[Kestrellius]

Random Q without going to the slightest effort to check, sorry: have primaries been given a lifetime and range such that they play their impact animation when dying, rather than just winking out? One of the best aesthetic changes to the game and it only takes some table tweaks.

Yes. The ones I messed with, anyway. Yeah, I've always thought that looked much better.

[Nightmare]

That particle effect tbm was named mv_flak instead of mv_effects

[Kestrellius]

GTVA Flak and Fusion Mortar:

Tell me what you think of 'em.

[DefCynodont119]

Ehh, I'm not going to lie, I prefer the current flak effects, the quick flashes would work for something like Solaris or Star Fox but they really do not look like Freespace; (to me) also the "fiery explosions" of the old flak register as more powerful and dangerous, and are also easier to see. I don't want to sound harsh but this looks too much like harmless fire crackers then something I would avoid.


Also while I do really like the effect you have for the Fusion Mortar, I'm fairly certain that the Fusion Mortar is intended as a missile and not a primary, that seems like a pretty radical change.   

[Nightmare]

Same here- I think the Flak Explosions don't really fit; the particle effects look good, but I'd prefer to see how they look like with the 3D model.

[mjn.mixael]

To be fair... Flak pretty much is harmless firecrackers.

[spart_n]

Maybe it's because of my difficulty but yeah, flak is something i ignore in comparison to laser turrets lol, only threatening when my shield is down and good luck with that sometimes

[Kestrellius]

Same here- I think the Flak Explosions don't really fit; the particle effects look good, but I'd prefer to see how they look like with the 3D model.

3D model...?

Also while I do really like the effect you have for the Fusion Mortar, I'm fairly certain that the Fusion Mortar is intended as a missile and not a primary, that seems like a pretty radical change.   

Well, so, the thing about trails is that it's really goddamn hard to get them to look good. They work in certain cases, but if you try to get them to carry a whole effect it tends not to work -- hence why I tend to use particles more. (I had a hell of a time with that trail on the Shivan primaries, let me tell you.)

Basically, if the trail is really thin, it'll look okay. But anything thick enough that you can actually see the texture, and -- no matter how pretty your bitmap might be* -- it'll come out looking like dull paper. I think what's happening is that the post-processing doesn't get applied to trails, or something like that. (Because from what I remember, without post-processing, everything looked like paper.) Maybe they're not considered light-emitting objects the way lasers and particles are, so they don't put off glow?

[*With very limited exceptions. If the trail bitmap is very simple -- just a white core with a colored glow, and a simple gradient, or something like that -- then that can work better.]

I've been toying with the idea of submitting a feature request for the ability to set a trail to render...the way those other things do...but I'd have to learn how to do that, so I'm putting it off.

Also: I'm thinking of making some changes to other missiles; if I do that, the particle effects on secondaries might not be quite so unusual. I don't think they'd work on swarm missiles -- too chaotic; you need the lines to see what's going on -- but things like the Trebuchet I fully intend to turn into glorious particle-trail abominations. (I mean, it ought to look impressive.)

[Nightmare]

(for the Harbinger/Fusion Mortar)

[Kestrellius]

I don't understand what you mean, though. If you mean the missile model, they have that in the video.

They should be especially visible around 0:57.

[Nightmare]

They have? It's not visible at all on the video.

[Kestrellius]

Lighting settings strike again, I guess.

Lemme turn on ambient and record another video.

It's still not, like, visible visible. But I think you can see it a little better?

[Kestrellius]

Okay, so, it seems like some people prefer the 'splodey flak, while others seem to like my flashy kind.

It occurred to me I could sort of combine them, like so:

Not gonna lie -- I still like my version better. It's cleaner, and, IMO, represents more accurately what's happening mechanically -- there's an instantaneous burst of damage in that area, and then it's safe. But this is an option; I think it adds some extra punch to the existing explosion.

Before I commit to anything, I want to see how peoples' opinions stack up on which look is better. I could make a poll about it, but -- eh, I don't know if that's a good idea. Oh, I know what I'll do.

[DefCynodont119]

I like the Fireball one. It has both flash and punch. 



EDIT: Oh and sorry I meant to vote yes for a poll but I accidentally hit no. 

[Asteroth]

I quite like your original new flak, minus the blue particles, so I'd totally take those, but I'd be ok with that compromise one too.

[General Battuta]

To be fair... Flak pretty much is harmless firecrackers.

Man you wrong as hell, flak is a death hose

[mjn.mixael]

Flak is black olives on pizza. It bothers me a little.. but not so much that I'm not gonna eat the pizza.

[DefCynodont119]

Flak is black olives on pizza. It bothers me a little.. but not so much that I'm not gonna eat the pizza.

I'm half Hawaiian so It's probably a good Idea for me to stay out of pizza-based analogous discussions. 

To be fair... Flak pretty much is harmless firecrackers.

Man you wrong as hell, flak is a death hose

It really depends on your difficulty setting, Flak is a killing machine on hard and above, more so then AAA beams because flak has a wider area of effect, but on easy it can't get past your shields so you can fly though it for much longer.



BACK ON TOPIC:  I'm behind the Flash + Fireball flak 100%.   It's a good compromise and the effects complement each other.

[Nightmare]

Lighting settings strike again, I guess.

Lemme turn on ambient and record another video.

It's still not, like, visible visible. But I think you can see it a little better?

Yep, I get it now. Looks good to me.

[Nightmare]

It really depends on your difficulty setting, Flak is a killing machine on hard and above, more so then AAA beams because flak has a wider area of effect, but on easy it can't get past your shields so you can fly though it for much longer.

Most of the Aeolus anti-fighter abilities comes from the 6 flak weapons, it has only 2 AAA beams.