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Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The Modding Workshop => Topic started by: 0rph3u5 on September 04, 2018, 05:18:38 pm

Title: [WIP] Meteor Effect
Post by: 0rph3u5 on September 04, 2018, 05:18:38 pm
As seen here:


Table data:

Code: [Select]
#Secondary Weapons

;Basic Meteor for cutscenes, does nothing but looks okay'ish
$Name: Meteor1
$Model File: hornet.pof
$Mass: 0
$Velocity: 150
$Fire Wait: 0
$Damage: 0
$Blast Force: 0
$Inner Radius: 0
$Outer Radius: 0
$Shockwave Speed: 0
$Armor Factor: 0
$Shield Factor: 0
$Subsystem Factor: 0
$Lifetime: 600
$Energy Consumed: 0
$Cargo Size: 1
$Homing: NO
$LaunchSnd: 93
$ImpactSnd: 101
$FlyBySnd: 75
$Rearm Rate: 1
$Flags: ( "Particle Spew" )
$Trail:
+Start Width: 150
+End Width: 0
+Start Alpha: 0.8
+End Alpha: 0
+Max Life: 15
+Bitmap: missiletrail01
$Icon: icon_harbinger
$Anim: harbinger
$Impact Explosion: none
$Pspew:
+Count: 3
+Time: 300
+Vel: 0.7
+Radius: 60
+Life: 5000
+Scale: 1
+Bitmap: particlesmoke01
$Pspew:
+Count: 2
+Time: 100
+Vel: 0.4
+Radius: 45
+Life: 100000
+Scale: 1
+Bitmap: particlesmoke01
$Pspew:
+Count: 3
+Time: 100
+Vel: 0.2
+Radius: 30
+Life: 120000
+Scale: 2
+Bitmap: particlesmoke02
$Pspew:
+Count: 4
+Time: 100
+Vel: 0.1
+Radius: 15
+Life: 240000
+Scale: 3
+Bitmap: particlesmoke02

;Meteor which breaks apart
$Name: Meteor2
$Model File: hornet.pof
$Mass: 0
$Velocity: 150
$Fire Wait: 0
$Damage: 0
$Blast Force: 0
$Inner Radius: 0
$Outer Radius: 0
$Shockwave Speed: 0
$Armor Factor: 0
$Shield Factor: 0
$Subsystem Factor: 0
$Lifetime: 600
$Energy Consumed: 0
$Cargo Size: 1
$Homing: NO
$LaunchSnd: 93
$ImpactSnd: 101
$FlyBySnd: 75
$Rearm Rate: 1
$Flags: ( "Particle Spew" "Spawn Meteor2a,1" "Spawn Meteor2b,3" "Spawn Meteor2c,6" )
$Trail:
+Start Width: 75
+End Width: 0
+Start Alpha: 0.8
+End Alpha: 0
+Max Life: 15
+Bitmap: missiletrail01
$Icon: icon_harbinger
$Anim: harbinger
$Impact Explosion: none
$Spawn Angle: 3
$Spawn Angle: 6
$Spawn Angle: 12
$Pspew:
+Count: 3
+Time: 300
+Vel: 0.7
+Radius: 60
+Life: 5000
+Scale: 1
+Bitmap: particlesmoke01
$Pspew:
+Count: 2
+Time: 100
+Vel: 0.4
+Radius: 45
+Life: 100000
+Scale: 1
+Bitmap: particlesmoke01
$Pspew:
+Count: 3
+Time: 100
+Vel: 0.2
+Radius: 30
+Life: 120000
+Scale: 2
+Bitmap: particlesmoke02
$Pspew:
+Count: 4
+Time: 100
+Vel: 0.1
+Radius: 15
+Life: 240000
+Scale: 3
+Bitmap: particlesmoke02

$Name: Meteor2a
$Model File: hornet.pof
$Mass: 0
$Velocity: 225
$Fire Wait: 0
$Damage: 0
$Blast Force: 0
$Inner Radius: 0
$Outer Radius: 0
$Shockwave Speed: 0
$Armor Factor: 0
$Shield Factor: 0
$Subsystem Factor: 0
$Lifetime: 60
$Energy Consumed: 0
$Cargo Size: 1
$Homing: NO
$LaunchSnd: 93
$ImpactSnd: 101
$FlyBySnd: 75
$Rearm Rate: 1
$Flags: ( "Particle Spew" "child" )
$Trail:
+Start Width: 38
+End Width: 0
+Start Alpha: 1
+End Alpha: 0
+Max Life: 1
+Bitmap: missiletrail01
$Icon: icon_harbinger
$Anim: harbinger
$Impact Explosion: none
$Pspew:
+Count: 3
+Time: 300
+Vel: 0.7
+Radius: 30
+Life: 5000
+Scale: 1
+Bitmap: particlesmoke01
$Pspew:
+Count: 2
+Time: 100
+Vel: 0.4
+Radius: 15
+Life: 100000
+Scale: 1
+Bitmap: particlesmoke01
$Pspew:
+Count: 3
+Time: 100
+Vel: 0.2
+Radius: 8
+Life: 120000
+Scale: 1
+Bitmap: particlesmoke02
$Pspew:
+Count: 4
+Time: 100
+Vel: 0.1
+Radius: 10
+Life: 240000
+Scale: 1
+Bitmap: particlesmoke02

$Name: Meteor2b
$Model File: hornet.pof
$Mass: 0
$Velocity: 200
$Fire Wait: 0
$Damage: 0
$Blast Force: 0
$Inner Radius: 0
$Outer Radius: 0
$Shockwave Speed: 0
$Armor Factor: 0
$Shield Factor: 0
$Subsystem Factor: 0
$Lifetime: 60
$Energy Consumed: 0
$Cargo Size: 1
$Homing: NO
$LaunchSnd: 93
$ImpactSnd: 101
$FlyBySnd: 75
$Rearm Rate: 1
$Flags: ( "Particle Spew" "child" )
$Trail:
+Start Width: 25
+End Width: 0
+Start Alpha: 1
+End Alpha: 0
+Max Life: 6
+Bitmap: missiletrail01
$Icon: icon_harbinger
$Anim: harbinger
$Impact Explosion: none
$Pspew:
+Count: 3
+Time: 300
+Vel: 0.7
+Radius: 20
+Life: 5000
+Scale: 1
+Bitmap: particlesmoke01
$Pspew:
+Count: 2
+Time: 100
+Vel: 0.4
+Radius: 10
+Life: 100000
+Scale: 1
+Bitmap: particlesmoke01
$Pspew:
+Count: 3
+Time: 100
+Vel: 0.2
+Radius: 5
+Life: 120000
+Scale: 1
+Bitmap: particlesmoke02
$Pspew:
+Count: 4
+Time: 100
+Vel: 0.1
+Radius: 4
+Life: 240000
+Scale: 1
+Bitmap: particlesmoke02

$Name: Meteor2c
$Model File: hornet.pof
$Mass: 0
$Velocity: 175
$Fire Wait: 0
$Damage: 0
$Blast Force: 0
$Inner Radius: 0
$Outer Radius: 0
$Shockwave Speed: 0
$Armor Factor: 0
$Shield Factor: 0
$Subsystem Factor: 0
$Lifetime: 60
$Energy Consumed: 0
$Cargo Size: 1
$Homing: NO
$LaunchSnd: 93
$ImpactSnd: 101
$FlyBySnd: 75
$Rearm Rate: 1
$Flags: ( "Particle Spew" "child" )
$Trail:
+Start Width: 13
+End Width: 0
+Start Alpha: 1
+End Alpha: 0
+Max Life: 6
+Bitmap: missiletrail01
$Icon: icon_harbinger
$Anim: harbinger
$Impact Explosion: none
$Pspew:
+Count: 3
+Time: 300
+Vel: 0.7
+Radius: 10
+Life: 5000
+Scale: 1
+Bitmap: particlesmoke01
$Pspew:
+Count: 2
+Time: 100
+Vel: 0.4
+Radius: 5
+Life: 100000
+Scale: 1
+Bitmap: particlesmoke01
$Pspew:
+Count: 3
+Time: 100
+Vel: 0.2
+Radius: 5
+Life: 120000
+Scale: 1
+Bitmap: particlesmoke02
$Pspew:
+Count: 4
+Time: 100
+Vel: 0.1
+Radius: 3
+Life: 240000
+Scale: 1
+Bitmap: particlesmoke02

#End

All components should be part of FS2 retail and subsequently the MediaVPs.

How to use:
- Put it in a -wep.tbm for your mod.
- Use the create-weapon SEXP to spawn it ingame.



So I promised some people that I would be done with this effect today ... Didn't work out that way, for a couple of reaons., and a) I don't want to tease people anymore and b) I need a little help to make this better.

A couple of things:

a) All +Life-value in the $Pspew-sections are *overblown*, I have not scaled them back down because I originally made the mistake of thinking miliseconds, not seconds. The particle .ani itself only last a few seconds anyway. This might be a problem with the particle limit of the engine and memory usage.

b) The $Trail is the big problem that makes it look not good:
b.1) Since +Start Alpha doesn't go beyond 1, I have no trail that looks bright enough.
b.2) And the what I currently have under +Bitmap is a standard missile trail, which scales poorly to size.
Title: Re: [WIP] Meteor Effect
Post by: Nightmare on September 04, 2018, 07:10:13 pm
Sweet! I'll see if I can come up with any graphical improvements.
Title: Re: [WIP] Meteor Effect
Post by: 0rph3u5 on October 23, 2018, 09:47:45 am
Sweet! I'll see if I can come up with any graphical improvements.

Any progress? - I want to finish the new Rain On Ribos IV-credits sequence this week (finally, now that re-writing all the briefing texts is done*) and this effect is kinda the centerpiece of it all...

*The old briefings were terrible as they did not adequately convey what you were supposed to do each mission; they were hardly more than bullet points.
Title: Re: [WIP] Meteor Effect
Post by: Nightmare on October 23, 2018, 09:57:28 am
Yep I remember I had something I was satisfied with, but I adapted it to my own needs so I'm not sure if it still matches yours; I'll post something in a couple hours or tomorrow if it's not too late for you. :)
Title: Re: [WIP] Meteor Effect
Post by: 0rph3u5 on October 23, 2018, 10:47:10 am
I'll post something in a couple hours or tomorrow if it's not too late for you. :)

I've got the whole week, but before Thursday would be nice.
Title: Re: [WIP] Meteor Effect
Post by: Nightmare on October 23, 2018, 05:39:25 pm
It's rather just a different take on the thing rather than an improvement, but still.

The strange gap is caused by taking a screen. I can PM you the files if you're interested as it requires a custom effect.

[attachment stolen by Russian hackers]
Title: Re: [WIP] Meteor Effect
Post by: 0rph3u5 on October 24, 2018, 11:14:48 am
While looks good, it is not what I am looking for exactly - it looks more like a small meteor that would not reach the surface...

But since I have a rather evocative line from the original FS1 command briefing to go on, I am looking more for something in the direction of the fireball that would surround a "rocky" meteor at low altitude...


How many particles are making up the trail?
Title: Re: [WIP] Meteor Effect
Post by: Nightmare on October 24, 2018, 11:59:30 am
While looks good, it is not what I am looking for exactly - it looks more like a small meteor that would not reach the surface...

Hmm, I think it's rather vice-versa; atleast according to the footage I remember (though speed might be play a bigger role than size). Here's what I recall:
-Debris from space shuttle Columbia looked more like my effect.
-Small (football sized) meteor looked like your effect, with small pieces breaking off and falling down seperately.
-Big meteor (the one over Russia a few years ago) looked more like mine again.
But that's just what I can think of; you might want to watch some more footage on YT yourself. Also in the end it depends on whether you want to have it realistic or "just impressive looking" anyway. :)

BTW, one idea I just had- no matter which effect you choose, you could make it look better by spawing off smaller effects at (seemingly) random intervals.

Quote
How many particles are making up the trail?
3 - custom effect, ParticleSmoke01and ParticleSmoke02; the last forms the core of the effect.
Plus a regular missiletrail02.