FlameThrower: Proposed Modification

FireCrack · Post by **FireCrack** » 06 Sep 2006, 23:37

^Or you could have them stretch along their velocity vector....

Caydr · Post by **Caydr** » 07 Sep 2006, 00:16

Uh huh, I think that bubblization at the start is the only thing imperfect with it. I don't think any randomization is possible since that would interfere with the weapon's actual functioning and would be set by the mod... the idea with stretching the first few frames Z-wise would probably work good though.

FizWizz · Post by **FizWizz** » 07 Sep 2006, 00:21

does the 'bubbling' actually look bad in motion though?

Argh · Post by **Argh** » 07 Sep 2006, 00:30

First off, the "bubbling" really doesn't look that bad, and looks better if the starting particle size is a little bigger.

Second off, introducing a random "wobble"... erm... that'd be hard. I don't think I'm up for that yet, because it'd have to wobble, then be subject to random vectorization during the burst or firing event... kind've hard.

As for stretching along the vector... that would require that they were aligned along their vector in the first place. Which, aside from Lasers (BeamWeapons, BeamLasers) ... they aren't. I've had more than half a mind to look at the code that does that, and see if I can't port it over and use it for all of the Projectile types... it's not a terribly expensive thing to do, and it'd open up a lot more possibilities in terms of look and feel.

Snipawolf · Post by **Snipawolf** » 07 Sep 2006, 03:04

Christ have mercy argh! That flamethrower (and Acid) are very friecken awesome!

I think if we could put that flame effect on the rear of a missile it would look fantastic! I wonder... Argh, you are very creative (in a destructive way

), and I would love to see something getting fried by that

hrmph · Post by **hrmph** » 07 Sep 2006, 03:34

All the examples look great. Both acid sprays and freezing ice sprays will be very cool additions to see in-game.

Caydr · Post by **Caydr** » 07 Sep 2006, 04:34

Don't do anything that will involve the awesome new flamethrower effect not making it into this next version!!!

mehere101 · Post by **mehere101** » 07 Sep 2006, 04:47

ok. Basically the way I see it the solution to having the particle spacing at the start is to cover it over using a muzzle flash type thing. IE What unreal 2 did (Unreal 2 is to date the best game for flaming things I have ever seen)

FireCrack · Post by **FireCrack** » 07 Sep 2006, 07:01

I must say it does look alot like a missile trail....

TechnoTone · Post by **TechnoTone** » 07 Sep 2006, 09:29

Snipawolf wrote:I think if we could put that flame effect on the rear of a missile it would look fantastic!

+1

KDR_11k · Post by **KDR_11k** » 07 Sep 2006, 15:44

I think oriented particles would be sufficient for any stretching, you could just have your particles be elongated along the firing direction.

I don't think it'd work easily for missile trails, that's a lot of particles and having each missile emit that much would kill the framerate. You'd either have to reduce the rate or just paint a similar graphic on the texture loaded as the missile trail.

Caydr · Post by **Caydr** » 07 Sep 2006, 16:42

[quote]* applied slightly modified flamethrower patch by Argh.
Small enough to be a BUGFIX[/quote]

W))))))))))))00000000000000TTTTT!!!!!!

NOiZE · Post by **NOiZE** » 07 Sep 2006, 16:49

can we also have the code which is needed in the tdf files?

Caydr · Post by **Caydr** » 07 Sep 2006, 17:01

Yeah..... I guess that would be good too....

Argh · Post by **Argh** » 07 Sep 2006, 17:10

Yeah, here's some documentation. Basically, FlameThrowers can use the following variables:

Intensity: How much additive alpha is being applied. It's a float, values over 1 can be used (and might be useful in certain contexts).

RGBColor: The starting color value, RGB, in float3 configuration like all other color values in Spring, i.e.: "1 0 0" is pure Red.

RGBColor2: The ending color value.

Size: Starting size of the projectile, in Spring Units (a.k.a., "elmos").

SizeGrowth: The amount, in Spring Units, that the radius expands, per frame.

Texture1: Texture1 is a bitmap, which must be (for best results anyhow) a TGA, 32-bit, with an alpha channel!

That's pretty much it. Making it do specific things is up to the user combining these variables

Caydr · Post by **Caydr** » 07 Sep 2006, 17:21

And, what did you use for your values? And what texture?

Cabbage · Post by **Cabbage** » 07 Sep 2006, 18:20

thats a massive improvement over the current flame thrower, can't wait ^^

Argh · Post by **Argh** » 07 Sep 2006, 20:36

I'm still discussing things with JC. The code revision he made to my source was shorter, but didn't work the same way mine does when compiled, and if he leaves it that way, it won't work like it does in the screenies

I'm sending him a revision that cuts down on some of the math steps, but includes my error-checking.

Snipawolf · Post by **Snipawolf** » 07 Sep 2006, 22:32

I'll just beg that Argh and JC make a compromise...

I want the awesome jet flame!

Dragon45 · Post by **Dragon45** » 07 Sep 2006, 22:33

Once we have scriptable Gaia features, we can have acid spraying plants and the like

Or volcanoes spewing lava! ^_^

Spring RTS Engine

FlameThrower: Proposed Modification