The Sacred 2 NPC Portrait Project

[Flix 5,116]

1 hour ago, Hooyaah said:

As anticipated, there was a response with a very verbose list of complaints. Is it possible to have a Patch that only fixes the memory leak issue and any other crucial changes? It's an unfortunate fact of life, but one cannot please everybody all the time.

There would be at least 682 versions of the Community Patch, if we tried to please everyone.  

Dude will survive. He said he wanted to play the same old Sacred 2 he remembered, well he can always get exactly that with a fresh install, warts and all.

[Hooyaah 2,816]

Well, then the purists will never be satisfied. As for me, I appreciate the changes that have been and are anticipated to be made. Improvement is a good thing and it's regrettable that many of the originally intended visions for the game were never accomplished by the developers. I understand that there are numerous reasons for that fact.

My apologies for getting off topic. Of course, the cost and time it would have taken to provide such quality images as found by Flix in the Portrait Project, is why such a thing may now be added as yet another endearing element and its captivating detail compliments Sacred 2 as a true work of art. Does not every work of art possess flaws? Indeed, for we may strive for perfection, still, we shall never attain it. So instead, it is best we endeavor for excellence and in so doing find satiety in our accomplishments.

[SANGEL 13]

On 4/23/2020 at 5:20 AM, gogoblender said:

I missed this... really:) Neural net...animated portraits?

gogo

@Flix  @gogoblender

Yeah,the harder part is where could I collect all those artistic portraits.

The only place I know is deviant art.(I'm by no means an artist.)

 

If you could lead me to places with more of those headshots, I might as 

well train one from scratch. 

 

The only other option I have is to scrap from google or use bing's image api,

though those images are often not of very high quality.

 

Current generative nets aren't perfect, so you could expect some really

funny generations, actually I roll my own architecture, so much of 

the flaws of stylegan2 or stargan2 could be avoided.

 

I guess some portion of those generated images are actually useable, so Flix

could use them in his MODs without concerns for 'copy left'

infringement. They are more 'original' based on your own interpretation.

 

There are some techniques to give image depth and make it look 

3D, yet again, it's not like they always work so well, but I guess some pictures might 

look really good.

 

There some one shot motion transfering tricks being used constantly in deepfakes,

so we could animate the portrait a bit and make it smile or cry, blinking eyes and the alike.

 

I'm not really sure how much time I could actually spend on this project, so no release date

promise.  Data cleaning is notoriously time consuming, but hey I think this is a cool initiative!!

Edited May 7, 2020 by SANGEL

[Flix 5,116]

18 hours ago, SANGEL said:

If you could lead me to places with more of those headshots, I might as 

well train one from scratch. 

There's no one place where they're located, they're accumulated one by one and standardized in a lot of ways (size, orientation, saturation) to look cohesive.  I guess I could just share the ones I've done so far and those could be used for the experiment.  Will see about that later when I get home.  I'm really more curious about the results more than I feel I really need more portraits.

[gogoblender 3,068]

21 hours ago, SANGEL said:

@Flix  @gogoblender

Yeah,the harder part is where could I collect all those artistic portraits.

The only place I know is deviant art.(I'm by no means an artist.)

 

If you could lead me to places with more of those headshots, I might as 

well train one from scratch. 

 

The only other option I have is to scrap from google or use bing's image api,

though those images are often not of very high quality.

 

Current generative nets aren't perfect, so you could expect some really

funny generations, actually I roll my own architecture, so much of 

the flaws of stylegan2 or stargan2 could be avoided.

 

I guess some portion of those generated images are actually useable, so Flix

could use them in his MODs without concerns for 'copy left'

infringement. They are more 'original' based on your own interpretation.

 

There are some techniques to give image depth and make it look 

3D, yet again, it's not like they always work so well, but I guess some pictures might 

look really good.

 

There some one shot motion transfering tricks being used constantly in deepfakes,

so we could animate the portrait a bit and make it smile or cry, blinking eyes and the alike.

 

I'm not really sure how much time I could actually spend on this project, so no release date

promise.  Data cleaning is notoriously time consuming, but hey I think this is a cool initiative!!

 

2 hours ago, Flix said:

There's no one place where they're located, they're accumulated one by one and standardized in a lot of ways (size, orientation, saturation) to look cohesive.  I guess I could just share the ones I've done so far and those could be used for the experiment.  Will see about that later when I get home.  I'm really more curious about the results more than I feel I really need more portraits.

I cant even imagine how this is going to look... the images will become unique ... all native to this spawn to be used for this mod?

gogo

[SANGEL 13]

@Flix

Thanks a lot! There are lots of research going on around generative nets,

though now it still has its flaws(Weird looking failed samples, can't generalize well.(Lots of generated pics look the same)) .

But hey, I think I'll be constantly reading papers and stuff and incorporate the latest improvement to the network architecture.

And then I'll try on this dataset again, you know, rinse and repeat, maybe it will grow into something, who knows.

@gogoblender

Yes, it will look somewhat like the original portraits.

I'll quote someone who put it more accurately:

Quote

It's like stealing from lots of artists at once, so you generalize and it becomes your own style. 

The generated pictures will look better if we have a bigger dataset.

The most tedious and inglorious job is actually cleaning the data(Sizing, upscaling,handpick,augmentations and stuff)

Training from scratch with 4 2080tis generally takes about 5 days to a week.

However, I have to stop my machine once every two days so it won't malfunction from

overheating and stuff. 

As I only have 2 2080tis, I'll train on cloud and use my own for the last mile.

The current generative architectures are really good with texture but fall short on lines and stuff.

I hope it will turn out alright,if not, I'll just keep on trying.

One more thing, I'll grab the data and try it out, no promises on release date,

it will be ready when it's ready!!

 

[Flix 5,116]

1 hour ago, SANGEL said:

I hope it will turn out alright,if not, I'll just keep on trying.

One more thing, I'll grab the data and try it out, no promises on release date,

it will be ready when it's ready!

Ok I sent you a PM with the link.  I'd rather not have a half-finished version of the mod floating around publicly.

There's no pressure to present any results to me, I'm just curious is all.  Whenever/whatever comes of the experiment is all well and good with me.  

[gogoblender 3,068]

22 hours ago, SANGEL said:

 

Yes, it will look somewhat like the original portraits.

 

The generated pictures will look better if we have a bigger dataset.

 

 

Are there any examples of before and after pictures of what happens when this is done just for some context? I'm fascinated by the idea of creating unique new pictures/content from ... squeezing together old ?

gogo

[Sonichi 4]

I came to the forums just to thank you for your work on this fantastic game. I am so eagerly anticipating the release of this sub mod for the Enhanced Edition. I love lore friendly additions like this and the custom art adds so much flavor to an already rich world. Please keep up the great work it is much appreciated. Thank you.

[Flix 5,116]

12 hours ago, Sonichi said:

I came to the forums just to thank you for your work on this fantastic game. I am so eagerly anticipating the release of this sub mod for the Enhanced Edition. I love lore friendly additions like this and the custom art adds so much flavor to an already rich world. Please keep up the great work it is much appreciated. Thank you.

Thanks for the encouragement. I hope to return to the project soon.  

[Flix 5,116]

Work has resumed on the Portrait Project.

This week I am working on Dragons.  

 

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[gogoblender 3,068]

Flix, this is gonna be my absolute favorite!

gogo

[lacr 60]

Oh, my! This makes sacred looking like baldur's gate! what a deceit!

[Flix 5,116]

Finished Undead portraits this week.  Gives me the creeps working on this late at night.  

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[gogoblender 3,068]

ha... lol Flix i get the insomnia... I guess you have to get really close up to the images to see what "haunts" us most.. some these eyes just give me the creeps

all in all to say... what a great job you've done of finding us the most terrifying images!

 

gogo

 

p.s. I think a part of the appreciative feeling im also getting here is to able to use the microscope your work gifts us with while doing your project to reset my "filter" on the work the devs put into their small little portraits...there is great work here as well.. a lot of thought and care...I can see why you approach this game's art with reverence. 

[Flix 5,116]

38 minutes ago, gogoblender said:

p.s. I think a part of the appreciative feeling im also getting here is to able to use the microscope your work gifts us with while doing your project to reset my "filter" on the work the devs put into their small little portraits...there is great work here as well.. a lot of thought and care...I can see why you approach this game's art with reverence. 

Yes, I think it's interesting just to see the original portraits arranged in a group like that, though I only did it to make my work easier.

I spend more time than anyone would likely believe working on hair, eye, skin, and clothing color to make them match the original.  Ideally you should be able to switch between looking at each old/new portrait and feel that you are without a doubt looking at a representation of the same creature.

[SwiftManslayer 3]

Quite a large undertaking that you've committed to here, I respect the dedication. The portraits remind me of Neverwinter Nights, can't exactly remember how all the portraits in that game looked but you could use some of them as a resource perhaps, if you haven't already. They all look amazing. Well, assuming there's no copyright issues or anything along that wavelength.

Current images look great and really do match their respective in game models, great work  

[Flix 5,116]

I have not forgotten about this project!

I had a fit of creativity this weekend and knocked out another chunk of portraits: Wild Animals are done!

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[gogoblender 3,068]

The best part is always what you yourself "see" in the original version and seeing what traits you take as valuable and having them manifest in your iteration.

This is always a sumptuous feast of visual juxtaposition for me

thanks for what must have been (dont try and convince me it wasn't )

a long bit of work

gogo

[Hooyaah 2,816]

Ben, I can hardly wait to see your project completed and it seems that you are nearly finished. It will surely add a new flavor to the vanilla taste of the original portraits. Your hard work is amazing and much appreciated!

[Flix 5,116]

Well it's very charitable to say it's nearly finished.  I made myself a to-do list (now published in the first post) and there's still a ways to go.  I'd estimate I've done around just over half the portraits.

That doesn't necessarily mean it will take 4 more months.  I'm chipping away at them all slowly but surely.

[gogoblender 3,068]

22 hours ago, Flix said:

Well it's very charitable to say it's nearly finished.  I made myself a to-do list (now published in the first post) and there's still a ways to go.  I'd estimate I've done around just over half the portraits.

That doesn't necessarily mean it will take 4 more months.  I'm chipping away at them all slowly but surely.

I love the remake of the turtles... kinda got a thing for them

 

.. loved how they were characterized in the game but always wanted to see even more of their faces...the ones you've used are very exciting and in fact make them far more scary 

 

gogo

[Flix 5,116]

1 hour ago, gogoblender said:

I love the remake of the turtles... kinda got a thing for them

.. loved how they were characterized in the game but always wanted to see even more of their faces...the ones you've used are very exciting and in fact make them far more scary 

gogo

Turtles in Sacred 2 are interesting creatures. They have the massive size and log legs of land-dwelling tortoises, but also the spiky armored shells and vicious beaks of alligator snapping turtles.

Makes me relieved there aren't actually such animals on the beach.  

[Flix 5,116]

Enemies with the classification of "Monster" are completed.

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[Flix 5,116]

Knocked out a few more smaller groups of portraits today.

Garema

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Mechanical

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Seraphim

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