Final Fantasy 9 > Support
[FF9PC] Field Background replacement (patch?)
Meru:
Hey guys. I'm new here so I hope I created topic at the right place.
So while awesome HW was being upgraded to support FFIXPC, I've spent some time exploring what can be done about backgrounds.
In the end I concluded that any kind of pixel-scaling algorithms perform bad on FFIX artwork so I went to try available neural network approaches.
I wasn't surprised that waifu gave (subjectively) very good results on this type of content.
However waifu with average/none smoothing does not produce relevant results and with full-on smoothing... While results look kinda nice and have anime-ish feel to it, the amount of details lost is simply too big.
So I opted to replace waifu's processing with something of my own that (hopefully) will do a better job. Personally, I am satisfied with the results. You can see some examples below.
I haven't done many images yet as I was waiting for a feature-complete release of HW and what I did was mainly quick-n-dirty tests anyway, but here is a quick comparison of the full-scale lossless images.
Main Street Waifu
Main Street Mine/PC version
Guardhouse Waifu
Guardhouse Mine/PC version
For progress updates and (future) downloads visit this page.
Aavock:
Hey Meru,
Sounds promising (specially the guardhouse) it looks like a plastic wrap effect to artificially add more details and accentuate borders, so far I like it but it sometimes feels like it's adding details where they do not belong like some house facades (in main street).
Meru:
Hey, 5way.
The thing is, I'm not adding any details. I am retaining more of them. They may feel artificial because of the magnitude of the upscale. PS1 resolution is really small...
Edit:
In original renders, facades, and pretty much everything had a clearly defined texture. Unfortunately it was lost due to PS1 resolution being too small, and what is being upscaled is a blurred-out version of its former glory.
On a bright side, things like that can be prettified manually at the last stage when everything is done (assuming i will still have enough motivation for a 2nd-pass)
Fraggoso:
Hi Meru, I'm also working on the backgrounds and could do almost 30% in game now.
maybe we can join forces or we can just make a quick chat so we can learn from each other.
If you want to contact me via Steam, here's my profile: http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198022328654/
Feel free to add me so we can discuss. :)
I've added a comparison from your and my work: http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/200391
Your work really shines and the community deserves the best. The moving parts/tiles like the windmills where a little tricky. :)
Meru:
Hehe, moving parts you say? Not sure about all of them but these damn ugly flags... (that don't have the original equivalent on PSX) I may possibly leave all the layer edges work for a 2nd pass. Cause it won't be worse than original PC and I wanna actually finish the game 1st.
Anyway, about joining forces I just PMed you before I saw this massage, don't see the need to repeat it here.
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