Graphical improvements?

[Subbi1234]

Hi,

Just ran into this and I tried the 0.51 version. It just happened that I was already playing GK3 using DgVoodoo2 and the hi-res texture pack. This was working decently, aside from the occasional crash, but I never managed to get higher resolutions than 1024x786 working properly in DgVoodoo for reasons I can't understand.

So I have two questions: Is the experience of playing the game in this version of the G-Engine already on par with playing the original version via DgVoodoo? I mean on graphical quality and general stability aspects.....

And secondly, are there any opportunities with this engine to even improve on the original game, either graphically or gameplay wise, or is the main intention to simply mimic the original release a close as possible (similar as how most ScummVM games are being supported?)

Thanks much,
Best regards,
Subbi

[kromenak]

Hello! Unless I'm missing something, I believe the game running in G-Engine is mostly on par with the original version. The game is completable, with all points obtainable. Save/load is working. I usually do full playthroughs on Windows & Linux before releasing an update, and I've usually not run into crashes in a single session playthrough.

Graphically, the game looks pretty close to the original, but there are some differences. Lighting is not implemented in exactly the same way, and there are still several lighting-related bugs (though I'd argue they are pretty small). I'm also missing a few features from the original game (such as characters "glancing" at one another or turning their heads to look at small details), but the plan is to implement these things probably for v0.6.

My intentions with the engine are actually multifold:

1. Of course, I want to be able to attain the same quality and behavior of the original game as a baseline. I'd love to be able to integrate this into ScummVM at some point (there's a separate ticket about that).
2. I think it would be quite cool to augment the original game and make it "even better" with optional mods or configs. A particularly crazy idea (to illustrate how out there we can get) would be to add support for skeletal animations, retarget existing animations to skeletons, and then add updated 3D models using skeletal animations. The sky is kind of the limit here - just depends on time and resources.
3. I also want to just write a useful and reusable 3D game engine. You'll notice I split the Source directory into "Engine" and "GK3". Though still a work in progress, I want the engine to be game-agnostic and then the GK3 stuff is built on top of the engine. I'd like to continue using the core engine for future projects.

Hope that answers your questions - let me know if there's anything I can clarify!

[Subbi1234]

To be honest, I never really noticed the character glancing that much, seems the general graphical fidelity of the characters was so low that it could never pull off giving hints or clues from facial expressions (something that LA Noire did so well much much later)

The optional mods thing looks really cool. There is already the HD texture pack that improves the sharpness of things like walls of rooms and buildings. Those didn't help that much with some of the rural outdoor spaces like grass and ground, but I suppose that requires more than just sharper textures to pull off.

The character models were indeed the weakest part of the game, especially for a narrative game that relies on character emotions and movements the level detail is simply too low. If the engine could support more detail, better 3D models and smoother animations, then that would be an immense improvement to the game. I can image though, that this is not just an engine thing only, there would be a need for better 3D models and maybe redesigned animations ot making it come together?

But very cool that you recreated the engine for Gabriel Knight 3. It's a unique game....I don't think we ever saw the free roaming camera approach since....and even though the critics didn't see much value in it...I have always enjoyed the ability to roam around the area without the Gabriel necessarily having to follow every move. I also think the puzzles got a bad rep on the back on a single awful puzzle (and not even the entire disguise, puzzle, but particularly the cat hair and sirup thing, which is borderline crazy). The other puzzles are really good, from the investigating, sneaking in rooms, finding clues and overhearing conversations all the way to the superb Serpent puzzle structure.