More model updates – Dev Blog 50
So this week I’ve been very busy – I’ve been working on various behind the scenes aspects of the game, and more visibly, I’ve been doing a lot more modelling work. A lot of re-texturing and re-building of the older models. Almost every single model in the game now has been updated. Very happy with the results and as you can see below there has been a huge increase in the quality of the models.
Doors and Furniture
Starting with furniture, all the wood in the game has been altered so that it matches all other wood. This really helps bring everything together and make the models look great when next to each other. The stone chair got a slight re-model to make it look more realistic. I also removed the pillows from it – the peons don’t need to be that comfortable!
The silver chair is a bit of furniture that has multiple uses (rather than just being sat on). It plays a very important role in certain rituals, as well as providing a source of emergency power. I’m not sure how that works, but I’m sure you will be finding out soon. Super happy with the texture update here. There are some minor changes to the model itself as it didn’t fit the voxel grid, but that was pretty simple to fix.
The bed got some texture detailing, as well as a nice comfy looking green blanket.
The stone door model was simplified enormously by removing the excessive geometry around each brick. Instead I used texturing to show the brick work on the door. This looks a lot better as well as making the model more performant.
Machines and workstations
The crafting bench is essential in Fringe Planet – it allows the peons a way of creating everything from cogs to conveyor belts. And it really needed a graphical upgrade. The model had a minor tweak, but nothing too major.
The bookcase is a more recent model, so it was nicely detailed, but was using the wrong palette. So it got updated with the new palette. It’s actual a model I love working on – imagining what would be written in all the books as I coloured them in. If I do ever get the time I would *love* to procedurally generate the books based upon the research the peons have done. But it’s labelled as scope creep for now alas.
The research desk allows peons to study the occult and eldritch environment around them. It also acts as a place for them to record their dreams (see this post for more information about dreams in Fringe Planet – https://fringeplanetgame.com/blog/2019/03/01/more-lore-dev-blog-35/). This is easily the most complex model in the game, but I was very happy with how it looked when re-textured.
Survival
Finally, the camp fire got an upgrade. The big issue with this model is when it’s first placed on snow, until the snow around it melts, you can’t actually see what is really happening with the model. By increasing the thickness of the stones around the base, as well as making the wood higher, it now looks a lot better.
A final thought
This is the 50th blog post – and I’m rapidly coming up to the 52nd weekly development blog post – which would be an entire year of blogging! How time flies! I’m looking to do something special for it, so let me know if you have any ideas of what you’d like to see for the 52nd blog post!
There is a lot more to read about Fringe Planet… why not try: