My 3D EQ Fan-art

[toddfx]

**UPDATED 12/20/2012: Lots of new images on page 15**
---------------------------------------------------------

Original Post:

I'm a 3D artist by trade and by hobby, and have recently been obsessed with capturing scenes from Everquest with a little extra twist to them. To make my life easier, I have recruited the help of a piece of software called "3D Ripper DX" which monitors the graphics card and captures any 3D geometry and bitmap images that are sent through. From there I can load the fully texture mapped scenes up in 3D Studio Max and go to work on them.

My goal for these images was to bring a semi-realistic feel to the Norrath we all know and love so much. The realm contains some truly beautiful scenes, and I am curious to see what they might look like when taken to the next level of CG. I wanted to see how good of a result I could get using the painfully fragmented geometry and miniature sized textures used in the game.

http://toddkumpf.com/images/renders/EQ/WestFreeport.jpg

http://toddkumpf.com/images/renders/EQ/Highkeep-Render.jpg

http://toddkumpf.com/images/renders/EQ/HK-Interior.jpg

Sadly due to the nature of the game quality models and textures, I was not able to get these to a point of perfection. I could only sit in After Effects and tweak the composite for so long before I had to just throw in the towel and call them finished. There's only so much you can do with the game's assets, and I unfortunately don't have time for a total ground up re-build.

For any of you who dabble in the art of 3D, here are a few technical notes. Most of EQ's textures are 64x64 or 128x128, and the models are of course extremely basic. Any 3D artist will know this is a bold place to start haha. I used CrazyBump to generate displacement and normal maps for the stone and wood, which is absolutely critical to take it out of the video-game look. And then of course the magic of VRay's lighting pushes it closer to real life. I used VRay RT to set up the lighting, which was quite fun :D I found that atmospheric effects and lens blurs helped to hide some of the imperfections of the geometry.

Anyway, I have enjoyed creating these and am eager to make more. If anybody has any scene suggestions, i'd love to see some screenshots for inspiration. I want to do a forest scene, perhaps like this shot of WC. (http://toddkumpf.com/images/EQ-2010/inspiration/WC-druid-moon.jpg)

EDIT 10/11/10:
Here's a new new render of a fountain in Erudin. I love the vibrant colors in this city, so I really exaggerated that here.
http://www.toddkumpf.com/images/renders/EQ/Erudin-Fountain_sm.jpg

[yaeger]

Oh man.. if we could have graphics like that..

/drool

Nice work, thanks for sharing.

[GreenRanger]

thanks for sharing! the picture of the entrance to HighKeep is litteraly breathtaking.

cant wait to see more.

[guineapig]

5 star rated this thread!

[stayne]

Great stuff man! Thanks. Would love to see Unrest done.

[Engraverwilliam]

This is incredible.

[Japan]

so cool.

[Aasimon]

Fantastic!

[Dunes]

Absolutely amazing - job well done!

Dont lose faith in your work - youre doing something that so many fellow EQ'ers can appreciate but cannot do themselves. Also, there is something to be said about making graphics as classic as possible, but attractive graphics DO add something to the immersion and enjoyment of a game (they just arent required, and wont prop up an otherwise crappy MMO).

Great work, and I cant wait to see some more!

[MeldrathRN]

very cool

[quellren]

Wow. all three of those pictures are stunning. I was particularly impressed with the desert, dusty feel of the Freeport photo.

If you are taking requests, I've always a fondness in my heart for Everfrost and Halas.
Halas to this day remains my favorite town.

[Ingrum]

Wow. Those look amazing.

[Excision Rottun]

Excellent work.


Sugestions for locations:

Neriak Cleric or Necromancer guild
Najena door in Lavastorm
Karanas wooden bridge
Kelethin

[Mcbard]

I really enjoy the interior shot. Could we get more of the inside of buildings? How about the water near the back in Erudin, or the library? What about a view of Kelethin.. from Kelethin (maybe on one of the higher platforms looking down on the city).

[krforrester]

Wow, I want to see more.

[KZIMM]

These look fantastic! Please, do some more.

[Droop]

Anyway to replace the textures that are already in the game? :-p

[KZIMM]

Anyway to replace the textures that are already in the game? :-p

http://www.project1999.org/forums/showpost.php?p=16603&postcount=1

This will up the texture resolution

[Teseer]

Wow, that's very impressive!

[Glaani]

Wow, thank you for sharing those images!

[nickyboy1981]

superb m8, the shot of highkeep is especially nice, i would also love to see a front shot of unrest as this is in the same vein with the haunting gothic look n all, moving away from classic i would like to see the waterfall and river that covers the entrance to thurgadain, looking at that even with the old eq graphics is still strking to this day.

[toddfx]

Hey guys, thanks a ton for the comments! It definitely motivates me even further to create more.

I'd estimate I spent about 3 hours on each of the images, most of which was concentrated on setting up lighting and tweaking the color and the look. I then went back later to make final color adjustments after giving myself time for a fresh look at it.

Erudin and Halas are two towns I have not spent much time in, but I do remember them looking quite unique. I'll make a couple characters there and see what catches my eye. I agree that more interior shots would be interesting. I spent the least amount of time on the Highkeep hallway, and near the end of it I decided the framing I picked from the get-go was probably not the best. The wood was quite a headache and still looks like crap, in my opinion.

Due to the way the Everquest engine displays 3D geometry, you're pretty much locked into the point of view that you are physically standing at when you take the 3D "snapshot" in-game. If I wish to dramatically change that later on, I have to go back into the game and re-capture which is like starting from scratch. For any 3D folk here (please raise your hand - I'm quite curious), EQ only displays the polygons that are immediately required to view what you're looking at. The back sides and other hidden surfaces are not displayed, so they don't even exist in my scenes. This has caused some GI issues that i've had to solve by just filling in gaps in the models.

Like I said, i'd love to see screenshots of any location or specific shot that you've found beautiful!

[hedbonker]

Wow - VERY nice. The only 3D thing I ever did that was EQ related was a .sig years ago in Lightwave 3D:

http://www.sequelguild.com/epic2.jpg

[toddfx]

Wow - VERY nice. The only 3D thing I ever did that was EQ related was a .sig years ago in Lightwave 3D:


Hahaha sweet, I've also had fun modeling a spiked flail in the past!

[kilyen]

great work

thats how everything after velious should have looked

[nickyboy1981]

http://www.wuphonsreach.org/Backgrounds/EverQuest/1280x1024/GreatDivide-10thColdainRingWar-Jun2002-1.JPG

still love the shimmering light effect of the great divide :)

[Aandolaf]

I'm considering printing out and framing the Highkeep one, Please do more : )

[quellren]

How many hours go into each one of those?

[audacity]

Very cool, I love that last pic with the shiney wooden floor (no homo?)!

[hedbonker]

How many hours go into each one of those?
I'd estimate I spent about 3 hours on each of the images

[Droop]

http://www.project1999.org/forums/showpost.php?p=16603&postcount=1

This will up the texture resolution

Aye, I have had that since I played on PEQ :-p. Thank you though!

I am saying is there a way to edit the in-game textures and inject these/similar ones? If so that'd be...amazing. I can't imagine how amazing some of the zones could look (Neriak for one! The big ass dwarf above Kaladim! The front of Felwithe, the tree city of Kelethin!

I can dream can't I? haha. I am also pretty sure the newer (SoF?) client could even handle some crazier shiz.

[fuji]

It almost looks like DX9 quality graphics.

[Sourdough]

Amazing, love em all.

[Jenithia]

These are so pretty! Please do more!

By the way, if you ever made these into calandars I can totally see a bunch of us paying for that sort of thing.

[DekThai]

I'm surprised no one haven't said this yet....

Can you please make these arts High Res for my desktop please, if you do have time I'd really appreciate.

1204 X 768 should be good enough for me, unless you have other suggestions.

I LOVE the HH entrance, I never noticed it looks like that.

[jyaku]

what program did you use to make them?

i'v done character ones myself. here is my necro

http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/1839/apsilon.th.png (http://img834.imageshack.us/i/apsilon.png/)

[nilbog]

Great work.

[Otto]

me likey

[Messianic]

http://www.wuphonsreach.org/Backgrounds/EverQuest/1280x1024/GreatDivide-10thColdainRingWar-Jun2002-1.JPG

still love the shimmering light effect of the great divide :)

OMG this makes me Velious released...

Kunark is awesome, but Velious had certain aspects which made it one of the coolest places ever.

[Ingrum]

Bump for more art!

[oldhead]

Good stuff!!


Would like to see some more notable places get polished up.

[Swishahouse]

This is really cool. Thank you!

[Zestey]

Wow...

You have these in high resolution?

[ukaking]

Please post as soon as you do some of Kunark! I'd def use some of the Kunark sites as Wallpaper!

[Uthgaard]

If you need any help getting textures, I can pull whatever you need out of the s3d files. A lot of the textures in the s3ds are much higher quality than you'd see in game, not all, but most.

Also, if you want to set up a scene, I can set up my local test server with whatever npc, object placement, time of day and sky you'd need.

[oldhead]

If you need any help getting textures, I can pull whatever you need out of the s3d files. A lot of the textures in the s3ds are much higher quality than you'd see in game, not all, but most.

Also, if you want to set up a scene, I can set up my local test server with whatever npc, object placement, time of day and sky you'd need.

I hope you tale Uth up on his offer... sounds like you could make some seriously sweet 3D's with his help staging it.

[Tappin]

5 stars. Looks awesome!

[Whirlwind]

Awesome work, 5 stars for the post :D

[toddfx]

Cool guys I'm glad you like the stuff!

Uthgaard that is a very generous offer! The lighting conditions of the game add a lot to the environments, and getting that effect correct is definitely key to recreating an authentic looking EQ scene. As far as staging specific conditions, it'd really be most useful for reference. I was exploring Erudin last night and found a scene that might be interesting to recreate, but unfortunately it was raining out. I am curious to see what this (http://toddkumpf.com/images/EQ-2010/inspiration/erudin-library.jpg) could look like at dawn. I don't have my heart set on the scene yet, but I think it does have some potential.

I am most curious about the possibility of higher-res textures. It's interesting that the server has a bank of images that are not actually used in game. Are you referring to that texture pack update that was offered to the public, or are there actually higher quality versions of classic textures?

Anyway, last night I was working on an interior shot of a fountain in Erudin. Here's the screenshot (http://toddkumpf.com/images/EQ-2010/inspiration/erudin-fountain.jpg) i'm using as reference, and should hopefully be posting the final image in the next couple of days. I'm currently out of town for the weekend so the work is a little slow on my laptop..but we'll see. I have an exterior shot of EC in the works as well that I should be posting along with the other.

I agree that Velious has some truly beautiful scenes, but I won't be able to grab Kunark or Velious scenes until I have access to those zones...although I guess nothing is stopping me from pulling the models from other servers. Oh however I am currently only running EQLite. Regardless, I'd prefer to stick to classic zones to embrace the P99 spirit!

As far as getting higher-res versions of these, it's hard to say. When I get back to my desktop early this week, I'll see what I might be able to do. I can't promise anything but I should be able to go 1280x720 or so.

Thanks again guys, I should be posting some more in the next night or three.

[Jozsef]

Awesome! 5 stars! That shot of HK is amazing!

[Mmohunter]

There is a 3d model viewer out there to view s3d files. I had access to it at some point to see if I could get some nice textures out.

I found it.

http://www.georgestools.eqemulator.net/

Scroll down towards the bottom or open a search box on the page and type in "Kayaido's EqModel Viewer".

Here is a reference on how to get it to work. If you use windows 7 run it in Xp mode.

http://www.eqemulator.org/forums/showthread.php?p=122459

[Pyrocat]

Kerra Isle (eruds crossing) please please please please please please please

It's such a beautiful piece of EQ scenery, especially with the fishing huts suspended above the water, or that ancient cube-like stone with the face on it, or the sunken ship just offshore. I can provide a ton of screenshots if you want but here are some of my favorites from EQLive:

http://img191.imageshack.us/g/kisle4.jpg/

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/8683/kisle1.jpg

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/1627/kisle3.jpg

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/2290/kisle4.jpg

http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/5565/kisle2.jpg

[Uthgaard]

I am most curious about the possibility of higher-res textures. It's interesting that the server has a bank of images that are not actually used in game. Are you referring to that texture pack update that was offered to the public, or are there actually higher quality versions of classic textures?


The upgrade you're talking about was for the zone textures. For example akanon.s3d is for the zone itself, akanon_chr.s3d is for the pc/npc models. The textures in the s3d files are used, but sometimes are distorted by the model itself or drawn at a lower quality based on graphical settings and the limitations of the hardware/software.

Here are some examples of textures extracted from the standard s3d files:

Wolf

http://i51.tinypic.com/k1udk3.jpg

Other Wolf

http://i54.tinypic.com/hrmxx5.jpg

Metal golem

http://i51.tinypic.com/2gxo9x1.jpg

Tiger

http://i53.tinypic.com/332cxur.jpg


Much better detail than most would expect.

As far as staging specific conditions, it'd really be most useful for reference. I was exploring Erudin last night and found a scene that might be interesting to recreate, but unfortunately it was raining out.

This is pretty much what I meant. It wouldn't be any different from the play server, except you wouldn't have to wait for it to start/stop raining, the right time of day, and you would be able to visit the kunark/velious zones. But, it's up to you.

[xshayla701]

This is seriously the best thing ever.. you should really check out neriak commons or third gate if you are planning on doing more. These are awesome!

[toddfx]

So yeah here's a render of the fountain in Erudin. I love the colorful lighting in this city, so I really exaggerated that.

I don't know what it is, but I really seem to struggle with interior scenes compared to exteriors. Perhaps because everything is in such close quarters, which means the details get noticed a lot more and I don't have the option to add dramatic atmospheric effects. I think my next few will be exteriors again. Kerra Isle could indeed be cool..Reminds me of Easter Island :)


Plus I was working on my laptop this weekend, so between that and my nitpicking every pixel, this one took a little longer than expected. The rendering samples (quality of jagged edges) are fairly low still due to the render capabilities of my laptop, but I was eager to post it anyway.

http://www.toddkumpf.com/images/renders/EQ/Erudin-Fountain_sm.jpg

Mmohunter thanks for the link to that model viewer! I only had time to briefly check it out, but I can see how this could be a great alternative to capturing the in-game data...it looks like this method will give me the ENTIRE zone at once. If that is the case....I have one word: Fly-throughs.

Cool Uthgaard, those look great! It looks like this model viewer allows me to export textures straight from S3D as well, so i'll see if the ones I now have access to are of similar quality.

[Engraverwilliam]

only thing i see about the last pic is that the firepot should produce some sort of orange glow on the ceiling?

[stayne]

Hope you don't mind...did a little pp in ps.

[purist]

Nice stayne the fire pot glow really made a difference.

[Dunes]

Anyway, last night I was working on an interior shot of a fountain in Erudin. Here's the screenshot (http://toddkumpf.com/images/EQ-2010/inspiration/erudin-fountain.jpg) i'm using as reference, and should hopefully be posting the final image in the next couple of days.

Take a look at the before (link) and after... stunning. Taking it a step further (pardon my absolute ignorance in these matters), you mentioned that you might be able to render an entire zone at a time (flyovers)? Is there anyway of exporting the end result back into one of these .s3d files? Surely not - if it were that simple (relatively speaking) to "upgrade" a game's graphics it would be done all the time. Just a fanciful dream I guess...

[toddfx]

It is indeed true that fire would glow the room orange, but at the same time I was aiming to capture the same pearly-white feeling you get in that area of Erudin. (http://toddkumpf.com/images/EQ-2010/inspiration/erudin-fountain.jpg)* It's definitely a fine line to walk, but perhaps I'll take a second look at the overall color temperature. Thanks for the comments!

[purist]

todd you're right on in wanting to illustrate that pearly-white feel, that's definitely the vibe I get there too. Just two different interpretations.

[Engraverwilliam]

Im showing a friend at work these...could we possibly see what the above pic looked like in game? he doesn't play eq and i cant bring it up at work to show him..

no biggie if you cannot
good job on the firepot

[yraapt]

Great stuff! Makes me want to move to Erudin.

[wodiranger]

do some shots with more people.mobs in the screen

[Nazran]

That is awesome work. I love the dusty FP gate... it looks dry and hot.

I can't wait to see your take on Kunark zones. For my money the outdoor Kunark zones were some of the best. Most of the zones seemed to follow the lore and told a story that helped with immersion, if that makes sense.

Lots of remnants of the old Iksar empire. The marble/masonry statues, the city of Seb, The burning woods, lake of ill omen, field of bone.

[Tenpin]

Well done. Very much enjoyed those. Thanks for sharing.

[Spud]

great work!!

[toddfx]

Just an update. I haven't done any more rendering since Erudin, I've been busy playing with the model viewier/ZoneConverter MmoHunter linked to. I'm really hoping to get it working, but so far I've had limited success. I am interested in exploring this route because it will offer ENTIRE zones to me, where as currently I can only capture bits and pieces.

This is a great viewer that offers a lot of potential to me. It's just the export to 3D Studio Max that I am having issues with. So far I haven't been able to get an entire zone in with all textures. I'm also really eager to get some characters in so I can maybe play with some animation, which is more difficult to do with in-game captured models.

Surely there are workarounds for the problems i'm having, but it's difficult dealing with ancient user-made utilities from 2002! They were made with old operating systems in mind, and I believe my 64 bit OS might be causing compatibility problems. Even commercially available programs have 64 bit issues. Anyway, we'll see how it goes this week.

Dunes, it unfortunately is not possible to upgrade the graphics of EQ (to my knowledge) but it MAY be possible to upgrade the textures to "fake" the new lighting. All the lighting, shadows, and shading could be "baked" (embedded) onto the textures. However this would only be suitable for indoor zones, where lighting conditions do not ever change. Even then, it would definitely look nowhere as nice as you might expect it to judging by these renders. Furthermore, the 3D geometry would also have to be manually re-worked and replaced in-game because of the way the textures are mapped onto the surfaces (currently everything is tiled...it wouldn't allow for the level of precision that would be required for embedded lighting). And THEN, even if you could manage to actually get a zone fully converted, the size of the bitmap files that would be required for decent quality would quadrupedal zone load times, and would probably end up overloading the engine. So really, it would be too much work to be worth it.

When I say "flythroughs" I'm referring to a similar render style I have going here, except perhaps having the camera animate through the whole zone. Imagine sitting in a helicopter flying over the tree tops of West Commonlands, seeing the inn, druid ring, derv camp, and mobs passing by beneath you. Or drifting through South Karana and circling around Aviak Village in a hot air balloon. In reality, I don't know how far I will get on that. My high quality trees are currently giving me some issues in the WC scene I recently started!

Anyway, I can't say when the next update might be. I'll see what kind of free time I have this week.

However, if anybody knows of any other offline EQ emulators or zone explorer, I'd love to check it out. Different emulators might display the geometry in a more helpful ways.

Thanks guys!

[Lagaidh]

I hope you tale Uth up on his offer... sounds like you could make some seriously sweet 3D's with his help staging it.

Agreed. I'm sure all of us would like some homage to all the starting cities. Hell I'd donate to the effort to get a really good Kaladim exterior or Thurgadin interior shot with that kind of improvement.

Cool stuff mang!

[BobSmith]

Those shots are really really awesome. Hell of a good job.

[waldo]

great work on those pics, some that i can think of that would be cool, permafrost, the ruins in qeynos hills, blackburrow entrance, the gorge, najeena, solb.

[stayne]

What format can you export to because I can code you a flythrough, etc. engine in Blitz3D. It can import .b3d, .3ds, .obj and .x. I can also do post processing (bloom, dof, realtime shadows, sunrays and all that good stuff).

Here's a shot of something I am coding. Just messing around making an EQ-ish clone :).

[toddfx]

Cool, stayne! That engine looks pretty solid.

The animation of a flythrough isn't a problem for me, it's just getting the entire fully textured zone out of EQ and into 3DS Max. Are you able to load up native EQ zone files in Blitz3D?

While I have you here, would you mind checking to see if the two .obj files I have here have UV coordinates? I'm able to export geometry from the Model Viewer (to .obj and .pov file type), but none of it is UV'd when I import the .obj into Max. The geometry comes in fine but the UVs are all collapsed to a single vertex. If you have a moment to try importing, It would help me to know if the UV's are getting wiped on export or on import: eq-obj.zip (http://toddkumpf.com/images/EQ-2010/eq-obj.zip)

Thanks man!

[stayne]

Opened them up with UU3D and they do not have UV coords, but as you said the geometry is fine.

Blitz3D can only load the formats I mentioned. Could probably be done with some nifty coding but that would be over my head as I know nothing about EQ's format.

See if you can find the obj2max plugin for 3dsmax (unless you are using a version later than 6 I think). That may help?

[jyaku]

just for shits and giggles i took those OBJ's you put up and imported them into poser. they loaded perfectly except for the fact they are on their sides. if you can export one of the full zones and i'll see if it loads into poser fine. i tried that program a while ago but nothing ever loaded correctly for me

[toddfx]

just for shits and giggles i took those OBJ's you put up and imported them into poser. they loaded perfectly except for the fact they are on their sides. if you can export one of the full zones and i'll see if it loads into poser fine. i tried that program a while ago but nothing ever loaded correctly for me

Cool jyaku did you try applying that troll bitmap image to the troll's head? Does it map on there correctly, or does the image look skewed when you apply the texture? Thanks!

[jyaku]

no i can't get it to apply right. that's where i suck is trying to make my own mats.

i tried everything, it is impossible to put that texture on that model properly, i even DLed UVmapper and nothing came up when i loaded it

[stayne]

That's because it has no UV coords. I made some and textured it real quick just to see how it would look.

[jyaku]

i knew that was the wrong texture for it, that's the luclin texture trying to go onto a classic model

plus, i think that's for a female troll

[toddfx]

Haha yeah I'm not sure about the troll face textures...I extracted everything from the Grobb character bin, and just chose a random troll face (all seemed to be laid out in the same fashion though..pretty standard for a head map) . The bitmap isn't even really necessary in regards to the purpose of this particular test.

The Model Viewer is great, but unfortunately is of little use if it doesn't export the UV coordinates. Re-doing everything for a whole zone would be crazy-business. All hope is not lost just yet, I think.

But anyway, I will continue doing tests and exploring other routes. Thanks for your help guys!

EDIT:
Great news, I've solved the problem! I found a forum thread that explained what I was doing wrong. Turns out the .POV importer for Max DOES work, I was just didn't know how to access it! And the .POV format DOES include UVs!
http://toddkumpf.com/images/renders/EQ/test/troll-example.jpg

Here's the info if you're interested: http://www.eqemulator.org/forums/showthread.php?t=28109

[stayne]

gg man :). let me know if I can assist in any way.

[guineapig]

i knew that was the wrong texture for it, that's the luclin texture trying to go onto a classic model

plus, i think that's for a female troll

Wow, I would love to see what all the Luclin textures look like on classic models. I can imagine some of them looking pretty damn demented. :D

Pretty please? For laughs?

[Kani]

Awesome work. Thanks for posting these, they look amazing.

[Xevin]

Wow I was so blown away I had to try it too! The West Freeport gate was my favorite so I tried to recreate what you did using all original textures as much as possible and just adding normal and displacement maps.


Thanks for all the great info and ideas. Now the next step is a Project 1999 fan trailer...

[Vulmas]

That stuff is gorgeous.

If you're ever in need of inspiration...ghoul lord throne! ;-)

[Jeah]

Wow very nice looking both of you. I want to see more!

[Zugruk]

That's incredible. I too am hoping for more similar work!

[toddfx]

Nice those look great! Very well executed. The canted angle and flare add greatly to the realism. Your foreground stone displacement looks great as well.

I like that you took the step to concentrate focus on the characters too. That is definitely one aspect I was missing.

[Kava]

Awesome stuff you guys!!

[Taluvill]

these are incredible!

I think the Sarnak Fort in LOIO, or the Windmill in LOIO would be really cool places to make art like this, just the area and the fact that there are buildings there. Outside of Thurgadim would be really intense too, with the waterfall and all.

[TanDemain]

This is all too awesome.

[Dunes]

Agreed.

How cool would it be to replay Classic EQ with textures like that? :D

[Djinn]

Just wanted to voice whats already been said; nice job, guys. That is some beautiful work.

Keep it coming!

[Slade_the_Slide]

That'd be nice if you could get some other NPC's in there like Boomba the Big or perhaps some boss mobs.

[NizmerThafen]

Those are just fantastic! Any more coming soon?

[leefyg]

Bump!

[toddfx]

Sorry I haven't created any more images like I said I would! I sort of fell out of the habit and moved onto other projects. Been working a lot too, but my free 3D modeling time over the last month has been devoted to creating this stuff: http://chicago.toddfx.com

I do have another EQ related project in the works though, or at least on the drawing boards.

[Darkforge]

Very very nice! Thumbs up.....:D

[muddy27]

Your work is amazing, keep up what you do. You have great talent.

[Rottening]

Sorry I haven't created any more images like I said I would! I sort of fell out of the habit and moved onto other projects. Been working a lot too, but my free 3D modeling time over the last month has been devoted to creating this stuff: http://chicago.toddfx.com

I do have another EQ related project in the works though, or at least on the drawing boards.

LOL I lived at Cornelia and Sheffield a few years ago. I will never, ever, live in Wrigleyville again.

[Slugga]

WFP looks just a tad bit more intimidating now...

awesome work.

[ryandward]

holy CRAP! this is amazing. Can you edit the zone textures to be similar to these?

[Rifter]

These are incredible, man. Would love to see one of Cabilis. These would look great with a letterbox imo, and at wallpaper resolutions, hint hint.

[StinkyGreenBud]

Awesome work. Keepem coming.

[deathgirl]

if only we played with gfx likes these :D

[shuklak]

bravo

[Quasimojo]

Absolutely stunning. The way you're breathing new life into these scenes is amazing. I look forward to seeing more.

[Phallax]

If youre still dabbling in this or even still play CoM is one of my most fave visual zones. Id like to see what you can do with a shot from there.

[Hasbinbad]

Nagafen's Lair please, including Nagafen, guarding his lair.

Plane of Sky, looking from the side and slightly down at the islands (just above top island), from a godmode perspective, and no clip plane please.

Will trade sexual favors.

[Redo]

@OP

Do you go to school for this? Very nice work man.

[toddfx]

Thanks for the continual comments and feedback, guys. I'm glad you like them. I really wish I had been creating more of these all along. It's a bummer I haven't had a chance to!

Soon though I will be posting another EQ project i've been working on in my free time. It won't have any fancy rendering effects like this, but instead will be all based on character animation. I'm hoping the comedy factor lives up to what I am aiming for.

I know I've said that once or twice already, but this time I mean it when I say "soon." Hopefully within 2 weeks. Unfortunately I am definitely a perfectionist, and when I don't give myself a deadline I will drag things out forever as I continue to add and tweak. Sure that can be a good thing in the long run, but often times it leads to me never calling something finished...


Admittedly, Kunark release has definitely put a major damper on the progress.

@OP

Do you go to school for this? Very nice work man.

Thanks sir. I started doing 3D art in high-school as a hobby, and yeah pursued it into college. Now i'm working as a 3D generalist in Chicago, doing work for TV and other advertising media. toddfx.com is my portfolio site.

TEST:

[Mcbard]

Really cool stuff Todd!

[Gibcarver]

nice work!

[orsk]

Just found this thread, would love to see more of this done esp Halas!

[jarshale]

very awesome. I'd love to see some rendered pics of east cab

[linus0809]

Amazing~~~ i want more, give me Oasis plz

[deneauth]

This is the first time I have seen this tread and I am blown away just like everyone else. Free bump. My 27th Birthday is august 1st and I am going to Chicago, I would love to buy you a beer as a token of my appreciation for your labors of love to this EQ community!

[aerokella]

Dont forget to bring your rape whistle if you meet up with ciandra.

[deneauth]

:o Hah the possiblility of us meeting in Chicago are slim to nill but I am a nice guy, I would buy a round for any of you, and the drunker I am the more generous I get hahaha, I know there has to be others on here like that too!

Edit: Anyone who has groupped with my warrior Ciandra probably knows I am drunk like 90% of the time I play this game lol!

[Zarniwooop]

Please do kelethin.

That would be utterly astounding.

[kalderon]

Love the art work bud.

[Pudge]

*wow*

that is some impressive shit. im glad this thread got necro'd or else I'd have never seen

i cant imagine actually playing with it looking like that

[Webwolf]

Wicked cool. These guys deserve their own forum section.

[Felwithemagi]

Fantastic!

[rafaone]

cool

[Autotune]

Anyway, I have enjoyed creating these and am eager to make more. If anybody has any scene suggestions, i'd love to see some screenshots for inspiration. I want to do a forest scene, perhaps like this shot of WC. (http://toddkumpf.com/images/EQ-2010/inspiration/WC-druid-moon.jpg)



I would say do Innothule Swamp looking toward the entrance of Guk, or looking at the hand.

[Moonzi]

awesome work

[Anger]

Very nicely done. They look amazing!

[Smedy]

Very nice, if they did another engine for everquest and made it look like this they could sell it again

[XiakenjaTZ]

I would buy it. Remake EQ with a great engine. Include some of the things we all enjoyed from later expansions (Raid stuff, housing, better UI)

I was going to say trade system similar to EQ2 but there is some value in actually having to sit there and sell your junk. It promotes the social aspect of the game.

[Webwolf]

Yeah I wish EQ next would look more classic like these instead of following the WoW cartoonish look.

[Enxienty]

This is fucking amazing. Its what EQnext should be / look like

[toddfx]

Well now that this has been bumped from the dead, guess I might as well go ahead and plug my new EQ animation (http://www.project1999.org/forums/showthread.php?t=47834) I finally completed :D

Thanks guys

[runlvlzero]

Whats neat is with a DX 10 client, and some graphics /texture files upgrades, shaders, and bump maps you could make the game look close to his revamps on modern hardware =)

Now that would be #fsck -ing <-(unix command) awesome.

[Athosblack]

Highkeep img is MINT!!!! Very very cool man.

[Silentone]

wow, very well done

[Revo]

Those pictures really are amazing.

[bizzum]

Bump for cool pictures!

[Nirgon]

That's hot.

[NenshouStar]

bump* for the future, "New Project1999" honestly, lol how hard could it be...
i bet if everybody could deal with a few adverts here or there, xP
we could do a classic revamp, visual wise. I want this option in my graphics menu.

[Smoker]

Very nice.. great job. Would love to see Naggy or Vox redone :)

[jarshale]

I'm gonna guess this is never going to get updated again :(

[Sularys]

Wow, amazing pictures. Well done!

[Snagglepuss]

I loved these the first time I saw them. I wish he'd post more!

[Liukang]

i would like to see a OT pic around the statue

[toddfx]

Sorry to keep you guys hanging! I am surprised it has been over 1.5 years since I created these...time flies. I do agree it is about time for some new ones.

To do correctly though, they can take 12+ hours a piece. It's difficult to devote that kind of time to something unless you are motivated from the heart. A lot of my drive to create these images was taken care of by creating the initial batch, so it can be difficult to dive back into something that you already feel satisfied about. I tend to jump around a lot as an artist, moving on to something new once my vision/drive has been satisfied. I've side tracked myself with other Everquest related projects:

Since i've created these, I have also created an Everquest: Battle of The Bands (http://www.project1999.org/forums/showthread.php?t=47834) video, and then spent a couple months collecting all the brews & spirits in the game and conducting a role-play style blog about brewing in Norrath (http://www.project1999.org/forums/showthread.php?t=50753).

Now, as of the past week or two, i'm actually working on another EQ related project. I am in the early stages of creating a 3D map of Norrath. It's sort of half relief style, half diorama style. I've had a hard time finding good reference for what I have in mind, but it will be based primarily on the original Norrath map supplied with the game. It will be much more detailed down to the level of druid rings, inns, and other prominent landmarks of the land. The zones will feel more logically connected than they do in that map though, a little more like what you experience in-game.

I'm going to be away from home for the next couple of weeks, but once I return you can hopefully expect to see a new thread about my new Map project. If that falls through or I have a change of heart, maybe I can get back into this groove and create a few more of these kind of images. However I have started actually playing EQ again too so I'll have to weigh my time... :eek:

[Dunes]

Just a quick bump so that more folks can find and enjoy the creations of toddfx.

Keep up the great work!

[toddfx]

Welp, since this is bumped (thanks :D) and since I have been leaving you guys hanging for so long, I suppose I should post some screenshots of what I have been working on for the last 4 months or so:

I'm building Norrath. All of it.

Hope you guys have a good internet connection:
http://toddkumpf.com/images/portfolio/eq/FAQ.jpg

I'm sculpting all the terrain using Autodesk Mudbox
http://toddkumpf.com/images/portfolio/eq/terrain_gray.jpg

And am texturing the terrain using Photoshop and 3D Studio Max.
http://toddkumpf.com/images/portfolio/eq/terrain_color_LQ.jpg
Notice: For your comparison sake, here is a link to the original Norrath map: [link] (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9X_7t9AgwaA/Tay0KOgvDBI/AAAAAAAAAA0/26luN5Lk6ps/s1600/everquest_all_large.jpg)

Here are a few look development frames, which I also did in 3DS Max, using VRay to render and Fusion to composite. The buildings are pulled straight from the game.
http://toddkumpf.com/images/portfolio/eq/Norrath_LookDev_v01.jpg
http://toddkumpf.com/images/portfolio/eq/Norrath_LookDev_v02.jpg
http://toddkumpf.com/images/portfolio/eq/Norrath_LookDev_v03.jpg
http://toddkumpf.com/images/portfolio/eq/Norrath_LookDev_v04.jpg
http://toddkumpf.com/images/portfolio/eq/Kaladim_LookDev_v01.jpg

[toddfx]

And here are some more screenshots of the raw terrain and other work in progress images. Remember, the images above will be closer to final quality, these images below are just some work in progress shots of my 3D geometry.

Odus, still working in Mudbox:
http://toddkumpf.com/images/portfolio/eq/odus_land.jpg

Faydwer:
http://toddkumpf.com/images/portfolio/eq/Faydwer_WIP.jpg

Rough layout of some trees and a bunch of objects (all objects pulled from the game)
http://toddkumpf.com/images/portfolio/eq/Faydwer_WIP_02.jpg

A shot of my (compact) Qeynos. The fun of this project is that I get to put on so many hats: cartographer, city planner, castle builder etc...
Even though I am basing these cities off of the game, I am creating my own mini-versions of them (read my FAQ image above for more info on what I mean by that).
That is a fun and also tricky task because I need to capture their essence as we know them in the game, while ALSO trying to make them logical and practical in a real-world sense.
I want these mini-cities to appear realistically designed from a medieval city-building perspective, since this project will hopefully be seen by many more than just EQ fans!
http://toddkumpf.com/images/portfolio/eq/Qeynos_WIP.jpg

Felwithe: (again, this is a compact/minimized version of the city, read my FAQ above)
http://toddkumpf.com/images/portfolio/eq/Felwithe_WIP.jpg

And finally, one of my favorite details, a logical interpretation of the EK ramp:
http://toddkumpf.com/images/portfolio/eq/HK_Ramp.jpg

Anyway, that is a lot more than I had planned on sharing, but hope you guys like the progress. Like I said, it has a LONG LONG way to go. The final product will be in video format, and will likely be about 1 - 1.5 minutes long, composed of slow camera pans over the landscape.

[toddfx]

Oh and here's a couple more showing the amount of crap i've collected so far working on this project!


Some of my texture swatches:
http://toddkumpf.com/images/portfolio/eq/textures.jpg

And all of the items i've captured from the game, individually:
http://toddkumpf.com/images/portfolio/eq/zones.jpg

I'm retrieving 3D models such as buildings and other man-made structures straight from the game in order to make it appear that much more authentic in the end. Capturing screenshots and 3D data requires actually being at those locations in the game. During this project, I have visited every zone several times, on foot, to gather data. P99 blocks the program I am using to capture some of the buildings 3D geometry ("3D Ripped DX"), so I am forced to use EZ Server where I play as a level 3 warrior, running on foot between all of these zones one by one :eek: Only died a few times, but the adventure is all part of the fun! Wouldn't be classic EQ without it.

P.S. No plans to do Kunark or Velious.

[Rooj]

Freaking marry me. I will bounce on your dick 24/7

[Airdefier]

Amazing bro, 3d maps made me tear up

[Bill Tetley]

Wow! These are great!!

[SwordNboard]

I'll give my praises once again! Fan-fucking-static!

[Nogdar]

Dude; your work just took my breath away BIG TIME. Outstanding stuff, you definitely deserve badass recognition for that. All my respects, Sir!

[Nogdar]

How great would it be if *this* is what EQ Next was all about huh? EQ classic with these graphics. :) My kingdom for that !

[utenan]

It's quite amazing to have played eq for so long, and to be so familiar with the world, but never being able to see it like this....I am just blown away. I can't wait to see more!

[Eldaran]

absolutely stunning! well done!

[Aandolaf]

Amazing, can't wait to see more of it

[Yibz]

Wow, very cool dude!

[Dany]

OMG! Very nice! Well done!

[cyryllis]

amazing work

[Grimmly Fireforge]

Brilliant man! You are very gifted.

[Kylenorr]

I love this stuff. Keep up the good work!

[Purdee]

fantastic work you do, thank you, looks amazing

[Ahldagor]

How great would it be if *this* is what EQ Next was all about huh? EQ classic with these graphics. :) My kingdom for that !

Agreed.

Great job, keep on it, and post more when you can please.

[Kylenorr]

I didn't want to read through all 16 pages of comments, is there anywhere that you have all of your work in one place to check out?

[Swish]

Jeebus! I don't know how I missed this thread originally, very very nice work :)

[Norok]

Wow, this is truly amazing. I know it's not Classic (TM) but I would love to play the game with its current dynamics in such a true to roots re imagination with modern graphic rendering. Think Everquest world and lore meets Skyrim.

[Vadd]

How great would it be if *this* is what EQ Next was all about huh? EQ classic with these graphics. :) My kingdom for that !

Right.

[toddfx]

Thanks guys, glad you're digging the map stuff so far. I have a full week of vacation coming up, so I hope to get quite a lot of work done on this. I'm really eager to get into the animation phase, but need to finish up a few more zones before I do that.

Another big hurdle I need to get over is figuring out how to create a whole world full of trees, efficiently. Scattering them over the surface using a particle system is what I am doing now, which works, but something about it is crashing the scene at times. Plus the tree models i'm currently using kind of look like crap.. So my steps for moving forward will be:

01) Finish some zones such as: Halas, Lavastorm, Freeport, most of Odus, and the southern shore of Antonica.
02) Create new tree system, including other scattered details such as stones and smaller shrubs.
03) Start animating camera flythroughs, and edit together a grayscale previz timed to the music (the remastered EQ theme).
04) Render. This is the really scary part. I have access to my workplace's 50 blade render farm, but I know there are a few other projects coming up that will obviously take precedence on the render farm. So hopefully I can manage to get all the camera fly-throughs rendered by like...mid spring :cool:

It's quite amazing to have played eq for so long, and to be so familiar with the world, but never being able to see it like this....I am just blown away. I can't wait to see more!

That's a big part of why I love to do stuff like this! Classic EverQuest is incredibly unique as it rides a fine line of giving you enough to play, with but still lets your imagination fill in many of the blanks. You become so vividly familiar with the world as it exists in the game, yet it still leaves so much open to let your imagination extrapolate upon. This creates an incredibly rich source of inspiration for any type of creative endeavor.

Very few modern games really give that same kind of opportunity. With such graphic & detail oriented engines, and increasingly lazy/spoiled players, games today are expected to fully replace your imagination, not feed it. I believe classic EQ is still so immersive today because it at least partially, in the words of Sheldon Cooper, "runs on the world's most powerful graphics chip: imagination." (he was refering to Zork, but still)

I didn't want to read through all 16 pages of comments, is there anywhere that you have all of your work in one place to check out?

There isn't anything else here, actually. The only update since my original post was just the one on Page 15. But I do have some other medieval inspired works on my site: toddkumpf.com under the Personal gallery section.

[Faron]

Amazing stuff. Can't wait to check out your other work when I get home.

[Hailto]

Great stuff man

[nilbog]

toddfx, you are a hero of Norrath.

[dorrax]

I like Low poly modeling, but I'm very new (bad) at it. I thought I could learn some stuff from old EQ models, and I found this thread, is it ok if I ask where I can get the models in a 3DS max compatible format? If this has been asked before or if it's not ok to ask I'll just apologize in advance and walk away.

[pheroux]

Here is my attempt at making a dwarf dancing the chacha.

http://youtu.be/o9cwnZ9-W4w

pheroux

[Sarkhan]

P.S. No plans to do Kunark or Velious.

No plans for Kunark? You're killing me here. Those statues of iksars would be simply beautiful... I hope you change your mind. Great work, to say it looks amazing is not doing it justice.

[Lagaidh]

I have to chime in with another "great work, man".

[Yinaltin]

truly amazing work you have done so far . keep up the good work . great idea to make such a film !

[SupaflyIRL]

I'm just really impressed a thread about 3D EQ Fan-art makes it to 18 pages without a single fully rendered troll penis.

[Eschaton]

OMG I love this guy!

[seanidor]

Dang those pictures are pretty darn amazing. It kind of reminds me of what people have been doing with a few mods for minecraft on the PC. Install a new texture pack, maybe a mod or two and it goes from EQ-like graphics to top-of-the-line graphics. It's such a shame that it can't be done for EQ as well.

Keep up the good work toddfx, I can't wait to see what you come up with next.

[Swish]

The forum is thirsty for more, whenever you're ready :D

[Tecmos Deception]

Good Lord!

[Topdog]

http://toddkumpf.com/images/portfolio/eq/Kaladim_LookDev_v01.jpg

that picture was especially very epic :) good stuff

[utenan]

bump (because it's fantastic!)

[Pringles]

EQ Next needs to look like this. Leave the current ruleset alone, update the engine - release the game and DONE.

[Clark]

This is pretty awesome. Nice work man.

[Ahldagor]

EQ Next needs to look like this. Leave the current ruleset alone, update the engine - release the game and DONE.

agreed

[Xadion]

I wonder when they eventually close EQ1 down how much money they would want for the ip rights for some other company to do a remake.

[maleick]

Very nice, if they did another engine for everquest and made it look like this they could sell it again

Everquest Classic HD

[Flamewraith]

This is pretty sweet! Would like to see one of lavastorm!

[Nune]

Show this shit to SoE, you clearly deserve a job developing Everquest much more than anyone on their staff. Your vision and execution of old eq meets new age is spot on man, cant teach that shit in schools.

[NachtMystium]

toddfx, you are a hero of Norrath


i couldn't have said it better myself

[neolfex]

Wicked job! love them all!

[Aandolaf]

i couldn't have said it better myself

Agreed!

[Khaleesi]

If there was a converter for Directx 6.1 - > Directx 9, then we could use ENB Series to get similar results in-game.

[planeofdreams]

If there was a converter for Directx 6.1 - > Directx 9, then we could use ENB Series to get similar results in-game.

Who is on this?

[Khaleesi]

Who is on this?

EQ request on ENB:
http://enbdev.com/enbseries/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=1488&sid=4d3d0eca57c15f592441f3b12979cc91

I haven't tried the converter used in GTA series, however don't believe it will work as it's DX8.

[Khaleesi]

Gather round people, let's convince Boris and ENB series to work on a direct x converter for things older than DX8.

If you want to see EverQuest look like the screenshots on this thread's front page, register and voice your interest with a /signed at http://enbdev.com/enbseries/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=1488&p=28556&sid=54f89f8d46097429dc92d75443498c0d#p28556

[shummit]

amazing

[Potus]

HOLY SHIT How have I never seen this?

You're fucking amazing.

[CrazyHorse]

I would love to see an update on this amazing work!

[eqgmrdbz]

Outstanding....nothing better to capture the essence of the game, than the game itself. Keep being awesome.

[fouts85]

EPIC!

[Luethar]

Awesome work Todd!

Would love to see an update!

Lue.

[Kostou]

You are amazing man...

[Kohedron]

Now if only someone could crop these into say... 1920 x 1080...