Speedybeef
@speedybeef.bsky.social
gonna document my potentially disastrous attempts to remake some Xenogears stuff - just starting with Fei and Elly for now - i don't want to commit to more than i can manage!
the original still looks more charming with its whimsical trailing sparks effects, I don't know how to do any of that yet 😭 #Xenogears
November 24, 2025 at 11:00 AM
the original still looks more charming with its whimsical trailing sparks effects, I don't know how to do any of that yet 😭 #Xenogears
didn't actually get the chair finished but its fine from this distance (play Intangible Treasure when looking at this!) #xenogears
November 23, 2025 at 10:36 PM
didn't actually get the chair finished but its fine from this distance (play Intangible Treasure when looking at this!) #xenogears
oh and it looks nicer with the filter applied, if I ever get it working on the hair alone
November 9, 2025 at 10:18 PM
oh and it looks nicer with the filter applied, if I ever get it working on the hair alone
just uses this texture added on top
November 9, 2025 at 10:16 PM
just uses this texture added on top
oh i'm really pleased with this one! I got the fake hair highlight working! Things that are just taken for granted when rendering more normal stuff, but with the toons style it needs adding manually
November 9, 2025 at 10:14 PM
oh i'm really pleased with this one! I got the fake hair highlight working! Things that are just taken for granted when rendering more normal stuff, but with the toons style it needs adding manually
love the core crystal "animation"!
November 9, 2025 at 5:45 PM
love the core crystal "animation"!
other effects I've made are the hatching on clothing. Quite like it
November 9, 2025 at 5:35 PM
other effects I've made are the hatching on clothing. Quite like it
made a funky painterly PP filter (99% copied from a brilliant tutorial, would never have managed it on my own 😭). I intend to only have it affect hair only, but here it is on everything for now. Looks interesting at least
November 9, 2025 at 5:29 PM
made a funky painterly PP filter (99% copied from a brilliant tutorial, would never have managed it on my own 😭). I intend to only have it affect hair only, but here it is on everything for now. Looks interesting at least
oh lol in my hurry to test the functionality I didn't realise the imported model still retained its original vertex colours from Monolith, but they got nerfed when I merged the objects into one actor. A simple checkbox stops that 😅 Absolutely EVERYTHING is a steep learning curve
November 7, 2025 at 6:53 PM
oh lol in my hurry to test the functionality I didn't realise the imported model still retained its original vertex colours from Monolith, but they got nerfed when I merged the objects into one actor. A simple checkbox stops that 😅 Absolutely EVERYTHING is a steep learning curve
And I got that working too :D Just roughly painted the verts to test, I'd spend some time making sure its done properly when doing it for real
November 7, 2025 at 6:12 PM
And I got that working too :D Just roughly painted the verts to test, I'd spend some time making sure its done properly when doing it for real
ah might as well how how it looks with the sun rotating sideways too - before and after in the same clip
November 6, 2025 at 8:00 PM
ah might as well how how it looks with the sun rotating sideways too - before and after in the same clip
I mentioned it before, but its nice to basically confirm that my previous thinking that vertex colours on the neck are for blending between the "normal" and "face specific" lighting. I'll have to figure out how to do it too eventually!
November 6, 2025 at 7:55 PM
I mentioned it before, but its nice to basically confirm that my previous thinking that vertex colours on the neck are for blending between the "normal" and "face specific" lighting. I'll have to figure out how to do it too eventually!
This is how it looks with the face receiving lighting normally - truly horrifying. Still tons of other improvements required, but it was a nice little step forward
November 6, 2025 at 7:54 PM
This is how it looks with the face receiving lighting normally - truly horrifying. Still tons of other improvements required, but it was a nice little step forward
However I've also been trying to put together a toon/cel shader, and I figured out how to lock the sun direction cast on the face vertically, leaving the rest intact (Horizontal rotation of the sun still works as normal, as it should).
The "Before" video is in the next post!
The "Before" video is in the next post!
November 6, 2025 at 7:54 PM
However I've also been trying to put together a toon/cel shader, and I figured out how to lock the sun direction cast on the face vertically, leaving the rest intact (Horizontal rotation of the sun still works as normal, as it should).
The "Before" video is in the next post!
The "Before" video is in the next post!
Some super quick examples! Second pic showing the setup - probably far from the best way of doing it, but it works!
October 4, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Some super quick examples! Second pic showing the setup - probably far from the best way of doing it, but it works!
Spent an embarrassingly long time fumbling around on this today, but I got something I'm pretty pleased with:
October 4, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Spent an embarrassingly long time fumbling around on this today, but I got something I'm pretty pleased with:
And finally the most interesting to me as its the most mysterious: the blend into purple below the chin on his head. I can only guess, but I suspect this info is potentially being used to help differentiate between "special face shading" and the rest of the skin-
October 2, 2025 at 7:06 PM
And finally the most interesting to me as its the most mysterious: the blend into purple below the chin on his head. I can only guess, but I suspect this info is potentially being used to help differentiate between "special face shading" and the rest of the skin-
Green seems to be used to dictate render order. In-game, the eyebrows/eyelashes are always rendered in front of the hair, as a stylistic choice. And the purple of the hair shadow may also be related, as they too render in an unusual order (on top of the eyebrows but behind the hair!)
October 2, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Green seems to be used to dictate render order. In-game, the eyebrows/eyelashes are always rendered in front of the hair, as a stylistic choice. And the purple of the hair shadow may also be related, as they too render in an unusual order (on top of the eyebrows but behind the hair!)
Side note: Its also a really efficient way to deal with AO on hair - as it means the hair strands UVs can all overlap. You can use more than one set of UVs (the second can be non-overlapping in order to bake AO), but this way means just one simple UV set is required!
October 2, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Side note: Its also a really efficient way to deal with AO on hair - as it means the hair strands UVs can all overlap. You can use more than one set of UVs (the second can be non-overlapping in order to bake AO), but this way means just one simple UV set is required!
Most obvious is the shade of red on the skin and hair. This is almost definitely Ambient Occlusion, which can add some nice depth. Typically this is just baked onto a texture, as shown on his trunks - though I suspect for stylised cel-shading, this is sufficient!
October 2, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Most obvious is the shade of red on the skin and hair. This is almost definitely Ambient Occlusion, which can add some nice depth. Typically this is just baked onto a texture, as shown on his trunks - though I suspect for stylised cel-shading, this is sufficient!
🧵 Here is a look into how Vertex Colours are used in Xenoblade 3!
I've put together a short thread with my best guesses
This first pic is just Noah with the vertex colours overlayed on top of his materials. However I'll remove the materials so its even clearer going forward
I've put together a short thread with my best guesses
This first pic is just Noah with the vertex colours overlayed on top of his materials. However I'll remove the materials so its even clearer going forward
October 2, 2025 at 7:06 PM
🧵 Here is a look into how Vertex Colours are used in Xenoblade 3!
I've put together a short thread with my best guesses
This first pic is just Noah with the vertex colours overlayed on top of his materials. However I'll remove the materials so its even clearer going forward
I've put together a short thread with my best guesses
This first pic is just Noah with the vertex colours overlayed on top of his materials. However I'll remove the materials so its even clearer going forward
First set of homemade textures to replace the XC3 ones - eyes! Quite pleased with the result. I won't be happy until I've replaced everything, but its nice to get a start
October 1, 2025 at 7:49 PM
First set of homemade textures to replace the XC3 ones - eyes! Quite pleased with the result. I won't be happy until I've replaced everything, but its nice to get a start
alright this is no surprise to anyone with any 3d art experience, but its cool nonetheless imo; Normal maps do SO MUCH heavy lifting! And they stand up to close scrutiny too - they still look great on a 4k display, which is insane given the game is i think 720p max?
October 1, 2025 at 12:21 PM
alright this is no surprise to anyone with any 3d art experience, but its cool nonetheless imo; Normal maps do SO MUCH heavy lifting! And they stand up to close scrutiny too - they still look great on a 4k display, which is insane given the game is i think 720p max?
One thing Monolith do which I love is blending the lower eyelid using vertex alphas (as kindly demonstrated by A); so where its black will be fully transparent ingame, giving that lovely soft look. Second pic is from ingame - also note the eyelashes and eyebrowns rendering in front of the hair!
October 1, 2025 at 11:44 AM
One thing Monolith do which I love is blending the lower eyelid using vertex alphas (as kindly demonstrated by A); so where its black will be fully transparent ingame, giving that lovely soft look. Second pic is from ingame - also note the eyelashes and eyebrowns rendering in front of the hair!