Author Topic: Nebula draw distance  (Read 5256 times)

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Offline Galemp

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Nebula draw distance
Something I'd like to see included in FRED2_open and FS2_open is the ability to change the nebula maximum draw distance, much in the same way you can set the sensor range. Then you can get thinner or thicker nebulae.

On a related note, could we perhaps have glowmaps fade in and out as you approach or fly away from a ship? It's a bit awkward when you're flying towards a ship and all of a sudden the lights pop up from nowhere.
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Offline TrashMan

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Now THAT'S a very good idea!
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Offline Petrarch of the VBB

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It is a very good idea.

Any word from the Code-Wizards?

 
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Offline CP5670

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This is something I would really like to see. :yes: Would this include the range at which the nebula poof bitmaps are drawn as well or just the range at which ships become visible?

 

Offline Petrarch of the VBB

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A question that only the coders can answer.

But they seem to have gone to ground.

 

Offline StratComm

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Quote
Originally posted by CP5670
This is something I would really like to see. :yes: Would this include the range at which the nebula poof bitmaps are drawn as well or just the range at which ships become visible?


I would think that rendering them farther away would require higher-res maps for the poofs, or you could get some strange pixalations.  The fade in effect on lights would be nice overall, as right now they snap on with the lowest LOD most of the time.  Even in normal space.
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Last edited by StratComm on 08-23-2027 at 08:34 PM

 

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Offline TrashMan

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Of course I like it!.... Who in their right mind doesn't?
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Offline Ulala

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Re: Nebula draw distance
Quote
Originally posted by GalacticEmperor
On a related note, could we perhaps have glowmaps fade in and out as you approach or fly away from a ship? It's a bit awkward when you're flying towards a ship and all of a sudden the lights pop up from nowhere.


Sounds reasonable... although it's rather entertaining watching someone suddenly turn towards glowmaps and scream "It burns!" as their retinas melt.
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Offline TrashMan

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Offline J3Vr6

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Christ, the thread hasn't even been inactive for an entire day and people are bumping.  I'm sure the right people have seen this, and bumping when its not even half way down the first page is annoying.

Anyway (yes, I'm in a bad mood :hopping: ), so this would allow you to start a mission at the edge of a nebula, where its not thick at all and hardly no loss in visibility, and then you can fly deeper into the nebula where it gets progressively deeper?  That would be great.

Also, is there a way to only have a nebula in a portion of the mission map (whatever you call that 60km box you fly in in a mission), so you could have a mission where your objectives require you to do things in and out of a nebula (mini-nebula?) without changing missions?
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Offline Petrarch of the VBB

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Quote
Originally posted by J3Vr6
Anyway (yes, I'm in a bad mood :hopping: ), so this would allow you to start a mission at the edge of a nebula, where its not thick at all and hardly no loss in visibility, and then you can fly deeper into the nebula where it gets progressively deeper?  That would be great.


Now that would be cool.

 

Offline Nico

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no, that would just make for nebulas where you can see farther away.
actually, I think it's pretty simple: just add an alpha setting to it.
there's that for the fighter trails in the ships.tbl file, so I assume that must not be complicated.
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Offline TrashMan

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there si 2 issues here, the draw distance (when ships fade in and out of view) and the draw range of the (outter most value and inner most value) of the nebula "clouds".

for example if you make the nebula coulds black (ie not existant) you still have a fog effect.

it would also be useful to control the number of nebula coulds and the number of types being increased as well...possibly allowing them to be animated would be excellent too.
« Last Edit: May 17, 2003, 04:24:01 am by 227 »
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Offline Galemp

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Bump... what I'm looking for is the ability to change the distance the 'fog effect' appears at.
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Offline Fry_Day

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Well, after peeking into the code, it seems that fog values are ship type-dependant. Except that, it seems pretty straightforward to change the values used - everything has near and far fog values, and the nebula clouds are based on two variables, which are the outer radius, behind which the cloud is transparent, and the inner radius. The nebula cloud grows less transparent until it reaches the inner radius, and from the inner radius, it grows less transparent until it reaches a "magic number" (I'm not kidding you, that's how it's written in the code)

 

Offline TrashMan

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Less talk, more ation...
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