Hard Light Productions Forums

General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: vyper on December 22, 2002, 12:56:22 pm

Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: vyper on December 22, 2002, 12:56:22 pm: I'm thinking of doing a little overhaul of a beam weapon thats used by a MOD I'm using in my campaign. I want to create higher quality textures than the :V: ones. Nice multi-coloured ones. Anyone got a surefire way of making the textures? I just can't face sitting playing with gradients in psp....
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: CP5670 on December 22, 2002, 02:54:37 pm: That is the way I make beam textures; at least it works... :D
Title: Re: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: SKYNET-011 on December 22, 2002, 03:01:44 pm: Quote
Originally posted by vyper
I'm thinking of doing a little overhaul of a beam weapon thats used by a MOD I'm using in my campaign. I want to create higher quality textures than the :V: ones. Nice multi-coloured ones. Anyone got a surefire way of making the textures? I just can't face sitting playing with gradients in psp....

Get PhotoShop.
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Sesquipedalian on December 22, 2002, 04:55:06 pm: Or Corel PhotoPaint. (Uber alles!)
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Styxx on December 23, 2002, 05:17:04 am: I'd tell you the perfect tool for making beam textures, but then I'd have to kill you.
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Solatar on December 23, 2002, 10:55:04 am: *Fires up his Sathanas and gets in the drivers seat*
Bring it on:p :devil:
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Deepblue on December 23, 2002, 02:06:54 pm: Ha!!! *Jumps in Inferno's Icanus and charges big beam*
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Solatar on December 23, 2002, 03:48:33 pm: Charges down beam cannons in favor of Shivan fleet Command.
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: diamondgeezer on December 23, 2002, 05:38:54 pm: *points and laughs at Hades and Deepblue*

Oh, and didn't you get ny PM, Deep? We wants a word with you, precious...
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Solatar on December 23, 2002, 05:58:46 pm: *Gives the order and a Shivan fleet kicks DG's ass, pulls out flamethrower and keeps the fire going*
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: diamondgeezer on December 23, 2002, 06:02:11 pm: *reaches for first aid kit*
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Solatar on December 23, 2002, 06:14:43 pm: BTW - How do you make beam textures in PSP7?
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: vyper on December 23, 2002, 06:57:55 pm: Quote
Originally posted by Hades
BTW - How do you make beam textures in PSP7?

Hehe. With great f00king difficulty.
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: SKYNET-011 on December 23, 2002, 07:10:11 pm: Quote
Originally posted by diamondgeezer
*reaches for first aid kit*

Target(s) Aquired!>
HADES
DEEPBLUE
DIAMONDGEEZER

(http://www.3dap.com/hlp/hosted/inferno/inf2/bfred01.jpg)
FIRE!!!

Fires Ion Cannon at Hades, Deepblue and Diamondgeezer.

I love owning an Ion Cannon!

(Sorry for the large pic. Couldn't resist! :p Oh, and that's the Inferno mod's beams.)
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: vyper on December 23, 2002, 07:13:45 pm: *gets irritated at derailment of thread*
*does Gandalf like turn-the-room-dark pose*
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: SKYNET-011 on December 23, 2002, 07:16:07 pm: Seriously though.

PhotoShop is the way to go!:nod:
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Styxx on December 24, 2002, 05:13:17 am: (http://terra.sourceforge.net/featured/fp-large002.jpg)

Quote
Originally posted by SKYNET-011
...Sorry for the large pic. Couldn't resist!...

Same here. :D

(btw, those were not done in PSP nor Photoshop)
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Shrike on December 24, 2002, 06:03:29 am: Quote
Originally posted by Sesquipedalian
Or Corel PhotoPaint. (Uber alles!)
Preach it!
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: SKYNET-011 on December 24, 2002, 10:14:06 am: Mmm... Beams...
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: SKYNET-011 on December 24, 2002, 03:38:13 pm: Those beams for Machina Terra?

What about the other Pics? One looks like a Terran-Minbari Warcruiser.

(These Pics>http://terra.sourceforge.net/featured/)
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Petrarch of the VBB on December 24, 2002, 03:47:26 pm: Quote
Originally posted by SKYNET-011
PhotoShop is the way to go!:nod:

Only if you can afford it. What photoshop 7? £500 or something stupid?

anyway, it quite easy to make beams in PSP, just make a gradient fill, and put it horizontally across the image.
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: SKYNET-011 on December 24, 2002, 04:03:18 pm: Who needs PhotoShop 7? I use 4!
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Sheepy on December 24, 2002, 04:56:22 pm: Quote
Originally posted by Petrarch of the VBB

Only if you can afford it. What photoshop 7? £500 or something stupid?

anyway, it quite easy to make beams in PSP, just make a gradient fill, and put it horizontally across the image.

*strokes PS7 CD*

£5 bucks cost me, and it came with shed loads of extras on the cd, Plugins, filters, presets, fonts, upgrades for other adobe stuff and loads other stuff i havent bothered looking at
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: SKYNET-011 on December 24, 2002, 05:34:32 pm: Quote
Originally posted by Styxx
(http://terra.sourceforge.net/featured/fp-large002.jpg)

Same here. :D

(btw, those were not done in PSP nor Photoshop)

What where those beams done in? PLZZZZZZ tell me! :confused: I'm drooling here!(http://doomapoc.topcities.com/greendrool.gif)
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: <<ERROR>> on December 25, 2002, 03:54:59 am: Maybe it's MS PhotoDraw. I'll experiment and give you a few results. Don't know about the 'muzzle flashes', though. They're weird and very nice.
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Setekh on December 25, 2002, 04:29:01 am: Quote
Originally posted by Styxx
I'd tell you the perfect tool for making beam textures, but then I'd have to kill you.

[CENSORED BY MACHINA TERRA MINISTRY OF CLASSIFIED TECHNOLOGY]
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Sandwich on December 25, 2002, 05:16:33 am: As a guess, and to get back on topic, I'd say render some clouds with a certain color tinge, stretch them out, and use that as beam textures. :D
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Noise on December 25, 2002, 10:52:09 am: Try the Aurora weapons pack. I forget were I got it from, but the beam changes colour while its firing, nifty.;)
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: CP5670 on December 25, 2002, 03:12:44 pm: bah! all you people using this fancy graphics software are wimps; the real man does pixel editing in Paint! ;7

:D
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Petrarch of the VBB on December 25, 2002, 03:48:13 pm: Quote
Originally posted by Sheepy

£5 bucks cost me, and it came with shed loads of extras on the cd, Plugins, filters, presets, fonts, upgrades for other adobe stuff and loads other stuff i havent bothered looking at

You probably shouldn't talk about it, else Thunder will be wont for to smite you down, with his smitting club.
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Styxx on December 25, 2002, 07:50:37 pm: Quote
Originally posted by Setekh
[CENSORED BY MACHINA TERRA MINISTRY OF CLASSIFIED TECHNOLOGY]

;7
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: <<ERROR>> on December 26, 2002, 04:27:03 am: This may seem ignorant to the source code changes, but is there any way to make the beam PCX's tile? I have made a rather nice rainbow beam using Photodraw and Paint's pixel editing (to create black patches in the beam), but it is all stretched out along the beam length and it looks terrible.

Also, I think I know where that muzzle flash came from. It looks like a certain wall hit in Descent 3. I'll try again to make a nice beam.
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Sesquipedalian on December 26, 2002, 04:58:41 am: Indeed there is. You can also have the textures move along the beam. When version 3.4 comes out in the next few days, download it. To make a beam with tiling, read this (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,10170.0.html). It works marvellously. Try my Shivan Super Laser Beam (http://www.3dap.com/hlp/hosted/scroll/misc/lucybeam/lucybeamscreenie.html) for an example.
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Angel Blade on January 01, 2003, 05:14:00 pm: AHHHH.....those beams look real yummy...so now, I've missed a lot since my absence, huh? Can you tell me how to get those beams done? How to mess around with different types of beams? Those beams are crazy (I'm talking about the one hitting the Aeolus BTW). IMHO Those are the greatest beams ever placed in FS2.
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: SKYNET-011 on January 01, 2003, 05:23:32 pm: Actually, the Aeolus is FIRING the beams.:nod:
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Knight Templar on January 01, 2003, 05:39:42 pm: I still say that those should be hits :p ;)
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Anaz on January 01, 2003, 06:04:01 pm: wow...if tileing is done by section...that could lead to some really cool effects...
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Nuclear1 on January 01, 2003, 06:24:56 pm: Quote
Originally posted by Deepblue
Ha!!! *Jumps in Inferno's Icanus and charges big beam*

*jumps in Gigas*

Hmm.... I wonder what this does....

*presses button labeled Beam-Free-All*
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Ace on January 01, 2003, 06:53:56 pm: Quote
Originally posted by Sesquipedalian
Or Corel PhotoPaint. (Uber alles!)

Yays! Corel PhotoPaint, wooo! (I use that and PSP)
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: SKYNET-011 on January 01, 2003, 08:16:26 pm: Quote
Originally posted by nuclear1

*jumps in Gigas*

Hmm.... I wonder what this does....

*presses button labeled Beam-Free-All*

*Charges Ion Cannon* :devil:
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Angel Blade on January 02, 2003, 02:37:48 pm: Quote
Originally posted by SKYNET-011
Actually, the Aeolus is FIRING the beams.:nod:

Yes, I know it is firing the beams, but when I noticed it, I was on my computer. I can only post on my dad's computer. When I tried to edit the post, I obviously couldn't :blah: (Still trying to get it working right with the forums here, and still trying to get FS2 to run in general...damned XP...a lil help? :sigh:)

Those are real nice beams tho.....Any help on how to do it? :D
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Angel Blade on January 02, 2003, 02:38:45 pm: Quote
Originally posted by CP5670
bah! all you people using this fancy graphics software are wimps; the real man does pixel editing in Paint! ;7

:D

YEA!!! PIXEL EDITING!! :drevil:
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: vyper on January 02, 2003, 03:03:44 pm: Quote
Originally posted by Angel Blade

Yes, I know it is firing the beams, but when I noticed it, I was on my computer. I can only post on my dad's computer. When I tried to edit the post, I obviously couldn't :blah: (Still trying to get it working right with the forums here, and still trying to get FS2 to run in general...damned XP...a lil help? :sigh:)

Those are real nice beams tho.....Any help on how to do it? :D

Another beam (http://www.ironcougar.web1000.com/center.htm)

Explaining your problem with XP would help a bit :)
Title: XP...
Post by: Angel Blade on January 10, 2003, 08:46:18 pm: There's not much to explain. All I can say is that FS2 doesn't run with my windows :sigh:. I can describe it...Hmm....I can use FRED fine. When I start the FS2 FrontEnd, it works fine. Until I press start. Before, when I would start it, the game would enter, and then it would lockup at the blank screen. Now, after reinstalling mind you, I don't even enter the game. The process is shown in the Task Manager, but it just doesn't start up. I remembered a topic like this that discussed FS2 and XP. However, I searched for it and there were no results. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Especially since I want to enter that oh so great FREDding contest. :blah:
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Vertigo1 on January 11, 2003, 06:25:44 pm: Quote
Originally posted by SKYNET-011
Who needs PhotoShop 7? I use 4!

You use that memory hog POS version? That thing has so many memory leaks, its not even funny. Atleast get version 5.
Title: Re: XP...
Post by: vyper on January 11, 2003, 07:09:59 pm: Quote
Originally posted by Angel Blade
There's not much to explain. All I can say is that FS2 doesn't run with my windows :sigh:. I can describe it...Hmm....I can use FRED fine. When I start the FS2 FrontEnd, it works fine. Until I press start. Before, when I would start it, the game would enter, and then it would lockup at the blank screen. Now, after reinstalling mind you, I don't even enter the game. The process is shown in the Task Manager, but it just doesn't start up. I remembered a topic like this that discussed FS2 and XP. However, I searched for it and there were no results. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Especially since I want to enter that oh so great FREDding contest. :blah:

Try using the Application Compatiblity tool. (Yes everyone else, I know its a *****) It should be on your XP CD somewhere....
Title: Beams, Custom Beams
Post by: Bobboau on January 11, 2003, 11:39:15 pm: Quote
Originally posted by Noise
Try the Aurora weapons pack. I forget were I got it from, but the beam changes colour while its firing, nifty.;)

there are a few other good ones in there too, some are even precersers to weapons found in BWO :)
(none of the ubar weapons)