Screenshot isn't coming up for me for some reason - but I love the sound of where you're going with this. Can't wait!

New version alpha 0.2 is up on http://fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=11474.

Features as of now:
- 3 Overlays (Default PA, Enclave PA, Rad suit)
- 6 Base color tints (with 2 variations each), now freely mixable (red + green = yellow etc)
- gas mask breathing sound
- simulated head movement
- visually indicated item condition
- 3 Selectable extra vision modes (night, heat, EM)

Supported items: any helmets, masks, hats, eyewear

As usual, testing it is encouraged!

Looks awesome so far!

A few comments...

- Enclave overlay seems like it could be expanded a bit vertically in both directions
- Love to see an overlay for the Hellfire helmet next (which might double for some of the NVG mods out there?)
- the "grit/dirt" on the glass when more damaged, looks a bit blocky - almost pixelated - in places. Might have actually been some banding I was seeing - not sure...
- something in the config menu to change the vision enhancement mode keybinding?
- the ghosting on the heat mode is awesome
- EM mode is great overall, but I noticed that it doesn't "show/highlight/whatever" robots when they have the lightning effect around them from being hit by a pulse weapon... I'm _hoping_ there is a way to fix that, as it is rather immersion breaking
- for that matter, as a wish list item, if there were any way to make the pulse grenade/mine explosions show up better in the EM mode, that would be awesome (they're quite understated right now - IMO should be the opposite - blindingly bright). Understandable if not possible, but would be truly epic.

Will play with it more later and provide more feedback as it comes up - but so far, I'm loving what I'm seeing!

Thanks for testing it



Well overlays can always be improved The challenge is actually to keep the distinct shape while at the same time not to restrict vision too much, or else all visors will end up looking pretty much the same.
What I'm currently trying is to allow off-screen parts of overlay that are shown when you move your head.
so when looking straight ahead, the visor is open left and right. when you turn a bit to the left, the image is moved to the right so you actually see the left closing edge of the visor. When i implemented the simulated head movement this was actually the first thing i was going for, but it didnt work that well so i settled for a simpler version that just uses the turning speed to adjust the image position.


True, though i blurred it several times so it shouldnt really look pixelated, but a bit blocky it is. figured it would simply go through as a stain with some cleaner spots here and there. I will try to improve the quality of this the dirt layer.


Will be done, but I usually do those things after I added all features.


The shader effects aren't perfect yet, they might blink occasionally (which I should be able to reduce with more testing or if someone who has a bit more expierence with them tells my how i could optimize them). the other thing, well I'll have to look into that but generally when multiple shader effects are overlaping the outcome might look a bit random, I dont really know if i can do anything about that.


i dont think thats possible, it would require to actually change the explosion itself (color wise). but i hadn't really thought about it yet, its a good point, I'll surely look into that.

Testing it? Heck, I'm -using- it.



Yup - totally agreed. IMO, the "trick" is going to be manipulating the shape in the corners, and to a lesser degree, the bottom and top ridge lines -- leaving much of the center space open. Realistically speaking, even overlay #1 still restricts vision more than the helmet really should (but obviously there is only so much to work with). Again, IMO, the current enclave overlay not only is too restrictive from a gameplay standpoint, but also from an immersion standpoint (can't shake the mental thought of, "who is their right mind would go into combat with such a crappy FOV?")

Not meaning to be critical - again, I totally understand the challenge you're up against with this - and appreciate VERY much all of your hard work on this.

...as I tell a lot of artists I work with professionally: there are two kinds of work that I feel strong urges to make critical comments regarding... those that are lacking, and just really need the improvment... and those that are SO INCREDIBLE on their own, that it inspires a passion in everyone around to see a maximum potential be reached.


Funny - I was actually thinking earlier that the visor being open to the sides would actually be better both for gameplay and immersion, but recognized the movement as a problem with that... in my thinking about it then, I doubted that it could be overcome. I hope I'm wrong! By all means, keep trying!



Yeah, blocky really is the better term than pixelated for what is showing.

That having been said, I don't think blurring will resolve it - you don't really want to lose all aspects of clarity. Assuming you're using PS, try maybe messing around with the "Spatter" brush stroke filter? Maybe, maybe not...



Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I'd love if it could be sooner than later --- because in all honesty, this isn't a test or beta anymore. This is a fully functioning, released mod - it just happens to be one that you have further plans to revise and add functionality.

...but for myself, it is on my load list, and won't be coming off (of course, I don't have much time to actually PLAY right now... but still)



I didn't really notice any blinking or anything, other than when the additional effect was on the robot (I was in my megaton home, and is common for me testing, Wadsworth got waxed). I hadn't thought about odd outcomes from overlapping the effects... but... *shrug* give it a try?



Hmm. I was kind of afraid you'd say that...

...potentially heavy handed way of approaching it, but perhaps FOSE is capable... hmm... thinking better of what I was about to say... *shrug* is FOSE capable of modifying/swapping explosion records on the fly? (Swap them when that shader effect is active?)


Alright, I'll stop obsessing now.

Looks good

Don't worry, have I no problems with getting feedback


I'll try to add that for the next release, at least in some basic form.
Regarding the other point, I certainly won't talk my own mod down For me it's just still alpha because there's a difference between "it's supposed to work" (= meaning it works perfectly for me) and it actually does so for everyone else.


Yes, that also was the first thing that came to my mind, but afaik FOSE can't do something like this yet. Some other methods I could try would be to ref-walk for explosions and do something with them (probably doesnt make much sense), and another way I could try it:
Ref walk for projectiles every second (is done anyway). If the projectile is a pulse mine/grenade, it's added to a list. Another script constantly checks the elements on this list and keeps track of their last known positions. As soon as one of them disappears (=exploded, handle pickups somehow...) something is placed at the same location (another type of explosion). So you would still see the original explosion, but also an EM cloud, possibly persisting for a while there. I think this could actually work.

Edit:
Oh and there are a bunch of technical questions I have, hopefully someone can answer them:
1. As I wrote earlier, when I increase the particle count of my effect shaders, the fill effect starts blinking/clipping. I reduced the particle count, so this only happens rarely, but still I would like to avoid this completely.
2. (Just became irrelevant )

Edit2:
Actually, ref working worked just fine for the explosions. What I could use now are 2 new explosion effects, one yellow shimmering noise cloud, and one for the heat signature of conventional explosions. Any volunteers?

I uploaded a video to show the current state of support for off-screen overlay parts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfLmhjdasW8
10% of the image on the left and right are cut off and only get moved in when turning in the respective direction.
I will further optimize the formulas for smoother movement, but I think it's already a major improvement. Imagine if the overlay actually wasn't flat but had some sort of perspective.

It simple words. It looks amazing.

Keep up the great work, this mod is astounding... even alpha

That was one hell of a video!

Very very nice! I never used the Oblivion mod as I felt it closed off my vision far too much but I am very tempted to use this one.

The changes look awesome.

I'm currently working on power consumption for the vision modes and I'm unsure how the player should be informed of the charges left in the current energy cell when in battery mode.

Options:
a) not at all
B) standard hud meter (like this one: http://fallout3nexus.com/downloads/images/11025-1-1264637893.jpg)
c) somehow built into the visor (1st failed attempt: http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/9150/screenshot34hc.jpg)

Obviously it's much too clear, but blurring it? i dont know... How would I best integrate it?

Surely the vision gear would run off the suit power supply rather than being separately powered, no?
Of course, that begs the question of whether Power armor should need power replenishment.
I would say that making them powered by fission batteries (which arent used for much else) which last for a day or so would tend to balance all the extra features you are giving them.
In that case then I would vote for a discrete hud power indicator.

The idea of using overlays for the HUD is pretty excting by itself.
There would almost need to be some sort of sight overlay to allow the use of rifles, as wearing a bulky helmet does not allow you to use a stocked weapons sights or scope.
Can you get fine detail (e.g. thin reticle lines) using your system? I remember that in a reply to a query on your zoom mod you mentioned it might be possible.

Only a partial reply as I'm about to go to bed
The thing with the power armor is already considered, it works like in FWE (at least I think I read that somehwere, it's been a while since I last played):
When you're wearing power armor, the vision modes don't consume cells, but when wearing the helmet alone power cells are drained. I'll edit more in tomorrow.

So you are suggesting that the armor would have been designed with a separate power system to allow use of the helmet alone?
It seems unlikely any military procurement board would put that as a design requirement.

Personally I would think that none of the powered features of the helmet would work if it wasn't connected to the suit, but I guess that might be tricky to implement in the game.

He is actually right, in FWE they have it set up that the Power Armor has its own battery supply so when wearing it you don't need to use energy cells. This makes since because where are you going to store a generator in a helmet. It would be easier to store it in a large piece of armor. I say it makes since to require energy cells to use special features, unless wearing a full suit of power armor. I even recommend this way and I don't use power armor. Guess I need to stoke up on some energy cells. haha

UPDATE
=======
I have started to revise the changes to the overlays I sent you last time.

I am not good at the modeling part. I took a few attempts but failed, sorry.

The final decision may of course vary and is dependant on author's will, but lore-wise it's like this:



Source: http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/T-51b_Power_Armor

I think the HUD energy indicator is awesome and if possible, it should turn itself on only when the user isn't wearing a complete set of PA.

I watched the video with the off-screen parts with a mouth open... my immersion indicator went over the top. Great job!!

P.S.: I don't mean to harass you, but did you by any chance discovered a way for the sound-muffling when the helmet is on as we talked before? Or at least playing a creaky-machine-on-power sound loop? (for example http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=3429)

Thanks for you work again and keep it up!

It's possible but it would be a lot of work. I think I'll start small by adding a meter for the battery status (if running on power cells), and I also wanna do a live minimap showing enemies (won't tell all details yet ). There's only one way for any hud elements to be shown on the visor, that is heavily blurring the vision to simulate focusing your vision, otherwise it just wont look right (see the last screenshot).


Reticles could be added to the overlay for separate zooming capabilities, but replacing the default scoped zooming mode is not feasible.






I think how FWE implemented is just fine, imho it's not that unplausible that the helmet would be able to operate with 2 kinds of power supplies. Also, if you tested the latest version, you have probably noticed that these vision modes are enabled individually, so this makes it a bit tricky since its not only applicable to power armor. For example, you could create a model for NVGs, equip it and just attach the night vision feature to it (which would be pointless as there are already enough NVG mods out there, but just as an example). So I will probably make it two features:
1) Battery powered (drains energy cells)
2) PA powered (can use PA energy supply)
if 1 & 2: FWE behaviour
if only 1: always drain energy cells when the vision modes are activated
if only 2: vision modes only work when PA is equipped.
that should pretty much cover all kinds of devices.



It wont be visible all the time. It will be displayed on events (switching power source) and probably every 20 seconds or so to show the current status when running on battery.


Didnt look at it yet. Im still not too optimistic about sound-muffing either, but playing the sound you linked to is no problem. It's been queued!


Cool. If you want to I can send you the current version so you can test it with the off-screen image parts.

Two things I've noticed as issues.

1) Using a custom POV that only uses the top half of the screen (the bottom is unobstructed), I can see a black border around my display. I can see this too occasionally with the default POVs too if I move my view around enough.

2) Using the same POV as above the bottom half has your condition base texture over it despite there being nothing there. The only thing I can think of to fix this (While still keeping visual condition on that is) would be to make the condition base texture specific to each POV.

Otherwise this version is looking quite nice, I was pleased to see that the thermal vision worked on the Stealth Suit enemies in Anchorage.

Sounds good to me. I will test and try to perfect them.

These borders were actually placed by me because when just using fullscreen images, there always was a 1px borders around all edges and i did not want to stretch the overlay. I can try to reduce the size though.
For the default povs however it shouldnt happen? They're all black around, so where could there be black borders? Do you mean like .. holes?


Hm, ok this could be handled: Another construct in the XML file that allows to specify overides for the condition base image. So it would not require a specific texture for each POV, but would allow to use one if necessary.

Never mind about the default ones I was just seeing things.

You do good work, schlangster.