Kupu's thread

[kiddan]

more LoD !

That's actually the normal mapping, so it's 2D but gets lit-up differently. :p We have it on all the current blocks, too!

 

[Calhoun]

I thought they were shield rechargers

 

[kiddan]

I thought they were shield rechargers

I thought they were warheads.

 

[Jananton]

Nothing more to add then saying those examples really look stunning, they'll certainly add a feel of 'realism' and help imagine their use in ships, stations and bases. :D

Very nice work kupu, can't wait to get my hands on them.

Greets,

Jan

 

[Captain Tankman]

Have you worked on the planetary block types so far? Especially the wood? I hope it won't look like a brown glob anymore :D

 

[jstenholt]

Wood needs an upgrade more than literally any block in the game.

 

[kupu]

Have you worked on the planetary block types so far? Especially the wood? I hope it won't look like a brown glob anymore :D

Not many. Only generic rock (which i'm unsure on) and sand (which i quite like).
Terrain will be the last set of blocks i tackle.

Wood needs an upgrade more than literally any block in the game.

Yes. Very poopy.

 

[jstenholt]

Wood or Riot

 

[Captain Tankman]

Kupu be like

 

[Calhoun]

dammit Captain Tankman

 

[Exozen]

I do hope the new Decorative Screens won't haven even HEAVIER tiling, it's bad enough as is.

and I gotta admit disliking the metal edges on the power aux and other blocks having weird overhang near the center.

Other than that, great work Kupu!

 

[kupu]

I do hope the new Decorative Screens won't haven even HEAVIER tiling, it's bad enough as is.

Not sure i understand.. can you elaborate? Are you referring to computer faces?

 

[Malacodor]

How would you like to see current hull textures improved?

Probably a bit late, but I don't like how combinations of hull, standard and advanced armor currently look. I'd like to use the various types depending on how much protection each part of a ship needs, but that looks rather ugly. Combining advanced armor heptas with hull tetras (yes, that makes sense) looks pretty eye-cancerous, especially in purple.

 

[nightrune]

Probably a bit late, but I don't like how combinations of hull, standard and advanced armor currently look. I'd like to use the various types depending on how much protection each part of a ship needs, but that looks rather ugly. Combining advanced armor heptas with hull tetras (yes, that makes sense) looks pretty eye-cancerous, especially in purple.

Yeah but having the different textures is amazingly valuable for interiors. I pretty much use all forms of hull and armor inside. Generally I just assume the outer layers of a ship are for looks and protection is the next few layers of blocks. Hopefully you aren't vying to have them all look the same

 

[Exozen]

Not sure i understand.. can you elaborate? Are you referring to computer faces?

Explained in chat, but here it is more in depth.

In the default 256x pack, Decorative Screen (Blue), Decorative Screen (Red), Decorative Computer (Green), & Decorative Computer (Orange) have 16p thick borders before the actual screen starts.

When two are adjacent, this border now becomes a whopping 32p wide; this extremely heavy tiling is absolutely terrible for when trying to create large, multi-block screens commonly found in many Ship Bridges & Control Centers. (screen tiling itself is a separate issue/willing suspension of disbelief.)

Compare to Light blocks, which have a border 4 pixels thick, with only 8p when placed next to each other.
In my opinion, an 8x border (16x when adjacent) would create much easier-on-the-eyes tiling screens while still retaining a sturdy frame.

 

[Malacodor]

Yeah but having the different textures is amazingly valuable for interiors. I pretty much use all forms of hull and armor inside. Generally I just assume the outer layers of a ship are for looks and protection is the next few layers of blocks. Hopefully you aren't vying to have them all look the same

I'm not vying to anything. I'm hoping a certain guy, who claims to be pretty much Picasso, can come up with a solution. Unfortunately there's no place for a decorative layer on a fighter, where every bit of weight is a burden.

 

[kupu]

Combining advanced armor heptas with hull tetras (yes, that makes sense) looks pretty eye-cancerous, especially in purple.

Yea, i imagine this doesn't look great. It's also unavoidable for the foreseeable future too, if i'm honest. Hopefully i cover why below.

Unfortunately there's no place for a decorative layer on a fighter, where every bit of weight is a burden.

Yes, if the current hull sets are at odds to the style you wish to achieve, this is very true. However changing the hull to something which will fit yours will undoubtedly put another player out in the cold. Or giving all hull types the same visuals would break a visual rule i want to adhere too. It's a vicious cycle, so i'll outline my criteria below so further suggestions on hull have a starting point in what needs to be achieved.

Hulls are trying to fulfil a few applications all at once. My rough criteria based on Schine's vision, gameplay aspects and community suggestions are as follows:

1: Must be able to identify at a fair distance which type of armour it is (Advanced / Standard / Basic).
This is why the 3 types have visual differences.

2: Able to present subtle colour options for duo tones within our hull sets where possible.
This is why basic hulls are a lighter, pastel variant.

3: Must tile in a clean fashion over all hull shapes.
This is why all hull blocks have no, or very few large elements to their design. They have to tile over potentially thousands of blocks. (I've tried loads of variations over the years).

4: Allow variation of decoration at close viewing distance.
We have a smooth panel, a rougher panel with no borders and a "reinforced" tile, rough panel.

I'm hoping a certain guy, who claims to be pretty much Picasso, can come up with a solution.

When you find him let me know.

Hulls make up most of the visible blocks in Starmade, achieving something all encompassing and meeting those 4 points, in 216 pixels or less that tiles (potentially thousands of times in a row) is no easy task. If there is something in that criteria we have missed, got wrong or can improve upon let me know so we can build further suggestions from it's foundation.

 

[Malacodor]

Thank you for the detailed answer. I was hoping for a solution that doesn't violate these criteria.

I did some reasearch and testing to define more precisely what I don't like. I dislike both color combinations and textures. It seems that the different colors of each hull/armor type fit to each other, but the different types of each color don't.

Standard and advanced armor is very similar (aside from the border), but not identical, while hull is very different. In most cases the difference between standard and advanced armor is so small, that the effort to make it different wasn't worth it. I'd either make standard armor a borderless version of advanced armor (i.e. same color and texture) or more different, so that the difference between standard and advanced armor is as big as the difference between standard armor and hull.

The tiling of advanced armor becomes invisible at distances greater than 50m, but the tiling of hull can be seen at far greater distances. From close up the two different border styles don't fit to each other. This could be addressed by making their borders (or at least the outer 2-3 pixels) identical or at least more similarly distinctive.

Purple hull totally doesn't fit, it should be way more purple. The same with blue hull to a lesser extent. It's a pure blue, while the blue armors have a greenish touch. Regarding purple standard and advanced armor, I'm pretty sure those are even clashing (at least with enough light).

When you find him let me know.

Read your badges' tooltips.

 

[kupu]

The tiling of advanced armor becomes invisible at distances greater than 50m, but the tiling of hull can be seen at far greater distances. From close up the two different border styles don't fit to each other. This could be addressed by making their borders (or at least the outer 2-3 pixels) identical or at least more similarly distinctive.

Worth exploring. Thanks for the feedback.

Purple hull totally doesn't fit, it should be way more purple.

I can look at this and other colours too after the new pack drops.

Read your badges' tooltips.

Spoiler: :)

 

[Blodge]

Picasso? I thought kupu was the outer-space Van Gogh?