I think we all knew/know this comment would come (probably already has 9001 times) when we shifted away from UMA zombies back to hand crafted HD zombies.
Let me start off by saying HD zombies was a GREAT call, the game has never looked better and can't wait for all the rest of the HD makeovers for Zed and players coming up!!
SO... I had a thought that "might" be able to address the "issue" of Zeds feeling repetitive, but does so using only existing assets and work done, so here it is:
TLDNR: Let zombies spawn with one UMA slot & a Dye 'mod' just like items
Basically, as a start-point, instead of full UMA profiles for Zeds, just like Weapon mods & loot, have Zombies able spawn a random DYE that recolours the entire model (or to be more complicated you can make it apply to specific parts -- ie: shirts primarily, maybe hair as well to a degree?).
In terms of "work" on the HD models themselves, I'd say nothing other than perhaps change all Shirt/top Fabric colours to a base natural 'white top' (business suit zed is already "ready to test" I suppose so it better highlights the dye applied, where as the darkness, skin ton and rest of the model 'should' be less affected and not "too coloured", but still unique in a way.
... now, realistically it likely will look "not great" at first (if it is as I imagine by looking like a Disco of zombies) with out some fine tuning of brightness levels and saturations within the models themselves to better "compensate" for the dyes/variability, but it IS an very easy thing to test and see if theres hope, and uses all existing work/assets.
I'm sure with all the skills/knowhow TFP have by now, they could do so much more than just this basic "Dye-All" adn truly make them look good with the least impact on performance.
I'm sure it's more work than I let on, but I would imagine it easier and less intense than making colour variations/.new assets to load for every zed individually if we want some diversity.
Just a thought for some inspiration is all!!
Sample of my crummy photoshop skills for the "disco zombie" dye:
"worst-case" disco zombies Dye example -- for concept visualization & inspiration only!!! --> https://ibb.co/6grDphY
Let me start off by saying HD zombies was a GREAT call, the game has never looked better and can't wait for all the rest of the HD makeovers for Zed and players coming up!!
SO... I had a thought that "might" be able to address the "issue" of Zeds feeling repetitive, but does so using only existing assets and work done, so here it is:
TLDNR: Let zombies spawn with one UMA slot & a Dye 'mod' just like items
Basically, as a start-point, instead of full UMA profiles for Zeds, just like Weapon mods & loot, have Zombies able spawn a random DYE that recolours the entire model (or to be more complicated you can make it apply to specific parts -- ie: shirts primarily, maybe hair as well to a degree?).
In terms of "work" on the HD models themselves, I'd say nothing other than perhaps change all Shirt/top Fabric colours to a base natural 'white top' (business suit zed is already "ready to test" I suppose so it better highlights the dye applied, where as the darkness, skin ton and rest of the model 'should' be less affected and not "too coloured", but still unique in a way.
... now, realistically it likely will look "not great" at first (if it is as I imagine by looking like a Disco of zombies) with out some fine tuning of brightness levels and saturations within the models themselves to better "compensate" for the dyes/variability, but it IS an very easy thing to test and see if theres hope, and uses all existing work/assets.
I'm sure with all the skills/knowhow TFP have by now, they could do so much more than just this basic "Dye-All" adn truly make them look good with the least impact on performance.
I'm sure it's more work than I let on, but I would imagine it easier and less intense than making colour variations/.new assets to load for every zed individually if we want some diversity.
Just a thought for some inspiration is all!!
Sample of my crummy photoshop skills for the "disco zombie" dye:
"worst-case" disco zombies Dye example -- for concept visualization & inspiration only!!! --> https://ibb.co/6grDphY
