Grim Fandango Deluxe - Original Thread [Locked]

Pirateguybrush · Post by **Pirateguybrush** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 2:30 pm

I get an error when I try and convert him (maybe I'm not doing it right?) Can someone please convert to an obj and email them to me? It's just my username at gmail.

ultraneonoirantihero · Wed Jan 18, 2012 4:26 pm

How are you gonna distribute those updates? Mogul said they can just be additional *lab files:

mogul wrote: The .lab file in the game's official patch simply provides a fixed version of the problem assets. The game stacks the .lab files on top of each other, and requests for assets only go as deep as they need to before the asset is found. More info here:

http://forums.residualvm.org/viewtopic.php?p=1178#1178

Does Residual support that "lab-stack-system" or is it hardcoded for GF's specific source files?

I see remodeling has gained momentum, but all characters still have to be broken up into pieces due to skeletal animation? Oh and I didn't know that when the characters talk the whole model swaps with different version!?! I just thought the texture on the face changes.

Also, is there anything happening with the resolution fix? We previously talked a lot about: absolute and relative object positions, animations, boxes, z-buffer maps... which are all fixed to 640x480. Is higher resolution and widescreen even possible with all those said elements being designed specifically for 640x480?

Pirateguybrush · Post by **Pirateguybrush** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 4:57 pm

The characters don't need to be broken up. When you open a character, each moveable section is a separate object. They're all arranged in the right position though, so you can easily tell which is which and work on it. It does limit your ability to improve the joint areas though.

As for model swaps, that's only for a few characters. For the skeletons, it's a texture change, like you noticed. For Glotis (and maybe a couple demons) it's a model swap of the head piece.

A resolution fix is not my department, but I don't really see the point. We can't practically extend every background to widescreen, there's a bunch of technical obstacles that stand in the way as well, and as the backgrounds are so small it wouldn't add much anyway. The only way I can think of doing that would be to re-create the environments in 3D, and render them at a higher resolution, and in widescreen. But then we'd have issues making sure the areas were identical, cameras matched up, and so on. It would be a ground-up rebuild.

mrwonko · Post by **mrwonko** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 8:39 pm

ultraneonoirantihero wrote:Also, is there anything happening with the resolution fix? We previously talked a lot about: absolute and relative object positions, animations, boxes, z-buffer maps... which are all fixed to 640x480. Is higher resolution and widescreen even possible with all those said elements being designed specifically for 640x480?

Sure is possible, it's just a lot (a lot!) of work. Unless you can chase down the developers and have them re-render the scenes in FullHD.

Pirateguybrush · Post by **Pirateguybrush** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 9:02 pm

If the scene files still exist, and if they can track down the right versions of whatever software was used to open and render them, that might be possible - however I can't see that happening. If they were to do that, it would be for an official HD release.

As for doing it ourselves, photoshopping the hundreds of backgrounds by hand and trying to compensate for the bugs it would likely introduce just isn't worth it, especially when the source will still be 640x480. It would probably be less work to remodel the whole game and render it ourselves - which wouldn't be possible unless we had a big team, and someone who could co-ordinate on the art direction. Otherwise we'd get a mismatched mess.

ezekiel000 · Post by **ezekiel000** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 9:13 pm

The alternative for wide-screen support is to crop the image top and bottom making sure to crop so that no puzzles or objects are lost.

This obviously isn't a favourable solution but it is an option.

Pirateguybrush · Post by **Pirateguybrush** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 9:19 pm

Ezekiel000 wrote:The alternative for wide-screen support is to crop the image top and bottom making sure to crop so that no puzzles or objects are lost.

Possible, but it would likely cause gameplay issues. If you wanted to do that, it would be best done in Residual itself, rather than editing the backgrounds. It could just hide those parts of the image. But when you don't have many pixels to start with (640x480), you can't really afford to lose any.

ezekiel000 · Post by **ezekiel000** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 8:19 am

Pirateguybrush wrote:Possible, but it would likely cause gameplay issues. If you wanted to do that, it would be best done in Residual itself, rather than editing the backgrounds. It could just hide those parts of the image. But when you don't have many pixels to start with (640x480), you can't really afford to lose any.

Sorry that was what I meant, that residual would hide the bits that are cropped so the only thing to be done is to go through each background and figure out what ratio of top to bottom is lost to make sure that the game is still completable. Not ideal but it gives you wide-screen aspect-ratio.

cplhenshaw · Post by **cplhenshaw** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 8:44 am

Heres a .obj version of Glottis, let me know if it works alright for you.

http://www.mediafire.com/?aoh62iqki5l9v7v

Pirateguybrush · Post by **Pirateguybrush** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 9:36 am

Perfect, thanks. It's a shame the models are so messy, means we'll have to either start from scratch, or retopologise the whole thing. Anyway, I've made some changes to the model, I just want to see if it works, to start with. I've smoothed him a fair bit, but I'd want to take a more directed approach for a final version. I've smoothed him probably more than needed, because I also want to see if we're going to run into any problems with poly counts.

As a side note, all of Glottis' textures are in files prefixed with "gl", except his ear. That one is just in "ear" - in case anyone is trying to hunt it down.

cplhenshaw, if I get this model to you, do you think you can get it up and running in-engine? I don't have any accounts on upload sites and would prefer not to fuss around, so is there an email address I could send it to?

cplhenshaw · Post by **cplhenshaw** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 10:42 am

Sure, my username @hotmail.com.

Pirateguybrush · Post by **Pirateguybrush** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 11:18 am

Sent. Let me know how you go. If it works, I'd love for you to put it back into data000.lab, zip it (it compresses to about 8mb) and send it on over so I can take a look at him in-game.

cplhenshaw · Post by **cplhenshaw** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 11:28 am

Got it! Check your email for the first round of problems

JohnnyWalker2001 · Post by **JohnnyWalker2001** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 12:45 pm

Pirateguybrush wrote:I can have a crack at remodelling him, but I need to know if I can do it in Maya. If I save it as a .ma file, or export it as an obj, do we have a way of getting that back in to the game?

Yes, thanks to cplhenshaw. Just upload your OBJ file when you think you're done, or send it to grimfandangodeluxe@gmail.com

Edit: I see cplhenshaw is helping you out. Great.

JohnnyWalker2001 · Post by **JohnnyWalker2001** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 1:03 pm

As for making the game "Widescreen", that's not really ever been the aim of this project. If people want to find a way to make it work, then that's great, but... it's likely a gigantic undertaking in itself. (Please don't let me stop you, if that's where your passion is, though!)

We've discussed increasing the game's resolution because the 3D models WILL improve from this, even if the backgrounds stay the same.

The project's aims are here:
http://grimfandangodeluxe.blogspot.com/ ... u-now.html