See, this is what modding is about - preference and options. Even though I'd probably never download this mod, I'm not unhappy that this or other younger/older character mods exist. To each their own and I hope people are more chill about all of this.
yep, hell Daraki, the author of the Younger Jaheria mod, took my parody rather well (something I was personally worried about), you can see our interaction further down in the comments. They actually introduced me to the wider bg3 modding community and are all round a pretty chill person.
tbh I am not sure if I would make this mod again if I had the choice, I don't like getting involved with drama and I am very lucky that Daraki was a good sport about it. Jokes like this are only funny if we're all laughing.
If there is a big demand for it I might do some more, tbh i'd probably be able to do a better job at it now that I know my way around how bg3's skin textures work lol.
I love the attempt, but some things look off still... The new texture looks much more blurry than the old one. And maybe thinning the lips out some more would match the age of the wrinkes.
you're right, I think a lot of the blurriness comes from some details getting lost due to DDS compression, which isn't really something I can avoid unfortunately. Though I did also have an issue where the images would jump from 72dpi to 300dpi when exporting between programs, so its possible that additional detail was lost between them getting scaled up and me being forced to scale them back down again. Its something I'm definitely going to keep in mind and watch out for in future.
Which programs are you using? I heartily recommend trying out Photoshop and the Nvidia DDS plugin, I get 0 degradation, I used to try working textures in GIMP then saving in PAINT.NET, Photoshop is honestly worth it if you plan on editing with textures.
@Daraki for unpacking and packing the map's I'm using gimp, and I'm editing the images in photoshop and using the Nbivia DSS plugin. (I'm a artist/graphic designer so adobe already owns my ass). bascialy work flow I had was that I would unpack the maps in gimp, do the editing in photoshop (because its what I'm more comfortable with), bring it back into gimp to repack it, exporting it as a png, opening said png in photoshop and then saving it as a DDS in the BC3/DTX5 format. I think the jumping to 300dpi happened when I exported the png from gimp, I should check the settings. The compression for DDS images will happen regardless, but I could also give upping the compression quality in the Nvidia addon to something higher, though my computer tends to scream at me when I try to save anything with a better level of compression for some reason.
also, gosh I really didn't expect the person who made the Younger Jaheira mod to find this so soon, I guess you could say that you're my inspiration lol. Jokes aside, thanks for being a bro about this and still offering advice.
That's an interesting work flow. I just open it up in Photoshop, then I'll go to the specific channel I need to, copy that to a new image that then becomes my basic "Project" file where I keep adding the various layers, do my work, then copy and paste it back to the channel in the original image. Then I just export it from there, no jumping between programs. I leave my compression quality on normal. But everyone has their own process. :D
Also, it's all good I like nerding out over texture stuff and your mod isn't mean spirited. I'm actually transitioning away from the "make up" mods and planning a series that adds more detail when able. I don't even use half my mods lol, they were requests.
"interesting" is one word for it lmao, but yeah. I did try working purely in photshop to start with, but found that Gimp just has better in built tools for channel packing, especially when it came to editing the alpha channel. Like in Gimp you can just extract the RGBA data into separate layers in just two clicks, and repack them just as easily. Photoshop is just a lot less straight forward with it. But now that I've done all this i'll be able to simplify the work flow.
Ah, a kindred spirit, I've tormented my friends many times with me nerding out/rambling about texture maps before lmao. Anyway, I wish you luck with the new direction!
Even though this is a parody mod I think its pretty cool to have nontheless, there aren't enough badass old ladies in media and there's no reason why they can't be involved in the story as something other than X person's grandma or a Hag, and Jaheira seems the type to be adventuring until she's 1001
thanks! and I completely agree with you, its why this mod is mostly a parody but also more than a bit genuine. I was ecstatic when I saw just how much detail was in bg3's skin, all the wrinkles, imperfections and holy s#*! are those visible pores?? Jaheira especially blew me away, both with how close she looks to her bg2 portrait but that the devs had the stones to make her actually look her age.
I mean, she should be in the range of 130 years old in BG3, an half elf naturaly lives twice as long as humans do so we are looking at 65 in human age.
In game she kept saying how she was "too old" for this, but I mean, can you picture a 65 year old person sword fighting healthy 20 year old's?
Druids can stop and reverse aging, but she states in game that she decided not to do so.
This mod certainly makes her look more like she SHOULD look.
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tbh I am not sure if I would make this mod again if I had the choice, I don't like getting involved with drama and I am very lucky that Daraki was a good sport about it. Jokes like this are only funny if we're all laughing.
bascialy work flow I had was that I would unpack the maps in gimp, do the editing in photoshop (because its what I'm more comfortable with), bring it back into gimp to repack it, exporting it as a png, opening said png in photoshop and then saving it as a DDS in the BC3/DTX5 format. I think the jumping to 300dpi happened when I exported the png from gimp, I should check the settings. The compression for DDS images will happen regardless, but I could also give upping the compression quality in the Nvidia addon to something higher, though my computer tends to scream at me when I try to save anything with a better level of compression for some reason.
also, gosh I really didn't expect the person who made the Younger Jaheira mod to find this so soon, I guess you could say that you're my inspiration lol. Jokes aside, thanks for being a bro about this and still offering advice.
Also, it's all good I like nerding out over texture stuff and your mod isn't mean spirited. I'm actually transitioning away from the "make up" mods and planning a series that adds more detail when able. I don't even use half my mods lol, they were requests.
built tools for channel packing, especially when it came to editing the alpha channel. Like in Gimp you can just extract the RGBA
data into separate layers in just two clicks, and repack them just as
easily. Photoshop is just a lot less straight forward with it. But now
that I've done all this i'll be able to simplify the work flow.
Ah, a kindred spirit, I've tormented my friends many times with me nerding
out/rambling about texture maps before lmao. Anyway, I wish you luck
with the new direction!
That or gave an in game explanation how she could be sword fighting humans in their 20's. (like how they did with Minsc)
In game she kept saying how she was "too old" for this, but I mean, can you picture a 65 year old person sword fighting healthy 20 year old's?
Druids can stop and reverse aging, but she states in game that she decided not to do so.
This mod certainly makes her look more like she SHOULD look.