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[Mod/Skin] Halo: Delicious bump maps?

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:36 am
by shadowkhas
I FINALLY got my Halo CD back. Otherwise this would've been posted at least a month or two ago. :P
One weekend I got bored and decided to actually do what I've been thinking to do in Halo for quite some time now...make the graphics appear better. On a very crappy coincidence, once I finished it, I looked around in the Halo: PC section, and Pepsi and Nessa's total conversion was eating everyone's minds out of the sheer awesome of it. So, that sucked.
But I finished it up anyway, and what came out is like PepNess Lite, I guess. No major skin overhaul, but no gameplay changes (technically). I messed with shaders, lens flares, lights, and some minor textures, just to get an effect that would make what I thought would accent the graphics-y things about Halo more. It really IS what Pepsi did as well...make Halo look better than it is. I don't know if I'll tackle more maps, but for now, it's everyone's favorite box canyon. It started out as a sandbox, but grew into "Hay, dis could be kewl," and so it stuck. Don't hurt me.

SO. On to the mod. It's Bloodgulch, but darker, for one. This is done to highlight things like the dynamic lighting on plasma bolts, better grenade lighting (both Covenant and Human), and little things like brake lights that actually illuminate things. Wait, what's that? There's a glow under your feet? Might be the lighting given off by the plasma pistol and plasma rifle to their surroundings, making you stand out and think twice about running around with a glowstick of a weapon.

There's other small changes, like a different texture on the ground, and proper bitmaps for the moon and planet so that you suddenly don't have daylight on Threshold. Fog was going to be added, but it ruined the whole effect, so it's not there. I'm not going to screenshot every single thing, or else I'd be featured on National Geographic, but I hope what I did get works out and some people actually like this. So have fun, and maybe expect some more things of this style from me.
Hope for a weekend when I'm bored. :P

Props to Explosive American for the shader fixing pack, which is included.

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:40 am
by bcnipod
ohh. cool. it looks nice. i like how there are not trails on the plasma bolts.

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 10:08 am
by Lambda
looks delicious indeed

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 10:22 am
by Yodel
Great idea! You still know how to keep things fresh, 'Khas

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 11:46 am
by Pepsi
your BG is amazing. i love the lighting in it! it really does seem like a very early feel to it, say around 4am? excellent job man.

i lub it and approve it bigtime.

Image

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:19 pm
by shadowkhas
Thanks for the replies, everyone. :3 I might just do more maps of this.

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:35 pm
by DoorM4n
I don't mod Halo PC but I thoroughly impressed. :shock:

The only slight downfall from these photos is that the plasma rifle on the ground does not cast it's glow on the floor. I tend to have the same problem in Halo 2 as well. Excellent job, nonetheless.

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 1:26 pm
by Pepsi
DoorM4n wrote:The only slight downfall from these photos is that the plasma rifle on the ground does not cast it's glow on the floor.
click in the light tag check dynamic lighting on the "plasma rifle flair" and increase the radius numbers and it wil then :wink:

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 1:30 pm
by shadowkhas
Pepsi wrote:
DoorM4n wrote:The only slight downfall from these photos is that the plasma rifle on the ground does not cast it's glow on the floor.
click in the light tag check dynamic lighting on the "plasma rifle flair" and increase the radius numbers and it wil then :wink:
I know, I was actually playing with that. In the end I decided that that radius was the best balance. It wasn't overly huge, but it was bigger than the standard plasma pistol's flare. It DOES cast a glow on the floor when you carry it, though. I think it has to do with when it's laying down, the point at which it emits light is so close to the floor that it doesn't really bother to display the light.

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 1:55 pm
by Philly
I'll say what I said to Pepsi.
This mod looks very nice, and dynamic light is really cool, but bump mapping and lens effects eats my RAM. This is why all my maps are in the day. :P

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 2:37 pm
by Pepsi
im just going by pics and words shadow, i cant play it cause its MAC :wink:

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:45 pm
by shadowkhas
Pepsi wrote:im just going by pics and words shadow, i cant play it cause its MAC :wink:
lol@u. Actually, I just posted it here to bring some life into this section. >_> I'm tired of seeing the icon next to Mac be white. Plus, people check (or should check) both sections, or at least the ones I want constructive criticism from. :P

And Philly, how much RAM do you have...? Bump mapping, lens flares and light effects should only tax your graphics card.

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 12:00 am
by JK-47
Looks cool. I lack a Mac, however.
Otherwise, I'd hit it.

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 1:31 am
by Andrew_b
Pretty much everything i was doing in Obscure Destruction.

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 6:15 am
by [IA]Paul
Gah! Didn't you read Shadowkhas's post?! And you should know this anyways:

MAC MODS WORK ON PC ALWAYS. PC MODS SOMETIMES WORK ON MAC SOMETIMES.

k.

Looks good.

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 10:24 am
by shadowkhas
Wait....Pepsi, I hope you're not serious, and that you're not either, JK. :?
Andrew_b wrote:Pretty much everything i was doing in Obscure Destruction.
...and? I'm trying to get feedback. ;/

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 11:04 am
by JK-47
I thought it would, but pepsi's post made me think otherwise. Just a misunderstanding. I'll try it out in a sec.

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 2:13 pm
by Andrew_b
ok feedback...looks nice. kinda what i was going for in obscure destruction.

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 2:29 pm
by [W]Jb39
Very nice map...good job.

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 3:12 pm
by WarHampster
cool :D