Sunday, September 24, 2023

TF2: "Reforestation [Casual @ Uncletopia]"

Reforestation [Casual @ Uncletopia]

Additional video info

Demo date range: 2021-12-05 – 2022-04-08
Project start: 2023/09/05
Project end/upload date: 2023/09/24
Server: Uncletopia (AU)
Music used: "To Sunshine Forest" (slight edit by me, see below) and "Forest Prayer Sanctuary" by Shogo Sakai, from the Mother 3 soundtrack

⚠️ May include slight spoilers to starting areas of Mother 3.

Overview ⭕

Backend

After last video, worked on some the HUD and prepared my demo record scripts I use with P-REC for upload on Gamebanana:

Then after that, did some tests to test the lag of direct screen capture vs in-game render of demos.

The advantages of direct screen capture outweigh the render since I currently have decent PC specs, had worse before which was when in-game render was necessary for demos. Even with in-game render there may be some situations where the lag/stutter is baked in the demo itself – for example: the intro camera movement to first-person in the video had lag, even with in-game render (should be less affected by hardware-related lag), so I edited some frames out of the render/output/image sequence to make it smoother.

Unsure if this is too technical when I talk about the demo recording but can't explain it every time, I started a steam guide about demo recording, most likely take long time when things come to me, especially more focused to get videos out as one person, need to secure this profession. Feel free to skip ahead if you don't have interest about demo recording process, but hopefully useful to those who want to adapt my processes for their own use. Don't want to keep this some sort of "trade secret".

See also my BuyMeACoffee posts (this blogpost should be more convenient as overview):


Pyro video

Been while since last pyro-specific video. There was a little taste of pyro in "ConFlicKtest" but pyro wasn't fully the focus.

Since my demo-recording scare, I felt more inclined to make a video of one of my favorite/"main" classes – pyro (other is huntsman sniper). Nowadays harder to say more definitively what a favorite is since you can change playstyles, pre-empt enemy movement to decide how to play into your strengths – many ways to approach/solve an interaction on the battlefield – which I hope I can show you more in video.

Why the reluctance? Still some lingering disappointment from old inspiration I've long renounced. Always the concern in the back of head ending up like a cruel person or worse, irresponsible/unaccountable/apathetic. Time goes on, bigger fish to fry, better destinies bring to fruition. Can only hope to grow what whatever adversity finds me. So here is me. "Bing Soy". Not anyone else, I will make my own accomplishments and mistakes.


Camera angles

Most of the killing blows are shown in third-person. Less emphasis on my perspective, interesting how things look outside of first-person. Shifting some emphasis on the other players/server who help make this possible.


Proof-watching

Toward the end, I rewatched the video many times, especially the uploaded version on YouTube. In retrospect, I could've saved some time by watching more before upload but in the end, I caught some mistakes and fixed them.

Some mistakes include:

  • forgetting to list previous concurrent donators
  • black bar effect ending too early
  • damage indicator in hud stuck, rerecord
  • out-of-place ragdoll in demo record messing with shot continuity, rerecord
  • intro had lag in camera movement, rerecord still had lag, so edited some frames out
  • double audio, forgetting to mute music track, used extra composites shots to help with post-processing including audio mixing consistently to -6 dB
  • rendering glitch, displaced layer unintended move for a frame, likely happened from changing audio devices/bluetooth in middle of rendering

Some other "mistakes", but more considered better editing decisions such as ducking the music in the badwater scout clip, so viewer can hear the scout approach – a key element of the frag.

Mini-animation of scout in Krita,
accentuates the sound-relevant clip

On Nintendo not releasing official Mother 3 english translation + console exclusivity

Even if nintendo decided to remake or make official translation port of Mother 3 for their most recent console (Nintendo switch), they seem insist on console exclusivity no matter what, and they aren't the only ones - Sony's Playstations, Microsoft's Xboxes.

I don't like console exclusives, especially when PCs have become much more available and viable for more people – games meant to be sold to many people but prorprietary and not widely avaiable in the age of decent and affordable PC hardware?

Why would I want to inconvenience myself with another piece of hardware just to play a console exclusive to configure when my PC is perfectly competent to run games like TF2? I feel less inclined to support a company who cares more about keeping things exclusive in this current time/century rather than make their games widely available on PC. Supporting a business makes you complicit with their activities, like buying delicious meat from the grocery store or supporting my channel – I know things far from simple, but the money comes from people.

I'm not an expert and much to learn in life but I will list some concerns anyway. What of e-waste from the result of upgrading a game console? Are gaming consoles planned obselescence? Same could be said about PCs but they have many more uses than gaming. Giving up on the PC market place? Is it to do with public image/reputation of delivering a consistent experience connected to the brand of Nintendo? Is the price of the console + games + "membership" + exclusivity worth it?

I'm not well versed on Nintendo's stance on emulation (seems to be aggressive/non-supportive), but I will continue and appreciate the hell out of these old games people worked very hard on. I do know they hate when people preserving their music on YouTube. "They" in this case is probably executives with shallow vision for the future of videogame preservation. So far, Nintendo hasn't messed with me. I hear how scary they are with their legal matters – right or wrong. I will continue to be respectful and transformative of the videogame music I use without being a market replacement for the source media I use, crediting the authors.

I don't feel I articulated this clearly enough but I want you to think about business practices, appropriate use of copyright law and possible implications for the future. Become smarter, as the future is always at stake.

I have no idea how many of Nintendo's employees (artists, composers, developers) agree with this. I imagine they are at the "mercy" of the executives that make the business and legal decisions.

Big thank you to emulator developers for unlocking/preserving these retro games (they are part of history and mine). If I release software/games/mods, I never want to be as anti-preservation/unreasonably aggressive as big corporations such as Nintendo, I could be delusionably idealist, but what's the alternative? Remember, you can be grateful for and criticize a company at the same time. Or even use a platform like YouTube but be supportive of reformation of unfair policies on platform. Things not always at odds.

See also:


Music choice 🎵

Music name/author

"To Sunshine Forest" (slight edit by me, see below) and "Forest Prayer Sanctuary" by Shogo Sakai from the soundtrack of Mother 3.

Usage in video

Since clips didn't fit a more intense action track such at the battle music, used a non-battle track to suit less intense, slower-paced video.

One of the early tracks used in Mother 3, helps reflect beginnings of channel, beginnings of playing on Uncletopia.

Been many years since I played Mother 3, little refresher playing the starting areas for reference and to get in Mother mindset. Lasting impression, good game. Power of love and adversity.


Hypno-pendulum/hyponosis/heartbeat/metronome/edit (slow-motion part)

When I had a main foundation of clips, I had some gaps to fill when I had to cut out some clips that didn't work well enough for the video - clips that weren't as methodical/too basic/slow with too little payoff/more on the mindless side like point blank airblast or a basic detjumpaxting kill that didn't look challenging enough. The borneo twofer clip initially was going to be an outtake but I decided on including it, with camera + slowdown effect to do the clip more justice.

Mother 3 has a musical combat system, my videos like to flow with the music used. Wanted to use a hypnosis effect which reveals the "heartbeat" of the music that helps you land consecutive hits. Speaking of, I considered it in the snakewater consective reflect clip, but it seemed too distracting; was strong enough to stand on own. The hypnosis effect I used is themed around Duster's hyponosis method using his hypno-pendulum. The PSI counterpart is Hyponosis α or Ω, used by Kumatora.

Being a non-battle track, there is no heartbeat track. so I edited the track slightly by using a Mother 3 soundfont, found the hypno-pendulum/hyponosis/heartbeat/metronome sample and, also doing slight time-shift to make the slow-motion part more smoothly go in and out of the normal tempo.


FL Studio

The soundfont patches + notes are:

  • Patch 113, "Type 0 @0x11a194"
    • E4 (cymbal crash)
  • Patch 128, "Type 128 @0x11a248"
    • C5, D5, E5, F5 (like a 1, 2 ,3 ,4 countdown) then G5 only – with whatever beat you want
The specific version of Mother 3 soundfont I used.

When recording the camera movement and main first person footage, I forgot to turn it back on for the first person part as the player model shakes frantically fast when I used in-game render method to more smoothly capture the camera movement. I figured I might as further flesh out the effect and made a pixel-art version of the 3D player model in bottom left corner so there is the little guy in the corner throughout the clip, moving to music, reflect musical combat of Mother 3. Even further, made pyro look like Duster in that effect, using the in-game effect subtly as to not get in the way too much.

Trace from reference + pixel art knowledge
 

Duster-pyro

References (to external media) 🔗

Kept it strictly on the music/game used this time.


Source material

Animation: B-roll Leder bell 🏃‍♂️

There was a break in the music where it loops, might as well do a little reference to Mother 3 to go with that breathing room after the more "intense" snakewater consecutive reflect clip.

Did a model hack using a suited scout and a sniper head to make Leder (also stretched the limbs a lot), edited some textures to make him, sniper "Flint" and engineer "Thomas" more alike to their original counterparts.

Scene set/themed on junction north of Tazmily village, a path leads to Sunshine Forest.

As usual, did some mocap to give more personal touch and helps get me more experienced with animation. Depending on how close the camera shot is to the mocap, refinement is more needed, seen in the credits segment which looked much more sloppy when unrefined.

Model hacking to create "Leder"
 

 

Credits segment 🙏 / Animation 🏃‍♂️

Back at it with another SFM credits sequence. Building upon the Leder animation, did an imitation of the forest santuary, found a church model from resident evil on the steam workshop, tried to make it look closer to the original counterpart in Mother 3. Even though I fiddle a lot, didn't want to spend too much time for the credits sequence to hack models together to make the scene more accurate. Decisions have to be made for your project.

Set/themed on Forest Prayer Sanctuary, near entrance of Sunshine Forest.

Source material

Made the dark dragon centerpiece from rathalos from Monster Hunter. Excluded Jonel, he's "outside" – scene variant where you attempt to walk past sanctuary.


Inserted the pyro at end to tie together back to the TF2 video. In this part of Mother 3 you pay your respects to the dark dragon, classic light and dark/good and evil decisions theme, I appreciate that theme – for example, you may see some of it in my "costumes" across my channels. In that sequence, the player inputs their name, bit of a 4th wall break – in this case, I am the player, ready to embark on this "adventure".

 

Birth
Had a large donation from person named binker, I was taken aback, wanted to do something special maybe drawing, so I asked, they request their comrade doggo avatar to draw. I make in Mother 3 artstyle, into dog-tank chimera.


 

 

 


Wanted to show the original console, used SFM again with a Gameboy Advance model to show the origin more.

More SFM, using screen replacement effect (tracking)

One point I grow more competent at animating something longer/complex, so I feel more inclined to upload again to my main animation channel to help branch out into non-TF2.

Title 📝

  • pyro of the general forest
  • The Forester
  • Pyro of de forest
  • Pyro of a general forest
  • general pyro of the forest
  • general forest pyro
  • general pyro in a general forest
  • GPiaGF
  • Reforestation ✅
  • Pyro of de Forest (deforest implies sharp implements such as ax, this isn't ax heavy video, but at least 2 ax)
  • DeReForest Pyro
  • DeReFoReSt PyRo
  • Deforest Deflector
  • Deforest Deflector Does Dice Chop (D4C for future pyro video)
  • Willem DeFoerest
  • General Forest Pyro
  • In General Forest
  • General Pyro in a General Forest

Settled in "Reforestation", bit of reprise from previous general pyro video "deforestation α", acknowledge past. Reclaiming, rebuilding something, something new, my own path but not completely on my own – help from Uncletopia, providing an acceptable casual TF2 experience that Valve's casual servers cannot, people I may meet on the way. Uncle Dane had vision of more balanced servers, I appreciate. Will you curse the darkness or light a flame if you have been let down?


Thumbnail 🖼️

Using SFM. Built upon the music used and the title "Reforestation". I used cp_snakewater_final1 for the scene, nice forest and was a map featured in one of the frags. In retrospect, may of considered cp_sunshine more since I had the SFM B-roll segment of Leder ringing the bell there, but it wasn't in one of the frags. Something to do with trying to have video thumbnail represent the video better while having some soft of flair/looks good, without being too flashy.

Chose this point of the map since in forest, with nature instead of the buildings and had a telephone pole, resembling a crucifix, like going to metaphorical church to find better path in spite of hardships and callback to Mother game's faith/religious themes. Put a spotlight to accentuate the telephone pole.

Tired pyro resting pose, but he may still have fight left in him to reclaim; rebuild; own destiny. Weapons used on the ground.

Added some flowers in the background to reference the Tazmily gerberas as seen in the B-roll Leder part too.


Timestamps + Demo/clip info 📽️

0:00 BEGIN
0:05 2021-12-05 @pl_barnblitz, "Fearful corner flare"
0:24 2021-12-09 @cp_powerhouse, "Surprise consecutive rocket reflects"
0:34 2022-01-31 #1 @pl_badwater, "Air-reflected and airblast-cratered soldier"
0:48 2022-02-04 @pl_pier, "Medic defense against aggressive divebombing soldier"
1:07 2022-02-06 @cp_snakewater_final1, "Consecutive reflect soldier-med combo cleanup"
1:33 ding
1:37 2022-03-13 @pl_thundermountain, "Scout on cart detected – axting deployed"
1:54 2022-03-31 @plr_pipeline, "Doorway disorientation"
2:17 2022-04-01 @pl_borneo, "2-for-1 knockback into reflected rocket special"
2:42 2022-04-08 @pl_badwater, "Loud building murderer receives precise retribution"
2:53 2022-03-31 #2 @plr_pipeline, "Everybody laughs"
3:21 CREDITS 💒

 

Pinned comments


Extended credits 

VFX ✨

 

Images 🔊

 

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