[ZylonBane]

It looks pretty, but for gameplay it's useless, because it doesn't depict what the FS2 engine is simulating (a spherical shockwave). This shockwave looks like something the player can fly "over" without getting hit.

[el gore]

Well it might not visualize exactly what's happening, but until now i haven't discovered a way to make a "flat but yet spherical shockwave" not look like a bright giant blob that gets even bigger.

[Nuclear1]

Originally posted by el gore
Well it might not visualize exactly what's happening, but until now i haven't discovered a way to make a "flat but yet spherical shockwave" not look like a bright giant blob that gets even bigger.

ahem.......

Capella Supernova is A-1 Supar!

[CP5670]

You would need some sort of transparency for that though, which I'm not too sure how well FS2 supports for these kind of effects.

[Nico]

Originally posted by ZylonBane
It looks pretty, but for gameplay it's useless, because it doesn't depict what the FS2 engine is simulating (a spherical shockwave). This shockwave looks like something the player can fly "over" without getting hit.

you know you don't necessary always actually see the shockwave.
Anyway, the FS2 shockwave doesn't do that either, to me it's just a vertical circle, not a sphere...

[Raven2001]

My GOD!!!! That looks GREAT!!!

[Fineus]

It does indeed look amazing - but perhaps if you placed it at an angle? Here - with my m4d ph0t0sh0p skllz I'll show you what I mean



I just rotated the animation by 45 degrees clockwise but you get the idea, I think it makes it look more "real"...

[Black Sheep]

...it doesn't look bad...
...still I like Volition's more as it looks more like a 3D-shockwave...which is a real shockwave then, your shockwave is FLAT!

[Fineus]

Gives me an idea - how about if your blurred the whole thing slightly.. jagged inside/outside edges. The buildup/fall in color in areas might give it a more 3D effect?

[delta_7890]

What we really need is that shockwave from Slave 1's seismic charges from Episode II (sound effect included).  

[el gore]

Originally posted by Thunder
It does indeed look amazing - but perhaps if you placed it at an angle? Here - with my m4d ph0t0sh0p skllz I'll show you what I mean



I just rotated the animation by 45 degrees clockwise but you get the idea, I think it makes it look more "real"...

You don't have to rotate it, the game does that by itself, just try it yourself, I already put it up for download (unlike the headline says) It was in the last reply on the first page of this thread.

DOWNLOAD THE SHOCKWAVE

[Reaper]

Originally posted by Black Sheep
...it doesn't look bad...
...still I like Volition's more as it looks more like a 3D-shockwave...which is a real shockwave then, your shockwave is FLAT!

At least someone who thinks like i do... And it's the right way...

[IceFire]

What we really need is that shockwave from Slave 1's seismic charges from Episode II (sound effect included).

That was an interesting sound effect because there was silence before it (unless the movie theater was having some kind of trouble).  I was expecting a power up effect but no....silence...and them.....VBOOOOOOOM!

[StratComm]

Don't know how hard it would be-I haven't played with animations, but could you make another version with the render from above?

The trouble in a space game is that flat shockwaves, while popular, are completely unrealistic.  There should be nothing to force the wave to confine itself to a plane.  The "flat" circle that FS2 uses is actually more 3d, because you get the sensation that the wave is approaching you as it fills the screen.  You only see the edges because that is where the density of the wave, from your perspective, is the greatest.  And since you see the circle from any direction, you get more of a sense of an expanding sphere.  Imaging focusing on a ship while a warhead with that explosion detonates, and rotating your view as it explodes.  That flat planar explosion would look stupid.  Still a great effect though.

[CP5670]

Actually, if we want total realism, the shockwave should be only partially visible at any given time, and the visibility should be constantly changing, as the lack of a medium in space makes it so that the shockwave would only have an effect when it crosses through material (mostly gases) from the destroyed ship. That would look sort of strange, though.

Personally, I really like this shockwave though.

[el gore]

... could you make another version with the render from above?

I could but I won't, because it looks very ugly, like slices of a peach or something

[CP5670]

I could but I won't, because it looks very ugly, like slices of a peach or something

That really sounds familiar... (from the PI forum)

[IceFire]

Overall I think FS2's method of making it look like an exploding ring is probably best in terms of keeping things consistant in-game.

[Nico]

the best way is the wing co prophecy one if you ask me.

[beatspete]

I actually quite like the explosion, the little ball of light in the center is quite good.  
It would be good for big ship explosions, like capships going down, but no for things like torpedoes.

And if you view an expanding sphere from the side, it looks like a circle getting bigger, so i think the circular explosions are alright.

If flat (or flattish) explosions were to be used, i think they would look quite good in place of spherical ones when a ship like the collosus explodes.  Since it splits in 2, the shockwave could travel out along the axis it has exploded, so it would look like the shockwave cuts the sip in half.

pete


EDIT (a few hours later): I LOVE THIS EXPLOSION.  Its much prettier than the normal one, and i like how its at an angle. If you get a ship which makes more than one shockwave when it dies its much more beleivable, since all the shokwaves go out at different angles.
I have a pic but dont have a site to host it from.
Try it yourself, set a sathanas or collosus to self destruct in FRED, and watch the fireworks!

One problem i did find though, was that when my sathanas exploded, the shokwave expanded much too slow, ie. 2 parts of the sathanas debris had seperated and blown up, and the shockwaves were still 6 little white balls in the middle.
Dunno whats to blame for that.