[Crysis] - The Call of the Fireflies

[Corwin]

Here's the project I've been spending my time on lately: The Call of the Fireflies.

It's a short puzzle-based mod: you don't get to fire any gun, but to explore detailed environments, survive and avoid hazards, and solve puzzles to progress.

There's no synopsis to mention really, you simply are an old man following mysterious fireflies in the mountains up to their hive.

I'm currently putting the final touches to the level (intro scene, gameplay tweaks, additional details) and I should get it ready for playtest quite soon.

I'm particularly looking forward to what you guys have to say about the looks of it, since I'm not a very good artist I assume there's lots to improve upon.

Website

[-HP-]

Looks good and I know it will play better!

Looking forward to try this out!

[ElectroSheep]

rofl !! That's beautifull. Just the mountain in the skybow i found a bit odd in the rest.

[Sector-Effector]

oh that is sweet. Wheres the fireflies? :]

[JeanPaul]

Simply amazing. I'd say your artificial light sources (spotlights) and fires could do with a lot more contrast and brightness though.

[Steppenwolf]

Looks like a cool level. I agree with the comment about contrast and brightness. The snow can reflect a lot more light. Right now it looks a bit like ash.

You could place a spot above the fire to get an effect like in that ref:

I haven't seen the top of your skybox but personaly i would make it a full moon night. This allows a nice brightness and snow reflecting the moon light.

[Corwin]

Thanks for the advices and comments!

@Step: Actually, the fire is supposed to have more light around it, it's just that the light flickers,

and I didn't notice it but I've taken the screenshot right when it was off. Here's what it looks like really:

On the next shot you can see that the snow does look like it reflects some of the light,

but around the campfire the dirt/pebbles texture doesn't (that's intentional).

I'll tweak the brightness/HDR of these lights and see if I can find a more contrasting setting.

I may add a corona to that lamp too, I guess it could use one.

BTW, do you think it'd look better with the shadows on the lantern itself? (that cross on the ground)

The level actually is moonlit, as you can see here, although it's far less bright than on the shots you posted.

I don't think I'll rise the brightness though, as the level is supposed to be moody and dark, and with a brighter

level the other lightsources (torches, campfire, etc) and the fireflies will be less visible.

It's also my decision that the lights radius is fairly small, that has to do with the gameplay actually:

lights serve as heat sources, but only if the player stands close to them, so increasing the radius of a

light would mean increasing the heat radius, and that would fuck up the balance in some points.

[Chimeray]

Overall I think it lacks contrast. The brightness is in my opinion too high but that's probably because there just aren't enough darkish areas. If you add some dark it probably will balance out and look nice.

I like the concept, at least the little I've heard from it

Pictures say more than words so: More contrast, add in a tiny bit of color, did a bit too much blue though. I think your mist is screwing with your contrast and hue, it makes everything look dull and the same.

I exaggerated a bit, but I hope you get my point.

Tweak those numbers!

[Corwin]

Sweet! Thanks for the visuals, that'll definitely help more than simply mentioning contrast, and it does look less bland the way you suggest.

I'm leaving on vacation for a week, and then I'll tweak the lighting settings and see if I can get something close to what you showed there.

I'll post updates then! Cheers!

[crysismania]

nice!

[PogoP]

In those paintovers, you've actually decreased the contrast and I think it looks less appealling...

[Grinwhrl]

In those paintovers, you've actually decreased the contrast and I think it looks less appealling...

I see added contrast on the left, not sure what your looking at Pogo But I find this funny as it reminds me of a bunch of those PS3/360 comparison videos.

[PogoP]

Doh! The updated one IS on the left lol, I thought it was on the right. I should really check these things before posting

[Grinwhrl]

Doh! The updated one IS on the left lol, I thought it was on the right. I should really check these things before posting

hehe

[DaanO]

i agree on the skybox. not sure about the contrast though. i kind of like the dense atmosphere you have now, you can almost imagine how hard it is to breathe out there. besides that i like how natural things feel, except on the third screenshot, which kind of reminds me of half-life 1 but with better graphics. for me it has the box-feeling, not sure how to explain any better. but looking forward!