Guy.brush Posted July 27, 2009 Author Share Posted July 27, 2009 And without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to 4 days of my inner child coming to life: MONKEY 2 - Special 'Uber' Edition Art As you all know the backgrounds for MI2 are all handcrafted and are somewhat more detailed (and beautiful!) than the ones in the first MONKEY ISLAND. It would be a real shame if they tried to just draw over them to increase resolution. Enhancing the original concept pieces should be priority number one and for this purpose I experimented with a rather uncommon "uber" technique (at least uncommon for games). Some years ago, during my studies of visual effects and art direction at an undisclosed location somewhere deep in the Caribbean, I learned about one of the most secret vfx voodoo techniques called "camera mapping". Also known as "camera projection", it was often times a studio's well guarded treasure - cause really, it's pretty neat - who would want their competitor to have or know something like that? The technique is normally used to produce 2,5D mattepaintings out of drawn 2D art or photo sources and as a neat bonus can speed up production processes if used right. Instead of just using the original background as a guideline or template in Photoshop (or as a guideline/imageplane to model something in 3D), the source art is literally projected onto simple 3d geometry that is built with the original "camera's" viewpoint in mind. For the nerds: There is no need for any UV layout whatsoever, which is one of the reasons it speeds up production. (It can however be used to bake the original art source into a UV texture map for further refinement) The goal for me was to increase the image fidelity of the original art and create a high-res, 3d-fied version of the background art while staying pretty faithful to the original. I wanted to have the best of both worlds: Composition, exaggerated shapes and stylized "lighting" and brush strokes from the 2d art and increased moodiness, richer shadows, sparkling stars and water reflections from the 3d. In further steps I want to take this into a real-time 3d engine (like CRYENGINE2) to explore the scene. I know LucasArts has a Maya/Photoshop workflow, so everything I applied should be totally doable for an eventual Monkey Island 2 Special Edition or some other game project where a focus on traditional 2D art look is desired. http://www.loneclone.de/projects/monkey.htm You can either watch the video on Youtube or the Quicktime located at my site. Make sure you watch the HD version when using Youtube to really see the difference. I used the Captain Dread's ship concept art that was published by LucasArts in 2002 and is available at scummbar.com. (original resolution: 700x524) I'm too lazy right now to enclose images, feel free to do so. You might notice some weird UI shenanigans in the video, that's just me playing around with how this could work. Uber-Interface for MI2: Special Edition explained: Hovering with the mouse cursor in the lower left corner (or pressing a button) brings up the verbs which function similar to a jog wheel or an Apple app dock. (Mouse wheel might be nice here) Hovering with the mouse cursor in the lower right corner (or by pressing a button) brings up the inventory bar. Inventory is a horizontal "app dock" with graphic icons. Selected inventory items pop out and grow in size a little (just like Apple app dock Hovering over the left end of the inventory bar starts scrolling the items towards the right and vice versa. It might even be neat and possible to rearrange inventory items in the bar, just like you would in an app dock. Such an interface might be a little high-tech but should work nicely for SCUMM games. Sadly I'm no Flash vector animator so the only way to show how this could work would be to do a preanimated clip in After Effects or something else - which would be kind of boring. If somebody wants to try this out - feel free to do it! The Guybrush I used in the screenshot mockup is a modified version of the excellent Paco one posted above. Oh and if someone wants detailed info on how to do this step by step, I can elaborate on this further - after I have slept Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrik Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 I'm about to leave work so I won't elaborate, but **** — that's pretty impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giant Graffiti Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 That's the second most awesome thing I've ever seen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SyntheticGerbil Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 See, why don't they hire people like Guy.brush? Very cool, I like the lighting enchancements too. It's nice to have a video as well, it's very informative. Amazing stuff! Maybe this can be a Mojo link on the main page so that if anyone from LucasArts is reading or watching, they can understand more of what the fans want. Cut down on any mediocrity on later SEs if made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeleG Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Man, I just got finally registered because I had to congratulate you, as this is the most impressive and professional-looking fanmade development I've ever seen. The results are terrific! It would really be the best chance for a great Special Edition, remaining completely loyal to the original looks but also carrying them to a whole new dimension. Amazing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laserschwert Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Wow man, VERY well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple_tentacle_ Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 And without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to 4 days of my inner child coming to life: Show spoiler (hidden content - requires Javascript to show) MONKEY 2 - Special 'Uber' Edition Art As you all know the backgrounds for MI2 are all handcrafted and are somewhat more detailed (and beautiful!) than the ones in the first MONKEY ISLAND. It would be a real shame if they tried to just draw over them to increase resolution. Enhancing the original concept pieces should be priority number one and for this purpose I experimented with a rather uncommon "uber" technique (at least uncommon for games). Some years ago, during my studies of visual effects and art direction at an undisclosed location somewhere deep in the Caribbean, I learned about one of the most secret vfx voodoo techniques called "camera mapping". Also known as "camera projection", it was often times a studio's well guarded treasure - cause really, it's pretty neat - who would want their competitor to have or know something like that? The technique is normally used to produce 2,5D mattepaintings out of drawn 2D art or photo sources and as a neat bonus can speed up production processes if used right. Instead of just using the original background as a guideline or template in Photoshop (or as a guideline/imageplane to model something in 3D), the source art is literally projected onto simple 3d geometry that is built with the original "camera's" viewpoint in mind. For the nerds: There is no need for any UV layout whatsoever, which is one of the reasons it speeds up production. (It can however be used to bake the original art source into a UV texture map for further refinement) The goal for me was to increase the image fidelity of the original art and create a high-res, 3d-fied version of the background art while staying pretty faithful to the original. I wanted to have the best of both worlds: Composition, exaggerated shapes and stylized "lighting" and brush strokes from the 2d art and increased moodiness, richer shadows, sparkling stars and water reflections from the 3d. In further steps I want to take this into a real-time 3d engine (like CRYENGINE2) to explore the scene. I know LucasArts has a Maya/Photoshop workflow, so everything I applied should be totally doable for an eventual Monkey Island 2 Special Edition or some other game project where a focus on traditional 2D art look is desired. http://www.loneclone.de/projects/monkey.htm You can either watch the video on Youtube or the Quicktime located at my site. Make sure you watch the HD version when using Youtube to really see the difference. I used the Captain Dread's ship concept art that was published by LucasArts in 2002 and is available at scummbar.com. (original resolution: 700x524) I'm too lazy right now to enclose images, feel free to do so. You might notice some weird UI shenanigans in the video, that's just me playing around with how this could work. Uber-Interface for MI2: Special Edition explained: Hovering with the mouse cursor in the lower left corner (or pressing a button) brings up the verbs which function similar to a jog wheel or an Apple app dock. (Mouse wheel might be nice here) Hovering with the mouse cursor in the lower right corner (or by pressing a button) brings up the inventory bar. Inventory is a horizontal "app dock" with graphic icons. Selected inventory items pop out and grow in size a little (just like Apple app dock Hovering over the left end of the inventory bar starts scrolling the items towards the right and vice versa. It might even be neat and possible to rearrange inventory items in the bar, just like you would in an app dock. Such an interface might be a little high-tech but should work nicely for SCUMM games. Sadly I'm no Flash vector animator so the only way to show how this could work would be to do a preanimated clip in After Effects or something else - which would be kind of boring. If somebody wants to try this out - feel free to do it! The Guybrush I used in the screenshot mockup is a modified version of the excellent Paco one posted above. Oh and if someone wants detailed info on how to do this step by step, I can elaborate on this further - after I have slept Dude thats pretty sweet. Is it in 3d because there was an image I didnt understand to much. But most of them looked like they were in a like 3d kinda thing or like different camera views. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fealiks Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 That's amazing... so much better than MI1:SE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrrtoken Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 If this is completed, it will rape everything that LA did with SoMI:SE. This beyond just high-res artwork and shader effects; it's a whole new game, truly deserving of the "Special Edition" moniker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SyntheticGerbil Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 If this is completed, it will rape everything that LA did with SoMI:SE. This beyond just high-res artwork and shader effects; it's a whole new game, truly deserving of the "Special Edition" moniker. Well, while I would love for him to do the whole game like this, how would he complete it? The only people who have access to all of the original drawn/painted backgrounds are people who work at LucasArts. Us lowly fans only have access to a few that have either been put on the internet by LucasArts, Steve Purcell, or scanned from the Rogue Book. Also according to Steve Purcell, a lot of backgrounds were scanned in various states of finished or unfinished and touched up on an actual computer. So a lot of backgrounds, if us fans were to get a hold of them, might look like really rough marker drawings and would need a lot more touching up. I twould be so interested to see each and every one of them as they originally were and what they were turned into. I would guess a lot of them look really finished before being scanned and that it is just Purcell's humbleness calling most of them "unfinished." That would be a dream! Do you want to stage a robbery at the LucasArts vaults Guy.brush? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrrtoken Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Well, while I would love for him to do the whole game like this, how would he complete it?I merely meant it as a hypothetical scenario. It would be wonderful if it was possible, but more of a "what if" sort of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SyntheticGerbil Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Ah, gotcha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple_tentacle_ Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Well is it going to be a real game like a fan made or what? Usually fan made games go dead after about a year of painfull game design thats realy not going anywere. Like the DOTT2 fan made (I officialy consider it dead I havnt got a reply when I emailed them) it was to hard to comunicate across the ocean. Making a game with people across the world must of been hard for them. So they decided that the fan made should only be released in Germany. It makes me mad. Lucasarts is an american company and IF it werent for us they wouldnt of even had that game so They should release it for only america if they are only releasing in one country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickelstein Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Guy.brush this is some impressive stuff. So........... YOU FINISH NAOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy.brush Posted July 27, 2009 Author Share Posted July 27, 2009 Thanks for the kind words Was really fun to do this. As I said it took me approx. 4 days for this piece (besides working on something else of course), Some backgrounds might be doable in 3 days but how many are there? 100?! And even if I had every one as a concept piece, it would take over a year of work... hehe Still, it's awesome what you can do with it. Just altering the moonlight and some ambient lighting can turn the piece into a foggy night easily.When the 3d geometry is somewhat right, playing with DOF is very nice too. If I find the time, I'll try to get this into CRYENGINE2. I want to walk over the planks while the awesome Crysis water is below But no promises, my time is very limited right now. Here are some wallpapers. There are some little errors and blocky polygons in it cause I didn't really touch this up with a fine comb in Photoshop. So a good Photoshop artist could probably push this onto another level. There is still room for improvement :-) I kind of like the 3rd one, it has a nice miniature look due to the "uber" DOF hehe. 720p: 1080p *Uber* Size : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickelstein Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Doesn't "Uber" mean "over" in German? Example: Deutschland Uber Alles=Germany Over All Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laserschwert Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Actually it's "über", but since you guys don't have the "umlauts" on your keyboards... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickelstein Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Its weird because most people assume that Uber means super. Its like saying "That movie was uber-cool!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laserschwert Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Well, technically it does... "über" means "over" or "overly", but also "above". So "above cool" is valid. But enough German lessons for now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy.brush Posted July 27, 2009 Author Share Posted July 27, 2009 There was a Dr. Uberman in FOA or was it Oberman? Ah don't remember Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickelstein Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Dr.Uberman=Dr.Overman Robert Overmann the main character of Beneath Steel Sky. Coincidence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderPeel2001 Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 720p: 1080p *Uber* Size : Wow, what have you done here exactly? It looks amazingly cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy.brush Posted July 27, 2009 Author Share Posted July 27, 2009 or read my initial post somewhere down the thread Hmm maybe this would've deserved it's own thread... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don_quixote Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 or read my initial post somewhere down the thread Hmm maybe this would've deserved it's own thread... You should phone up LA and get them to give you a job. I'm not kidding. HIGHLY IMPRESSIVE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple_tentacle_ Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 You should phone up LA and get them to give you a job. I'm not kidding. HIGHLY IMPRESSIVE. Ya dude you would be so lucky if you got a job with LA!!!! I would die from jelousy if you did... I have dreamed of being a game designer or progaramer for LA...IF not them the next best thing. Telltalegames. I am only in high school so I will have time to study and have a tiny tiny chance of making it but if that failes to happen I w will find somewhere else to design. If I did get a career in that field of work I would probably picl Telltale games because they would be easier to get a job with. Only because Lucasarts is like a huge company and less of a chance of getting a job. Thats just my opinion on that. Just saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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