3d fretboards / buttons

[fatdog]

callisto did u get my pm on the subject, i don't know if u got the message, the forum went down soon after i sent it

using a 3d model for the fretboard itself and the buttons would solve a lot of distortion issues in the game, could have fretbuttons that work properly using original, undistorted graphics, and allow for more variety in the designs such as the rockband arched styles, or something completely new like a realistic guitar neck based board

and the modding side for textures would remain as flexible as it is now, just with even more potential

another bonus is, it would make it easier to create a unique look for gz to get a strong default theme that could be very different from anything else killing the idea that is it just a clone, while at the same time making it easier for modders to create more accurate themes of other games

some thoughts on the idea would be nice, and im happy to contribute on this feature by making a few sets of 3d fretboards and buttons to get the ground work going

[ruzzel26]

I second this as well, because this can only mean more creativity when making fretboards/buttons.

And well, I have very little 3D knowledge, but it seems like that there are more than enough people who can make these fretboards/buttons to work.

Now the problem is, there should be some sort of way to switch between models or textures, since I like how older computers can run this.

[akatabrask]

And also you could be able to scale the board without issues (always thought it is to thick)

[fatdog]

example of a rockband setup, 3d board, 3d fretbuttons 3d meters

[hulkhaugen]

omg that looks awsome. never playd rockband though what's the green bar on the left side?

[guitarded]

the green bar is the rock meter

[bob78h]

wait fatdog how'd you make that? it looks awesome!

[ruzzel26]

I sense that he "SHOOPED THE WHOOP"

[fatdog]

combination of 3d models and planes with textures setup suitably, its all max, done properly, not something just photoshoped together, the meters i just had to make myself since i don't have any rips for graphics so aren't exact but could be swapped over easily enough

heres a gh3 example, slightly different setup to suit the game, this time the fretbuttons are planes since we have direct rips and the polycount needed to make good 3d versions would be quite high, nice thing with this is theres some real depth to it, strings and bars stand out from the board

edit, incase it wasn't clear this is not functional, the notes are just shoved into to complete the look, this is just a setup that could be used in the right game engine if someone wanted to, so just offering these as potential content for gz if callisto is up to the task, but due to the amount of work needed i can imagin he may not be interested but im fine either way i wanted to make these whether they get used in this project or not

[JD2504]

well callisto sayd he would be happy to add any model/animation since he wont make any so i think (and hope xD) he could be interested......

fatdog that looks awesome man! if u add a 3d background i could think it is gh3 lol

[aduro]

if u add a 3d background i could think it is gh3 lol

See the question is why would you want to

[hulkhaugen]

WOW fatdog. but i wonder, is it possible to "program" the 3d so that the posistions of the elements are flexible? like the starpower lightbulbs, the lightnodes that indicates notesshit etc? if so, this will make it possible to fit several games, and add unlimited costum features

Nice going, hope callisto can and will make this possible...

[stranxk]

fatdog your work is AMAZING!!!!!
u're the man!!!!!!
all of there is 100x better
i love the little detail on the fretboard transparency, its very clean *-*

[s1ntex]

fatdog, you are great mothafucka man! That is awesome!

[callisto2002]

fatdog
Shouldn't it be as easy to get that "slightly curved" effect for the fret buttons using just the image? I mean, if you stretch it appropriately, it should give the same look, shouldn't it?

Same goes for the fretboard:
- Edit the fretboard image to look slightly curved
- Change the note models so that they are rotated a bit

Then, the only thing that destroys the illusion are those bars which indicate the beat. However, I could do something about that, if you were willing to adapt the rest.

Bye,
Callisto

[hzac]

Callisto I think he has brought up the point of 3d models to avoid the need to stretch and curve the pngs for better practicallity.

Thats just how I see it anyway,

[nibbler234]

you can't even play these pictures, can you?

[fatdog]

this is not just about adding curve, but fixing a lot of the graphical issues that are currently in the game and increasing its flexibility

with these you are basically treating the game content as levels, the mod flexibility would be huge, technically the rockband setup there would work from a completely different camera view, u could make the board horizontal if u wanted, even let the user control their view

it'd be easy to add custom animations that fit the specific graphic set, rather than hardcoding specific effects that only suit 1 thing

with some better 3d and animation support things like notes exploding could be added, making the notes break into pieces like glass, instead of just disapearing, or shrinking or morphing, whatever the modder likes it to do

the lift state for the fret buttons could easily be made to smoothly go up and down

this setup also works for multiplayer, u don't have to mess around with distorting, u'd just have a multiplayer 3d level set, u could go crazy with mulitplayer and have as many fretboards as u can cram into the screen

the list of benefits could go on

[guitarded]

wow the rcokmeter and the score meter are exact models...wooooooooootttt.......

[fatdog]

they are just textures on layered planes setup to work the same way as if they were 2d so they should be pretty accurate

[fatdog]

just to extend the 3d idea, 3d menus
would look exactly the same as the normal menus but wouldn't require xml editing for positioning, and could support unique trasition / animation effects as the user wants, and could potentially have full 3d menus if people wanted to make them, or just have 3d objects mixed in with the menus, again a very flexible concept

[hulkhaugen]

that sounds very cool, but would it be a problem to integrate a "switch" between 2d or 3d? most ppl hasn't your psycho 3d skills...

[fatdog]

well the nice thing is it wouldn't need any 3d skill for the basics, positioning 2d planes and applying a image is easy

and if you can't be bothered to deal with it, it'd take 5mins to get someone who knows how to do the 3d side, the images would still be done the same 2d way

you basically just link a plane with a image name, then u can just edit the image as u like without touching the 3d side at all

[skizot]

fatdog, i had made and sent callisto 3d meter model ages ago.. he said he had them working (and hopefully in the correct way too). they used images like the OLD gz did where everything WAS 3d and use UVW manipiulation to simulate the turning etc.

[fatdog]

interesting option animating the uv coordinates themselves, i went the animated vertex route for mine

don't see any reason why this would be a problem as both methods should be able to function together if it is still just a case of pointing at specific frames for game events

just need to make sure a set standard is worked to when it comes to how many frames and what each frame is going to be, unless can be set in an xml rather than hardcoded, then everyone could do what they wanted

[skizot]

well... considering that the model's data is pretty much ALL from the engine.. we merely need to give it something to look pretty IN.

[ricards]

FATDOG GREAT JOB.. very nice really. This should be the starting point to improve the game quality (at least on the graphics part). Simple 3d models shouldn`t require great pc`s, so.. all will depend on callisto's point of view and if he can put this in the game...