[Turnsky]

okay, since my last ideas thread was a potenial hit..i think

i figured i'd try and make a "realistic" ideas thread, some of these for sheer ****s and giggles, however.. let's start with..

lens flares , i know what you're thinking, but, consider this.. to have support for such things would be cool, as it could be used for other things, perhaps even rain-off-visor effects, etc.

non pixel shader water effects... can be done, i know. this would be for the skybox missions, naturally... i mean, what could be better looking than a dogfight over a sparkling sea?.. or, a stormy, wavy one for that matter... (lighting is already supported)

or, lightening strikes.. and i mean -direct- strikes..  for balance's sake, it should only take your shields out, and give an EMP effect, it'd be downright scary during a dogfight, tho... a rare thing, but it'd be a nice touch.

i've said this once before, but heck, i'll say it again.. bigger chunks of debris, i personally want to see the burnt out remains of the foward section of an orion class starship after its engines/reactors detonate..

skeletal animation support ( a gigantic ask, i know).. for 3d people models..add that to the somewhat burgeoning support for externally available cutscene ability, and what one would get, is what freelancer is capable of with its engine, and, it would help add a dimension of depth to any fully fledged campaign with the works

some of these might give the ferrium team some ideas, too.
feel free to share your ideas, too.

[StratComm]

Bobboau has some prototype animation code in the works, so that's already on the way.  I've also heard that lens flares were experimented with, but no one provided any suitable graphics for testing.

[FireCrack]

Ok, how about a simple one: Muzzle flashes working with non flak weapons (laser guns). Or is this already done and i'm just using it wrong?

[Carl]

Originally posted by Turnsky
lens flares , i know what you're thinking, but, consider this.. to have support for such things would be cool, as it could be used for other things, perhaps even rain-off-visor effects, etc.

I've got the .tbl code all figured out:

[Taristin]

Because it's been in there since pre 3.5?

[Bobboau]

nothing depresses a coder more than asking for a feature they implemented ages ago

[StratComm]

I thought it was in there.  Wasn't sure, since I haven't seen anyone use it.

[FireCrack]

So we had lens flars all along yet noone to use them? hmm..

[StratComm]

Actually, what tbl does that go in to?  Stars?

The SCP is in dire need of a comprehensive features list, including links to how to get them working.  Because I would have no idea where to start looking if I wanted to set something like this up.

[WMCoolmon]

I suggested a random feature thingy/list for the main SCP site but no one seemed to like the idea.

[Liberator]

the thing about lens flares is that, while cool, they are an artifact of a camera lens, they don't actually exist.  that and it's added stuff to render that could go somewhere else.

[StratComm]

Since you're looking through a glass cockpit, lens flares aren't necessarily impossible to have.  They can come from any curved lense-like surface, including glasses or car windshields, so I don't see why the cockpit dome would be any different.  I personally don't like them, but they are in already and since someone asked for them they should be getting used.  But they aren't, and therein lies the problem.

[Lynx]

Lensflares are gonna get used, trust me.

And who cares if if it'S not realistic, it's cool, that's all that matters.

[Starman01]

Originally posted by Lynx
Lensflares are gonna get used, trust me.

And who cares if if it'S not realistic, it's cool, that's all that matters.

Second that, it looks pretty good
@Lynx : Though I think you should give them a little more transparency, you think that's possible ?

Hope you don't mind if I post a picture

[FireCrack]

Now what about muzzle flashes on non-flak guns. Would that be a hastle to do?

[Deepblue]

Lens flares were done a long time ago. Someone needs to take  a PS lens flare and take each individual part and give it its own bitmap to use in FS. That might look good. plus people need to remember to have flares on BOTH sides of the sun. Meaning you need to have flares with negative distances.

The big bad list:
-OVEREXPOSURE!!!
-motion blur
-More and better looking stars
-3d displays (being able to map gauges on to textures)
-true reflections (probably too much to ask)
-good physics including engines that turn off when max (limited) speed has been reached and when the ship is decelerating (except engines in the front that would push the ship back)
-muzzleflashes that work on fighter mounted weapons
-dynamic lights and lighting
-nebulas that you can enter and exit (there are several ways to do this)

[FireCrack]

Technicaly a nebula you can enter and exit would be unliely. Those things are massively huge.

[Taristin]

Why would engines turn off at max speed?  I don't want my fighter sputterring around the cosmos.

[FireCrack]

Newton's First Law

[StratComm]

But since there are no thrusters bringing you to a stop, that doesn't follow Freespace universe law.  Nevermind that this whole thing is extremely not Newtonian.

Also, I think someone has improved the stars recently.  I was just noticing the other day that they are subtly color shifted from white, which looks oh-so-much cooler