Bt Builder

Discussions and help for the Bard's Tale Construction Set
Methuselas
Posts: 352
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:03 pm

Re: Bt Builder

Post by Methuselas »

Just so no one thought these were just photoshop mockups, here's an alpha with new graphics at 1680x1050. It has all the images you need to run the engine, including placeholders for the Status Effect icons. The Monster images are from some old renders I did, so the most of the pngs look fine, but the mings are from a smaller pixel size, so they're not all that great looking. I'm not entirely happy with the Matrix, though. I think the horizon is too low. I set the camera height to be my height (6'4") which is almost dead center to the 4m x 4m squares I'm using for rendering. Also, I didn't render out the extra walls for the extended light. I re-did the wall template, from scratch, so it wasn't as messy, but didn't add the additional side walls, yet. Only the Front ones. And yes, I know 4m is actually 13ft, but I wanted to include an FBX file that anyone could load into any 3D software, to render their own walls, placeables, horizons and monster images, so long as your units is set to centimeters. I've tested my export in Maya, Blender, Daz Studio, Cinema4D and Max. All the cameras, shaders, et al, work fine.

This version is over 3 times in size, compared to the last build, due to image size. The archive sits at about 1.6 gigs, which is why I only wanted to support one resolution and pocket chip.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l3olPB ... share_link

Oh, this requires the freeware fonts I added previously, so if you don't have it, it's here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l3olPB ... share_link
"Using No Way as Way; Having No Limitation As Limitation". - Bruce Lee.

BTBuilder Stuff - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing
Methuselas
Posts: 352
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:03 pm

Re: Bt Builder

Post by Methuselas »

Conversion of the BTBuilder Tilesets. Unfortunately, I lost all the 3D Tilesets. so that means no Wilderness or Wine Cellar. :cry: I still had some of the original 2D textures I did, though, so I'm putting them in place of the previous Tilesets, to prevent problems if anyone created any modules with BTBuilder.

Dungeon 0

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Dungeon 1

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Catacombs 0

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Sewer 0

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City 0

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All of these are setup to use directional horizons, but only the City 0 Tileset currently supports it.

Horizon 0 = North
Horizon 1 = East
Horizon 2 = South
Horizon 3 = West

Now, on to the BAD news.....

The City 0 Tileset has a total of 25 walls. BTBuilder can only support 17, without crashing. I had forgotten that BTBuilder is a 32Bit program and at 17 Walls and a 1680x1050 resolution, BTBuilder hits a whopping 1.7 Gigs of memory, when loading the City 0 Tileset. I'm guessing I'm breaching the 2Gig barrier for 32Bit programs, which causes BTBuilder to crash. The rest of these Tilesets have 1 Door and 3 Walls, so they barely push BTBuilder above 256 MB of memory.

Who would have thought my Achilles' heels would be memory. I feel like I'm on an Amiga again. :evil:

I have one or two Tilesets to re-render. After I finish that, I'll release another Alpha.
"Using No Way as Way; Having No Limitation As Limitation". - Bruce Lee.

BTBuilder Stuff - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing
Methuselas
Posts: 352
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:03 pm

Re: Bt Builder

Post by Methuselas »

Crypt 0

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The last of the tilesets I have available to redo, is done. I didn't have the original files for the horizon, so I just used the Dungeon 1 horizon, as an example and it looks great, actually. This build has The Matrix setup as a placeholder for the Wilderness and Wine Cellar Tilesets. I'll start working on those, when I am done remaking the Pocket Chip UI and Tilesets.

The Tileset folder has been redesigned from the ground up, to be more modular. Right now you'll find two sub-folders in the Tileset directory: Common and Fantasy. The Common folder is where you'll find The Matrix and will hold generic tilesets you'd find anywhere, such as the Wilderness Tileset, Caverns, Mountains, etc. The Fantasy folder holds all the original Tilesets that came with BTBuilder since I started working on it, back in 2009. Eventually, there will be another folder for Sci-Fi, so Dulsi and I can work on a Sci-Fi project.

Inside each Tileset directory, you'll find 3 folders: Doors, Walls and Horizon. Each Door and Wall is set to a number scheme, Dulsi followed with BTBuilder, so Folder 0 is Wall/Door 0, 1 is Wall/Door 1, etc. This was done to be modular to assist in making your own tilesets. Want House 1 in your Wilderness Tileset? Just copy that folder to a new Wilderness Tileset and edit the Wall.xml to add it. Like the Horizon for Crypt 0 Tileset, but want to use it in a City Tileset, just make a new Tileset folder and copy it over. If you already have a Wall/Door 0 in your Tileset, but want to add another Wall/Door 0 Tile to your new Tilest, just rename the directory to 1.

If anyone is interested, let me know and I can upload my current versions of the Tileset/Horizon Makers. Keep in mind, there are issues with lighting right now, as I haven't worked out all the kinks yet for rendering in multiple applications. It will include a bat file for renaming the tilesets after render. I also have some quick Photoshop actions for editing the Front 1-4 tiles. Otherwise, you'll have to manually reduce the Canvas size for each Wall/Door.

Due to current ram limitations, it's best to keep Tilesets under 12 walls/doors, total per Tileset. That leaves memory open for Placeables, which I haven't even started on yet. I really don't want to go to a lower resolution right now, so it's best to be a little LESS ambitious in your projects.

Also, if anyone knows of a freeware ming maker, please shoot me a link. I'm currently using an old copy of JASC's Animation Shop to create ming animations. I'm trying to make this as open source as possible.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11M1pP2 ... share_link

Again, the updates require the freeware fonts I gathered, so if you don't have them, they're here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-wWhYQ ... share_link

Oh, if you see "seams" on some of the Front 2 Walls, don't worry about it. I was off by 2 pixels in my calculations for the size. I haven't corrected all the Front 2 Walls/Doors yet.
"Using No Way as Way; Having No Limitation As Limitation". - Bruce Lee.

BTBuilder Stuff - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing
Methuselas
Posts: 352
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:03 pm

Re: Bt Builder

Post by Methuselas »

I got the Pocketchip UI done, including a new MapEditor and Picture Select. I started testing the terrain generator I bought for Daz Studio, specifically for Wilderness tilesets. I did some quick wall renders to do some mockups of what it would look like, in game:

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For comparison, here's what the new Wilderness tileset will look like, at 224x176.

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And finally, since you can't really see it, the Horizon test.

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Lol. Is anyone else even reading these?
"Using No Way as Way; Having No Limitation As Limitation". - Bruce Lee.

BTBuilder Stuff - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing
Methuselas
Posts: 352
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:03 pm

Re: Bt Builder

Post by Methuselas »

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3rd Build of the Dungeon Tileset Kit. All the shaders have to be replaced and they have to be renamed, but it's all to scale, save the main wall blocks. There are 20 of those each and I can resize them all at once, though.

I'll release what I can, under GPL.
"Using No Way as Way; Having No Limitation As Limitation". - Bruce Lee.

BTBuilder Stuff - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing
Methuselas
Posts: 352
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:03 pm

Re: Bt Builder

Post by Methuselas »

I merged the Dungeon Tileset Kit with the City Tileset Kit I was working on. I'm optimizing the UVs for Shaders, as opposed to Textures. These are low-poly models, so you don't get any displacement, but they're looking nice. You'll have to manually move UVs if you're not using the Walls that require caps at the ends to keep them seamless, as you can see from the first image. Otherwise, they'll work fine, with minimal UV offset.


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"Using No Way as Way; Having No Limitation As Limitation". - Bruce Lee.

BTBuilder Stuff - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing
Methuselas
Posts: 352
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:03 pm

Re: Bt Builder

Post by Methuselas »

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Took a break from renaming objects to work on a Cathedral that BTBuilder should have had, but never did.

And yes, those are transparent windows. :D The new Tilesets will support transparency, so you can look through windows.
"Using No Way as Way; Having No Limitation As Limitation". - Bruce Lee.

BTBuilder Stuff - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing
Methuselas
Posts: 352
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:03 pm

Re: Bt Builder

Post by Methuselas »

I'm down to adding shaders to my last two walls. They're for the Catacombs and have a lot of various bones and skulls to add by hand. I wanted to see how Displacement would work, so I took one of my low-poly walls and turned it into a 400k one, to test. I didn't turn the wall or window trim to high-poly and I didn't pick a stone shader that was complimentary to the Wall shader I picked, but displacement works MUCH better than in the original 1.0 version I used.

I apologize for the delay, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I don't yet have a steady workflow for making walls.


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"Using No Way as Way; Having No Limitation As Limitation". - Bruce Lee.

BTBuilder Stuff - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing
Methuselas
Posts: 352
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:03 pm

Re: Bt Builder

Post by Methuselas »

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More displacement tests.

My scale was still off. I figured it out when I started converting Environments I had for Daz Studio, to be compatible with BTBuilder. I want all the walls to be 100% compatible. Y and Z coordinates can be whatever they want, but X coordinates HAVE to comply with one another, in order for any Door/Wall to be swapped between Tilesets. The new grid size is 3m x 4m. It's more widescreen, so it fits the new 3D View better, as you can see.

I got everything converted to the new grid size. The Base Wall and Doors got their retopo done, so there should be no stretching or janky things with the shaders. They should also be compatible with using seamless textures now, instead of just shader nodes. I really just need to make the Walls that have windows. The only ones I did make, the Cathedral arched windows, have been done.

Walls and Doors will come in 3 LODS: LOD0 is about 200k, LOD1 is 4k and LOD2 is approximately 400 polys - These numbers are across each Wall/Door. If you're using textures/shaders with little to no displacement, you use LOD2, to cut down on your render times. For minor displacement, like bricks or smooth stones, you'd use LOD1. If you see any tearing in the image, from displacement at LOD1, move up to LOD0. The Width of the walls along Z, is standard house size, 50cm (0.5m) and 100cm (1m) - Take your pick. They'll be compatible with any Tileset sprite, 'cos they're all on the same grid. Displaced walls will just have to be move up a few centimeters to keep the seams with the edges. The above image was done with LOD0 round doors and the Sub-D at Render cranked up to 12 and adding 10cm in the Z+ axis. Caars always did want caves, I just couldn't deliver ones I felt were adequate. I wish he was still here. :cry:

I'm still trying to figure out a way to deliver the TCK. I may just break down, create individual FBX files per step and you just merge them one by one, as you create your own door/wall. I don't know. I wish one of you lurkers would actually say something to give me some ideas and critiques. :P
"Using No Way as Way; Having No Limitation As Limitation". - Bruce Lee.

BTBuilder Stuff - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing
Methuselas
Posts: 352
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:03 pm

Re: Bt Builder

Post by Methuselas »

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1igYzdB ... share_link


Above is the Displacement Test I did in the previous post. I figured out how to deal with the displacement, by adding a render without displacement behind the Displacement Wall. Trim it normally and they blend fine. There's still going to be a line, as they're not seamless, but I don't think anyone is really going to mind.

There's a Wall file that has the Test, alone. You can just back up your wall.xml and rename this one to wall.xml to test it out.
"Using No Way as Way; Having No Limitation As Limitation". - Bruce Lee.

BTBuilder Stuff - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing
Methuselas
Posts: 352
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:03 pm

Re: Bt Builder

Post by Methuselas »

Yay! The Board is working again! Thanks, Brian!

Nothing new to add. I haven't worked on anything, since the thread broke. Guess I'll start working again. :)
"Using No Way as Way; Having No Limitation As Limitation". - Bruce Lee.

BTBuilder Stuff - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing
Methuselas
Posts: 352
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:03 pm

Re: Bt Builder

Post by Methuselas »

Finally getting a new PC! I will be happy to be retiring my laptop soon. It was a workhorse, but it's a decade old now and really starting to show it's age. Been retargeting all my animations again, as I found a bunch of finger issues with some of them, so I haven't done anything, but prep to start making slot images.

I picked up this asset off the Unreal site. I was planning on using it as the avatar for the Greater Demon.

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"Using No Way as Way; Having No Limitation As Limitation". - Bruce Lee.

BTBuilder Stuff - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing
Methuselas
Posts: 352
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:03 pm

Re: Bt Builder

Post by Methuselas »

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More render tests. iClone doesn't support ORM textures (I thought it did!) so I've been having to export individual AO, Metallic and Roughness maps for each model I planned on using. I haven't even started on Characters, yet. Thankfully, scripts for Photoshop come in handy to automate a massively boring operation. Learned a lot about Unreal, though. I may actually move to it for animation rendering. The render pipeline for UE5 is lightyears ahead of what iClone can do with PBR textures and it will also give me access to VFXs I can use for spell, I won't have to make on my own. We'll see.

Dulsi,

If you're still around, have you thought about making named counters, like you did for the local and global flags? I've been working on a special based wandering monster table (with treasure chest specials) and realized having that single counter is getting limiting.
"Using No Way as Way; Having No Limitation As Limitation". - Bruce Lee.

BTBuilder Stuff - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing
Methuselas
Posts: 352
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:03 pm

Re: Bt Builder

Post by Methuselas »

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Transparency Test for a sprite. I got a new rig for Father's Day. Been spending the majority of the time working on my son's homeschooling and his Game dev class, but had a chance to really burn-in test Unicron. This screen is from an 83 frame anim, with sub-d cranked up to maximum for clothing and avatar. It took about an hour to render all the frames, whereas before, with my laptop, a single frame would have taken an hour.

You'll still see some sprite tearing, especially in the monster editor, but so far it seems to be working well.

Yay or nay?

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Sprite test with a dungeon tileset. I realized there may be issues with slots, like empty buildings and what not.
"Using No Way as Way; Having No Limitation As Limitation". - Bruce Lee.

BTBuilder Stuff - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing
Methuselas
Posts: 352
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:03 pm

Re: Bt Builder

Post by Methuselas »

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Another sprite transparency test. I took the Behemoth demon and slapped a monster walk cycle I had already converted when I was testing my workflow, throwing it in the orc slot. The lights are the same ones I was using for my test renders and the camera is the same. I just scrolled it forward to gather more detail, but keep the scale the same.

I'm really digging on the look. I had wanted transparent backgrounds for sprites for a while. I'm going to have to re-think slots for things like taverns, empty houses, etc.
"Using No Way as Way; Having No Limitation As Limitation". - Bruce Lee.

BTBuilder Stuff - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing
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