Post AjISo0DB05kSYNovtg by foone@digipres.club
(DIR) More posts by foone@digipres.club
(DIR) Post #AjIPJukwQ3tr5GZiPw by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T19:34:32Z
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Anyone bought the Riven remake yet? Can you check the credits and tell me if I'm in it?(I'm supposed to be but I haven't heard anything since, and I don't have the cash to grab a copy yet)
(DIR) Post #AjIPT6uYb2H9O9SRXc by SnepperStepper@mastodon.social
2024-06-25T19:35:57Z
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@foone Riven: the remake of the sequel to Myst
(DIR) Post #AjIPjWkqHNNmAok3jU by FurryBeta@shark.community
2024-06-25T19:37:27Z
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@foone You’d think that if you’re in the credits, that they’d just give you a copy
(DIR) Post #AjIQB1jNDaHy40ASem by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T19:40:21Z
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@FurryBeta I could probably ask 'em, but if they didn't put me in the credits it'd be kinda presumptive
(DIR) Post #AjIQMWaUpjq8wwUwJE by light@inuh.net
2024-06-25T19:40:36Z
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@foone Yes you are, under "Special Thanks".
(DIR) Post #AjIQMXY3GJTjveMV8a by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T19:40:50Z
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@light awesome! Thanks.
(DIR) Post #AjIQMaJyx50UWsno7k by light@inuh.net
2024-06-25T19:41:05Z
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@foone SO COOL
(DIR) Post #AjIQaKllZPTWLmM1ia by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T19:41:02Z
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Turns out I am! Awesome.https://inuh.net/@light/112678956980208767
(DIR) Post #AjIQaMv3Zq5x1AiTTc by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T19:43:58Z
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The story is just that they were apparently having some trouble re-opening the original assets of Riven. Like, they had them all, but I guess it hadn't been well documented which version of the software they had used?So they got in touch with me and I did some minor software archeology to figure out1. Which version (of softimage, I think?) they were made in2. How to convert that to something they could open in modern 3d software.
(DIR) Post #AjIQaOVbfQvRwopB5M by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T19:46:23Z
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That was a couple hours of work a long while ago, and I didn't accept any fee from it, as I was just happy to help with such a classic series. I just hadn't heard anything about it since, so I wasn't sure I was going to be thanked in the credits, since who knows if my one bit of help got forgot in the shuffle?Glad to hear it wasn't!
(DIR) Post #AjIRGObfh51oPhgn44 by janet_catcus@hachyderm.io
2024-06-25T19:44:49Z
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@foone reminds me of that one time some dude on irc asked me to decode a snippet of a x86 executable .. supposedly from canon fodder, and as far as i remember it was decompression code and i told them and it was apparently enough to be asked how to be mentioned in the credits... but i never heard of them again 🤷♀️ must have been between 2010 and 2016
(DIR) Post #AjIRcMjvJcuCzi1c1I by FurryBeta@shark.community
2024-06-25T19:49:05Z
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@foone true
(DIR) Post #AjIRkkAS5xVTyHQcvQ by dannotdaniel@mastodon.social
2024-06-25T19:51:23Z
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@foone that is freaking awesome
(DIR) Post #AjIRw4PdAKlRwdvf2u by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T19:54:01Z
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@ratsprite thanks! I don't have a screenshot yet, so that'd be cool
(DIR) Post #AjISBGpPHp6QnNEY0O by light@noc.social
2024-06-25T20:02:28Z
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@foone >lightWhat the- How'd I get a doppelganger?
(DIR) Post #AjISMbqnSwvPBGI5Gy by Thorsted@digipres.club
2024-06-25T20:03:38Z
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@foone would love to read about that process.
(DIR) Post #AjISo0DB05kSYNovtg by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T20:12:51Z
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@Thorsted it was mainly just reading up on the history of the 3d software and locating a bunch of old versions and running them in VMs, until I could find a viable version and conversion chain
(DIR) Post #AjITD83SyZiY7RGB4C by Thorsted@digipres.club
2024-06-25T20:17:58Z
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@foone Were the softimage assets compound objects?
(DIR) Post #AjIUBcpffuSewsecpk by JohannaMakesGames@mastodon.gamedev.place
2024-06-25T20:29:18Z
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@foone Congrats! Now I am curious, what did you do on the project? I loved the series!
(DIR) Post #AjIWImkXOwFNdqnLpw by cchelberg@mastodon.social
2024-06-25T20:52:10Z
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@foone congrats!
(DIR) Post #AjIb8LtEuRxXDGi3Tk by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T21:46:41Z
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@ratsprite thanks!
(DIR) Post #AjIbIgyjMEDrVvCzWy by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T21:47:32Z
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@bennomatic ahh, cool!
(DIR) Post #AjIbYEfaNPhULhfJWi by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T21:49:04Z
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@JohannaMakesGames I explained over here: https://digipres.club/@foone/112678970196211627
(DIR) Post #AjIbl1Of2KLgwqqUk4 by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T21:50:14Z
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And we've got a screenshot!https://cathode.church/@ratsprite/112679235019544890
(DIR) Post #AjIezAmpDpt9zEaVhw by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T22:29:28Z
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okay I found my communication with someone from Cyan. It was indeed Softimage, which started as Softimage 3D, and then later became Autodesk Softimage. I was contacted back in 2022, and I was able to load the Riven datafiles up in Softimage 3.7, then 4.0, and finally I confirmed that Autodesk Softimage|XSI 1.5 could import them (if not open them directly). Once imported into Softimage|XSI 1.5, they could be saved back out, and then Softimage 2015 (the latest (and last)) version could open them
(DIR) Post #AjIf8TwLNZLVzqTl9U by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T22:30:19Z
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So it was mainly just spelunking through old versions of the software on various XP VMs and trying to open the files, until I found an appropriate combination that let them be opened in something modern.
(DIR) Post #AjIfHjVarh0ct6NV9E by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T22:30:52Z
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@bennomatic yeah! I had it on a Packard Bell running Windows 3.1. I remember the quicktime component hosed my windows install at least once!
(DIR) Post #AjIfPwejrnlNyrZUZM by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T22:33:27Z
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I've got some screenshots of some Riven assets opened in old versions of SoftImage. I'm checking to see if it's okay to post those.
(DIR) Post #AjIfaKvgTRyI9uS7OK by dannotdaniel@mastodon.social
2024-06-25T22:36:59Z
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@foone if that's the old software what was the new software if you don't mind me asking 👀
(DIR) Post #AjIgE9wQkKbZfCn4q0 by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T22:42:40Z
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@dannotdaniel all I know is what I said here:https://digipres.club/@foone/112679620985285977I think they exported from SoftImage|XSI 2015 to something else (maybe straight into Unreal Engine?), but I wasn't involved there so I have no idea.
(DIR) Post #AjIgiW0PHE2MmX7pK4 by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T22:49:04Z
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@neckspike I mean, it certainly worked, so I guess that proves it was a good idea!
(DIR) Post #AjIhC0mpucwSe5qJbE by dannotdaniel@mastodon.social
2024-06-25T22:50:23Z
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@neckspike @foone that's pretty amazing indeedVOICEOVER GUY:If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them....maybe you can hire.. The Foone 🔥
(DIR) Post #AjIhC288utZyoSoqRs by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T22:54:51Z
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@dannotdaniel @neckspike heh. although it's pretty easy to find foone, that punk is everywhere
(DIR) Post #AjIia4gz8uorfA8zIm by MishaVanMollusq@sfba.social
2024-06-25T23:10:23Z
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@foone I’m reading this toot the same way Homer Simpson looks at a donut
(DIR) Post #AjIjTY8BOMy6tOJleC by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T23:20:31Z
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I got permission. Here's my first attempt: This is that 5-way rotating room near the start of the game, and I was able to open it in SoftImage 3D version 3.7 (in an XP VM). This is a version from 1997, so probably close to the original version they used to make the game.
(DIR) Post #AjIjl2DInb9p7B3A7k by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T23:23:17Z
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I believe that was mainly for verification that I could open the files at all. Next I moved forward a few versions, up to SoftImage 3D 4.0, the last version before the SoftImage|XSI rebrand.
(DIR) Post #AjIkAJ2rMAt8YZDRtw by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T23:27:42Z
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Then I moved to SoftImage|XSI 1.5. This version couldn't open the project, but I was able to make a new project and individually import the scenes/objects/textures/etc. This version is apparently a complete rewrite of the codebase, so it's a much more modern version of SoftImage.
(DIR) Post #AjIkKhloHhUw8TCRNI by joshuaelliott@mastodon.social
2024-06-25T23:28:10Z
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@foone *sniff* They did ya dirty, Softimage. o7
(DIR) Post #AjIkYLqgaI4oCZzHQe by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T23:29:53Z
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And after importing into SoftImage|XSI 1.5, I was able to save it out and then open it up in SoftImage 2015, the latest & last edition. (The 3D views here are blank because of an issue with my VM)
(DIR) Post #AjIkYPB0DD6uWSW30q by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T23:31:33Z
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So yeah! that was what I did, and what I gave to Cyan. They needed to import the files into SoftImage|XSI 1.5, then save out that project, then open it in SoftImage 2015. From there they could export into Blender or Unreal or whatever.
(DIR) Post #AjIl1GA8nwPixqs7Xs by immibis@social.immibis.com
2024-06-25T23:23:37.032052Z
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@foone Foone Turing is your actual name?
(DIR) Post #AjIl1HGugFQQP932jw by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-25T23:34:39Z
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@immibis yup!
(DIR) Post #AjIpf9OTn0RlN5r6SO by wmarone@mstdn.jp
2024-06-26T00:29:35Z
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@foone Taking me back to high school here.
(DIR) Post #AjItuW4Y9XuXrt7FvU by roseandsigil@social.wub.site
2024-06-26T01:17:41Z
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@foone huh I’d definitely heard all the riven assets had all been destroyed in a fire.
(DIR) Post #AjIxfTKuRXm6r4ql7I by glyph@mastodon.social
2024-06-26T01:58:51Z
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@foone TIL there’s a Riven remake, going to need to get a copy of that
(DIR) Post #AjJ7UnE39bJYtgBiKG by misty@digipres.club
2024-06-26T03:49:15Z
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@foone This is *very* cool!
(DIR) Post #AjJ7eaMBr1UjshfHmq by shadsy@digipres.club
2024-06-26T03:50:16Z
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@foone I assumed you were involving with the tape backups somehow, but this makes sense to! The last I heard from Cyan was they were able to recover "some" assets but most backups were unrecoverable and the recoverable stuff wasn't usable because it was too low-fidelity for VR. This fills in the gap in the story!
(DIR) Post #AjJQAYIYqEw9wFMNYe by JohannaMakesGames@mastodon.gamedev.place
2024-06-26T07:18:50Z
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@foone fascinating 🤩 I hope you didnt catch a curse from opening software that ancient 😜
(DIR) Post #AjJTgj8KOPG4fhbi7s by omnieboer@libretooth.gr
2024-06-26T07:58:21Z
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@foone It's hard to express how incredibly cool this is (to me). It's also cool to know that Cyan doesn't mind calling on the services of someone with a pride flag in their name.
(DIR) Post #AjJVfhwFY7EqaJbEPo by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-26T08:19:22Z
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@JohannaMakesGames that's what VMs are for! The curses are contained. And containered.
(DIR) Post #AjJgdd00mZbGe8xJEe by eLearningTechie@mas.to
2024-06-26T10:23:30Z
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@foone That is super cool! Thanks for sharing the story. 😊
(DIR) Post #AjKkFgCVoyiQbJbAzg by peaceman@mastodon.social
2024-06-26T22:38:59Z
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@foone they really could have sent you a copy of the new thing afterwards.
(DIR) Post #AjKlhjrftNxk1inNlg by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-26T22:54:51Z
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@peaceman Turns out they did! it was just delayed.
(DIR) Post #AjKloocyaA3EpGILJ2 by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-26T22:55:29Z
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BTW several people have said like "the least they could have done is sent you a copy of the game!"They did, after all. It just hadn't come through when I made this thread. Don't worry, I got a free copy from them in thanks!
(DIR) Post #AjKvdHkpSmrrE96naa by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-26T23:51:18Z
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@marcotietz I don't think so? I think I kept quiet about it. I might have talked about SoftImage generically though, I don't recall
(DIR) Post #AjMntwRLYGQajCLa88 by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-27T22:28:57Z
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@marcotietz ahh, no: that's actually for a different project. There were some softimage SDK files in the 3D Movie Maker source tree at microsoft, and I was trying to get permissions to release them alongside the rest of the source. I never got it, so those never got released
(DIR) Post #AjMp3kP9FnyCFbYgnQ by foone@digipres.club
2024-06-27T22:41:10Z
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@marcotietz yeah those tend to be plentiful and fractal around me