- This topic has 59 replies, 22 voices, and was last updated 3 years, 4 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Sorry for being monotonous, but today I’ve been repainting the playfield again. But I can assure, the work I’m doing is also monotonous. It’s a huge undertaking, but the low quality PF texture is one of the main reasons why this table isn’t looking too hot… so it just has to be done. :)
Today I’ve changed green/yellow two tones to a full color gradient. It breaks my heart to lose those originally beautiful two tones as it’s a huge part of the visual style of that era and I personally love the look. It’s just something that needs to be done to get a clean and smooth looking table.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
You need to login in order to like this post: click here
2 users thanked author for this post.
Excellent work
You need to login in order to like this post: click here
Great to see that you are working on an up to date version. Can’t wait to play the final table.
You need to login in order to like this post: click here
I just hope he is able to lure Bord and Roth to help him on finalizing it. Have a strong feeling that it is his plan.
You need to login in order to like this post: click here
that is a massive improvement i cant wait to see finished product.
You need to login in order to like this post: click here
I just hope he is able to lure Bord and Roth to help him on finalizing it. Have a strong feeling that it is his plan.
Let’s see what happens after we get the MB done… ;)
You need to login in order to like this post: click here
Sorry for being monotonous, but today I’ve been repainting the playfield again. But I can assure, the work I’m doing is also monotonous. It’s a huge undertaking, but the low quality PF texture is one of the main reasons why this table isn’t looking too hot… so it just has to be done. :)
Today I’ve changed green/yellow two tones to a full color gradient. It breaks my heart to lose those originally beautiful two tones as it’s a huge part of the visual style of that era and I personally love the look. It’s just something that needs to be done to get a clean and smooth looking table.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
There is no doubt the finished product looks a heck of a lot better. Personally I hate the dotted look used to create different colors; I used to despise it back when Sierra would use it all the time in their adventure game and as a 7 color Apple II owner, couldn’t stand it in all its games either though I know on that system with it’s limited color palette there was no other way to give the impression of more (needed) colors.
In saying that, I know I’m in a minority here but the gradient used in the original image was also used to give “spots” to the fish and those are gone now with the new image. In no way am I saying “don’t do that” because I realize the benefits gained here, especially for us 4K playfield TV/monitor owners! But there def is a negative in that 2nd picture above compared to the first pic. Just to be clear, the gradient being gone is GREAT, just some spots that were used in mixing gradients are gone, those are a bit missed imho.
Take my comments with a grain of salt please, I def love what you do with all your mods and with this one too. It’s amazing the difference between the old and new, the second image just pops! I appreciate this thread existing that I can have an opportunity to point out something different, no ill intended!
You need to login in order to like this post: click here
And the dotted look is a rendering pain! Blender and VPX. Maybe even worse when things are moving in VR.
You need to login in order to like this post: click here
And the dotted look is a rendering pain! Blender and VPX. Maybe even worse when things are moving in VR.
But that’s why Bord get’s paid so much right? ;)Â Â Thanks again for working on this Skitso!!You need to login in order to like this post: click here
I’ve been hanging around VP land for probably 5 years now. Still blown away at how much work goes into these tables.
You need to login in order to like this post: click here
Skitso, can’t wait to see the final product pal, the images already look amazing! I love your mods and still to date your MM and The Shadow mods are 2 of my most played tables. We are grateful to have someone as talented as you in our wonderful hobby. Keep up the great work my friend ? ?Â
You need to login in order to like this post: click here
The four big fishes are very important to get right, as they are the main “hero element” of the playfield and also incorporates very complex mesh-like decals over the insert lights. For these reasons, they need to be repainted extra carefully. It’ll look great and make my life easier when making insert lighting later. (click images to see full size and also to flip back and forth to see the difference)
BEFORE:
AFTER:
You need to login in order to like this post: click here
1 user thanked author for this post.
Well done! That previous playfield is a hot mess. I wouldn’t have the patience for touch-up on it.
You need to login in order to like this post: click here
Wow at full size you really can see the difference. Chapeau!
You need to login in order to like this post: click here
Lower playfield starts to look nice and clean:
(don’t mind the fuzzy TALE TOLD inserts, they are fixed later)
You need to login in order to like this post: click here
After finally finishing the playfield texture redraw, it’s time to tackle those all so important but ah, so difficult to nail, insert lights.
IMO a nice insert lighting is really, really important to get right to create an illusion of a real, mechanical pinball table. Blinking and pulsating lights are a trademark feature and one of the main visual things in a traditional pinball machine. Alas, it’s also something 95% (numbers from my butt) of tables don’t fare too hot. So here’s a quick look how I make them look a bit better:
So, here’s the two fish inserts we are going to be fixing today. This is the starting point: (all images can be clicked to see it full size)
As you can see, it’s bright and you get the feeling there is a light. But does it feel like the light is under the table and shines through the decal sticker? Not really. Changing to my new playfield texture doesn’t make it look much better. Sure, it’s cleaner, but the light itself is still a bit tough to look at:
So, what should we do to make it look a bit better, other than a higher quality texture?
First I will make a duplicate texture from my redraw PF texture and rename it… say inserts.png. I will edit the areas that shouldn’t pass light through to be very dark, while the parts that should pass some light are edited to medium darkness. Parts that should pass all the light through are not touched. After a bit of drawing, testing and fixing things, the new inserts texture ends up looking like this: (notice how fish scale areas that should pass light are left untouched, and the mesh like decal around them, that shouldn’t pass light, is made much darker)
This method will remove the common issue with insert lighting where light shines through the whole area with maximum brightness. This is a perfect way to make white text over insert lighting not suffer from over exposure and blooming or smoothing out the insert light edges that don’t have a clear outline.
After making the texture, I will go to the editor and change the shape of the insert object to better reflect the real one. With the new insert texture in use, this is much easier than usual, as I don’t need to micro manage the shape to go around certain areas I don’t want to get lit. When I’m satisfied with the shape, I just need to alter lighting settings in the editor for the insert to look perfect. In this case, I’m after a traditional, warm incandescent lighting, so I set the color to orange. I also use a pretty high falloff value to have that nice highlight shining through:
And here’s the finished version – notice how the bright center part of the light barely shines through the fins and looks spot on realistic. Also notice the yellow parts of the scales on the left fish that don’t let the light through fully:
And here’s a quick comparison with the original to better see the difference:
You need to login in order to like this post: click here
1 user thanked author for this post.
Ah. That’s a neat trick
You need to login in order to like this post: click here
Wow. Very cool.
You need to login in order to like this post: click here
Great stuff! But i always have the problem that you can see the insert image through the PF when IL’s are off. I couldn’t get this to work properly so i decided to put a bezel over the non lit part. Pass Through didn’t hide the insert image. If i do the same as you the darkened parts would be visible inside the light shape. It’s not much but looks like it’s 80% PF image and 20% insert image. Does this not happen on your table? Just curious! Maybe i am doing something wrong!
You need to login in order to like this post: click here
Great stuff! But i always have the problem that you can see the insert image through the PF when IL’s are off. I couldn’t get this to work properly so i decided to put a bezel over the non lit part. Pass Through didn’t hide the insert image. If i do the same as you the darkened parts would be visible inside the light shape. It’s not much but looks like it’s 80% PF image and 20% insert image. Does this not happen on your table? Just curious! Maybe i am doing something wrong!
I tend to make my tables quite dark and moody so at least I haven’t noticed that issue… doesn’t mean it’s not there, mind you.
You need to login in order to like this post: click here
Forums are currently locked.
