Hard Light Productions Forums

Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The Modding Workshop => Topic started by: WMCoolmon on September 05, 2005, 03:57:05 am

Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: WMCoolmon on September 05, 2005, 03:57:05 am
Which should be in the mediaVPs? (Explosion thread for more screenies + info + downloads (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,34618.0.html))

Red:
(http://server2.uploadit.org/files/Ulala321-screen0012.jpg)

Blue:
(http://server2.uploadit.org/files/Ulala32123-screen0058.jpg)

Compromise:
Or I can compromise, and use the red shockwave for low-end systems (mv_effects), and the blue shockwave for high-end ones (mv_adveffects) (there is no low-end version for the blue one, so I'd have to use the old one or something).
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Mefustae on September 05, 2005, 04:10:27 am
The Blue one not only rocks, but it's more in tune with the roots of FS Shockwaves...
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Fineus on September 05, 2005, 04:18:43 am
Blue :nod:
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Azrael15 on September 05, 2005, 05:18:47 am
Red
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Roanoke on September 05, 2005, 05:20:28 am
Quote
Originally posted by Mefustae
The Blue one not only rocks, but it's more in tune with the roots of FS Shockwaves...


:yes:
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Singh on September 05, 2005, 05:33:28 am
When i saw this thread I thought something along the lines of RedvsBlue based in Fs2 :p

But still....how about an option for both? The red shockwave is perfect for Shivan vessels, not to mention does not have the slight amount of pixellation in the brightest regions as the blue (probably the image quality though) and simply looks cooler. However, having the blue for GTVA vessels (maybe a gold for Vasudans?) would make the entire deal simply sw33t!
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Black Wolf on September 05, 2005, 05:50:31 am
Compromise. Make the very lowest setting stuff available by default, but maintain the ability to upgrade to higher quality stuff through adveffects.
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: karajorma on September 05, 2005, 06:15:20 am
Quote
Originally posted by Black Wolf
Compromise. Make the very lowest setting stuff available by default, but maintain the ability to upgrade to higher quality stuff through adveffects.


That goes without saying. The question is which colour to do that in :)
Title: Re: Red vs Blue
Post by: DaBrain on September 05, 2005, 06:20:54 am
Quote
Originally posted by WMCoolmon
[...]
(there is no low-end version for the blue one, so I'd have to use the old one or something).


Working on it... Just had to work on some mod stuff before this.

You should also use Psychonaut's torpedo shockwave, if you use the red shockwave.



I prefer the red shockwave. This is what I had in mind when I designed the effect. It enhances the explosions too, because of the similar colors. They fade into each other.

Like this:
(http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/2470/screen37989hv.jpg)
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Facty on September 05, 2005, 06:39:31 am
I prefer the red one too. The blue shockwave contrasts far too much with the actual explosion in my opinion.

Perhaps if the shockwaves were blended into something utilizing both colors (red front trailing blue. Sorta like with a gasflame)...
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Mefustae on September 05, 2005, 06:40:59 am
Quote
Originally posted by Singh
But still....how about an option for both? The red shockwave is perfect for Shivan vessels, not to mention does not have the slight amount of pixellation in the brightest regions as the blue (probably the image quality though) and simply looks cooler. However, having the blue for GTVA vessels (maybe a gold for Vasudans?) would make the entire deal simply sw33t!

That would a really sweet addition, and while the colourcoding is already pretty distinct, it'd be great to see different coloured shockwaves for each race...except, the guise i'm under, is that a different Core Reactor type would ellicit a different colour shockwave and explosion; Red for Shivan craft, and Blue for GTVA Vessels (they'd all be pretty much using the same reactors - Vasudan - as the TechDatabase states numerous times of the Vasudans holding better reactor technology)...i'm just wondering if it would be possible to alter the colour of the explosion (tieing into DaBrains' point of the explosion merging into the shockwave) to match a given Shockwave colour, and then match them to different ships...?
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: eiszo on September 05, 2005, 07:33:58 am
The red one.
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: BlackDove on September 05, 2005, 07:52:57 am
This isn't a question.

Blue is cannon. It has been blue in FS1, it has been a modified blue in FS2.

Red is optional at best.
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: DarthWang on September 05, 2005, 08:12:48 am
Green!
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: karajorma on September 05, 2005, 09:21:11 am
Purple!

Sorry channelling the ghost of Babylon 5 for a moment there. :D
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Depth_Charge on September 05, 2005, 09:29:14 am
I like those shochwaves, but in between them, could it be easy to make one for each of the race.............like for an example, blue for terran, green or golden for vas, red or purple for shivans..........just a suggestion.......
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: eiszo on September 05, 2005, 10:03:34 am
Yehh....that would be logical because each race uses different cores in their reactor which powers their ship. Excellent idea!
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Flaser on September 05, 2005, 10:13:44 am
Red, so far it looks better (blends in better with the rest of the effects).

Retain, the blue for antimatter bombs (though the later should be more  OOMMPHHH! white atomic flash of destruction than mere shockwaves).

(IMHO the best would be a violet-blue shockwave that fades into the orange and red end of the spectrum).
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: CP5670 on September 05, 2005, 10:23:05 am
Okay, the first one isn't red by any stretch of the imagination; it's so obviously orange. :p Anyway, I think orange looks better but blue is after all the official FS2 color. I would vote for a compromise, either with different colors for the bombs and ship explosions or different colors for different species' ships (although in this case, this orange one should probably be made more yellowish for Vasudans and an additional red one added in for Shivans; either that or have blue for all GTVA ships).
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: BlackDove on September 05, 2005, 11:25:58 am
They'd color them differently in FS2 if it was meant to be a different color.

I'm going to assume that any type of propellant they might be using for the bombs/ships/whatver is blue, remniscent of the fact that FreeSpace (SubSpace) is blue.

It's Blue.
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: NGTM-1R on September 05, 2005, 12:57:33 pm
Yes, but it's more of a sky blue.
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: BlackDove on September 05, 2005, 01:02:23 pm
The colors have been different from FS1 to FS2. I think there is leeway as far as shades go.

Whatever kind of blue it is, it most certainly isn't red or orange.

And this isn't really an issue of "what people want". Logic and reason dictate blue.

That's really all there is to it.
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Raptor on September 05, 2005, 01:19:20 pm
Okay, first: Damm!:yes2::D:yes:

Second: I voted 'Blue'  but Facty has a valid point.  Howabout having the blue leading edge which fades though purple into the reds...

But of just these two, I have to say Blue.
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Mongoose on September 05, 2005, 01:30:54 pm
I voted for compromise, but not in the way that you suggested.  Here's my thought on this:  how feasible would it be to have two separate VPs just for the shockwaves, one for red and one for blue?  That way, everyone could download the color of their choice without eliminating any of the options.  I know that I myself would have a hell of a time deciding which one to use. :p
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Janos on September 05, 2005, 02:14:12 pm
Blue is just so goddamn cool.
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: DaBrain on September 05, 2005, 02:15:29 pm
I think some people may have chosen the blue one, because the second screenshot looks better. ;)

They do indeed look all the same except for the color.


@WMCoolmon
 
Apart from the color, which versions are you going to use for the MV effects and the MV advanced effects packages?

I think the super-high-end one maybe a bit too much, even for the advanced effects pack.

Maybe you should think about another package. Some thing like a HD pack.
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: StratComm on September 05, 2005, 02:33:51 pm
Quote
Originally posted by BlackDove
This isn't a question.  Blue is cannon.


Agreed
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: karajorma on September 05, 2005, 03:02:42 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Mongoose
I voted for compromise, but not in the way that you suggested.  Here's my thought on this:  how feasible would it be to have two separate VPs just for the shockwaves, one for red and one for blue?  That way, everyone could download the color of their choice without eliminating any of the options.  I know that I myself would have a hell of a time deciding which one to use. :p


There's nothing stopping you simply downloading one of the other version and either compiling a VP of your own or simply sticking the files in a folder where it has higher priority than the one in the media VP file.
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Mongoose on September 05, 2005, 03:38:18 pm
Quote
Originally posted by karajorma


There's nothing stopping you simply downloading one of the other version and either compiling a VP of your own or simply sticking the files in a folder where it has higher priority than the one in the media VP file.

True...except that I don't know how to compile a VP, and I'm too lazy to be bothered with throwing a bunch of random files in different data folders. :p
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: karajorma on September 05, 2005, 03:49:36 pm
I'll be uploading a new version of the FAQ soon. It will contain details on how to make VP files using Kazan's VP Constructor Suite. It's pretty easy really but if you're too lazy to do it you can't blame anyone else for being too lazy either :D
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Depth_Charge on September 05, 2005, 04:17:34 pm
Hey i though of another idea or suggestion, as for shockwaves, why not use both red and blue together, like on the 6th startrek movie at the beginning when the moon went boom, two different shockwaves..........
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Sheepy on September 05, 2005, 05:42:00 pm
Out of curiosity, is it possible to make te actual explosion (not the shockwave) race specific, then you could have a different colour for each race, then you could get the nice blending but with out it looking a bit whack with the same stock explosion for all of them ... just a thought.
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: DaBrain on September 05, 2005, 06:57:49 pm
Just to answer you guys who want both shockwaves:

This shockwave is actually the most complex effect in my FS2 folder. It needs a lot of memory. There is no other effect using this much memory.

I think this is fine, cause the effect is important, but having two of those requires a lot of gfx ram. 512 MB cards should be fine for this... If you have a 256 MB card, and want to use two of them, you'll have to use lower quality effects already.


Using two of them is not a very good idea.
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: MetalDestroyer on September 05, 2005, 07:09:16 pm
Hmm, it's hard to choose between this 2.
They are all impressive. But for Big ship Explosion I prefer the Red one.
But for Bomb Explo like Cyclops, I prefer the Old blue (See the Psychonaut's Torpedo).
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: MrBig101 on September 05, 2005, 07:20:50 pm
I've always loved the blue shockwaves.  Blue for me!
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: WMCoolmon on September 05, 2005, 08:01:58 pm
Quote
Originally posted by DaBrain
I think some people may have chosen the blue one, because the second screenshot looks better. ;)

They do indeed look all the same except for the color.


@WMCoolmon
 
Apart from the color, which versions are you going to use for the MV effects and the MV advanced effects packages?

I think the super-high-end one maybe a bit too much, even for the advanced effects pack.

Maybe you should think about another package. Some thing like a HD pack.


I was thinking low or medium for the normal effects pack, and the super-high-end one for adveffects.

Although if it really does need 512 MB I may go down a notch.

Re: building a VP, http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/fsdoc/index.php?pagename=UsingVPMage

Or for this specifically:
1) Extract the RAR somewhere
2) Open VPMage
3) Click "Dir.." at the top and select the 'data' folder from the rar. Click OK.Then click "Add Source".
4) Where it says "Output", click "File..." and choose a name/location for the new VP. Click "OK"
5) Click "Build VP". It'll think for a bit, then tell you that the VP is done.
6) Move the new VP to your FS2 dir (if necessary)
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Descenter on September 05, 2005, 10:31:42 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Singh
How about an option for both? The red shockwave is perfect for Shivan vessels, not to mention does not have the slight amount of pixellation in the brightest regions as the blue (probably the image quality though) and simply looks cooler. However, having the blue for GTVA vessels (maybe a gold for Vasudans?) would make the entire deal simply sw33t!


I like his Idea :cool:

Code it with the engine color.
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: DaBrain on September 06, 2005, 04:59:49 am
Quote
Originally posted by WMCoolmon

Although if it really does need 512 MB I may go down a notch.
 


256MB will be enough for one of them, but two of them plus the torp shockwave, maybe a bit too much for 256MB cards, especially if you wan to use Antialiasing.
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: bash on September 06, 2005, 12:35:53 pm
I'm new to the SCP so i don't really now, but won't it be possible to add a new command to the next version of the launcher to let you choose your prefered color? If that would be the case, both colors would have to be included, of cours.

I hope to see the blue one in action soon. I just finished the original campaign with the red one and it just awesome.
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Ulala on September 06, 2005, 02:46:33 pm
Canon. Blue. Canon. :nod:
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Primus on September 06, 2005, 02:54:09 pm
Both very cool looking, but with canon you can. :D
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Mongoose on September 06, 2005, 05:12:39 pm
Quote
Originally posted by DaBrain


256MB will be enough for one of them, but two of them plus the torp shockwave, maybe a bit too much for 256MB cards, especially if you wan to use Antialiasing.

So basically a 64 MB X300 will have no chance with the super-hi-res version?  Crap; if it's included in adveffects, looks like I'll have to do a little editing. :p
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Unknown Target on September 06, 2005, 06:42:31 pm
Blue. It looks cooler, and it's closer to canon anyway.
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: deep_eyes on September 14, 2005, 09:41:23 am
blue. for humans. red for shivans.
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: WMCoolmon on September 14, 2005, 09:32:17 pm
I'm not going to do multiple shockwaves at this time. It'd be nice to show off the feature, but there's too much risk of it interfering with other mods and such by taking up a bunch of image slots.
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Fenrir on September 14, 2005, 10:05:23 pm
Not to mention the races are already color-coded enough as it is. If I want to see a firework display I'll go to Disneyland, not Freespace.

And I vote for the blue. I've played the game with both the fire and blue colors and I like the blue better because it contrasts nicely with the explosions, and I always imagined the shockwaves to be energy  released from the fusion drives, anyway.

And which versions are you going to be using for which VP's? The low end for mv_effects and the high for adveffects? The mid-range for effects and the super-high for adveffects?
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: mikhael on September 14, 2005, 10:14:58 pm
Christ. FS2stock doesn't have to be treated like the Bible, complete with religious devotion.

Red. It looks better, it makes more sense, and that damn blue is too bloody garish.
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Ghost on September 15, 2005, 08:48:49 am
Either one's okay to me. But as I can't get it to work, I'll wait for a VP because I'm probably installing them wrong...
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Woolie Wool on September 20, 2005, 01:24:44 pm
Use red for ship explosions and blue for bombs.
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: FireCrack on September 20, 2005, 03:09:20 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Woolie Wool
Use red for ship explosions and blue for bombs.


Yes, this one also makes sense gameplay-wize because the blue ones will be doing 1% damage to sheilds, while the red you have to watch out for...
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: StratComm on September 20, 2005, 03:21:24 pm
Quote
Originally posted by WMCoolmon
I'm not going to do multiple shockwaves at this time. It'd be nice to show off the feature, but there's too much risk of it interfering with other mods and such by taking up a bunch of image slots.


I don't know how many times this needs to be said.  You can't have multiple shockwaves without incurring massive penalties on the number of graphics used in a given mission, introducing a degredation in performance and potentially causing things to not render properly.  The 3d shockwaves are slightly less bad than the long 2d ones, but only marginally so.
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Ulala on September 24, 2005, 11:13:10 pm
Quote
Originally posted by mikhael
Christ. FS2stock doesn't have to be treated like the Bible, complete with religious devotion.


Funny hearing that from basically any non-n00b around here. ;) :p

Both waves are cool, so let's compromise and make them... PURPLE! :nervous:
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: WMCoolmon on September 25, 2005, 02:40:58 am
Pshht, pansy.

Let's make them ultraviolet. :p
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: Gregster2k on September 26, 2005, 02:42:34 am
How about implement an SCP feature to allow players to set individual RGB settings through the Launcher for specific DDS and PCX files so that we can override whatever color it is ourselves and stop fighting? ;)

(Materials system anyone?!)

I wish. :P *sigh* *clicks Blue*
Title: Red vs Blue
Post by: AqueousShadow on September 27, 2005, 06:06:32 pm
Red looks so good...