Explosions & Weapons

Explosions & Weapons

Discuss the source code and development of Spring Engine in general from a technical point of view. Patches go here too.

Moderator: Moderators

User avatar
AF
AI Developer
Posts: 20687
Joined: 14 Sep 2004, 11:32

Explosions & Weapons

Post by AF »

WeaponryExplosions dont ahve that oomph that OTA had, they arent particularly imrpessive, more like a glowing orb surorunded by smaller orange ones with black dirty trails.

Firstly, explosions should eb able to shake the screen even slightly, it maximises the effect.

Secondly, weapons should eb able to create blinding flashes, for example the combined flash of 7 nukes should fill the screen suddenly then fade out quickly rather than just showing a loada smoke and orange. And some people ahve said this is bad as it detracts from gameplay, I say ti creates mroe immersive and realistic gameplay, every other game makes there nueks as impressive as possible why cant we?

thirdly, Shockwave weapons & explosions, these should be available at least for unusual weapons and to make explosions more realistic.

Fourthly, multistage explosions, imagine a small flash and a minor explosion and a shockwave followed by a huge blast a second later. Or a nuke that sends out great blasts that push unts away and send them flying.

Fifthly, trees shouldnt dissapear when flattened, they should have a flattened model which tanks can roll over.

sixthly, custom weapon models, buggi ahs done this and so ahs sean mirrsen who submitted the code change tot he SY's but it was never included for some reason.

seventhly, explosions should eb more dynamic, for example say a unit is movign at high speed when it's blown up by some almighty explosion and vapourised, as it stand either you get a great amss of black dust trails following shrapnel or a glowing yellow orb of fire that quickly dissapears. Instead the yellow explosions should be pushed int he direction of the projectile and the targets motion, and then fall to the ground as dust.

Lastly, grass and trees swaying from an explosion blast ro being flattened in an outwards pattern.

Eitherway explosions need to be more realistic. I fomseone could look into these
User avatar
Buggi
Posts: 875
Joined: 29 Apr 2005, 07:46

Post by Buggi »

You guys that post these kind of requests really have no concept of how hard it is to impliment even the simplest *sounding* feature.

And you could at the very least do a spell check when you post something as thought out as this seemed to be. Readablity is quite important to getting your ideas understood.

-Buggi
shnorb
Posts: 147
Joined: 04 Jun 2005, 07:25

Post by shnorb »

i here ya buggi... but im just wondering... would it be easy to simply change the colour of the explosion... maybe to a fluro blue or something funky like that? if thats something simple then it could add alot without too much work... but what do i know.
Kixxe
Posts: 1547
Joined: 14 May 2005, 10:02

Post by Kixxe »

You guys that post these kind of requests really have no concept of how hard it is to impliment even the simplest *sounding* feature.

And you could at the very least do a spell check when you post something as thought out as this seemed to be. Readablity is quite important to getting your ideas understood.

-Buggi
Yes, and no.

I agree that is a litte stupid to suggest things thats seams ''esay'' and they may be hard. Maybe pepole should asume less?

I disagree on the spell check thing. Sesulsy, the more dicusion, the better! If you want to complain on spelling, it's fine. But look at all these treadhs full with *Cant you spelll?* or the more polihgt version *i would apriciate if you fixed your spelling*.

Feels like those who can't spell good or dont have the godamn will/time to spellcheck for 5 minutes are getting hunted with picthforks and torches!

now onto explosions-.-

I like it, but NO shaking of the screen. Okay, maybe a litte nudge when a big bomb comes bye, but other wise, no.

Rest is okay, and sounds cool....
And a option to turn the effects of!
User avatar
Min3mat
Posts: 3455
Joined: 17 Nov 2004, 20:19

Post by Min3mat »

*lights pitchfork waves torch* -.- somethings wrong here...
*stabs self in foot* *lighted pitchfork burns barn i'm standing in* -.-
User avatar
Buggi
Posts: 875
Joined: 29 Apr 2005, 07:46

Post by Buggi »

The method of communication online is what you type.

If you type words like this: polihgt it will make my head ache and I'll move on and not even read the post. I can understand occasional teh, or whatever... but come on!

Polite such a hard word to spell? If that's the word you were trying to use above.

Time to post a request : 5 mins
Time to check spelling of post : 1 min - 3 mins

Time to actually impliment request : average of 3 hours

(Type request + spell check) < implimentation of request

I don't think I'm asking to much of you to take the time to make things readable.

-Buggi
Kixxe
Posts: 1547
Joined: 14 May 2005, 10:02

Post by Kixxe »

Yea sure i guess, you can complain all you want but...

NOT ALL THE TIME!!!

As i said before, the nagging of the bad spelling is almost as bad as the bad spelling itself! I mean, i can even find bad spelling humores, while all these posts about anti spelling make me want to trow a shoe at the monitor.

Plese clear upp your post of Anti bad spelling measeges. If it's extreme, fine. But not all the time...


Time to post a request : 5 mins
Time to check spelling of post : 1 min - 3 mins

Time to actually impliment request : average of 3 hours
3 hours what? you lost me there-.-*
Feels like those who can't spell good or dont have the godamn will/time to spellcheck for 5 minutes are getting hunted with picthforks and torches!
User avatar
AF
AI Developer
Posts: 20687
Joined: 14 Sep 2004, 11:32

Post by AF »

I wasnt saying this as a request, I say this as a requirement, one many players feel is missing from spring. I saw the problem I suggested possible solutions, I expected those solutions to be ellaborated on.

We wont get anywhere if we insist on not doing anythign that takes longer than an hour. And buggi, I get the impression you think your going to be doing all this. To that I say give the guy a rest.

As for spellchecking, some of us havent the time to spellcheck, and some of us arent really bothered. At the time I was in a rush but perhaps I can go over it now and correct mistakes.

And have you forgotten the SY's? Highlighting somethign may put it on the SY's agenda for once they've finsihed what they're already doing.
smokingwreckage
Posts: 327
Joined: 09 Apr 2005, 11:40

Post by smokingwreckage »

Not a request? I imagine you'll be coding it then.
User avatar
zwzsg
Kernel Panic Co-Developer
Posts: 7049
Joined: 16 Nov 2004, 13:08

Post by zwzsg »

Please, no screenshakes and no blinding flashes. Explosion happens all the time in TA and Spring, even nukes explosion can happens continously in certain gametypes. I want to still be able to give orders when under a nuclear rain.

Plus explosions are already fine (save the smoke after that slow down my computer). I am in total disagreement with "many players feel is missing from spring". Explosion are already fine and don't need that much to be worked on.

And spell-checking your post is important if you want to be taken seriously. If you don't have time to do basic spell-check, if you are in a rush, then do not post! If you are a busy person, don't go to online forums! Don't be worried, Spring won't die if the latest idea that sprung in your mind isn't posted within the minute. Maybe it will even live better without hearing about it at all!

And no, "Sesulsy", the more "dicusion" is NOT the better! Because the more senseless babble the more important posts are drown in a mass of unreadable junk. Several time already we's seen new topics that were exactly the same as some previous topics because the poster couldn't see his subject has already been previously discussed. Several valuable people have already left Spring, disgusted by what happens on its forum.
User avatar
[K.B.] Napalm Cobra
Posts: 1222
Joined: 16 Aug 2004, 06:15

Post by [K.B.] Napalm Cobra »

Are you honestly saying zwzsg, that spring explosions are better than OTA ones? (except for the commander one, everyone accepts that as cool)
User avatar
zwzsg
Kernel Panic Co-Developer
Posts: 7049
Joined: 16 Nov 2004, 13:08

Post by zwzsg »

Let's see:
http://spring.clan-sy.com/screenshots/screen63.jpg
VS
http://images.tauniverse.com/albums/use ... replay.png

Spring explosion aren't bad at all. Especially considering TA is 2D so use flat sprites while Spring explosions have to look good from all angles. Maybe Spring explosions should use more variety, and more globular-orange-on-black-smoke explosions, but Spring explosions are already very good IMO.
User avatar
NOiZE
Balanced Annihilation Developer
Posts: 3984
Joined: 28 Apr 2005, 19:29

Post by NOiZE »

i started playing some spring again, and somehow i feel the explosions of normal units like peewee's and stuff are a bit small, the pieces of metal flying all the directions are kool, but i miss a flash. the explosions are not even bigger than the units which explodes. that's not right imo..
User avatar
aGorm
Posts: 2928
Joined: 12 Jan 2005, 10:25

Post by aGorm »

Whilest I think that Spring does have some mighty fine explosions, I think that (and this is not convayed by zwzsg screen shot) the explosions in TA looked more dynamic. Infact I could stare at a screen full of the same old explosions (there are only so many) and not get borred.

However its taken me a while to relaises whats actully rong with teh spring ones.

Its the fire effect. In TA the explosions looked like a blinding flash, followed buy the all consuming fire like ball that engulfed the unit. In spring, sure the flashes are ther (maybe they could be a littel bigger and brighter) but that sort of flame thing taht you actully get just isn't there. It just goes a sort of soft orange colour, and fades out. Fire may be transparent but if you look at it it actully has lots of hard edges at teh same time.

To fix this, well i dont know. I have no clue how the explosions are rendered. i assume they are just a bunch of particles which glow, but i may be rong.
The only way i can realy see being able to add the flame back in is maybe by having a load of particles form a swirly ball, have them not too transparent and in bright oranges and reds, and have the ball fad in as the white finshes and shrink into a smaller ball and vanish by the end. or somthing like taht.
Of course that probablie uses a lot of particles...

How's my speeling?

aGorm
User avatar
AF
AI Developer
Posts: 20687
Joined: 14 Sep 2004, 11:32

Post by AF »

Explosions should at least give a very quick white flash thats at least 8 times the radius of the explosion and doesnt linger, there should also be more effects such as dust blowing away, scar marks (SJ experimenting), and grass and trees blowing away.

Tress should also be falttened but they shouldnt dissapear as if the land is water and they're sinking, they shall fall flat and point away from the explosion/unit that crushed it
User avatar
FireCrack
Posts: 676
Joined: 19 Jul 2005, 09:33

Post by FireCrack »

Explosions should flash and shake depending on how much of the screen is filled with them, shaking should only start when atleast 15-10% of the screen is explosions and would ramp up to intense shaking at 100%, flashing should start at 25-35%, and ramp up to full whiteout at 100%
User avatar
AF
AI Developer
Posts: 20687
Joined: 14 Sep 2004, 11:32

Post by AF »

Shaking shouldnt shake everything, it should only shake within 2/3 screens away at really gigantic blasts any further and it should be a small shake that doesnt affect the GUI. Shakes shouldnt shake the mouse and GUI either, and during shakes, the mouse should be guided towards units if it's very close to them to help prevent errors in selection.

Flashes shouldnt take up the whole screen unless it's a really big bang which there arent any of those atm ingame. Flashes should fade in quickly then fade out and should be area dependent, so they dont intrude upon the gameplay too much, so lates say bang on one side of the screen, that means that for the split second flash we should be able to see 3/5's of the screen with no flash.

Explosions should impact on terrain more, they should also form a rumble in the background when you're far away like a muffled boom sound. And they should affect trees. A punisher fired at a freaker I built a while ago and it hit a tree instead and the tree just slowly caught fire. It should ahve been blasted away immediatly. There wasnt even the usual fireball. And explosions on weapon hits arent big enough either.
maverick256
Posts: 115
Joined: 21 Sep 2004, 19:41

Post by maverick256 »

eh.... doesn't seem like a top priority to me. I mean, yeah, nukes can use that mushroom cloud, maybe things will look better with the fireball, and screenshake can give things a better feel, whatever. But, as much as we like eye candy, I think spring already offers quite a bit of that, and there are quite a few other things that seems just slightly more important to me to finish first, you know, like making the game more playable. Heck, I'll even list them if my memory works. But since it doesn't, meh.

Oh, by the way, try not to make things overly complicated. Seriously.
Unless, that is, you don't want your suggestion/request/requirement (whatever you call them, doesn't make a difference) to ever see the light of day, then sure, go right ahead.
User avatar
AF
AI Developer
Posts: 20687
Joined: 14 Sep 2004, 11:32

Post by AF »

Whats the point of a game that runs perfectly, compeltely stable all the features there, if it hasnt the atmosphere, and feel for an RTS. TA is more atmospheric than half the spring battles there are. Explosions in spring atm arent as good as they should be at all, TA explosions have more oomph. And considering that the aim of the game si to incinerate your enemy, I think explosions are a vital part of enjoying the game.
maverick256
Posts: 115
Joined: 21 Sep 2004, 19:41

Post by maverick256 »

you know, I think spring has quite the RTS atmosphere and feel. Of course, opinions vary. But to take on your argument, what's the point of a game that has the atmosphere, gameplay of possibly the best RTS of all time but crashes often, and missing a large chunk of essential features, so that not many people will play it (many=more than a thousand)? Of course, there is a balance between features and polishes, but as is I think spring already has enough features to last a while, while lacking on the polishing department. Just my opinions, of course.
Post Reply

Return to “Engine”