Sounds like a pretty petty complaint. I certainly wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

Caluser2000 wrote:

Sounds like a pretty petty complaint. I certainly wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

Some people beside me noticed this problem too. Might look for that link.

Just looking for ~a second~ at this matter might not be too bad. Or even "somewhat" OK.

And it's the matter of screen size also.

Try playing it on a 21 inch 1600x1200 screen for a few minutes - and it's clearly seen, this face is somewhat off. Too high, too blocky, too deformed.

EoB-1 version was better.

The artist responsible for game-III did it sloppy compared to games-1-2.

Also game -III has (believe it or not) "censored" some portraits. 🤣

Removing all signs of possible nudity. Games 1-2 had pseudo-anime cartoonish style wich included some "skin" to it.
Game-III did away with it.
It is not only this Golden lady on the above screenshots got "clothed".

And mostly it came with worsening the overall art quality.

So... A nice EoB 1-2 to 3 portrait overhaul would be, well, very nice.

Considering it it wasn't designed for that size screen it's really a non issue.Looked fine when it was on my 14" VGA monitor when came out.

EoB3 spoils more than just the portraits IIRC.

Caluser2000 wrote:

Considering it it wasn't designed for that size screen it's really a non issue.Looked fine when it was on my 14" VGA monitor when came out.

Smaller screens do cover problems in these EoB-3 portraits, indeed.

But I can attest the "old" Green ninja portrait scales -pretty well-. These older portraits were quality.

In EotB-III the artist has moved the veil down - and in its place he put a very wide nose...

(Seen on the bigger picture above).

My idea is, -good- art scales (that is, scales up) pretty well. No problem.

I don't mind pixelated art... Just the sloppy changes.

As for the clothes ridiculous part, EoB-III did exactly what Daniele Volterra did:

"he is now chiefly remembered for having painted prudish underpants on all the nude figures in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel (earning himself the nickname ‘Il Braghettone’, or ‘the breeches painter’)."

https://martinwestlake.eu/cleve-moffets-accou … le-da-volterra/

History repeats itself huh 😀

Sure this is more of a nuisance - but it drops the value of the game. In the most famous series, no less!

It's a pity that the great "Eye of the Beholder" series should have such flaws. And players have to suffer it.

First they dropped that Stone gem in the demo version, then they spoil portraits...

No need to suffer that, really, for 10+ years.

kolderman wrote:

EoB3 spoils more than just the portraits IIRC.

Indeed! 😀 It's harder to say what they did right. 😀 But amazingly they did. Polearms, for example.

Nobody needed that +5 Chiftain Halberd from EoB-I when one could wield +5 Long sword and +3 Short sword. Using just 1 halberd instead was a loss.

But poking enemies from the 2-nd rank of the party (in EoB-III) with long weapons - tridents or polearms - is a good thing.

Also they dealt an interesting thing with level limits for non human races. The limits themselves originate from basic AD&D core rules.
But the game authors added "manuals" as part of a riddle game, to correct a non human character affected by that limits.

The Manuals in question also come faithfully from the DMG, Dungeon Master Guide 2-nd Edition.
Like that "Book of Exalted Deeds" offered for reading.
It might give a Gnomish cleric a new level above the limit and he/she is considered +1 Wisdom.
Just what a poor non human priest needs!

Also they included some Elven chainmail for those purist playes who detest armored casting as cheating.
Just give elven chainmail to the multiclass mages and be purist 😀
And there are only 2 sets of Elven chain, it is still exclusive equipment.

The "All Attack" button is good for greatly reducing hundreds of micromanagement clicks on separate weapons. Bright idea huh 😀

Some people blast EoB-III for placing the Mausoleum, the hardest dungeon, at the very start of the game. But I think this is good. That's how the real world works.

Danger just happens: it does not ask whether the characters are trained or not.
It's the hero's responsibility to check if the challenge is -not- too much for him/her...

So why mechanically place more challenge as the party grows stronger.

So... One might give a try to this game.

It's pretty nice.
But the portraits spoil it from the very start - and until the end. It should be corrected.

Well I fixed this portrait with XWE editor.

It doesn't allow saving if the file is still in EYE.RES pack.
But after the picture is extracted from EYE.RES one can edit and save it. Good!

Does anybody know anything about EYE.RES 12 bytes "headers" added to all files inside it?

If I change a picture the size changes and the header seems to have the size info in it...
Without changing the header the game can't find the new portrait. (Displays dark frame like Invisibility spell.)

Any help?

This is a small update, here.

The nature of the problem is not Daesop.exe and EYE.RES resource headers.

Getting a "true" EoB-3 portrait out of EYE.RES and putting it back instead of the defective Green Ninja portrait just works. The bad portrait is replaced and it works.

So, the bad thing is XWE. It doesnt' save edited EoB-3 pictures in the correct EoB-3 format.

The only EAB author "converter" for these is here.

https://web.archive.org/web/20070114213427/ht … es.com/eob3.bmp

I wonder if someone knows C++ and might make this program source work backwards.
That is, make EoB-3 pictures out of .bmp's. Now it decodes EoB-3 into .bmp...

A little sum-up for crushing that EoB-III character portrait ugliness. It is done! ^^
Due to help from dim568 who kindly made a working .bmp/.bin converter
I repacked all portraits which I repainted after EoB-1 originals. They all work in EoB-III,
perfectly. This is version 7 already.
Out of the original 26 male portraits and 18 female I restored 15 and 12, respectively.

Two thirds of it. Big job. But rewarding.
Now EoB-III has portraits "like in EoB-1". But in EoB-III colors:

For 20+ years it's the first time the ugliness is banished from EoB-3.
Forever. ^__^

7 Samples:

Green Girl

EoB-1

spoiled EoB-III

(alien HUGE ugly face, huge nose, "slit" eyes, primitive veil folds.)

my restoration in EoB-III colors:

Golden Girl

EoB-1

spoiled EoB-III

(black eyes, wrong expression, idiotic criss-cross armor added,
2 pixel remains of pink shoulder from EoB-1 version ^^)

my restoration:

Paladin

EoB-1

spoiled EoB-III

(swallen, darkened unkind face)

my restoration:

Dark Girl

EoB-1

spoiled EoB-III

("slit" eyes, one disappeared, weird triangle shoulder, too tall)

my restoration:

Anya

EoB-1

spoiled EoB-III

(hair too short, hair lifeless, hair tied with baubles instead of one
steel ring; neck is puny, shoulder is puny, body is too small vs. head;
"slit" eyes again, mouth too big, eyebrows are pink and unseen;
wrong dull armor on small body. ALL wrong with this picture!)

my restoration:

Brown mage

EoB-1

spoiled EoB-III

("slit" eyes again, ultra-fat, red(!) face, poor centering of image)

my restoration:

Violet Girl

EoB-1

spoiled EoB-III

(bOObs moved into the frame are ugly, arm added and manly-thick,
dim eyes, ugly face/mouth, no violet halo, remains of halo in the corner.)

my restoration:

Restored.

Crocodiles and MK Reptiles in green priestess disguise are gone. Many more errors in double dozen+ portraits are corrected.

The download post it here, patched EYE.RES ver 7_27 game resource file plus separate portraits:

https://www.old-games.ru/forum/threads/eye-of … -4#post-1683705

At last we are free from the curse of good EoB-1/2 portraits changing into that trash in EoB-III.
Whoever did that worthless work on EoB-3 art, his bad job is undone.
Ugliness is removed and cuteness is installed in its place. ^^

Congratulations. ^^

nice! thanks for sharing!

Nice job!
Congrats!!

Oh nice wow!

Thank you!

keropi wrote on 2020-11-18, 07:30:

nice! thanks for sharing!

Thanks a lot!
Happy to share and have good portraits here... At last! ^___^

The game deserved it. For AD&D it's an OK game! ^^

Nexxen wrote on 2020-11-18, 11:05:

Nice job!
Congrats!!

Congrats indeed! Thanks! ^^

Could not stand these EoB-3 awful "changes"... Ever. (Even on 15" screen.)

Fortunately it turned out well!

kolderman wrote on 2020-11-18, 15:09:

Oh nice wow!

Thanks! Some people did not believe in victory here... 😀

But I had some experience in restoring the Demo item.dat/Stone Gem and NPCs for EoB-1.

"To battle and victory!" (c)BG-I

Akuma wrote on 2020-11-18, 17:04:

Thank you!

Thank you for appreciating this! I'm also quite happy. 😀

Do you have any site page where I can go to and see your work?
I am a fan of EOB too.

BTW, according to the info here

https://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=63994&start=30

these portraits can work with the upgraded, 32-bit version of AESOP EoB-III engine.

For this, daesop.exe command "convert_old_bitmaps" is used on EYE.RES (a genius program!)
With that, the portraits become compatible with the newer 32-bit version. 😀

So one may have the best of both worlds, the speedy game AND better portraits. 😀