New Door & Wood Grain Column Textures: Comments & Critique

[Frik]

Hoping to get some comments critique on these textures.

Edit: Images Removed. Sorry, The Image Hosting Site Went Belly Up

Textures Files
http://www.filedropper.com/doorandwoodgraintextures

The door was created in GIMP by heavily modifying a public domain photo of an old door. The word grain texture for the door jam and columns/details was created from scratch. I tried height maps but they didn't seem to turn out as well as the normal maps. I need to experiment a little more with those. I've read that designers sometimes create height maps for use to directly modify the model itself, which is supposed to the best approach. Hopefully I'll be able to create ones that might be a better alternative to normal maps.

As always, comments and critiques welcomed.

[raevol]

I'm really hesitant to give feedback on these things after seeing how different lysol's work looks in-game verse in screenshots. But here's my feedback- please take it with a heaping spoonful of salt, because it's hard to say anything about these kinds of things without seeing them in game.

The door texture looks like it has saran wrap on it. It looks plastic and shiny. The door texture also looks far lower resolution than the post (?) texture, which is really detailed where the door is pixelated.

Aside from that, they look awesome. They look really good, which is why it's easy to pick out little things to criticize. I really like the color and grain you've chosen.

Again, please don't put a lot of weight into what I am saying here, as I would really rather see them in-game! Is the file you provided all that's needed to install them into openmw? Just drop the files into a mod folder?

[Frik]

Thanks for the feedback. I think the shininess is related to using a normal map and settings.cfg set to

[Shaders]
auto use object normal maps = true
auto use terrain normal maps = true
auto use object specular maps = true
auto use terrain specular maps = true
force shaders = false
clamp lighting = false

The door without the Normal Map. (click to enlarge)
Edit: Images Removed. Sorry, The Image Hosting Site Went Belly Up

When I active the normal map, I get the candle flicker reflecting off the door. I don't get that ligting effect without the normal map, and I also don't get the detail and look of height from the image.

I'm using the door to replace: tx_common_door.dds. which is the door used in many places, including the Mages Guild in Caldera. The original door is very low-res and looks like crap. To see the door in the game, rename door.dds & door_n.dds to tx_common_door.dds & tx_common_door_n.dds, drop it in a mod's texture folder and transport to Caldera.

The original wood grain texture I wanted to replace is low-res too, but its embedded into "in_c_" models and requires modifying a bunch of models in nifskope. You could pick another external wood texture, rename it to that, drop it in a mod's texture folder and view it in the game.

[DestinedToDie]

Not bad for a first attempt. These things can take a 100 revisions and still look off if you're just starting to learn how to do it.

[raevol]

The door without the Normal Map. (click to enlarge)

So, to my eyes, without the normal map, the door isn't shiny, but it has a blue-grey cast to it that I think is what I am seeing. Could just be me though. I think you can see if if you compare the general color value of the door to the door frame.

I could be crazy though, don't mind me...

[Frik]

Not bad for a first attempt. These things can take a 100 revisions and still look off if you're just starting to learn how to do it.

Well, I've created lots of gradients and seamless patterns in GIMP but never anything that's intended to map to a 3D model.

Do you have any tips that would help cut down on all the trial and error?

Thanks!

[Frik]

So, to my eyes, without the normal map, the door isn't shiny, but it has a blue-grey cast to it that I think is what I am seeing. Could just be me though. I think you can see if if you compare the general color value of the door to the door frame.

I could be crazy though, don't mind me...

No. You're right. There is a bluish sheen there. I think I was able to eliminate it and better balance the colors.

Balanced Texture Colors

New Texture Files
http://www.filedropper.com/newdoorandwoodgraintextures

Thanks!

[raevol]

I think I was able to eliminate it and better balance the colors.

That looks AWESOME. Great work!

[Frik]

Thank you. Your constructive feedback helped me get to a final outcome that I'm really pleased with.

[ezze]

Now that the color is balanced, what about adding the normal map again?