As I said in a comment on a previous post, I want to show a bit more of what goes into my textures. I've done the first part of the Hero's Tunic, and I'd like to share the steps it took to get it there. Remember, I welcome comments, If you see something I missed, or have an idea to improve a texture, let me know. I may just implement it.

I started with a piece of denim. I changed the hue to match the color, and I made sure that it was consistent so it didn't feel blotchy or tiled.

This may not seem like much, but its an important step. I blurred the texture a bit to help relieve the aliasing problem which becomes more apparent at a distance. 

Now this next step was where I started adding the other fabric used around the edges of the tunic. The type of fabric I used doesn't perfectly match the game (which was smooth), however I do get a little bit of artistic freedom. I'm also going for realism, and I think that a more durable fabric would have been used on the edges of the clothing. Let me know in the comments if you disagree, and what you would do if that is the case.

Finished the edges and added some stitching to hold it all together.

Can't forget the stitching!

More Stitching!

And here we start adding the first of many many many different shadings.

Continuing to refine...

After darkening under the stitches to make them feel more grounded, then rest of the tunic was just too light. I had to make some adjustments to balance it out.

After a bit more shadow correcting, and a few more details fixed under the arms we have the final texture.

What do you think?

Sometimes I forget how much love this game needed in the beginning. It almost feels wrong that I haven't completed enough to share yet, but I want to make sure you have the chance to see some of what this game can look like. These are some older textures I did, but I'm not sure if I ever shared them before.

The ground items still need work, but the clouds take my breath away every time I see them. I can't believe how awesome of a weather system Nintendo came up with, and then wasted it on low resolution clouds. Take a look:

While working on the heart piece, I decided to work on a few of the closeup textures. Today we have Link's Bracer and Chain-mail.

As some have pointed out, there are times where working a lot of detail into a smaller texture can create a sort of 'glitter' effect during motion. While I do what I can to reduce it, there are times (such as this chain-mail) where it is unavoidable. I had to make a choice between better close-up shots, or better distance visibility, I chose close-ups. When getting closer to a release I may make a scaled down version for those who don't like the glisten. (Although this effect can be reduced with higher anti-aliasing, but that takes more computational power)

I haven't started the border yet, but the glass is awesome. It looks even better in motion because all the details glisten.

Maybe I'll upload a video once I get the edges completed.

Alright... so.

I've got something in the works that I think you'll all love. I'm not quite ready to announce it yet, but its good news. I have been spending the past week mostly ripping and organizing new textures, so I don't have a lot to show at the moment for updates.

Expect some more updates in the next few days.

-SD

Landscapes, and characters are two completely different animals. Working on the landscapes, you need to make them flow together. Matching in color, saturation, density, and brightness. Characters, on the other hand, need to be precise and clear. While I am doing all the character textures, I will be making them as perfect as I possibly can. I want you to be able to play at 1080, or even 4K and get the full effect even during close up cinema scenes. This shield is the first of my new set of character textures. This will take a while though, this texture alone took nearly 8 hours from start to finish, with no breaks. It is also one of the largest in the collection 2048x2048. I will be putting the same care into all character, enemy, and NPC textures.

Sometimes I'll jump around and do something fun to keep it from getting repetitive... today it was RED HOT MAGMA.
... Uploaded a video to let you see the animation. Look for the original screenshot in the Screenshots section.

I just updated to site to have the blog on the main page. This puts the most up to date content on the landing page, and makes it more in line with other blogs. I will still be updating other areas of the site, but at a slower rate. The blog is the first and best way to get updates.

That said, here is a newer WIP on the wolf texture:

Still have a few to go, but here's what it looks like so far.