Slogging Through Some Sewers

Before being set to task on a variety of other immediate needs (such as breakaway cavern and dungeon walls, as well as secret doors for the dungeon) I was able to create the first few initial pieces for the eventual Sewers set... What you see in this image is only a few of the six initial pieces I made, and the entire set itself will remain fairly limited for now (though there may eventually be some more elaborate "Cistern Rooms" and other such features), but hopefully the initial effect works for you in theory and "in-progress" practice...

Behold the light beam from a small sewer grate above! It will act as a fictional reason for a light source within those dark, slimy tunnels (along with whatever other glowing fungi and luminescent filth we wish to entertain)... Fun! Eventually I intend to look into and experiment with an even more robust system for generating even better "God-Rays" that actually look totally realistic, and cast shadows as you walk through them (and, of course, as the shuffling horror that stalks you passes through them as it prepares to strike!)....

Enjoy!

(Now it's back to destructible crates and barrels)...

Scottie ^_^

 

Looks good! I can't wait to do the quest where the newbie NPCs ask you to find out why all the rats are gone, cause they can't make it to level 2 without them.

 

That looks pretty sweet. I hope it becomes a place we can explore in New Britannia.

 

Thanks for sharing! Can't wait to slog a little.

 

I have to assume that the work in progress bit includes the low res textures and the uv's

The exaggerated shapes and light shaft give this an interestingly cartoony feel, which at the moment doesn't quite feel like it fits in with the existing styles... that being said, it IS cool, and I look forward to seeing the revisions

 

Really like the look. Might end up being my favorite kit thus far.

 

More great work from the SotA team.

 

Awesome!

I hope the sewers will reflect the weather outside when it is raining. Maybe some streetsweepers or other NPCs will come and dump some filth down there occasionally. It would actually be great if NPCs (and even animals!) would deposit items of various worth throughout the sewers - this a great setting for some moderate treasure hunting.

 

Could it be possible to "overhear" conversations above? If someone is talking near the grate could the text appear right under the grate?

 

I thought the same thing, haha. Was just gonna let it be. I'm sure they'll tighten it up.

 

Looks great, love the style. Textures, geometry and lighting all look good to me.

 

Looks awesome so far. Can't wait to kill all the rats.

 

EXCELLENT idea! Might fall under the 'holes' issue for now tho. IE are the sewers contiguous with the street level

 

it depends on the situation. I could easily envision both scenarios - either a full large sewer dungeon, which exists as its own scene, or perhaps a town that happens to have a smaller set of sewers underneath some specific streets. If the second case were true, you could definitely overhear things above you.

 

Looks great, I can't wait to get into the sewers and explore!

One quick point I'd like to make about the darkness and lighting effects of the game though (I don't know if this is the best place to do it, but I'm hoping one of the developers reads this and thinks it through with the rest of the team).

The demos and the screen shots all seem VERY bright. Which is great for showing people things, but not very good for people that enjoy stealth skills. It seems like any type of skills that allow one to Vanish, or Hide, will really just be tiers of invisibility since there's apparrently so much lighting in this game.

I know in one of the Jam Session videos, Chris made a comment about how RG really hates darkness because of the impact it has on players trying to find their way around and getting frustrated. So I understand how this might be in reaction to that, but I'd really like to see more darkness, more shadows, more spooky halls and unlit rooms.

In the most recent demo, it seems very odd that RG would put a torch light out and the room barely changed in lighting. If the torch isn't that important and doesn't really server a practical function, then why have them? I think this takes away form the immersiveness of the game.

Finally, having said all that about wanting darkness in the game. Let's say I get my wish and the game becomes more dark, what's to stop people from just changing their computer display settings to make everything extra bright so they can see people hiding?

 

Keep in mind these are daylight scenes we are seeing.. wait for the night....

 

In the demo, RG was underground in a jail that needed torches everywhere and it seemed like high noon. Maybe they raised the brightness level for show and tell time? But I don't think time of day has much to do with this.

If you go into a sewer at any time of day (in real life) it's going to be much darker than the above picture.

 

If only they could be! But yes, might not be possible...

 

It's for show and tell, people! It's not the finished sewer. They could lower the light to 'realistic' levels, but then there would be nothing to show except some gray pixels in the middle of a sea of blackness.

 

Ok. So if they don't say that, I should just not ask the question?

If I don't ask the question and a year from now I'm in the game saying "wow I thought this was just for show and tell but I guess it's not." Then I post something on the forums and the first response I'm going to get is "Why didn't you people say this stuff a year ago?!"

I'm really starting to believe that no one is interested in real feedback. That the only posts on this forum that are considered "constructive" are the ones that begin and end with assuming the devs thought of everything and are infallible.

I mean, I'm sure you're correct, LoneStranger. Silly me for even bringing it up. I'll just hold all my questions until 5 years after the game is released.