Author Topic: FF7 Crisis Core Upscale Project (Read 126033 times)

Zakkura · « **Reply #175 on:** 2020-10-06 22:05:48 »

The door definitely looks better this way. I like to use photo too as a base when details are too damaged on the texture. I also like to add a simple texture, like concrete one with a mask, on top of my layers to get some "clean/realistic noise" when needed.
Thank you about the added details, the no handles door bothered me too x) I think it can makes environment more natural without loosing the game identity to add some details too. I think I'll add the details above the door on the bricks one too. I still have to fix that texture seam it has too.

Edits :
I've edited the Loveless theater wall/column. Maybe I still need to add a little of shadow on the flower ornament ?

I've updated all those brown window/wall. Also I've updated the fake interior/curtain to add a little more diversity to get a more natural setting.

I've edited this wall too just to get some details back

I made a really small update on the ground by adding more color detail between the brick instant of a uniform color.

The fountain is also updated

I didn't fixed the shop sign yet, I didn't got enough time. I though it was not that important so I fixed the shinra building texture instead. I've exported the shinra building model from an other scene, added more edges to the spotlights to make them less low poly, added lights and rendered it as a new png. By the way, is that possible to edit Psp game models or only textures ? I'm just curious

I still have minor fix I'd like to do (texture seam on the brick walls + at least the text on the shop sign would be nice + I'd like to edit the lamppost too and the strange door that make no sense upstairs behind the clock. I'll try to finish that tomorrow

Devina · « **Reply #176 on:** 2020-10-07 04:02:30 »

Thanks for adding the floor grit, it's something I wanted to but got lazy about doing.
Shinra Building is also looking more real.

I'm actually having a bit of artist burnout so I'll take a few days to relax.

By the 10th, I think we should work on the train station.

And it's not possible to edit models, only textures, AFAIK.

Devina · « **Reply #177 on:** 2020-10-08 15:45:34 »

Here's some samples of Zack's and Aerith's redone models, and closer shots of their new eyes.
I hope to roll them out by the end of the month.

Apart from the eyes, his eye whites have been brightened for a more realistic look, and his hair has been darkened (-50 brightness) because it looks too greyish.

Aerith will be given a new hair shade color closer to her art and remake.
If you look closer, you can also see that I made the lower eye outline less prominent for a less eyeliner look which makes her look more realistic.
Desaturation, warming filter 2 (uncheck lumi, slider 100) -10 hue, -20 saturation is the formula.

These changes are a bit minor individually, but all together, they add up.
I hope this makes the player identify them more as "human" and less like "virtual fantasy dolls".
Even a little change, like making Zack's pupils bigger, can subconsciously make him feel more friendlier.

Devina · « **Reply #178 on:** 2020-10-10 09:09:58 »

Everyone just about ready for the train station?

I'm almost done HDing the flashbacks.
Sadly, Square never released HD FMVs so we have to rely on filtered cutscenes or art.

I'll have to delete all the redundant flashbacks through the various folders, then delete all the redundant lines in textures.ini later.

One of them was too poor-looking so I just changed it to a pic that conveys the same intent (Angeal looking out for Genesis).

Zakkura · « **Reply #179 on:** 2020-10-10 21:05:08 »

Love your edits !
I'm ready for the train station. Sorry that I didn't submit my work earlier like I said I would.

EDITS :

I've recreated the "Three Stars coffee shop" sign, so we can now read it. Also I've added some details on the lamp post

I've fixed the texture seam on the red brick textures + add details on the door that was blurry

The strange doors upstairs are now normal windows

Devina · « **Reply #180 on:** 2020-10-11 09:36:58 »

That Three Stars sign looks good but I have some issues with it. I think you should be careful to stick a little truer to the original.

For example, you curved the text, changed "CAFE" to "COFFEE", duplicated the black top corners into the bottom corners (making the THREE and SHOP harder to read), and you got rid of the "FROM COAST TO COAST" text at the top.

Think you can re-do it? Of course, if you lost the .psd you used, we can move on, it just irks me a little.

Zakkura · « **Reply #181 on:** 2020-10-11 16:34:59 »

No problem, I still have the psd. I've fixed what you told me. Feel free to tell me if it still need an update.

orichalcon · « **Reply #182 on:** 2020-10-11 17:02:07 »

personally, i like 'coffee shop' better, although i can see its less true to the original

cafe shop seems like a mistranslation, sounds weird because cafe implies shop already

could also just drop the word 'shop' and it would sound better

Devina · « **Reply #183 on:** 2020-10-11 17:07:45 »

Looking good, that's great now, love it.
And yeah, I know coffee shop sounds more natural, but I want to respect the original here.
I think "CAFE SHOP" has a bit of a Japanesey Engrish vibe which I think is very suiting to the world of Midgar, since it's a world that combines Japanese and English into a single city. I think it sounds cuter in a good way.

I just repainted Aerith's DMW face, I was never really wholly satisfied with it, she always looked a bit "off" - doll-like and not human. It's been almost a year since I first did this, so revisiting it with a clearer mind and fresher eyes (and playing the remake) has allowed me to focus on makes Aerith "Aerith".

http://www.framecompare.com/image-compare/screenshotcomparison/7GPGPNNX

-Darker hair
-Thinner yet more defined eyebrows
-Less shiny eyes and less of her eyes hidden by her hair
-Smaller and brighter lips (less duckfacey)

I hope people like the newer face, if for some reason people prefer the old face, let me know.
I'd like to hear opinions.

I also did some minor touch ups on the rest of the cast.

Zakkura, I think I'll let you get a head start on the train station, so take a look at it and feel free to update what you think needs updating. Just remember, the train appears at a certain point in the game so let me know if you need a save file. Then me and eqprog can analyze and give our thoughts later.

orichalcon · « **Reply #184 on:** 2020-10-11 17:41:34 »

Quote from: Devina on 2020-10-11 17:07:45

I hope people like the newer face, if for some reason people prefer the old face, let me know.
I'd like to hear opinions.

i like yours better than the original

the lips you've made less ducky, but lost that dark/black space between the lips that makes them look more 3d
(i guess the lips are more firmly pressed together in yours)

also i do like how you can see more individual strands of hair in the original, even though it covers her eyes more

that being said, i'd probably move on, its a definite improvement as is - i just like to give my complete thoughts on it as it may help, better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it

great job on the hair color - in your post a few posts up, they made her hair color so light brown i probably wouldnt have realized it was supposed to be aerith without the game saying so, but your fix is perfect there

Devina · « **Reply #185 on:** 2020-10-11 18:32:54 »

Alright, thanks. I took your advice, here's another version:

http://www.framecompare.com/image-compare/screenshotcomparison/9E2MJNNU

Brightened the eyes a little, readded 3D lips, hair wisps, defined one of the eyebrows more, and widened an eye just a little bit. The difference is really noticeable when you switch between 1 and 3.

orichalcon · « **Reply #186 on:** 2020-10-11 19:39:39 »

Quote from: Devina on 2020-10-11 18:32:54

The difference is really noticeable when you switch between 1 and 3.

absolutely, nicely done, the lips and hair are best of both worlds now

the first image REALLY looks like a plastic barbie doll in comparison

also thanks to eqprog and zakkura as well, its neat to see results in real-time on here

Zakkura · « **Reply #187 on:** 2020-10-12 17:45:32 »

She looks so much better now with the last update ! Love it !
I'm starting working on the train station now. I will fix the walls first. If you can share that save file it would be great, thanks !

Devina · « **Reply #188 on:** 2020-10-13 05:11:59 »

https://www.mediafire.com/file/urdzwzoopobxpoq/SAVEDATA.rar/file

The right folder ends at DATA7, then you just walk over to the trains.

I'm doing a bunch of little side projects right now such as:

-Church floor
-Church stained glass
-Remodeling Zack's sword
-Aerith's hair
-Better hairlines for everyone who needs them

Funny enough, the devs seem to have accidentally made the end of Aerith's ponytail a different shade:

Trying to do this hairline and one part inside her hair was oddly lit:

A WIP of the sword (I can't get a close look at the symbol, so I'm just going to go with what Birth by Sleep does and make it the SOLDIER symbol):

obesebear · « **Reply #189 on:** 2020-10-13 14:54:14 »

Everything is looking good! I just wanted to comment that the picture you substituted of Angeal looking at Genesis is actually found during the later part of the Junon fight scene. It should be right after his should is clipped by the sword and the scene transitions to the training room.

Zakkura · « **Reply #190 on:** 2020-10-14 21:01:36 »

Thank you Devina for the save file !
I'm not done yet with the Edits below but here are some WIP. I've started to edit the brick walls + floor.

eqprog · « **Reply #191 on:** 2020-10-15 22:19:33 »

Looks great! I wish I was as talented as you.

Zakkura · « **Reply #192 on:** 2020-10-18 13:11:21 »

Sorry for being slower this week, I was quite busy with my job.

I've fixed the floor, brick walls and the textures under the rails.

Those walls, air conditioner and beam have been edited too. The walls still need a small color and noise update. I'd like to edit the lamp as well.

I'm going to edit the following textures next. I'll fix the blurry details on the first one. I'll edit the metal door and the brown wall too.

Devina · « **Reply #193 on:** 2020-10-19 13:33:54 »

Yeah, those AC things really bug me, thanks for doing them.

People should be able to see Aerith's and Zack's recent edits now.
I found 4 missing Aerith animations during your date with her, they've been done and added to texture.ini:

00000000261f8f93b9efd5e7
00000000261f8f9327b64ace
00000000261f8f93a2cea9b1
00000000261f8f933a7a34b5

I deleted all the DMW flashbacks in all folders other than the flashback folder, and I think I deleted all the redundant lines in texture.ini. It should be fine, but if anyone notices a pixelated flashback, let me know.

Something I'd like for eqprog to do is to move the "edits" (714mb) and "masterdumps" (143mb) folders to another branch or project somewhere else on Github.
This would make it so people who download the project can save nearly a gigabyte.

I spent an hour touching up these flowers just because they irked me too much:

I think my next major thing I'm going to do is the church floors.

GameCore · « **Reply #194 on:** 2020-10-21 16:44:44 »

Hi! i´m new in the forum. I started modifying some of your mod textures for entertainment, I could share them if you were interest in some, thanks for your incredible work and I show you some of my modifications, greetings.

Boxes and oil barrel:
Before:
https://i.postimg.cc/xj6qhyp4/1-2.png
After:
https://i.postimg.cc/d1xPm1n4/1-16.png

Cart-wheel:
Before:
https://i.postimg.cc/h4XbCjpT/2-1.png
After:
https://i.postimg.cc/tR8d8jMf/2-2.png

Barrel, flower crown, shovel and gardening rake:
Before:
https://i.postimg.cc/2jd8NdcD/gdfg2.png
After:
https://i.postimg.cc/m2bZLcJF/gdfg8.png

Box:
Before:
https://i.postimg.cc/wjD73KF1/3-1.png
After:
https://i.postimg.cc/VLnC0bks/3-2.png

I have several more, as soon as I have time to take more screenshots I put more samples and if you are interested in any texture, say so and I will send it to you so you can update the mod, greetings and sorry for my bad english.

Devina · « **Reply #195 on:** 2020-10-21 18:02:11 »

Hi GameCore, thank you for your efforts.

I think those edits look good for the most part, but their coloring is off. This can be easily fixed using filters in Photoshop (I can do that).

I also think we need a better flower wreath than that, it looks too different imo.

It seems you're doing work around Banora, so you can finish up, then put all the textures in a .rar and upload it to filebin. I can edit the coloring and upload it to the project once you're done.

eqprog · « **Reply #196 on:** 2020-10-22 16:45:59 »

Hey, just checking in to let everyone know I'm alive (not that I was dying). I work for a mobile service provider so the past few weeks have been very busy for me due to the new iPhones being announced. I have vacation scheduled in the middle of November but will just be staying at home due to the pandemic. I will definitely be getting more work done then.

Zakkura, keep up the great work. I genuinely meant it when I said I wish I were as talented as you were, same goes with you, Devina. I don't really have any background in actual art so I'm very impressed with both of you.

Devina, I will see what I can do about separating the edits from the rest of the files. It is something I had considered previously, actually, and it makes a lot of sense to do at this point. I will get it done today and post an update here. Once we have an established dev branch just make sure we all switch to it and work on that branch. Also, I really think your idea to go through each section of the game to polish up the existing upscales is exactly what we need to do at this point. I want you to take the reins on it for now and coordinate with Zakkura to get it done. Don't wait for me to give the go ahead, I trust you.

Both of you: I want to set up a discord server (or similar) for us to communicate on. I've received a few inquiries about donations and I'd like to discuss that privately. Plus, I think it would just be better at this point now that the team is a little bit bigger. Please email me using my username at gmail.com and I will send an invitation link to you.

eqprog · « **Reply #197 on:** 2020-10-22 17:19:12 »

Alright, dev branch created on github. Switch to that one. Lurkers can switch too if they just want the absolute latest version all of the time. otherwise, the master branch will be smaller and should have just what you need for the mod to work. Let me know otherwise.

Devina · « **Reply #198 on:** 2020-10-22 21:03:07 »

Yeah, I admit, I honestly have no idea how to merge branches much, so I guess I'll just submit my work to both branches for now...

I finished the church floor, the seams aren't totally perfect, I tried fixing them, but it was one of those "hell" seam ones so I decided to leave it. The church floor is a little darker which should hopefully hide the seams.

The top pic has as much details as Cloud's apartment door from the remake:

I'll also send you an email soonish.

Zakkura · « **Reply #199 on:** 2020-10-26 20:07:03 »

Hey eqprog ! Don't worry, I understand that you must be really busy with your work these days. And thank you for your kind words ! Feels great to work with you and Devina on this project.

Good job Devina on your floor edit !

Here are some new edits :
I've edited the door, the metal above the door and the brown wall. The brown wall texture was too damaged to be used as a base so I recreated a new one using the original one as a reference.

I've fixed the electrical box thing, not sure how to call it in english. I've added a small shadow and a lighting effect on top of the yellow sign to make it looks more realistic.

My next task will be to fix the train. It's a huge object so I'd like to take the time to make it looks better. Other texture are less visible and will be fixed after.