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- General - How does everyone get their games to be so... shiny?
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- General - How does everyone get their games to be so... shiny?
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I've noticed that with a lot of Simblrs, LJs (only using those examples in particular because I've been on a downloading spree) and the such that their Sims/neighborhoods/game play all look quite... shiny, if that makes sense? I hope that's the right word to describe it.
Think of how Sims in the Sims 3 and Sims 4 look, just converted onto Sims 2 models. (Very soft-looking skintones, features, makeup) And the neighborhoods/community lots/houses/general game play all tend to look very similar to how those games are designed as well.
I know a lot of it has to do with default replacements, lighting, sky boxes, a lot of makeup, graphic card capability, etc... but I have a good majority of that and my game still doesn't look anywhere close to theirs. (I wouldn't suppose I have an exceptional graphics card, but I can run most of everything on High settings and my game finally doesn't crash on community lots after five minutes, so I suppose that's a plus too haha.) Also, I've used most of the suggestions on the 'Making your game look/run better' thread that we had a while back and it really helped a lot, everyone had great ideas!
Ultimately, I'm pleased with how my game looks right now -- and I love my Sims regardless of how they look! I just wanted to know what everyone else's thoughts were on the subject; and if you have a "shiny" game, what's your secret? Haha.
Also, a question that I have for everyone would be, what kind of style do you play your game in? I'm not sure if there's any definite "categories," but is it straight vanilla Maxis.. Maxis Match.. semi-realistic.. photo-realistic.. softer features.. exaggerated features.. a particular aesthetic that you like (I have seen some blogs like that).. a mixture of one or more of them.. or just whatever you're feeling at the moment?
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A lot of them are processed to some extent. Attached is an experiment I did a while ago following a short tutorial on making bright pictures. The first is the original picture - a shot of Little Carping, the second after processing. And that was a pretty crude experiment. It's not particularly shiney but it is bright.
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Though I love crisp graphics in my game. *Photoshop* can mean a lot of things. Like maxon show, it can be brightened. It can be sharpened or softened as well.
One thing I have noticed is the bump map on clothing, on many pictures. Sometimes done well, sometimes not, but mostly done well and this adds a lot to an image quality.
Also, a question that I have for everyone would be, what kind of style do you play your game in? I'm not sure if there's any definite "categories," but is it straight vanilla Maxis.. Maxis Match.. semi-realistic.. photo-realistic.. softer features.. exaggerated features.. a particular aesthetic that you like (I have seen some blogs like that).. a mixture of one or more of them.. or just whatever you're feeling at the moment? |
And this above...would need its own thread
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http://criquette-was-here.tumblr.com/
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I've used several of the "make your game look better" tricks, including the neighborhood skies/skylines and the Radiance system.
Random example pictures underneath (big picture is only cropped and saved as JPG, small picture has my regular action and a frame applied). What you see in my pictures is pretty much what my game looks like on my laptop. On my desktop computer it's pretty much the same (slightly bigger resolution, I think).
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Would it be this post processing here?
http://modthesims.info/t/585245
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One example that I can aspire to only in my dreams is Criquette. Oh, the neighborhoods are so beautiful! http://criquette-was-here.tumblr.com/ |
I'm not sure how those cliffs have been worked (and they do look great) but most of the background there is one of the horizons. I've forgotten just now who made those but they're really nice. They're seasonal too.
Edit: remembered: greatcheesecakepersona - http://greatcheesecakepersona.tumbl...4042017-see-the
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There is also that postprocessing mod (I forget by whom). I tried it but it was too much for my lame graphics card. |
I've chosen not to use that one - my computers are already close to their limits, so adding more would probably only make the pink blurb monster take over my game even faster. It's practically living in my story 'hood on the stationary...
Some of the effects can be achieved with a bit of Photoshop magic anyway.
Planning to get a new gaming laptop soon, because my current laptop is getting old and for the moment feeling a bit off (keeps randomly throwing bluescreens, sudden restarts and pixellated rainbow screens at me). I'll probably consider the postprocessing mod then.
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This is crispy, just like I love. @simmer22 Would it be this post processing here? http://modthesims.info/t/585245 |
Yes, that is postprocessing plus I think heavy use of Photoshop.
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That's the size of my monitor..what's wrong with it? |
Nothing's wrong with it. Just wish I had the full HD one but that's gonna be useless since I already got full HD TV and PlayStation 4 :p
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Nothing's wrong with it. Just wish I had the full HD one but that's gonna be useless since I already got full HD TV and PlayStation 4 :p |
You should use your HD TV as your monitor. That's what I did with my desktop, it was awesome!
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You should use your HD TV as your monitor. That's what I did with my desktop, it was awesome! |
Unfortunately my graphics card doesn't support full HD resolution. I don't do PC games thou, except The Sims series and Stardew Valley. I'm more like a console player.
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how do you do that? |
Your PC and your TV must support HDMI, then all you need is an HDMI cable, plug in both ends (one in computer, one in the TV), and use your TV remote to set source to HDMI.
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Another tumblr to drool over: http://theatticbox.tumblr.com/ I wish she would share her hood... |
See now, those are sometimes blurry in a weird way. I don't say this to criticize the person whose tumblr that is, but just out of curiosity if anyone knows what is going on there. Are they making them blurry on purpose? A lot of the indoor shots you see it but a good example is the one of the woman holding a plate of cookies. Her boobs are in focus but her arms are blurry and it's a little confusing because they're not that distant from each other.
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See now, those are sometimes blurry in a weird way. I don't say this to criticize the person whose tumblr that is, but just out of curiosity if anyone knows what is going on there. Are they making them blurry on purpose? A lot of the indoor shots you see it but a good example is the one of the woman holding a plate of cookies. Her boobs are in focus but her arms are blurry and it's a little confusing because they're not that distant from each other. |
Probably bokeh-filter in Photoshop
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https://kristyail.tumblr.com/
http://charlotkas-simblr.tumblr.com/
http://luchiatores.tumblr.com/
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Another tumblr to drool over: http://theatticbox.tumblr.com/ I wish she would share her hood... |
That's an interesting one - they're using that shadow mod there. I decided against that though I might go and have a look again now I've reinstalled on Win7.
See now, those are sometimes blurry in a weird way. I don't say this to criticize the person whose tumblr that is, but just out of curiosity if anyone knows what is going on there. Are they making them blurry on purpose? A lot of the indoor shots you see it but a good example is the one of the woman holding a plate of cookies. Her boobs are in focus but her arms are blurry and it's a little confusing because they're not that distant from each other. |
Yes, that's a post-processing mod I think. It might be involved with the mod I mentioned above - can't quite remember but I do remember the shadows popping out like that. Looks pretty nice.
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https://pineapple5050.tumblr.com/po...skyfix-pond-sea
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