Project 1999 Trailer

[Xevin]

Ever since I saw the art ToddFX did (HERE (http://www.project1999.org/forums/showthread.php?t=18950)), I've been inspired. I'm obsessed with the idea of making a Project 1999 Trailer. It's been a while since the last time it's hit me this hard, but when it does, I have to just get it out of my system, otherwise I'll never get on with my life. (or actual work /sigh...)

I've been playing it over in my head and like always, I started with the background music. I took the original EverQuest intro music then re-sequenced things a little and used some nice instrument samples to really make it sound pretty good if I do say so myself. (I have absolutely no musical skills whatsoever) I think it sounds good, maybe someone that knows classical/soundtrack scoring could tell me if I'm right:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0K3K4TBT

So far the trailer (as it stands in my head) includes the following shots (in order):
Four passage text intro as the camera pulls back through original EQ concept art (ripped from the Prima guide)
1. It was the most revered MMORPG of all time
2. A home for thousands of players
3. Yet the vision that made it great is all but gone today (too wordy)
4. We seek to revive that vision...
(I know it's super corny and needs some reworking. Help. Please.)
<tempo change>
Fly through of a foggy Kelethin
Low angle shot of the statue of Kaladim
A sunny day at Kerra Isle
Entrance to HighKeep (if ToddFX will let me mess with the scene he made (plzplzplz!))
<tempo change>
Project 1999 Logo against a blue sky
Pan down to West Freeport Gates
Close up of the WFP Guards
Fly through of the EC Tunnel with LOADS of people in it
<piano section>
"Relive the Classic EverQuest Experience!" "Visit us at Project1999.org"

What I need:
Four passage text intro help
More original EQ concept art (not kunark/velious)
Entrance to HighKeep Scene Files (pleasepleaseplease Mr. ToddFX!!)
Project 1999 Logo (if there is one, if not I'll make one hehehe)
IDEAS!!! Seriously. Need them.

I'd love official P99 approval on this whole trailer thing, but either way I'm way past stopping this rollercoaster now. Blame ToddFX. He started it. =P

Update 11.28.2010:
Intro section with text - 90% Complete (need better phrases)
Kelethin - 100% Complete
Kaladim - 100% Complete
Kerra Isle - 100% Complete
P99 Logo - 99% Complete (need approval)
Freeport - 60% Complete (need to animate camera, render and post)
EC Tunnel - 0% Complete (haven't started on it)

[Taluvill]

It'd be cool if you played kelethin/rivervale music like it was on the old graphics cards, ya know?

[Bizarostormy]

Sounds like a good idea, music however is ... eh ... I would just stick with the original.

[skorge]

I cant even watch it man...that site u got it on sux. Why not put it on Youtube....

I think a good concept to P99 trailer would be to follow a newly created toon and skip forward as he progresses...pick a more popular race/class combo and progress him and skip forward (go from 1-50 in a matter of 1 minute)..at the end show him killing Nagafen or something....so at level one he's killing rats, by the end he's downing Nagafen. Show popular areas in between like EC etc...u know how it goes.

[Xevin]

Sounds like a good idea, music however is ... eh ... I would just stick with the original.

I am using the original music, but I updated it with real instruments. I only changed some minor parts to it and re-arranged a few things to make the beginning part. (needed a slow paced start) I also added some beat to it to make it more lively near the end.

I cant even watch it man...that site u got it on sux. Why not put it on Youtube....

I think a good concept to P99 trailer would be to follow a newly created toon and skip forward as he progresses...pick a more popular race/class combo and progress him and skip forward (go from 1-50 in a matter of 1 minute)..at the end show him killing Nagafen or something....so at level one he's killing rats, by the end he's downing Nagafen. Show popular areas in between like EC etc...u know how it goes.

Megaupload is for downloading, not viewing.

That's a neat idea, but it's beyond the scope of what I can do. I'd need a full team and a month of editing to make something like that happen hehe. Also I doubt I could get that to fit in 1:30 or less.

I'm gonna make the first part tonight with what I have so far. It should show you guys what I'm trying to do.

[Zarniwooop]

Its a great idea, but tough to compete with this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_b9n76F5KQ

Even though this one shows content up through PoP.

[Xevin]

Just a small update on the progress. I had a few free days over the long weekend and knocked out a few of the parts. Everything is working out great so far. I still need input/help on some things.

I posted some stills on the first post for everyone to see how its turning out.

What do you guys think of the P99 logo? Does it seem like it needs more grunge on the sword? It's a little too "clean" looking I think. Also if anyone knows the exact font of the original EQ logo, please tell me. I had to find a similar one, but now that its textured and beveled, I kind of like it.

[girth]

Gray on gray is kinda meh, otherwise those pictures look amazing.

[steve]

Sounds like a good idea, music however is ... eh ... I would just stick with the original.

I have to agree. I didn't care for the music. Stick with the original music, or make it sound more classic-like.

[nalkin]

can you tell us when you will begin filming so we can get in the video?

[Xevin]

Gray on gray is kinda meh, otherwise those pictures look amazing.

Yep. Gray BG is from the render. Imagine a blue sky behind it.

I have to agree. I didn't care for the music. Stick with the original music, or make it sound more classic-like.

Seems like there is universal hatred of my music skills. =( I guess I need to work on it more. I found a recording of the original intro music from back in the day on the good Awe 32 sound card. I'm going to make my version sound as close to that as I can. After listening to it a few times I realized I had a few of the instruments wrong on some parts. For instance I used a Tuba when it should have been a Tympani! The MIDIs I'm working from are just all over the place. None of the instruments are labeled and it isn't even close to beat mapping to measures or proper timing. I thought about getting some professional musicians to help me resequence the entire thing into proper orchestral form, but that's a bit more work then I wanted to put into the music. Maybe I will have to do this after all...

can you tell us when you will begin filming so we can get in the video?

I'm not filming anything. I'm using the method ToddFX discovered to export the geometry and textures of the game (imagine a 3D photo) and then I clean the geometry up, add bump maps and recreate the lighting. Then I add in other animations and animate the camera moves I want. Finally I render it out into a still frame sequence that I import into After Effects and add motion blur, bloom, color correction and other neato post effects. The entire process takes around 6 hours to complete per shot not including rendering time.

If you happen to be in the EC Tunnel when I capture that scene, you will be in the final shot, although only briefly as the camera will be moving quite fast.

[Ravhin]

Looks awesome. Your baby, your music choice. It's an interpretation of the classic theme, I kind of like it. Minus the french horn? That thing should go I think :)

[Dr4z3r]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n9acBvPaFw&NR=1&feature=fvwp

^ Seems to have been posted a while back, but updated in the description to mention P99.

[Dantes]

So then it looks nothing like the actual game. Hmm.

[Xevin]

So then it looks nothing like the actual game. Hmm.

You know what... Originally I was thinking this trailer would be a cinematic like they do for other modern games. So it was ok if the trailer looked better then the actual game play, but your comment made me realize something. There are going to be new players that don't entirely understand what Project 1999 is and think the devs have gone and remade EQ or something.

I don't want to confuse or trick new players in any way, so I'm gonna stop work on this little side project reconsider things a little more carefully. Maybe I'll do it with almost no graphical enhancements except new lighting or something small. I'll make it look slightly better, but not look like a totally new game.

For now I'm just going to work on the logo. That's something that can look non-classic! ;)

[Dantes]

Well, if you are making it for artistic reasons, for the sake of being creative - the sky is the limit. But it seems like if it's a trailer for P99 specifically, the sexy graphics would be false advertising.

[Pyrocat]

Wow, can I get a high res version of that Kerra Isle pic please?

[FatMagic]

Keep on with it man! Great job! I would think of this as the "Cinematic" for P99 instead of a "trailer" of the gameplay. Can't wait to see it in it's finality.

+1

[FatMagic]

You know what... Originally I was thinking this trailer would be a cinematic like they do for other modern games. So it was ok if the trailer looked better then the actual game play, but your comment made me realize something. There are going to be new players that don't entirely understand what Project 1999 is and think the devs have gone and remade EQ or something.

I don't want to confuse or trick new players in any way, so I'm gonna stop work on this little side project reconsider things a little more carefully. Maybe I'll do it with almost no graphical enhancements except new lighting or something small. I'll make it look slightly better, but not look like a totally new game.

For now I'm just going to work on the logo. That's something that can look non-classic! ;)

Aw comon keep with it!! And then make a 2nd trailer later with "actual gameplay" (Which would be vastly easier, and probably done in half the time)... don't let the masses kill it. It's your idea, run with it!

[Uthgaard]

I have to agree. I didn't care for the music. Stick with the original music, or make it sound more classic-like.
Seems like there is universal hatred of my music skills. =( I guess I need to work on it more.

Consider this one. It was part of the classic release, but never used in game.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/uzd88lbzmzna3ph/Unknown1.mp3

[Xevin]

Wow, can I get a high res version of that Kerra Isle pic please?

Made it a little better looking too. Here ya go:
http://img542.imageshack.us/img542/4870/kerraislewallpaper.jpg

Aw comon keep with it!! And then make a 2nd trailer later with "actual gameplay" (Which would be vastly easier, and probably done in half the time)... don't let the masses kill it. It's your idea, run with it!

Thanks for the encouraging words. I've been thinking about it and I will finish it. I only have 2 scenes left to do.

[Pyrocat]

Made it a little better looking too. Here ya go:
http://img542.imageshack.us/img542/4870/kerraislewallpaper.jpg

Beautiful, thanks.

[toddfx]

Very cool Xevin! I apologize I did not stumble upon this sooner, I got swamped with real life and did not check the forums in several weeks at least.

I love the idea of an EQ/P99 cinematic trailer. When I first began working on my images, I was envisioning slow cinematic camera moves just as you described, with a very Planet Earth quality. Planet Norrath! I just did not have the time to transform the stills to video.

If you still want the Highkeep file, I would be happy to hand it over to you. Just know that it is in 3D Studio Max format and is using VRay v2.0 for rendering. I am also doing a lot of post work on it in After Effects CS5. Of course I could always just give you the geometry and textures regardless of the application you are using. PM me and I can zip it up for you, if you think it will be usable.

Anyway, any more updates on your video?




Just some side notes:
-I always wanted to do an EC tunnel or EC inn shot as well. I love the dawn colors of the zone, with the sun just peeking over the sand dunes and rays of light cutting through the fog.

-A slightly different twist that's fun to think about is to go COMPLETELY Planet Earth style and concentrate entirely on the epic, grand scale of the wilderness. Imagine what East Commonlands or perhaps one of the Karana bridges could look like from above as if you were floating by in a hot air balloon. Or imagine the kind of shots you could get by flying a helicopter through Rathe Mountains or Lake Rathe. Maybe even incorporate some Hill Giants and shoot it like one of those establishing shots of Jurassic Park!

Anyway, I'm really hoping I can jump back into some EQ projects soon. Maybe I'll give some more of this stuff a shot, but I also have some character animation in mind that I want to play around with. We'll see though!

Great work here, I look forward to an update!

[Xevin]

I figured you got busy too. I know how that goes. I've been thinking about completing this little project for a while now.

I'm using 3ds Max with finalRender and After Effects CS5, so I should have no trouble using your project files. =) I'll send you a PM about this.

If you send me the Highkeep scene, I only have the EC tunnel to do, but its the hardest one to do. I wanted to have people running around and casting spells, the spells wouldn't be too hard, but the animation would be tricky. I think I would have to rig the in-game models which would take a while and I'm not that experienced with it (I've only done it twice).

Recently I've been thinking of changing things up from the original plan. As you can see most people didn't like that version of the theme I made, so I've spent the last few weeks restoring the original music to the best state I could (http://www.4shared.com/playlist/NMVgIEVN/EverQuest_Original_Soundtrack.html) and I think I want to take a few of the most popular songs and mix them together and make a kind of "Journey Through Norrath" type of video to go along with it. I just watched a bit of an episode of Planet Earth and WOW I'm going to watch the rest of that, but I see what you are saying and I like this alot. It would rely on exporting the entire zone with textures into 3ds max like you were trying to do. Did you ever accomplish that?

I think it will also need rigging and animating a few key mobs and players/npcs. All the shots I have so far are completely dead. I was hoping to hide it with the camera moves and environmental effects, but if there are many more scenes like that, I think people will start to get suspicious.

I really like your idea for a Rathe Mountains shot. I always loved the visual grandeur of Jurassic Park and I can completely picture that shot in my head.

I'm going to play with these ideas a little bit and maybe get a new plan for this.

[mitic]

Its a great idea, but tough to compete with this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_b9n76F5KQ

Even though this one shows content up through PoP.

uve never seen this one obv :D

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[Uthgaard]

Just some side notes:
-I always wanted to do an EC tunnel or EC inn shot as well. I love the dawn colors of the zone, with the sun just peeking over the sand dunes and rays of light cutting through the fog.

-A slightly different twist that's fun to think about is to go COMPLETELY Planet Earth style and concentrate entirely on the epic, grand scale of the wilderness. Imagine what East Commonlands or perhaps one of the Karana bridges could look like from above as if you were floating by in a hot air balloon. Or imagine the kind of shots you could get by flying a helicopter through Rathe Mountains or Lake Rathe.

I can show you what it would look like. While the beta server is up, this would be even easier.

[DevGrousis]

soo.. is this done yet? i wanna see it already :D

[fugazi]

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I always prefered Neriak's music over Kelethin's..