kingpin textures from realm 667.. too dark? how to deal with this

[DarkShroom]

this texture pack is perfect for me as it seems the right level of urban decay for the storey/design i think i have settled on

anyway the textures are too dark i think.... does anyone have a strategy for dealing with this?

I was thinking write a python script to run graphics magic and pop them textures in my pk3, i wondered if anyone had a texture brightness strategy? I want to brighten them I imagine sure but that's gonna "wash" them out right? so the dark will no longer be dark, so perhaps i adjust contrast as well?

so i was almost hesitant to ask as yeah i think i have the technical solution with my scripts, but what is the artistic one to bring these textures in line with what seems normal brightness (i find all the AVP2 ones, the Blood ones, the Shadow Warrior.... they all line up, i wonder if it was a particular quality of Kingpin itself that being set mostly in an eternal dark place it's actual lighting is done through texture somewhat (you have multiple textures that look rather similar, but are different shades)

anyway any guidance for light level in general links, another thing that bothers me is i cannot find a Doom lighting style guide anywhere, i'm assuming about 128 is normal, -16 on that seems dark... this is really important as you need moodiness but not to upset players by pissing them off with loads of darkness, forcing them to play with increased gamma 
 

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

Well, there are two ways to do this without making the maps really bright that I know will work without a doubt, but they're quite a bit of work, depending on how many textures your have.

The first solution, which might be less work in the long run, is to use GIMP or an equivalent art program to alter the brightness and/or contrast of each texture directly, which you will have to do for each individual texture, but could save you much trouble in the long term.

The second solution is to build your map in UDMF and apply a specific brightness to each wall so instead of rendering at 128 brightness, it might render at 144 or 160, but you would have to do this across all of your maps, which, depending on their size, could take longer than using GIMP to fix them directly.

 

Personally, I recommend using GIMP to fix the textures, that way if you want to use them elsewhere, you won't have to deal with this again, and they should be compatible with any port.

Remember, ZDoom can render PNG images (which you can edit and overwrite in GIMP), but PRBoom, Crispy Doom, and Chocolate Doom can't. They will crash, so you will have to convert the images to Doom graphics/flats (for textures and flats, specifically) in Slade, which is only a selection and a couple clicks.

[DarkShroom]

i guess there's no more clever solutions then

my chosen solution then: slade export to a folder, batch convert with graphics magic dumping converted ones into my pk3 textures folder (just incase other people read the same question/answers)... yeah in the end if certain textures are chosen i will get down and dirty (adjust textures separately)

thanks