Hard Light Productions Forums
Community Projects => The FreeSpace Upgrade Project => Topic started by: Nighteyes on April 06, 2010, 11:22:00 am
-
I'm releasing an effects package for the FSU so everyone can enjoy them, most were created for Earth Defence, now I'm finally happy with the way they look so its time to release!
enjoy :D
http://www.mediafire.com/?zz1joyzjnxe
*effects included are:
2 main explosions, 1 flak, 1 missilehit, 2D shockwave, 3D shockwave(the shockwaves are still in TGA, sockwave.pof needs to be placed in models folder)
**3D shockwave should go into data/maps folder, all other effects should go into data/effects, fireball.tbl should be updated to use the new explosions
SECOND RELEASE :D
http://www.mediafire.com/?edqyzyfqm5w
second release includes:
2 un-saturated main explosions, 1 damage trail
my recommended setup for these effects is:
2 main explosions(un-saturated version)
2D shockwave
missile hits should use expmissilehit1
beam hit trail should use particlesmoke01
beam peirce effect should be particlesmoke01 or 1 of the main explosions
** all effects in second release are in TGA, whoever want to use them can try them out in TGA, if they want them in their mod they should be compressed to DDS
-
Looks fantastic! Good work. :yes:
-
Yours was the 3D shockwave that wasn't double-layered, right?
-
Looks great. :yes:
fireball.tbl should be updated to use the new explosions
Instructions for the uninitiated?
-
;-)
-
I've put the fills in the folder and such but there's been no change at all... yes instructions would be a help here for some of us.
-
Instructions for the uninitiated?
Rename a text (.txt) file "NewExplosions-fbl.tbm", put it in data\tables and put this in it:
#Start
$Name: exp01
+Explosion_Large1
$LOD: 1
$Name: exp02
+Explosion_Large2
$LOD: 1
#End
Well, awesome release dude! I definitely wish this happened more often. ;) It'll be good to finally get rid of the two old retail main explosion effects, and though I'm not sure which ones we will end up using, the other ones and shockwaves look pretty cool too. A suggestion I would have for the fireballs though would be to make them a bit more angry - like stronger reds yellows and oranges. Definitely makes things look more impressive in a "RAAAAR HUGE EXPLOSION!!!!!!!" kind of way as opposed to a sort of 'I'm exploding now' that the softer oranges and yellows give. I was trying these ones in conjunction with your old exp08 effect and while these ones looked like better effects, they lacked the fury of the much stronger colours in the old one and also the retail ones.
I did have some serious slowdown with the shockwaves, but I'm assuming that's most likely because they're still tga. Some other little issues I've noticed is how the 'sharpness' of some of the effect changes: in the 2d shockwave, the very first frame snaps the centre glow into existance, grows it steadily till frame 20 where it snap-reverses its growth and then the waves emerge.
Also, the two waves themselves seem to fade to black a little prematurely - it looks a bit too simultaneous for them to be separate waves. The 3d version has much more independent waves in that regard, but I've just noticed it seems to have some pretty noticable colour banding in the TGAs.
Anyway, again; awesome release. I know how stupidly hard effects are to do (what tools did you use btw?) and these are quite impressive. :)
-
I agree, the only problem I have with the new effects is that the colors are way too pale. The colors in your old release were much more vivid.
Also, slowing these effects down by reducing the FPS on them is very impressive. I recommend it.
EDIT: Fury tells me the FPS alterations were actually to a different effect from Nighteyes' Hollywood Pack, so I'm not sure if it'd work as well for these.
-
still no change for me -.- what am i doing wrong....
-
still no change for me -.- what am i doing wrong....
where did you put the files?
Either put the effects in Mediavps/ data/ effects, you have to create that folder.
or ( better solution if you want to only check them out ingame or use them only with a certain mod )
Create a new folder in your FS2 folder, name it EXPLO.
In that folder create a new one, name it data. In that folder you create one new folders, name them effects.
All the effects and the .eff files go to the effects folder.
Fire up the launcher, klick the Features tab, and add this line to the custom flags:
-mod EXPLO
hit apply and run the game.
There shouldn't be a need for a tbm, 'cause iirc, the will replace the effects ingame.
Voila!
-
thanks for te nice comments guys, its a pleasure to release this :)
about the colores, I can try editing them a bit to give them a bit more life, but I kind of like the realistic look these ones have, as opposed to coloreful and happy explosions :P
the shockwave was created frame by frame like the mediavps one, with the flare at the start and the time where they start to fade... so don't know what you'r on about there :P
-
I'm really digging this flak effect, though I've put the frame rate at 45 instead of 30. I'm not too fond of the expmissilehit1 though, it lacks 'punch'. Too 'gentle' for some reason. Increasing it's fps to 45 made it look a bit more 'explody' but I still prefer the retail one.
-
Thanks, Vasudan Admiral.
This is great work, nighteyes. The shockwaves are gorgeous.
-
I'm really digging this flak effect, though I've put the frame rate at 45 instead of 30. I'm not too fond of the expmissilehit1 though, it lacks 'punch'. Too 'gentle' for some reason. Increasing it's fps to 45 made it look a bit more 'explody' but I still prefer the retail one.
As far as I know, fps in animations should not ever go over 30. People like HerraTohtori can better explain why.
-
;-)
-
The higher the framerate, the greater the chance for wasted frames, that is, frames that can't be shown due to the actual FPS being too low. That means wasted memory, and wasted bmpman slots.
-
Do you have a video to show these new effects ? (youtube....)
-
Love the shockwaves, I said this before but now I get the chance to use them! :D
-
;-)
-
The higher the framerate, the greater the chance for wasted frames, that is, frames that can't be shown due to the actual FPS being too low. That means wasted memory, and wasted bmpman slots.
That's completely irrelevant when you have a pc that can just run freespace at a constant 60 fps though :p
-
The higher the framerate, the greater the chance for wasted frames, that is, frames that can't be shown due to the actual FPS being too low. That means wasted memory, and wasted bmpman slots.
That's completely irrelevant when you have a pc that can just run freespace at a constant 60 fps though :p
Wrong. Bmpman slots are set by the game engine, not by your PC.
And trust me, you won't like what happens when they all get used up.
-
The higher the framerate, the greater the chance for wasted frames, that is, frames that can't be shown due to the actual FPS being too low. That means wasted memory, and wasted bmpman slots.
That's completely irrelevant when you have a pc that can just run freespace at a constant 60 fps though :p
anyway this is not relevent, as the human eye can't notice noticible difference after 24 fps animation, so anything higher than 30 fps is wasted frames, as the effect can just be rerendered to be faster and still play at 30 fps with a smaller total frame count...
-
The higher the framerate, the greater the chance for wasted frames, that is, frames that can't be shown due to the actual FPS being too low. That means wasted memory, and wasted bmpman slots.
That's completely irrelevant when you have a pc that can just run freespace at a constant 60 fps though :p
Wrong. Bmpman slots are set by the game engine, not by your PC.
And trust me, you won't like what happens when they all get used up.
Setting the effect to be played at a higher frame rate does not consume more Bmpman slots... It still loads the same amount of frames. What The E said is that frames will be wasted when the game is running at a frame rate lower then the frame rate of the effect. In that case frames would indeed be 'wasted' and thus it would be a waste for the game to load in those frames into Bmpman. Of course the same goes for when the effect is set to 30 fps and your pc's fps drops below that.
Setting a higher frame rate for .eff file effects just causes them to be played slower/faster though. The same effect can be achieved by cutting out a few frames from the animation. But for me, setting it to 45 frames is just easier.
as the human eye can't notice noticible difference after 24 fps animation
:lol: :lol: :lol:
-
Ooh, I gotcha.
-
;-)
-
Response time has nothing to do with the actual FPS of the image being rendered. What you want there is refresh rate. Response time only reduces ghosting.
However, the 24fps thing is indeed crap. The value of 24fps comes from the popular 24p (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24p) video format that uses 24 fps, and often appears smooth because of motion blur. 24fps can be easily distinguished from, say, 60fps.
-
perfect timing! I just re-started retail FS2 campaign on monday, this will add more flavour to the playthrough.
-
;-)
-
Eyes can pretty well tell the difference between continuous reality and framed video.
The threshold to where the brains can start fooling themselves to think they're looking at a moving picture instead of frame after frame is somewhere around 24 FPS, but the higher the FPS, the closer to continuous the image stream is, and the less obvious the frames become.
The biggest thing that reveals frame rate is fast panning motion or an object moving fast through the image. In reality, the image is continuous so the eyes and (more importantly) brains will most likely pick the object up, calculate the route of the object and create an illusion that the eye was tracking the object all the time. With framed video, it doesn't work quite as smoothly.
Aside from that, peripheral sight can pick up very fast movements and short light signals...
-
I'm surprised that Wikipeda article doesn't explain where 24p came from. It basically came from the speed of film reels back in the day when the highest coherent speed was 24 fps. Since this became the standard for film, filmmakers today insist that films always be 24p. It really is purely aesthetic because 30fps is far clearer.
Back on topic... :nervous:
-
I've got something weird. The first time I test it, it works like a charm and since, I have the default one (from Media VP or from Blue Planet).
I put the pof into models folder, and all eff and tga are into effects folder. :/
I'm playing with the 3.6.12 RC 2 and the folowing command-line
M:\Jeux\Freespace2\fs2_open_3_6_12r_INF_SSE2_RC2.exe -mod BluePlanet_DC,MediaVP_3.6.10_Final_August2009,Explosions -spec -glow -env -mipmap -missile_lighting -normal -3dshockwave -img2dds -no_vsync -cache_bitmaps -dualscanlines -targetinfo -orbradar -rearm_timer -ballistic_gauge -ship_choice_3d -weapon_choice_3d -3dwarp -warp_flash -snd_preload -post_process -ambient_factor 100 -no_emissive_light -fov 1.1 -ogl_spec 75 -height -normal -spec_exp 11 -spec_point 2.0 -post_process -bloom_intensity 180
Nighteyes effects are into my Explosions Folder. Before I placed them into this folder, I put them in BP data folder and nothing.
-
Ok, i'm still kinda of lost... i did it both ways it was explained but now heres the funny part... when i used them as a separate mod, the missile impacts didnt change but the shockwaves did and vice versa when i used it in the mediavps, the missile impacts changed but the shockwaves didnt. lol whats going on
-
guys, I adjusted the main explosions now and they are brighter and have a bit more color to them, I also tested out a "damage fire trail"(particleexp01) that turned out pretty nice so I'll share these on my next day off when I have time to convert them and finalise the frames on them :)
btw I use mostly After Effects for these effects, the shockwave was made in 3ds max and enhanced in AE as well... the explosions are a mix of all the "old" mediavps explosions, as well as the btrl explosions
-
Can't wait for the new explosions!
Your released pack was perfect, except your desaturated explosions looked really weird overlaid with bright yellow beam pierce effects.
Also, where can I get a planar shockwave model that doesn't double the image? :/
-
You'd need to make a different model and call it shockwave.pof. Should be doable- correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't it just be a matter of making a double-sided 2D plane and mapping the texture onto it?
Thing is, look at the model (shockwave.pof) in PCS2 sometime. It has a thickness to it. The shockwave gets rendered on both sides, so you see both sides of the model. More info here (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=67300.0).
It's bugged me ever since the originals were released, I've just been too lazy to make a proper one with just a plane.
-
guys, I also added to the pack a shockwave.pof, this one fixs the duplicate rendering problem... just place it in models folder in mediavps/data/models, that should fix it.
to fix the bright yellow beam peirce effect you need to adjust the effect table to use an explosion the would be more apropriate...
-
to fix the bright yellow beam peirce effect you need to adjust the effect table to use an explosion the would be more apropriate...
Do you have any personal recommendations for what to use? It is your effects pack after all ;)
-
I updated the first post, that covers all FS main effects, feedback is welcome, and enjoy guys! :D
-
Can you tell us what command line to use to activate your effects in the *.tbm file ?
i use these for the moment :
#Start
$Name: exp01
+Explosion_Large1
$LOD: 1
$Name: exp02
+Explosion_Large2
$LOD: 1
#End
Do you have any recommandation to complete this ?
-
Superb work on the damage trail, they're iddy bitty (Actual) fireballs! :D
-
Can you tell us what command line to use to activate your effects in the *.tbm file ?
the rest you can just dump in the effects folder in mediavps/data/effects, as most effects are named like their mediavps conterparts, so expmissilehit1, shockwave, particlesmoke01 should all work by just placing them there...
beam hit effects and more specific stuff you will have to open weapons.tbl file and adjust the hit effect to use you'r desired effect.
-
thank you ! for the first package i use a separate folder named "EXPLO" that's why the second package doesn't work i think.... i try it tonight (in french local time :p )
-
just a question about explosion effects, they look very good, but i think each capship explosion need more particle effect like the Shivan communication nodes explosion, the Shivan communication nodes explode like a big big fireworks with a lot of particle.....
look at this :
(http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/Freespace2/Update%2029/img-2.jpg)
(http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/Freespace2/Update%2029/img-3.jpg)
D o you think it's possible with capship explosion effects ?
-
that effect has nothing to do with the stuff I released, its something to do in the tables telling the game to emmit paritcles when a ship dies, I'm sure its possible to do when a capship dies, but personally I don't like this effect, we need more control over the particles to be able to use them for something that actually looks good IMO...
-
If we could have explosion like that in Freespace, the same as jupiter incident (watch at 38s) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66wdFAUQTgM
:eek2: :eek2: :eek2:
-
currently thats not possible, thats the next feture I want implemented in FSO, burning trails for debris...
-
Explosions like that on FreeSpace would be boss. :D
-
ok for the burning trails, but about the explosion big flash effect, i think a longer and bigger explosion flash effect would be nice, actually the effect is to small and to fast, here a second exemple video with an adaptation of nexus effect to the freelancer game :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyubs6wH2NI
idem for the halo/white shockwave effect.
-
Just as an aside,
Is there any way to change the way cap ships get turned into debris? It's really odd when you see an invisible moving wall erase the ship, leaving only the pieces of prebroken debris as it passes.
-
Right now, models are set up with specific debris pieces. The more of them the modeller includes, the less jarring will the transition between the normal and the broken model be.
-
Right now, models are set up with specific debris pieces. The more of them the modeller includes, the less jarring will the transition between the normal and the broken model be.
exactly, thats why its importent IMO for the debris peices to include all parts of the ship, shame that no matter how many bits you make more than half of them explode with the rest of the explosion... there should be a way to make debris HP higher...
capship flash effect is meant to be a bright flash when a capship dies, this should be triggered by the Flashy Death script, example of this you will see in WiH when its released :P
-
It's on the new Age of Aquarius too isn't it?
-
Yes, existing and future Blue Planet releases have it/will have it, as will (probably) the MediaVPs since we pass a lot of our graphical stuff to Zacam.
-
Is this going to have an official final release, or should I just manually convert all those .tga's to something not ginormous?
-
well, not official, but something pretty close, all my effects, including the old ones I released a few months ago will be present in the new BP: War in Heaven :D
all in DDS, 256x256 versions and advanced versions at 512x512, also it will be easy to use the "flashy deaths" script from this release so it will use these effects in other mods... and who knows, maybe some of these will make their way into the mediavps :P
-
The flashy death script in Blue Planet has been modified to use a flash effect Nighteyes created specifically for warship deaths. This make big ships exploding look even more awesome.
-
;-)
-
If we could have explosion like that in Freespace, the same as jupiter incident (watch at 38s) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66wdFAUQTgM
:eek2: :eek2: :eek2:
The explosion was amazing, but it could still use the random mini explosions across the hull when taking down capships, followed by this explosion. Oh Yeah! Smokin' :pimp:
Well, what our modding community has done with the default explosions are pretty unique themselves. Shockwaves are awesome! :P
-
Ok so if i understood correctly, i need to place the files from the nighteyes_sfx.7z and nighteyes_sfx2.7z in the folder EXPLO/data/effects and then use -mod EXPLO flag for the new effects to work?
-
Ok so if i understood correctly, i need to place the files from the nighteyes_sfx.7z and nighteyes_sfx2.7z in the folder EXPLO/data/effects and then use -mod EXPLO flag for the new effects to work?
You'll probably want to include a mod.ini for the EXPLO mod as well, so you can use it in combination with the MVPs and/or other mods.
-
No need for dat since im on linux and i dont use the launcher :D
-
How would I go about changing the beam hit effect? I've been scrolling through all the table files I know but couldn't find anything in the beam-related entries. Am I missing something or is it beyond modifying an existing entry?
-
Try $Impact Explosion:
-
Try $Impact Explosion:
How do you use it with beams? The beam entries in for example mv_effects-wep.tbm don't have it by default, and just simply adding it (I'm going for ParticleSmoke01) to each beam gives errors, and isn't recognized. All fighter weapons seem to be straightforward with this but the beams still confuse me...
-
Try $Impact Explosion:
How do you use it with beams? The beam entries in for example mv_effects-wep.tbm don't have it by default, and just simply adding it (I'm going for ParticleSmoke01) to each beam gives errors, and isn't recognized. All fighter weapons seem to be straightforward with this but the beams still confuse me...
I believe the Blue Planet 3.6.12 Feature Pack contains weapon tables with beam piercing effects.
Try it out.
EDIT: oh whoops, you're talking about simple beamhit effects. While I'm not sure how those work, I also believe that said feature pack contains some of those. So, uh, maybe try it out anyway? :nervous:
i am le nubz
-
How do you use it with beams? The beam entries in for example mv_effects-wep.tbm don't have it by default, and just simply adding it (I'm going for ParticleSmoke01) to each beam gives errors, and isn't recognized. All fighter weapons seem to be straightforward with this but the beams still confuse me...
...
What errors?
-
Nevermind, got them to work. Sorry about forgetting to post the errors, fortunately I've seen the same ones enough to recognize that the problem was with the way I edited the entries. The new line needed a line of space from the old ones to avoid getting mixed up with them. Getting rusty with my table editing...
The irony? The orignal effect fits better IMO :ick: ... Sweet effect pack by the way!
-
I'd suggest you try explo3(get it from Blue Planet) as beam hit effect, I find it very fitting all those sparks shooting up :yes:
-
Could you make a fiery orange version of that 2D shockwave? I've been looking everywhere for a 2D orange shockwave that actually looks good in all light conditions and this would be just the ticket.
-
why would a shockwave be orange? I don't know, if demand will be high I'll recolor this shockwave and post an orange one as well... I'm pretty busy with RL atm
*Battuta, if you have time you can pack the new explosions I made for BP2 and post them for everyone to use(exp04, exp05, exp06)
-
Well, why would a shockwave be a glowing, visible ring at all? It wouldn't be any more or less unrealistic if it were sparkly pink. It's not like FreeSpace doesn't have other phenomena that make no sense other than looking cool (visible lasers, apparently faster-than-light supernovas, etc.) and a big glowy blue death ring is already nonsense from a scientific viewpoint. I just prefer big blowy orange death rings.