CactusHopper

You could use this tool to just export a PNG, and use that PNG as the sprite, cleaning it up or making adjustments in photoshop or whatever after export. But it seems like the sprites maybe just are the list of parameters used as inputs to the tool.

Ah, you're missing the genius of the Gowers. You see, this game used to run through a browser in the year 2004. A fully 3D experience in internet explorer of all applications. This wasn't a quirky way to make icons for the sake of it, it was memory saving - why store 1000s of sprites when the engine can just render a small image of the drop model? Every strange thing this game does is purely so it could run efficiently in a browser :D

It also saves us Artists a lot of time too, so it has development benefits as well. Of course, wanting to improve the quality of the icons is a little more of a hassle, especially with specific requests like this one - but it can be done :)

CactusHopper

You could use this tool to just export a PNG, and use that PNG as the sprite, cleaning it up or making adjustments in photoshop or whatever after export. But it seems like the sprites maybe just are the list of parameters used as inputs to the tool.

Ah, you're missing the genius of the Gowers. You see, this game used to run through a browser in the year 2004. A fully 3D experience in internet explorer of all applications. This wasn't a quirky way to make icons for the sake of it, it was memory saving - why store 1000s of sprites when the engine can just render a small image of the drop model? Every strange thing this game does is purely so it could run efficiently in a browser :D

It also saves us Artists a lot of time too, so it has development benefits as well. Of course, wanting to improve the quality of the icons is a little more of a hassle, especially with specific requests like this one - but it can be done :)

CactusHopper

2004 Internet Explorer was peak technology, every piece of code written after is a pox.

Wild though, so it doesn’t even save those images anywhere, just grabs the model and pumps it through this thing every time you look at the icon? What a game.

I suppose you might have a point there, still quite impressive though :D

It is wild. Another strange one is how animations are stored. Rather than being a single file that can be played on a single skeleton the frames are all stored individually and can be Frankensteined together and played on literally any skeleton. Not advisable as it would look distorted and nonsensical, but if used correctly a programmer could make a new animation without needing to bother an artist. We are starting to move away from this though as managing the files as individual frames is a bit awkward.

CactusHopper

2004 Internet Explorer was peak technology, every piece of code written after is a pox.

Wild though, so it doesn’t even save those images anywhere, just grabs the model and pumps it through this thing every time you look at the icon? What a game.

I suppose you might have a point there, still quite impressive though :D

It is wild. Another strange one is how animations are stored. Rather than being a single file that can be played on a single skeleton the frames are all stored individually and can be Frankensteined together and played on literally any skeleton. Not advisable as it would look distorted and nonsensical, but if used correctly a programmer could make a new animation without needing to bother an artist. We are starting to move away from this though as managing the files as individual frames is a bit awkward.

i_hate_blackpink

its not engine work, the client already supports light multipliers on models, they could just change the light modifier in the definition although that might fuck up the ingame model too

I believe when we boost ambient light on the item it only impacts the icon/drop model as worn equipment follows a hard-coded front facing light that ignores config settings. I'll have a play around and see what I can do ;)

i_hate_blackpink

its not engine work, the client already supports light multipliers on models, they could just change the light modifier in the definition although that might fuck up the ingame model too

I believe when we boost ambient light on the item it only impacts the icon/drop model as worn equipment follows a hard-coded front facing light that ignores config settings. I'll have a play around and see what I can do ;)