Oolite Bulletins

Has anyone else done or tried using Ai to upscale the ship textures for example. I was bored so thought I'd have a go to see what would happen. I used the Yelloo Cabs that always looked a little rough in game for me, the lines for example. Anyway here's a couple of pics, see which you think is the original and which is upscaled with AI.

I upscaled by a factor of 2 the downscaled back to original size.




Looks really nice in game.

Yes, I have used AI upscaling for enlarging smalller textures but only as baselayer, sometimes you loose some details so I add these from the original diffuse map masked and enlarged with an appropriate interpolation...

Yeah I was quite surprised how well the Ai software did considering I use it mainly for photos. I also left the settings on default and on auto and the above pics were the result, and I obviously left the normal/maps and just did the texture.

All I need now is Ai to edit my DNA and reverse my aging.

NorthenderPNE wrote: ↑Sat Jun 04, 2022 9:22 am

..here's a couple of pics, see which you think is the original and which is upscaled with AI.

It looks like the top one retains a little more information in the darker areas, as if the bottom one has a tiny decrease of brightness and increase of contrast. The top one then feels flatter, with some depth added to the bottom one although a little detail is lost in the "burn" areas.

NorthenderPNE wrote: ↑Sat Jun 04, 2022 9:22 am

the Yelloo Cabs that always looked a little rough in game for me

I think you chose a pretty handsome test subject to start with. For a true illustration of the AI powers, see what happens with one of the old "stamp-sized" 256px textures from 2004.

Old Murgh wrote: ↑Sat Jun 04, 2022 10:52 am

It looks like the top one retains a little more information in the darker areas, as if the bottom one has a tiny decrease of brightness and increase of contrast. The top one then feels flatter, with some depth added to the bottom one although a little detail is lost in the "burn" areas.

Yeah top one is original and obviously the bottom is the Ai attempt to upscale. There were more settings to play with but opted on default just for curiosity's sake.

Old Murgh wrote: ↑Sat Jun 04, 2022 10:52 am

I think you chose a pretty handsome test subject to start with. For a true illustration of the AI powers, see what happens with one of the old "stamp-sized" 256px textures from 2004.

Yeah I have upscaled some small pics I had from years and years ago and depending on the state of the original it's mixed results. But you have to admit it's impressive how technology is moving forward. My sons are very lucky to be playing games right now and a great gaming future that I'm gonna get a taste of before my end is nigh.

NorthenderPNE wrote: ↑Sat Jun 04, 2022 12:35 pm

.. you have to admit it's impressive how technology is moving forward. My sons are very lucky to be playing games right now and a great gaming future that I'm gonna get a taste of before my end is nigh.

Yes, the possibilities are amazing.. But are not WE also lucky to have been blooded with Elite, seeded with uncommon levels of patience and zen-like immersion? How easy is it to pass that on to your sons?

Old Murgh wrote: ↑Sat Jun 04, 2022 7:38 pm

Yes, the possibilities are amazing.. But are not WE also lucky to have been blooded with Elite, seeded with uncommon levels of patience and zen-like immersion? How easy is it to pass that on to your sons?

Unfortunately they yawn at the thought of playing a game like ELITE or Oolite, they're more into Rust, COD and the battlefield style games. The mere thought of having to have a cup of tea or a sandwich while you wait in a docking queue is mind boggling to my sons. And when the docking music blasts from my surround sound speakers into their measly headphones I laugh at their copy and paste, year in year out gameplay.

Filling in those wireframe graffix with your own imagination is what made ELITE special.

NorthenderPNE wrote: ↑Sat Jun 04, 2022 9:30 pm

Unfortunately they yawn at the thought of playing a game like ELITE or Oolite, they're more into Rust, COD and the battlefield style games. The mere thought of having to have a cup of tea or a sandwich while you wait in a docking queue is mind boggling to my sons. And when the docking music blasts from my surround sound speakers into their measly headphones I laugh at their copy and paste, year in year out gameplay.

Filling in those wireframe graffix with your own imagination is what made ELITE special.

I suppose one can hope that there will come a day that they will favour a game that can be combined with tea. In many things our tastes evolve.
Just being the master of one's own playlist is a wonderful aspect of Oolite. A direct link to Elite with Tubular Bells and Oxygène on cassette.

Old Murgh wrote: ↑Sat Jun 04, 2022 7:38 pm

are not WE also lucky to have been blooded with Elite, seeded with uncommon levels of patience and zen-like immersion? How easy is it to pass that on to your sons?

(From experience) hard!
And even when they "get it" and generally agree with (or even secretly envy) oldschool gaming values..... the allure of cheating, "cheap" gaming and tactics, whatever crap everyone else their age is playing, and shiny pixels and models and newness of new games... is just too great. They can't even stand trying to play the Commander Keen series because it's "too hard" and they sneer at the "old games" dad plays! Puh-leez, when I was a lad "too hard" was just an invitation to prove that you played better and harder!

szaumix wrote: ↑Mon Jun 06, 2022 7:30 am

(From experience) hard!
And even when they "get it" and generally agree with (or even secretly envy) oldschool gaming values..... the allure of cheating, "cheap" gaming and tactics, whatever crap everyone else their age is playing, and shiny pixels and models and newness of new games... is just too great. They can't even stand trying to play the Commander Keen series because it's "too hard" and they sneer at the "old games" dad plays! Puh-leez, when I was a lad "too hard" was just an invitation to prove that you played better and harder!

My impressions are muddled. Young generations have all these high-pulse inducing elements imposed from everywhere, so it must be hard to ignore the spell of that rhythm. And along with the insane amount of choices, the influence of friends..

On the other hand, their parents now are so much younger. Mine and my friends' parents only knew how to play cards and boardgames. It's sad if that potential bond can't be kindled.

Then there is the uniqueness of the attraction. Even in the mid80s most of my friends thought my favourite game was boring and frustrating –even then, arcade and home cpu games were mostly quick and fast.

The odds of new recruits are slimming by the minute!

Rather than become the fourth Yorkshireman on this thread, I thought I'd offer that in some ways at least we had it (relatively...) easy!

[deleted]

Redspear wrote: ↑Mon Jun 06, 2022 10:37 am

Rather than become the fourth Yorkshireman on this thread, I thought I'd offer that in some ways at least we had it (relatively...) easy!

A Lancashire lad myself but I left a long long time ago, now living in a sunnier part of the UK. Anyway I'm finding myself back to Oolite and creating deluxe ships out of thin air via the config files. I like the Ophidian for example but upgrading seemed a downgrade from my Cobby III, so a deluxe model is about to be born but I'm sadly putting out of my price range currently. Yes I could cheat but where's the fun in that, besides it would reduce my tea and biscuit intake as I wait for the many docking queue's.

Griff's Ophidian has lovely lines!

NorthenderPNE wrote: ↑Mon Jun 06, 2022 1:14 pm

A Lancashire lad myself but I left a long long time ago, now living in a sunnier part of the UK.

Been to Deepdale lately?

Cody wrote: ↑Mon Jun 06, 2022 1:20 pm

Griff's Ophidian has lovely lines!

NorthenderPNE wrote: ↑Mon Jun 06, 2022 1:14 pm

A Lancashire lad myself but I left a long long time ago, now living in a sunnier part of the UK.

Been to Deepdale lately?

No mate, ain't been to Lancashire in a long while. Not much reason to head up North these days.