An idea to N64 games enhacement: TruForm

[Archnemon]

I thought that if is possible to use n-Patches or similar to smooth 3d meshes in N64 games...

N-Patches are graphical techniques to add more polys to models of games, using "interpolation" in meshes.In case of Ati Cards, they called "TruForm TM", and in Nvidia, i believe that its name is "CinemaFX" or similar.They can be programmed to individual models using IDs of these models i think, and not to affect all models...


My question is...do you think that it is possible to "smooth" the very-low poly models of N64 games?This technique is usefull for old computer games like "halflife-counter strike 1" or "wolfenstein".

There are here some images of "TruForm" applied to games:

:bouncy:


PD: Sorry for my very BAD english, I use google to translate some words, i am spanish... :blush: I hope that it is understandable... :huh:

 

[Trotterwatch]

I believe Orkin he of GLN64/Direct64 fame toyed with this a while back but found it to be unfeasible to apply when dealing with N64 models (made them bloated). This is as far as I can recall anyways.

Truform is a great technology though, pity it ain't used more often (especially as the performance impact on this Radeon 8500 is minimal )

By the way, your English is very good, so don't fret about it.

 

[optimus$prime]

great idea; games would look awesome with it

but i don't think it would be easy to implement it

 

[Archnemon]

Additionally,a lot of N64 games use lights per point, and i think that we can generate "bump mapping" or pixel shadows...

Dreaming is free...

 

[Trotterwatch]

I think Orkin is experimenting with a lot of this sort of stuff at the moment, so maybe just maybe your dreams will come to fruition one day

 

[MuhMuh]

If this could be done to a videoplugin, nintendo64 emulation would get to a higher level. :bouncy: :bouncy: :bouncy:

edit: I dont even have a ati card... X_x Hopefully this can be done for nvidia-cards ,too!

 

[Toasty]

I, too, hope this can be done someday. Used in conjunction with high-res textures it would be almost like having an N64 title remade for Gamecube (or who knows, perhaps even better with enough tinkering).

 

[Federelli]

N-Patches won't work, simply because of how the models are made, and textures are mapped.
Models will look deformly round, and textures will repeat over extended areas.

 

[MiLO83]

And these "air plane" contraptions will never get off the ground without feathers, believe me, i'm the absolute authority on the topic.

 

[neo64]

Ok, then the next idea: why not make the plugin "dump" the model-files out so that they can be replaced just like the textures?

 

[Orkin]

Trotterwatch is correct. I did in fact at one point write a D3D plugin that used software n-patches, but it only worked in Mario 64 because I didn't take into account the N64's oddities (plus it only supported the Fast3D microcode), and it really didn't look that good. If I still have the source laying around I'll try to post it so others can see, but I doubt I still have it...that was years ago. And I didn't even have texturing implemented at the time.

To do it correctly, because of the N64's strange vertex processing pipeline, it would have to be done in software instead of on the GPU and in homogeneous space instead of model space. Thing is, I'm not sure how the math would work in 4-D instead of 3-D...

On second thought...hmmm...

 

[Snatch5003]

:icecream: i luv that saying :icecream:

 

[Rice]

I know that "...hmmmm..." is Orkin's signature for something magnificant to come soon.

 

[Nin_10_Dough]

yeah, I get a happy feeling when he says that............in my pants!

It would be interesting if this was possible, but I'd imagine it would be a huge strain on the system.

 

[Orkin]

Hmmm...

 

[smcd]

Sexy!

 

[Orkin]

Now before you all get too excited, there are still a few issues:

• Speed: my Athlon XP 1700+ can't keep up with TRUFORM enabled. However, newer, faster CPUs may not have trouble here.
• Gaps: Some places where triangles meet don't line up correctly after being TRUFORMed. May be possible to render original geometry first, to fill in gaps.
• "Fat" Models: Makes models look "fat". May be able to add a slider to adjust amount of TRUFORMing.
• Other errors mostly with objects that are meant to be blocky and world geometry getting rounded. May be able to apply normal thresholds and static geometry detection through matrix analysis to alleviate the trouble

I may be able to get these sorted out. If not, this will just be another novelty option to add to Direct64's config dialog...

 

[optimus$prime]

wow very impressive!
this is awesome :bouncy:


what kind of gfx card do you use?

 

[WildSOfT]

Very nice enhancement! This makes characters in N64 games look much better.

Way to go Orkin!

 

[optimus$prime]

Very nice enhancement! This makes characters in N64 games look much better.

Way to go Orkin!

hmmmm i think everything that has polygons should look better :happy: