[Cobra]

eh, i don't take a look at my folder that much, so i had to take a look just now.

[aldo_14]

Well, if you don't read what other people are saying to you....nobody gets anywhere.

[DaBrain]

Originally posted by Cobra
yes, i know, but you never told me that it was FS2 only.

Originally posted by DaBrain
Well, this effect is ment to be used with the MV packs, but nothing more.

This "GTVA Rapid laser" is no standard content, so you're using a mod obviously.

[...]

In other words: Don't use it with mods.

But don't worry. I'll add this to the Inferno tables. (If Woomeister isn't faster than me )

[Cobra]

yay!

you're a god, you know that?

[DaBrain]

Don't over do it now.

I'm happy if many people enjoy my stuff.

If I was a god, I'd be the god of lazyness. Trust me.  

[Fenrir]

The mid-rage one looks freaking amazing! Makes it hard for me to imagine how good super-high end one is.

[Cobra]

i'm using the high-end on a 64MB card. no slowdowns. i'm gonna try the super high-end now.

[DaBrain]

Originally posted by Fenrir
The mid-rage one looks freaking amazing! Makes it hard for me to imagine how good super-high end one is.

It's not that much better. The effect is more sharp and has less compression artifacts. I think you would be able to notice the difference, but that's all.

FS_open doesn't really push high-end equipment to the limit, so I
thought high-end user would be happy to see a slightly better version.
Actually the optical improvement over the Mid-Range effect doesn't justify the ammount of memory and bandwith the Super-High-End version needs.

But that doesn't matter if you have a very powerful PC.
Maybe you'll profit from this release when you buy a new gfx card.

Originally posted by Cobra
i'm using the high-end on a 64MB card. no slowdowns. i'm gonna try the super high-end now.

The high-end version should run horrible on a 64 MB card. The Super-high-End version needs a 256 MB card to run really smooth.


Edit:
@Fenrir To be honest, the low-end version is the one I'm most proud of. It performs a lot better than even the FS2 stock effect, but it looks way cooler. Of course the other versions look better, but they are not as efficient as the low-end effect.

[Gregster2k]

Got three questions:

1: Does the low end effect equal the original FS2 version in texture quality?

2: Can a version of the shockwave be installed on OVER another version or is removing all files having to do with the shockwaves a must to change between quality versions?

3: How customizable is the shockwave effect? Can we make it spin/do funny things/wash the car/be used as an engine trail (LOL) ---- I like to do weird things with my SCP >_>

[DaBrain]

The low-res version has four times more pixels than the original FS2  version, which actually means it has eight times more pixles, cause it uses four tiles.

You don't have to delete anything if you want to use a better version. (But you have to, if you go into the other direction.)

It's no upgrade though. The files will just get replaced. (Or won't be used anymore.)

[Gregster2k]

Uhh, one more thing. I install this by unzipping the files into the respective parts of the /data directory, right? This thing won't work with mods like Transcend and such? Or will it?

[BlackDove]

This thread has too few screenshots.

I command *you to make more

*you = everyone

[MetalDestroyer]

It works very well with the Transcend Campaign.

[DaBrain]

Originally posted by Gregster2k
Uhh, one more thing. I install this by unzipping the files into the respective parts of the /data directory, right? This thing won't work with mods like Transcend and such? Or will it?

It will work with any mod if you do not use the ships.tbl

But The ships.tbl is what slows down the effect. Without this table, the the showaves will last only a short time.

I had quite a though time when I tried to find the perfect values for each ship.

Maybe new mod will be build upon my tables (if they really make their way into the mediaVP, it's pretty much possible...).

Or more mods start to use TBMs instead of tables, which work in addtion to the tables.

I think the 'big' mod will consider altering their tables to use this effect correctly. TBP is going to use it for example.

@BlackDove
I'd like to post some comparesion shots. (for each version)

[Fenrir]

Could the ships.tbl changes for the shockwave could be made into a modular table? If I understand correctly, you could just copy that into the folders for other mods, right?

[DaBrain]

Well, it changes the values for almost any ship in the table, so I guess it wouldn't make much sense.

On the other hand I'm not really sure how TBMs work....

[WMCoolmon]

If you can make an easy list of what needs to be changed, I can guarantee they'll be in the next mediaVPs.

Otherwise I could send you the current ships.tbl and weapons.tbl and let you modify those.

Otherwise I'll get to it whenever I do.

TBMS work like so:

The .tbl file is loaded
A search is conducted for appropriately named *-*.tbm files.
Each entry in the .tbm files' name is checked against loaded entries of that type (eg a ship).
If an identically named (case-insensitive) entry exists then the data in the .tbm is used. If no entry with the name exists, a new entry is added.

Right now, an entry is cleared and resetted if it's replaced. However, I plan on making it so that only fields that are specified in the tbm override the original fields. So then you could make an entry like:

Code: [Select]

$Name: GTF Ulysses
$POF file: FoD.pof
If all your mod is is changing the Ulysses to be the infamous hand model. Something to keep in mind for forwards compatibility - specify all relevant fields.

Past that, read the wiki page

[taylor]

I'd really rather get the shockwave speed correct whether it's 2d or 3d rather than always having to edit the tables.  Since 2d shockwaves are always a fallback if loading a 3d shockwave fails then if the tables are coded for 3d versions the 2d fallback version would be wrong.  Both should work the same with the same speed values.

(DaBrain please correct me if this is wrong) I don't see any problems with bombs and shockwave speed, just when ships explode and the shockwaves that get created from that.  I say that we just fix the ships problem and skip the modified tables unless it's for fighter shockwaves or whatever.

[DaBrain]

Yes, the bomb shockwave didn't need any tweaking. They worked just fine.

Some ships had really horrible values though. Even for the standard stock shockwave effect. Mostly the really big ships like the Sathanas.

What do you want to change to make table changes unnecessary?


@WMCoolmon

So I can change specifc values without using the whole ship entry?

I didn't change anything more than those values:

$Shockwave Speed:
$Shockwave Model:

But I've added shockwaves to fighters, which didn't have the "$Shockwave Model:" entry before.

[Psychonaut]

Not for now. The tbm is a reduced version of the ships.tbl. You can specify just the ships you want to change and this will override the settings in the ships.tbl.
But IMHO if you want to change some (e.g.) Hercules settings you have to put the whole bunch of settings in the tbm, not only the ones you want tio change (otherwise parsing error). I´ve tested it maybe a year ago, when you released the previous shockwaves. Don´t you remind me, dab;) ?

@ WM: changing the code in that way, that you just have to put the seetings in the tbm, that you want to change, and perhaps the name of the ship or the weapon;), would make things much much easier. I really don´t know, how often i´ve put the Afterburner Trails back in  any mod-ship.tbl manualy  

In the near future i only have to put a file named afterburner-shp.tbm inte the tables directory of the mod