A Skeleton That Can Gape

First of all, the skeleton above. As I recall, I decided to work on it in the week just past as a treat after the tedium of the previous week's work--it's something that I had been somewhat wanting to get to. And, barring a few tricky bits, it was indeed a fun model to work on!

I didn't start from scratch: this model is a slightly-altered version of the "old corpse" model used in the upper section of the first level, which itself is an altered version of the mummy model used deeper within the same level.

The model itself was changed in a few places, as I recall. Three perhaps worth noting here are these:

First, as this skeleton has a less flesh clinging to its bones than the "old corpse", I opened up its pelvis.

Second, I discovered a mistake in its shoulder blades (specifically, that they were too big). This wasn't likely a major issue in the "old corpse" model, as it's found lying on its back, but this new model is intended for more varied (and sometimes more mobile ) use, and so I modified it.

Third and perhaps most salient, the jaw of the "old corpse" model was modelled as part of the head, and with no interior. Thinking that I may want to animate or move the new skeleton's jaw--even if it's just removing it in a prop skeleton--I set about making the jaw a separate, animatable piece. This took a bit of work, but was done in the end, as can be seen above!

The model's colour- and normal-map- textures called for changes, too.

Thankfully I had made the working image-file for the "old corpse" model with the intention of using it as a base for a skeleton model--specifically, the bones were painted on a set of layers separate from the flesh.

Nevertheless, between the bones being now more exposed and the changes to the model's geometry, a fair bit of work was called for.

While I am contemplating a minor fix (the front teeth are a bit narrow), the model is overall done, I believe, and I'm quite happy with it. ^_^



Another task on which I spent some time in the week just past was further experimentation with the aesthetics of the game.

Long-time readers may recall that I've worked on this on several previous occasions, spread out over quite some time. More often than not, I find that the changes made in these experimentations don't improve the aesthetics of the game. And indeed, so it was in the week just past: I tried a variety of techniques that in the end I discarded.

But every so often I find a change that I feel does improve the look of the game. And so, too, it was in the week just past.

The change is fairly simple: In short, I (smoothly) threshold both the upper and lower ranges of the lighting used for the "player light". This separates some of the highlights from the mid-tones, and makes dimmer areas fall suddenly into blackness. I quite like it, and think that it contributes to that "slightly painted" feel that I've been working towards.

You can somewhat see the effect in the screenshot a few paragraphs above.

(This change will likely not be applied to the "sunlight" shaders: they seldom produce true blackness, making the lower threshold of dubious utility, and I feel that their highlights look good already.)

And finally, I touched up or fixed a number of other elements related to level two.

That then is all for this week--stay well, and thank you for reading! ^_^