Bloodstains

[eisprinzessin]

I've been wondering, if bloodstains actually look like in The Killing Fields screen (http://www.grimdawn.com/screenshots/2010-04-27_thekillingfields01_lrg.jpg). I personally am not really satisfied as how the ground is stained in such a saturated red. It's just one big blot in this screen, but it does not look like a pool of thick, wet blood/bloody mud. Should it look more realistic (http://www.forensicscience.ie/index.asp?locID=42&docID=-1)?

Or does it need to look more artistic (http://photos.latimes.com/backlot/gallery/dexter/2008/8/12/Dexter_blood_stain_patterns) for GD's purposes? It appears that slain enemies atomise blood in a drizzle. Should there be less but bigger blobs?

[Kardiophylax]

I'm just thankful there is blood at all in this game. Is it as realistic as in some other AAA games? Probably not. Will it make the game more/less fun if it were? No, probably not. I'm definately one who is for more gameplay and less glitz though. Since their team is small and budget is tight, I'd rather the time be spent on some gameplay features than on realistic blood splatter.

To be honest, I've never analyzed the blood patterns in any of the games I've ever played that included it. This may be a case of, we have one new screenshot to look at, so let's analyze the hell out of it while we can. I think in time we'll see more and forget about these small things. :)

[Sandirk]

not sure if you were meaning the colour or pattern should be more realistic (or both).
if its the colour the Forensic photos would be of old blood where the stuff in game will be quite fresh and could be brighter (bearing in mind i have no idea what colour the monster blood should be, undead blood might be much closer to the pic's you linked)

as to the pattern,i agree having large blobs would look a bit odd. having more of a spray effect would be nice for the blood from attacks and maybe have the blood pool out of corpses (or parts of corpses) .. not knowing how much work that would take to do .. guessing heaps.

[Kluga]

The Killing Fields screen is more of a blood spatter directly from the zombie rather than blood on the floor. I'd imagine that the blood won't be so obvious once it's hit the floor. Maybe/hopefully fade away after a few seconds as well

[medierra]

In terms of blood, it is actually difficult to tell exactly how this image came out the way that it did because a lot of stuff is going on that I think creates a little confusion in terms of what red stuff is what.

For one thing, the lighting has a lot of reddish hue to it because of the environment and the time of day, which can affect how red the blood looks. The biggest issue though is probably that the character has a buff effect around them that is a dark reddish purple color. Then you have bodies dissolving, which currently can look a little too pink / red and we haven't really tweaked it at all. I'm sure there is probably blood on the ground somewhere but there is also 2-3 different blood effects in the air.

Blood on the ground tends to be darker and less saturated. Blood in the air can be the small hit effect, a larger death spray, or, in this case, there is also bleeding duration damage going on, which causes a big initial spray followed by blood spurting from the chest in a stream.

The decal for blood on the ground is a little amorphous because we don't just drop one big blood decal but rather, each blood particle effect that impacts the ground can leave a decal along with body hits. So these decals need to be able to look good when they stack up. The disadvantage is each decal is less distinct and realistic looking. The benefit is that you end up with different sized, shaped and intensity blood stains depending on what happens.

In this screenshot I think it may be that a lot of what you're assuming is blood is actually a buff effect. I think it can be difficult to read screenshots, especially when a lot of effects are involved because it is often the motion of the effects that makes them understandable in real-time.

[Shinrou]

I'm definitely on the side you are going with the decals. That's the proper way of messing things up with more variation involved.

The only thing I'm concerned is about the bullet impacts. I don't know, I just get more outta them when you get nice spray from the opposite side of point of impact, so that way the shots feel more powerful, and more penetrating of course! Would literally paint the walls with blood. Well, I'm sure you got this aspect handled in some way already but just tellin' what I'm liking to see. :p

[shawnmck]

Why not just add some entrails & body parts to the blood on the ground. That way there is no doubt as to what it is.
;)

[alexei]

(Damn, I accidentally close the tab again. Now I don't even want to write this again)

Well, to put it short, I'm sure screenshot is much different when seeing the shot in action (watching the video). Even in TQ, if I take a screenshot when fighting, I'm quite sure there would be many thing to complain/comment on.

Take this picture for example (http://ve3dmedia.ign.com/images/00/52/5240_titan-quest-review-20060710041420424_normal.jpg) or this (http://www.titanquestgame.com/screenshots/large/1.jpg), well it might be quite an extreme example, but really when battling, did you notice everything?

Not that the animation doesn't matter. But when you play it, you will notice that you will have less to comment. And I believe that there will be more tweaking comes around in the next shot/video.

Cheers!

[Starkrun]

Then you have bodies dissolving, which currently can look a little too pink / red and we haven't really tweaked it at all. I'm sure there is probably blood on the ground somewhere but there is also 2-3 different blood effects in the air.

You are a genius.... that's going to solve so many lag issues, just work it into the story someplace with a quick blurb about it to make it feel ok.... also trash loot, the gray and whites from TQ that no one picks up was another headache, and massive source of lag in game. Any ideas of fixing that?

[ASYLUM101]

You are a genius.... that's going to solve so many lag issues, just work it into the story someplace with a quick blurb about it to make it feel ok.... also trash loot, the gray and whites from TQ that no one picks up was another headache, and massive source of lag in game. Any ideas of fixing that?

They mentioned that there is going to be much less trash loot in GD.

Also, dissolving bodies doesn't reduce lag, because even in TQ if you set all corpses to dissolve, they're still in the memory (somehow) and it still lags after a while.

[Sandirk]

In the 2nd Killing feilds screen (the one with the rifleman) there are some bloodstains scattered around the place, are these part of the terrain texture things or are they from combat/ corpses that have since disolved ?

if they are from combat they look pretty good =)

With the Decal method for the blood effects spray would that mean other objects like the hay piles and buildings could be hit with the spray as well ?

[MadWasp]

In the 2nd Killing feilds screen (the one with the rifleman) there are some bloodstains scattered around the place, are these part of the terrain texture things or are they from combat/ corpses that have since disolved ?

if they are from combat they look pretty good =)

With the Decal method for the blood effects spray would that mean other objects like the hay piles and buildings could be hit with the spray as well ?

I think it's combat blood.

I prefer sprays on buildings, on the wall, etc. :)

[MadWasp]

Myth blood trails/gore and demolition and even archery solution:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niLBL44VOxc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sa9ECvMF04&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYjgE8NpPBk&feature=related

and the best blood trail visuals/example for desert environment:
visual is just perfect. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRcpCNmnO8w&feature=related