (2) chubbier seed lander! Looking at your latest posts, I feel like the structures (e.g. command centre, tubes, etc.) could also be very slightly fatter (maybe 10-15% fatter?) too to feel more like the original sprites. Just IMHO.

One of the things I'm struggling with on the seed lander is that it supposedly fits four structures, some robots, and four cross-tubes in it. I can make some allowances for in-situ construction, but there's still a lot of equipment that would be on that lander. And from a practical standpoint, the "smaller" lander simply doesn't have much interesting detail to it. I'm not driving for "strict realism," but my own brain needs to have some level of scale commonality or it just makes it harder for me to mentally get through modeling.

What about keeping the general look and aspect ratios of the lander the same, but scaling up the whole thing to take up most of the tile? I think the ramps can made shorter (two thirds or maybe even half) to accommodate that.

BTW what about the colonist and cargo landers? Do you think they should be smaller than the seed lander or similar?

Oh and I didn't realise that Figmo is a he.

[leeor_net]

One of the things I'm struggling with on the seed lander is that it supposedly fits four structures, some robots, and four cross-tubes in it. I can make some allowances for in-situ construction, but there's still a lot of equipment that would be on that lander. And from a practical standpoint, the "smaller" lander simply doesn't have much interesting detail to it. I'm not driving for "strict realism," but my own brain needs to have some level of scale commonality or it just makes it harder for me to mentally get through modeling.

General note -- the SEED Lander doesn't have four structures packed in it. It's supposed to be a self replicating factory that uses the resources of the surrounding area to build the other structures.

That's how it's supposed to work anyway according to the Outpost manual.

[White Claw]

I feel like the structures (e.g. command centre, tubes, etc.) could also be very slightly fatter (maybe 10-15% fatter?) too to feel more like the original sprites. Just IMHO.

I built the new tubes/structures at a smaller scale (or bigger? depending on your point of view). The squares are about 80 meters on each side vs. what was probably around 50 meters for OP1. Something like the command center is supposedly run by three people, though it can house 200. I'm hesitant to make things too big again for my own mind to rectify the scale.

What about keeping the general look and aspect ratios of the lander the same, but scaling up the whole thing to take up most of the tile? I think the ramps can made shorter (two thirds or maybe even half) to accommodate that.

Same sort of comment above. Scaling up the lander makes it HUGE. On the order of 200 feet diameter. On the other extreme, the agridome is supposed to feed something like 100 people, so it needs to be quite large. I'm not necessarily striving for "perfect realism" but I would like to keep things in the same ballpark. Though, again, I'm open to feedback and (if we're just throwing around rough sketches) I can try to keep producing some concept art.

Oh and I didn't realise that Figmo is a he.

Well, right now it's just a block...So I guess it's gender is undetermined. (Original post modified.)

[leeor_net]

Figmo is Figmo.

[White Claw]

General note -- the SEED Lander doesn't have four structures packed in it.

Good point. Might be worth having some doodads around the lander to depict the self-replicating nature.


Also...Any thoughts on the above scale comments?

[leeor_net]

I like the new scale. It gives a sense of something larger... and the buildings are a little less crowded.

The only thing to pay attention to is smaller details getting lost in the down-scaling. Keep in mind that as of now I'm scaling them a further 19% until we get a new tileset at the target 128x55 target. Though we could expand the tileset to slightly larger dimensions. Maybe we could try it with 135 or 150 to see how they look?

[White Claw]

Leeor, I think this is what you were asking about? Lights on the "ground" of the sprite so that it shows up on the terrain.

(This is a proof of concept, so the tile background isn't particularly clean.)

[havkyp]

Thanks White Claw for even more great graphics!! You are so prolific.

I agree with @Vagabond on the first warehouse pic, where the grid/frame is more subtle. And cool lighting effect!! Maybe we need day/night cycles for the game...

And after looking at all the graphics together, I suggest removing or minimising/simplifying most of the grids/frame/webbing on the structures. I think a simpler design will look cleaner and not bland at all. Just my two cents.

[leeor_net]

I actually prefer the super structures -- they provide a sense of utility and offer a way to easily add accents to buildings so that things can be a bit more vibrant.

Leeor, I think this is what you were asking about? Lights on the "ground" of the sprite so that it shows up on the terrain.

This is exactly what I meant. We'll see how it looks in-game both ways before committing one way or the other. Might have to make it a separate layer so we can fiddle with the blend modes when drawing that layer.

[White Claw]

- Yeah, the reflected light off the ground looks pretty good. It's not so obvious in some of the other graphics because the terrain tile is there. The light effect takes a bit of extra work on top of making the model itself, so I was holding off on making the graphics with the reflected lighting till the general theme and a good deal of design work was done.

- The difference between the last two CHAPS is very subtle. I basically went in and tweaked the last one to add a bit of definition to the lighting/shadows. It's very subtle and was probably unnecessary to post both, except that I was also bouncing things off Leeor at the time.

- I am struggling a bit on the color scheme of the warehouse. I think the frame on the structure adds a nice element, but the colors need to be balanced enough to be noticeable, but not distracting.

- I'm not sure how much webbing/grids/frame there is to simplify off the structures. The command center and the warehouse are really the only two that have additional framework. I suppose the tubes do as well, but they are pretty bland when just one solid tube. The agridome necessitates a frame since it's holding glass. Quite frankly, the command center doesn't look like much of anything when it's just a dome. I could remove the frame off the warehouse and give it more rolled curvature.

Part of the issue is that the graphics are so small, there needs to be extremely distinct details to give it some feel of depth. The command center seemed to be a great candidate for additional structure, since it needs to be extremely sturdy. Of note, I also just posted a couple tokamak designs. The first includes some grid structure and (in my opinion) doesn't look great. So in that case, I agree with your comment that it's not necessary. (And including it on every building would certainly be overkill.)

I've uploaded a warehouse without the structure, but with a ribbed design. Leeor has started a new thread for it here: http://forum.outpost2.net/index.php/topic,5995.0.html

[Hooman]

Hey, any more progress on these? I've been curious how many of the original game buildings have been redesigned? I got the feeling it was quite a significant portion already.

[JetMech1999]

I haven't really decided which agridome I like more.  Both are fantastic designs.  Leaning more on the tent shape rather than the ball.  Just seems to fit better.

[White Claw]

Hey, any more progress on these? I've been curious how many of the original game buildings have been redesigned? I got the feeling it was quite a significant portion already.

Hey Hooman. Sorry, not real progress for a bit now. I switched jobs a few months back, and it suddenly got really busy the last month or two. I am hoping to start working on these again in the near future. This coming week is going to be busy again but I'm hoping for a little progress. Keeping my fingers crossed for after that.

I haven't really decided which agridome I like more.  Both are fantastic designs.  Leaning more on the tent shape rather than the ball.  Just seems to fit better.

I made the tent shape first, because I agree...it feels more in the theme of the original. I also made the sphere out of request, and I think it came out pretty nicely too. Probably not the most practical from an "our civilization is on the brink of extinction" standpoint, but still looks aesthetically interesting. We also had discussions that perhaps they would both be in-game, since the agridome has three different tiers.

[leeor_net]

I found a job recently as well and I'm still adjusting to working full time again after being unemployed for so long... so it's been hard to want to look at the code when I find myself more tired than anything else. Couple that with flu-like symptoms and yeah.

Anyway, as for the agridomes, I really love the sphere and the tent like structure. I see them as different tiers of the same structure _or_ using the tent-like underground as an arboretum type of structure. Nothing concrete there yet.

[JetMech1999]

Gotta agree there about the different tier designs.  Makes it look like the colony is succeeding by improving designs and efficiency.

[White Claw]

Here are a few concepts that I managed to work on. I spent a few days realizing that I need to sit down and develop a more complete palette. However, I was getting hung up on that, so I stepped over to making a few building concepts so I could feel like I accomplished something.

I will keep working on a pallet and array of materials to use for these. In the mean time, here's some progress.

[White Claw]

I can't even remember what some of these buildings are.

This one looks quite flat and uninteresting. Will have to continue working on extra doodads for these most recent models.

[Hooman]

Yeah! Progress! 

I can't even remember what some of these buildings are.

Hah, I was just going to ask


Screw the palette, I want to see buildings 
The palette is a distraction 

[Goof]

I'll guess :
324 I'd see it as robot control center/command center
330 TED
357 Seems to be a smelter facility
313 Fusion reactor (V2) but not sure

Really great work as usual.

[Hooman]

330 TED

Ahh, the forum where they hold TED talks

What does TED stand for?

[Goof]

330 TED

Ahh, the forum where they hold TED talks

What does TED stand for?

"SPEW Facility" in fact
I copied all structures from the chm manual on the wiki some time ago.
https://wiki.outpost2.net/doku.php?id=outpost_1:structuresdetails

In fact TED should be the name in French for this structure.

But as I remember, Leeor may not include this structure as in the original game.

[Hooman]

Ahh. Hmm, I thought it would have been called the dégueuler facility

So... TED?
T... Environment D...
I don't think I'm guessing this one

[Goof]

An abstract taken from the French manual of the 1.5 version of the game.

Le module TED (Traitement des Eaux usées et des Déchets) recycle les déchets fondamentaux et les matériaux de construction des structures à détruire.
Le recyclage a des  effets positifs sur le moral et permet de réutiliser les ressources.
Les bâtiments recyclés produisent une matière visqueuse à usages multiples, qui en tant que produit synthétique, peut remplacer toutes les autres ressources requises pour le maintien du statut fonctionnel d’une structure existante.

[lordpalandus]

TED to English = Treatment of Water and Sewage. So likely SPEW.