Redo videos

Ideas and suggestions for how to improve the Warzone 2100 base game only. Ideas for mods go in Mapping/Modding instead. Read sticky posts first!
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Emdek
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Redo videos

Post by Emdek »

Yes, I know, this would be really a LOT of work but it is really needed to do at some point.
Current videos are good, but only on small displays...

New videos would give:
  • better clips quality;
  • possibility to create localized versions (dubbing etc.);
  • allow to make bigger changes in campaign (so in video they would not say something different that is said in subtitles);
  • add possibility to add new levels (if desired);
  • ease creating of videos for possible external, alternate campaigns;
  • keep changes in models and textures (so videos won't show something really different that what is available in game).
To do that we need talented artists with a lot of free time (maybe kind of fund raising could help?...), high detail
versions of some models (for objects that would show up in videos) with high quality textures (depending on how big resolutions we want to have) some people or good and free voice synthesizer (at least 6, 7 different voices).

Videos could be then recorded using applications like MovieCube and others (I'm not an artist, so I don't know what also could be used). I don't know how much it will be complicated (and for sure will vary on different clips, some are for sure easier to do) but if it would be started then there would be nice to have some tutorials and other data that could be used when changing or adding videos (for example when some important models are changed).

This is my dream, but I hope that some day it could become real. :-)
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Crymson
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Re: Redo videos

Post by Crymson »

I always thought that dropping the current videos and redo them with in-game footage would be better.
Of course, using only trunk's graphics!
However, lots of the videos can't be done with in-game footage. :hmm:
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Emdek
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Re: Redo videos

Post by Emdek »

You mean using Warzone game engine to create part of videos?
I think that result would be poor, hard to do and not enough good quality for high resolution videos.
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Olrox
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Re: Redo videos

Post by Olrox »

Emdek wrote:You mean using Warzone game engine to create part of videos?
I think that result would be poor, hard to do and not enough good quality for high resolution videos.
Hmmm, I don't know, maybe if we could export maps to an already mapped single mesh with a diffuse map, but that's very unlikely to happen and the results will still probably not be that good.

~Olrox
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Emdek
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Re: Redo videos

Post by Emdek »

Olrox wrote:
Emdek wrote:You mean using Warzone game engine to create part of videos?
I think that result would be poor, hard to do and not enough good quality for high resolution videos.
Hmmm, I don't know, maybe if we could export maps to an already mapped single mesh with a diffuse map, but that's very unlikely to happen and the results will still probably not be that good.
Anyway most of videos shows only maps as kind of satellite image (but redoing videos would allow for bigger changes in clips scenarios). Probably most work is needed for gamma campaign part, intro and all Nexus transmissions.
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lav_coyote25
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Re: Redo videos

Post by lav_coyote25 »

http://kgmetcalfe.shawwebspace.ca/videos/ did some proof of concept... preliminary... would need lots of time and help for whomever wants to try.
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Re: Redo videos

Post by Emdek »

So any volunteers? ;-)
I know that this may not end with success but we should at least try to prepare foundations for future work.
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Olrox
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Re: Redo videos

Post by Olrox »

Emdek wrote:So any volunteers? ;-)
I know that this may not end with success but we should at least try to prepare foundations for future work.
But, there are so many other priorities... I would gladly volunteer if AR was already finished, trunk terrain textures were already improved to a really good level, and TLR (The Lost River) was already finished.
I dunno, I think that creating high-quality videos wouldn't make sense before having a complete upgrade of the game itself. I mean, players will see the cinematics and think "whoa, nice! Very nice!", and then look at the actual game's graphics and think " :annoyed: ".

IMHO there are other major priorities, which will unfortunately take quite some more time, but if anyone else (other than the usual content-producing members) is willing to work with it - it's all advantages! :) But again, I think that all the artists we have right now should be effectively working on the major revolution of Warzone 2100 in the aspects that affect the gameplay stage itself. Those are mostly the musics, maps, terrain textures, innovative scripting, unit models and textures, building models and textures, map features, in-game GUI, balance, fixing bugs - all of that composes a constant revolution for a better warzone. After we achieve a real good level of all those aspects, I believe that both staff, contributors and major unnofficial artists and coders that we have right now will then be really right to go for making those major changes to the videos - until then, I think we would need more artists than we have right now to do so.

Therefore, It's very good that the video-working team recruits people to work on it, but I think it's hard (and wouldn't make too much sense IMO) that the current people who are working on the forementioned "major aspects that affects gameplay" will be willing to stop their work to start working on the videos.

But new artists are ALWAYS welcome :D Perhaps you should more specifically invitate yahodahan, from what I've seen he is very talented in creating highly-detailed models, perhaps he'll be interested.

But hey, about "this may not end with success" - I certainly disagree. The "end" of Warzone 2100 is very far, I think we'll always have a fine community and new members joining us, so it's never hopeless :wink:

~Olrox
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Re: Redo videos

Post by Rman Virgil »

.

As a follow-up to Olrox's comments....

With all the GFX improvements underway (new models, new terrain, coding to support recording in-game footage for replay) I am sure making new FMVs utilizing WZ Machinima techniques would yield marvelous results and would also be TRUE to the game.

- RV :ninja:

.
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Re: Redo videos

Post by Emdek »

Olrox, sure, we need to wait for final changes before starting real work but it would be good to start some preparations earlier (like defining what will be needed, which applications and other resources...) because it can take some time. Some experiments would be welcome (like these shown by lav_coyote25). I remember that creators of that first Blender movie said that some parts were worse (graphics) because they needed to gain more experience which resulted in better effects in later parts.
And when I wrote "this may not end with success" I meant that it's possible that nobody will work on that or results may be not as good as we would like to see.
Rman Virgil wrote:I am sure making new FMVs utilizing WZ Machinima techniques would yield marvelous results and would also be TRUE to the game.
But this needs some work in engine (like possibility to hide all these bars, menus and cursor), or maybe there was some work on this topic already?
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Zarel
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Re: Redo videos

Post by Zarel »

Emdek wrote:But this needs some work in engine (like possibility to hide all these bars, menus and cursor), or maybe there was some work on this topic already?
Have you ever tried pressing Tab?
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Re: Redo videos

Post by Emdek »

Zarel wrote:
Emdek wrote:But this needs some work in engine (like possibility to hide all these bars, menus and cursor), or maybe there was some work on this topic already?
Have you ever tried pressing Tab?
Right (now I remember bug report about everything disappeared, and someone told to use Tab). :-)
But still there are visible HP bars and cursor...
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Re: Redo videos

Post by Safety0ff »

Emdek wrote:now I remember bug report about everything disappeared
That was for trunk and it is fixed now AFAIK.
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Re: Redo videos

Post by Zarel »

It's easy enough to write code to hide HP bars and cursors, too.
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Re: Redo videos

Post by Emdek »

Zarel wrote:It's easy enough to write code to hide HP bars and cursors, too.
OK, so that is no problem anymore.

By the way, are somewhere on-line these new models and textures for structures or are already in trunk and need something to enable them?
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