Shave and a Haircut

Find out what we're doing and thinking as we develop WolfQuest 3: Anniversary Edition and the Tower Fall expansion!

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loboLoco
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Shave and a Haircut

Post by loboLoco » Thu Jul 26, 2018 11:40 am

[youtube]obrjXHEw6kU[/youtube]


WolfQuest 3: Anniversary Edition is taking much longer to develop than we expected — that’s bad. But a new fur shader could give the wolf much more realistic fur— that’s good! But now we have to spend more time experimenting and configuring it — that’s bad. But the final wolf will look so much better — that’s good!

This is sorta the story of WQ3 game graphics — new tools keep coming out that promise better visuals and/or better performance. It takes time to evaluate each one, so we first have to do a pre-evaluation to see if the promise of that tool is worth spending time evaluating it. But when the new tool is as amazing as XFur, which I demonstrate in this video, it’s definitely worth the extra work. This new fur shader by Jorge Pinal Negrete uses the same technical method (“shells”) as the fur shader we used in WQ 2.7 and what we’ve been using in WQ3 until now, but takes it to another level, offering control over fur length, thickness, occlusion (shadowing), and more. The result is thicker, plusher fur that flows along the contours of the wolf’s body. And to top it all off, Jorge has created an FX module that renders effects like snow on the wolf’s body. It looks fantastic and will add so much realism to snowy days in the game.

What makes it even more fun to work with Jorge is that he actually played the original WolfQuest game many years ago, so he’s got some affection for the game and has worked very hard to ensure that XFur meets our particular needs. Jorge also created the eye shader that we showed in a video awhile ago -- he's a talented guy! (And If you use Unity, be sure to check out XFur in the Unity Asset Store.)

Let’s see…what questions will you all have?
* Will the mobile game use this fur shader? No, but Jorge is making a mobile version that should look a lot better than the fur in WQ 2.7. Don’t know yet about snowy fur on mobile.
* Can my wolf have wet fur? That would be a cool effect but it’s tricky to create so we don’t know.
* Will there be new coats to choose from? We know that everyone would like to have more coats to choose from but we don’t plan to offer more initially.
* Can my wolf have more than one customization at a time? Yes. We’ll show that in a future blog video.

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Re: Shave and a Haircut

Post by Arcturus221B » Thu Jul 26, 2018 11:58 am

My Gods this looks so good it's insane :shock: This fur and the new wolf model makes the wolf look so much more realistic. The snow covering the fur is a really nice touch, too! I'd actually love to mess around with this myself, even though I can't haha.

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Re: Shave and a Haircut

Post by Polynesia » Thu Jul 26, 2018 12:03 pm

It looks so beautiful. I love the snow effect so much! Will puppies have the same shaders as well?

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Re: Shave and a Haircut

Post by loboLoco » Thu Jul 26, 2018 12:12 pm

Polynesia wrote: Will puppies have the same shaders as well?
Yes! (As will other animals)
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Re: Shave and a Haircut

Post by IceaPlayzPC » Thu Jul 26, 2018 12:24 pm

The fur looks absolutely beautiful! The wolves look so fluffy and huggable now aaaa

Note: dont hug wild wolves... they might not like it and they may bite you.

I also have a question:
What if the wolf were to get wet, for example if it rained or the wolf decided to go for a swim in the river... would the fur appear as if it were wet or would that be too hard to code in?

EDIT: nvm disregard my question, i apparently didn't read the wet fur bit haha
Last edited by IceaPlayzPC on Thu Jul 26, 2018 12:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Shave and a Haircut

Post by QueenRuby » Thu Jul 26, 2018 12:41 pm

Wow! The new shader looks amazing, and much more realistic! Can't wait to see it implanted on all of the animals in WQ 3! I'm also hoping to see the snowy effect on mobile, but if not, that's okay too. Keep up the great work!

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Re: Shave and a Haircut

Post by SolitaryHowl » Thu Jul 26, 2018 12:48 pm

This is looks really nice, especially the snow accumulation on the fur! It is the little details which really add a lot to a game.

Re: wet fur. I know other games use a 'dripping' particle effect to indicate if objects/clothes/etc are wet or not (without changing anything else about the clothes). Could something similar be implemented for the fur in WQ?

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Re: Shave and a Haircut

Post by paperpaws » Thu Jul 26, 2018 12:49 pm

It's great to see how versatile and gorgeous this new shader will be, and I love hearing how excited you are talking about it. Jorge did a fantastic job, and I think you can tell he appreciates the game!

Nice to hear the mobile version will get a compromise between visuals and performance as well.

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Re: Shave and a Haircut

Post by loboLoco » Thu Jul 26, 2018 1:01 pm

SolitaryHowl wrote:Re: wet fur. I know other games use a 'dripping' particle effect to indicate if objects/clothes/etc are wet or not (without changing anything else about the clothes). Could something similar be implemented for the fur in WQ?
It's relatively simple to make skin and clothing look wet (and then add particles for drips). Fur is a whole 'nother challenge, since each fur strand needs to glisten -- but the fur strands are sorta like visual fakery, they're not actual polygons. Jorge has a nice "wet" effect for one type of rendering method but it's much harder for the type of rendering method that we need.
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Re: Shave and a Haircut

Post by MysteryFoxSpirt » Thu Jul 26, 2018 1:02 pm

Even if it takes a while, I would like you guys to at least try to add the snowy wolf to mobile. Maybe not in the mobile release of Wolf Quest 3. Maybe in a later update when the big stuff is out of the way. Maybe, then u could add the snowy wolf to mobile.

Btw, the fur is the best. Take as much time as you need. We still have a lot of 2018 to go through.

ALso, question. Are you guys shooting for late 2018? It could be possible seeing how many things you've gotten done in this year so far.

And what I mean by late 2018 is like September to December.

Love your guys' work. Let's try and see if we can shoot for late 2018!
:wolf: :moose: :fox: :acorn: :pawprint:
Last edited by MysteryFoxSpirt on Thu Jul 26, 2018 1:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Shave and a Haircut

Post by Rustic » Thu Jul 26, 2018 1:05 pm

WOW! I soo can't wait...and regarding what others said about wet fur...what about an animation of the wolf shaking and spraying water? Not sure if possible to do or not but would look cool, especially after the wolf had been swimming in the river.

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Re: Shave and a Haircut

Post by roguemoon » Thu Jul 26, 2018 1:07 pm

I already commented on YouTube buuut I'm still picking my jaw up off the floor from that snowy fur effect. I'm probably going to spend hours just gawking at the beautiful fur texture when I'm playing the new game. It adds a whole new layer of realism to the model and really brings those beautiful colour patterns to life. I'm looking forward to see how it'll make the other animals look as well.

I have to be honest, WolfQuest 3 is turning into my absolute dream game.

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Re: Shave and a Haircut

Post by Sableback » Thu Jul 26, 2018 1:10 pm

Hot diggity dog.
Y'all keep impressing me. Really excited for Wolfquest 3 to come out!!

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Re: Shave and a Haircut

Post by SolitaryHowl » Thu Jul 26, 2018 1:16 pm

loboLoco wrote:
SolitaryHowl wrote:Re: wet fur. I know other games use a 'dripping' particle effect to indicate if objects/clothes/etc are wet or not (without changing anything else about the clothes). Could something similar be implemented for the fur in WQ?
It's relatively simple to make skin and clothing look wet (and then add particles for drips). Fur is a whole 'nother challenge, since each fur strand needs to glisten -- but the fur strands are sorta like visual fakery, they're not actual polygons. Jorge has a nice "wet" effect for one type of rendering method but it's much harder for the type of rendering method that we need.
Oh, I understand. I was saying perhaps the dripping particle effect alone would be enough to indicate the fur is wet? Or do you think that might be weird - in that snow can affect the way fur looks but water/getting wet does not?

I assume you have checked out NVIDIA hair works? Not sure if it would work with XFur and suit your needs, but it simulates wet hair/fur and wind blowing through it. It is used in Witcher 3.

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Re: Shave and a Haircut

Post by PearlyReborn » Thu Jul 26, 2018 1:37 pm

This looks so real, especially in comparison to the 2.7 fur! Having snow dustings on the fur is really awesome too, and the shader looks really fun to play around with, too.

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