Again with the grass...

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

               @Master Jax Try the "Visual Tutorial on Images in Threads" thread that I created a couple of months ago in the toolset thread. 

TR
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Master Jax]

               Thanks, Tarot! As you can see, I already got it to work! ^___^
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Master Jax]

               Ok, after much testing and tweaking, here is what may be called Rural 2.0



Yes, it is a simple recoloring and a little density/height tweaking. Thing is, I went the whole spectrum, trying out different floor textures and dynamic grass files. I think the best possible one is the one Rozencrantz used in his rocky mountain set, but the density count is insane. 50 is ten times what TNO uses, and my system has a noticeable framerate drop at about 11. It looks amazing, but its simply unsustainable. In the end, I went back to the same textures. The tragedy here is the lack of variation in the floor one. As most of you know, varied textures usually don't tile well, and those that do are rarely detailed enough to do the trick. Baba's floor for Coniferous was my choice originally, because it is perfect in terms of variation. Trampled grass, some dirt and rock. Problem was its resolution. In rural it looks smeared. This is why hi-res works for me in this tileset.

Anyway, setting suggestions would be hot! How do I achieve a more vibrant look? How do I get a lighter, yet colorful grass? a more varied, hi-res texture you know of for the floor?
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_T0r0]

               Jax, you got a great eye for detail.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

                I don't know if it's any use to you but I came across this on deviantArt just now. I was thinking prticularly about the pallets on there.

TR
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Tarot Redhand, 01 juillet 2013 - 09:08 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Master Jax]

               Thanks for the link Tarot! I think I found the perfect texture for grass floor. It has lots of definition, variation, and keeps detail even at the most uneven of terrain:



Now, I spent days testing things out, trying out new dynamic grasses, etc. I cursed and yelled a lot. But I came up with a very simple, possibly final version. I would love it if you guys could offer a bit of feedback. More dynamic grass? Less? Different coloration? Anything to make it look as realistic as possible.


               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Zwerkules]

               I prefer the ground texture you had before because
a) it wasn't so bright
and
it wasn't so photo-like
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_3RavensMore]

               Both of those samples look great.  From a builder standpoint, I like the second one for density, and how it would look in a brighter sun lit setting.  The first would look great in a foggy setting, but perhaps a bit too olive drab in a brighter environment.  I suppose it's hard to make one grass that fits all lighting styles.  I'd go with the second one though.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par 3RavensMore, 05 juillet 2013 - 03:40 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_NWN_baba yaga]

               The grass texture from image 5 "days ago" looks better to me. Now you changed your style to a brigther look... which is not bad in no way but take care that it goes well together with all other textures. Nothing looks more strange as a "main" texture that dont fit to well. To get rid a bit of the photolike look tone down the color palette to say 30 and use a default nwn texture as a layer beneath and test the oppacity once your happy. Additional use a very soft rubber brush here and there to keep some nwn style if you dont want to use just the layer way of doing it. The rubber brush is for me the most usefull texture tool.

When i work on textures i always have 2 to 3 other main textures open in photoshop to see how they all look together and if there is some harmony;)

And the shot from 5 days ago looks very good to me as a complete scene, the dynamic grass fits perfect onto it:)

And what helps me also when creating textures is to take a few shots of different terrains and features and think about them. Then just paint over the screencap until it makes "bang" and you got it:D
               
               

               

                     Modifié par NWN_baba yaga, 05 juillet 2013 - 06:27 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Master Jax]

               Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

The reason I chose the last texture was because of its detail, Zwerk, though I agree with you on it being brighter, and a lot more saturated... I'm not very pleased with such, so I am trying to darken/desaturate in order to get it to look more like the previous one. I think that's what modding NWN has taught me more about: Compromising. One can never quite get exactly what one wants, but I try to come as close to it as possible. 0__0

You've touched on a very important subject, 3RavensMore! Since I don't build modules, I'm always thinking as an end-user, in terms of override and one-for-all solutions. However, when it comes particularly to Rural, one can never really do that. Perhaps more than any other of the original tilesets, TTR changes according to the builder's choice of ambiance. Lighting is everything here. As mentioned earlier, though, I am trying to bring components in the different styles together, in an effort to reach some balance.

Now, Baba! Of course the texture would look better to you! Tis yours!  Thanks for the tips on how to work themes better! I follow a very similar process, always trying to match textures in a cohesive way, whether they are meant to blend in or bring contrast. Just today I went and worked on some plants to fit the new scheme!
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Master Jax, 05 juillet 2013 - 06:47 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Master Jax]

               Now, for something out of topic... I have been promising Toro I would post some pics of some of the work I've been doing overall with the tilesets in NWN, but always falling short due to real life constraints and not being satisfied with how they look. Always working and reworking everything. <>



I know these have nothing to do with grass, but I didn't want to create a
whole new thread just to post these. So, as a disclaimer, I did nothing
but tweak the textures here and there. The credit for this goes to
Zwerkules and his Biointerior project. There's a bit of Q in there as
well.



The intention was to make NWN look a bit more like Skyrim.
I know, I know,... some may say it isn't possible, that I am obsessing
over it, etc, but I am quite pleased with how it has turned out (which
is a miracle in itself, since being satisfied is kind of a foreign concept to me). The
implementation of this idea saw the interior tileset being reskinned in
sets of micro-tilesets, instead of using a single skin for all of them,
which I think brings a level of variety unseen in the game.



As
always, if posting the images is unproper due to alteration or
usage of works which are not mine, notity me, and I will bring them
down.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Zwerkules]

               Very nice!
There's nothing in the first and the last picture I'd change, but the second one has too many wooden parts of different colours.Though the texture you used for the pillars is very good with those carvings, its colouring and that of the doorframe could match one of the other wood textures better.
Even though you used just as many different wood textures in the last screenshot, they match each other better.
I used many different wood textures in the living room terrain of the interior tileset, too, and they didn't match each other as closely as yours do, but they didn't have to because they weren't so rustic (if that's the right word) as the textures you used, more like varnished wood.
I like what you did a lot, the more rustic approach is very good.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Zwerkules, 05 juillet 2013 - 08:57 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy__six]

               Second screenshot is definitely far too busy texture wise. I'd go with much 'plainer' textures on the pillars. Overall feel is lovely though, and that brick texture is a neat-o choice.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_NWN_baba yaga]

               I find the pillars in the second shot troublesome since i saw them first time in the bio tileset. I mean a fancy carved bottom of a treetrunk for static reasons placed in a general medieval building? The whole thing looks unbelievable. So either it must be stone bricks because one single big carved rock is a bit heavy when not build into a estate or castle. So if it´s just wood etc. you know, Bio never thought about realism at all. In the fort interior they handled that pretty good. The beams there have a function and only a few are a little bit carved where it makes sense to give the halls some "hey we live here" and not just a clutter up function.

But thats not your fault anyway;)

Maybe another little tip on how to make a few things more belivable. Delete all beams and just let the walls left. Create one beam and copy/ paste that for any place where it makes some sense, static wise of course.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par NWN_baba yaga, 06 juillet 2013 - 07:32 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Master Jax]

               Wow! Thanks for the feedback, guys! I think we all agree on the micro-tileset in the second shot needing a little work when ti comes to the columns. Curiously enough, THAT's the one theme that wasn't specifically inspired on an existing Skyrim one. I sort of patched it together with the wall plaster I liked a lot but couldn't get into any other scheme, and a mixture of every other micro-set. I didn't touch it any more because my gf said she loved it.



Here's two more shots of interior micro-sets. First one is of the "cellar" one, and second one goes for the "shop". They look a bit green because of the mod's lighting, but I think it isn't so bad that you can't tell details and different colorations. It's just a bit hard to find areas in modules which are unpopulated, have no additional placeables, and still hold the right lighting to show everything properly.