[Colonol Dekker]

Rahhtid rude boy star. These beamZ is dope, you need to bash out a white beam for the S/E london crew,
Respec' to the gangsta' G , Herra Tohtori.

   < Beams = Very nice>

[Herra Tohtori]

 




...I'd pretty much say the distance-fading is no longer a problem.

I'm only going to make BFRed, BFGreen and LRBGreen this bright, however. The rest of the bunch are usually not used in that long range anyway, and they are not even as energetic as the hugest beams. And they generally look better that way, so...

I'm building and uploading a version 2.0 VP package soon.

[Herra Tohtori]

...Okay, how do I convert the files into DDS format with nvDXT so that they remain flattened?


It stubbornly wants to put black edges onto the frames, something we don't actually need.

...And should the files be in DXT3 or DXT5 format?


Regardless, here be the latest beam release(s). In TGA format, since DDS is being cranky with me again.

High resolution beam textures (1024x256): 16 MB download,

Medium resolution beam textures (512x128): 5.8 MB download.


Version 2.1a/b will have textures converted to DDS, if I can make it happen.

Test different situations, different beams and different ranges. Please tell if some beams behave strangely or anything like that, because I haven't seen them all. I just watched at some beams, marked which values fit for them and then approximated corresponding values to other beams of same colour (obvious exception being the three long-range beams; BFRed, LRBGreen and BFGreen, which differ slightly from other beams).

I can't make the beams better without feedback to tell me what you prefer.

[taylor]

...Okay, how do I convert the files into DDS format with nvDXT so that they remain flattened?

They do remain flattened.  Or do you mean mipmap layers?  You need to use mipmaps so that it looks and performs better, especially on the higher resolution ones.

It stubbornly wants to put black edges onto the frames, something we don't actually need.

But don't they already have black edges?  Guess I'm not sure whay you are referring to, unless...

...And should the files be in DXT3 or DXT5 format?

DXT1c.  The images don't need an alpha channel, so you don't need to use a format which includes one.  If you do then it won't blend the images correctly since that's how it tells what blending mode to use, whether it has an alpha channel or not.

[Herra Tohtori]

Thanks for reminder.

Drastic decreases in download sizes... Good thing, 'cause I already got announced about reaching my public disk space quota...

Links are same as in last post, I just updated the files. If someone would like the TGA files instead of these, PM me and I'll mail them or something.

Version 2.1a - High resolution beam textures (1024x256): 3.9 MB download,

Version 2.1b - Medium resolution beam textures (512x128):  1.1 MB download.

[Wanderer]

Do mipmaps function properly with (tiled) beams? As atleast with missile trails the mipmaps caused the trail to become very ugly - sort of generated clearly visible sections into it... Though it has been a while since i last tested that.

[taylor]

As atleast with missile trails the mipmaps caused the trail to become very ugly - sort of generated clearly visible sections into it... Though it has been a while since i last tested that.

It actually depends on the trail, but I haven't figured out why yet.  It is very obvious when it's wrong though.  It has a lot to do with the angle you are viewing from however (ie, a very oblique angle), so in general it should never be a problem for beams.

[Mefustae]

Not bad, but the Greens could stand to be a bit more crazy, and the Reds a little more stable.

[Herra Tohtori]

Well, I had the excact opposite in my mind...

Let me explain.

I think it's clear that the Shivan beams are technically most advanced of these beams. They most likely have the greatest energy density.

Physically, greater energy density means more things can and will happen. Direct comparision would be thermal energy - put more thermal energy in gas container and the particles get more speed, the pressure rises or if possible, the gas expands.

Terran and Vasudan beams most likely have smaller energy densities into them than Shivan beams. That's why I deducted that the Shivan beams should "live" a bit more than Terran and Vasudan ones.


It is not impossible that I have incorrect table values for some beams as leftovers from earlier editions. I haven't seen all the beams in action, I'm just guessing what would look good based on other beams, their factors and width, and convert them with corresponding factor depending on width.

 

Thanks for feedback, though.

[Freespace Freak]

Installed and tested... I likes!   

[Einstine909]

my time for sugestions

make the center(white) and other colors into differant animations, then use the Zadd and layers in the beams to create depth. also in my opinion they need some more color, just a little to much white to look like freespace. oh and to get that "live" effect have the red layer flux

[neoterran]

great !

[Mefustae]

Well, I had the excact opposite in my mind...

Let me explain.

I think it's clear that the Shivan beams are technically most advanced of these beams. They most likely have the greatest energy density.

Physically, greater energy density means more things can and will happen. Direct comparision would be thermal energy - put more thermal energy in gas container and the particles get more speed, the pressure rises or if possible, the gas expands.

Terran and Vasudan beams most likely have smaller energy densities into them than Shivan beams. That's why I deducted that the Shivan beams should "live" a bit more than Terran and Vasudan ones.

Ah, I see where you're coming from. Still, i'm going to be anal and say that the very retail beams denote an inherent instability in the confinement of Terran & [to a lesser extent] Vasudan beams, and a steady confinement for the Shivan variety. Obviously, it doesn't really matter which way, but I wonder if it would be possible to have both versions - that is; both G- & Y-beams unstable and R-beams stable, and vice versa - if there's not too much work involved that is.

[Herra Tohtori]

Not really, since the animations themselves are very much alike - they've just been hued and otherwise slightly edited to have a slightly different appearance.

The main factor in here is the $Flicker factor in tables. It would be easy to release optional table and, for example, embed it into the release along with  script files that could be used to change file names of currently active and disabled table, thus creating an option. It wouldn't be too much of a problem.

I'll see how it turns out.


Of course there's also the fact that  currently the terran beam has 32 (or 33) frames, while shivan and vasudan beams have 22 frames. So, naturally the terran beam is the least "flickerish" as of now. Increasing amount of frames for Shivan beam would largely reduce "wildness" of the Shivan beam.

It wouldn't be too much trouble to make another, 32-frame set for shivan and vasudan beams... it would result in slightly bigger DL sizes, though.


Have you spotted any anomalies such as some beams having visibly abnormal tile factor, either too sparse or too dense, or mistyped section widths that would be probable in a work like this? I haven't yet met any 70 metres wide AAA beams, have you met anything like that?

I'm just asking because I really don't have time to properly playtest the tables after every change.


But I'm glad if you like my work, and I appreciate the feedback.

[Freespace Freak]

I must say that I think I enjoy these new beams.  They are cool looking, but similar enough to the original beams that it doesn't look like anything's really been changed, just improved.