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as far as effects, a relatively easy one may be to add a particle shower at a location (with colour, etc. even clone of the bag_died stuff could do to start). and if you need stuff on 2k1 for testing, then ask :P

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and if you need stuff on 2k1 for testing, then ask B)

 

Thanks, a few gc would be welcomed :P . In the meantime, I played a bit with a code and change 0ctane's original for heal to this:

 

elscreen002.jpg

 

It has 8 shards in ring, going from feet to head spinning around the player, then hovering above the head and fading. I'll make a patch and upload it over to berios so you guys can check if you like it :(

 

[EDIT] link for patch

Kindar

Edited by Kindar Naar

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yes try using some cool particle effects too :)

If you guys want, I can come up with some concepts for how the effects can look to help with visualization.

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I played with particle effects a while ago - in their current form a burst system works quite well for this sort of thing.

 

Of course, if it doesn't suit your needs, a new, controlled etc. system can be integrated easily enough.

Edited by crusadingknight

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We need more sophisticated SFX. Just look at the other games out there to know what I mean. If any graphics are needed at all please don't hestitate to ask me.

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Yikes! Patches already? Well, I just did an overhaul of my code to make it much more general and to include more functionality. Can now do spin effects with my code too. It should be much easier to do stuff other than these simple spike circles.

 

I like some of your ideas Kindar, and I am going to add them to my code (since I am causing trouble with my rewrites). I will have a new commit ready in a few hours.

 

Don't worry, Roja, we will make much prettier effects. I am still in a proof-of-concept stage.

 

[edit] Okay, committed latest changes. Added in Kindar's heal effect through a generalized function. Although not complete yet, I have a double halo effect for the restoration spell.

 

[edit2] Figured out how to track an actor with a spell effect. This is much cooler. Will commit changes late on Monday.

Edited by 0ctane

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Okay, commits are in. By making a pointer to the actor within our special effect, we can trace the position and have an effect properly follow a moving actor (which required looking at floats rather than shorts). My/our do_double_spikes function should be an easy enough example to follow, especially if you have looked over highlight.c. Using do_double_spikes as a template, other effects can be created and inserted into the display_special_effect switch structure based of effect type.

 

Comments on the structure of the code?

 

[edit] although, now that I think about it, it might be better to move the glPush/PopMatrix and glTranslate out of the individual effects and into display_special_effect instead. The creators of the effects do not need to know the actors position since (most likely) the effects will be local or radiate from the actor anyhow.

Edited by 0ctane

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LOL. I did not realize that we would have testers so soon, but I guess it is better to find problems early. However, this suggests that you are not on the test server when using this code. Shame shame!

 

I have noticed that if I am in the console, and I do a spell, the visual gets stored until I leave the console. This could be an issue as they could buildup and then all get displayed at once when leaving console. I imagine this is what RallosZek observed, therefore it is not so much an #afk problem as a console problem.

 

Kindar Naar is tackling some effects. I will look into this console issue while I am fixing some other issues. We also probably need to have an option to turn off the effects, and link it to poor_man.

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it's in CVS, so it's legal to use on main server, even if it's not advisable to use the latest features (unless you're ready for a crash or looking for one, I'm always looking for crashes to fix)

 

the problem of it being delayed in console is old, the click-to-walk does that too.

perhaps it needs to be stepped forward in console/map as well (called from a timer(misc?), and only drawn (not advanced) in world rendering?)

and even if storages aren't crowded enough to hit 20, big wars will be, with healing, etc, going on (especially if people like going invisible or tptr-ing around)

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I have noticed that if I am in the console, and I do a spell, the visual gets stored until I leave the console. This could be an issue as they could buildup and then all get displayed at once when leaving console. I imagine this is what RallosZek observed, therefore it is not so much an #afk problem as a console problem.

Wasn't in console. Just #afk. I saw the message in console when I got back and tracked down the code.

 

it's in CVS, so it's legal to use on main server, even if it's not advisable to use the latest features (unless you're ready for a crash or looking for one, I'm always looking for crashes to fix)

Good, I always under that impression. The only mods I make are compatibility fixes, which I then post on berlios and I have a different Makefile.bsd for my own needs, which I sync using Makefile.linux.

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We need more sophisticated SFX. Just look at the other games out there to know what I mean. If any graphics are needed at all please don't hestitate to ask me.

 

One possibility that always looks nice: ARB_point_sprite. Modern graphics cards do the work on-card, so you can have lots of them, and they can look oh-so-pretty. If people were interested, I'd be glad to write a function that takes a few arguments and can generate all kinds of special effects. Attractors would be a neat possibility; so would IFSs, ants, sparkles, flares, flames, etc. Perhaps some particle systems that focus around preset textures, sort of like flames rising from your stereotypical summoning circle.

 

If what's already there is good, no biggie. I've already got one thing that I can do this weekend (package EL for Fedora).

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We have a particle system setup that uses point sprites and quads (one or the other, not both :blink: ). It isn't set up to make particle systems track moving actors though. That would be a nice bit of work...

 

(If you dig through this forum I've posted a quick and dirty fix for point sprite scaling. It's not in CVS yet, but my FPV test client uses it. There's some clips of it in the video I'm posting in the skybox thread later tonight.)

Edited by emajekral

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We have a particle system setup that uses point sprites and quads (one or the other, not both :blink: ). It isn't set up to make particle systems track moving actors though. That would be a nice bit of work...

 

(If you dig through this forum I've posted a quick and dirty fix for point sprite scaling. It's not in CVS yet, but my FPV test client uses it. There's some clips of it in the video I'm posting in the skybox thread later tonight.)

 

Sounds like you've got this under control for now; I'll focus my efforts elsewhere. :)

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Attractors would be a neat possibility; so would IFSs, ants, sparkles, flares, flames, etc. Perhaps some particle systems that focus around preset textures, sort of like flames rising from your stereotypical summoning circle.

...

Sounds like you've got this under control for now; I'll focus my efforts elsewhere. :P

Well, under control? I do not know about that. We would be glad to have your assistance. I have very little experience in making SFX, and I am learning on the job (so to speak). I mostly just got the ball rolling on this part of the game and created a framework for others to work off of.

 

While summoning does not generate effects (yet), it might be cool to have a fire circle be created for invasion beaming (which, in effect is very similar to a summon anyhow). Or some sort of opalescent "Akira effect" circle.

 

We have a particle system setup that uses point sprites and quads (one or the other, not both ). It isn't set up to make particle systems track moving actors though. That would be a nice bit of work...
The current sfx code does allow tracking of the actor, so I think particles could also track without too much trouble. What would be neat is if the particles would trail or drag with actor movement (like waving a flaming torch). This might be a bit more difficult to accomplish. (I am only guessing since I have not looked at the particles code and RL is taking over).

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Attractors would be a neat possibility; so would IFSs, ants, sparkles, flares, flames, etc. Perhaps some particle systems that focus around preset textures, sort of like flames rising from your stereotypical summoning circle.

...

Sounds like you've got this under control for now; I'll focus my efforts elsewhere. :P

Well, under control? I do not know about that. We would be glad to have your assistance. I have very little experience in making SFX, and I am learning on the job (so to speak). I mostly just got the ball rolling on this part of the game and created a framework for others to work off of.

 

While summoning does not generate effects (yet), it might be cool to have a fire circle be created for invasion beaming (which, in effect is very similar to a summon anyhow). Or some sort of opalescent "Akira effect" circle.

 

We have a particle system setup that uses point sprites and quads (one or the other, not both ). It isn't set up to make particle systems track moving actors though. That would be a nice bit of work...
The current sfx code does allow tracking of the actor, so I think particles could also track without too much trouble. What would be neat is if the particles would trail or drag with actor movement (like waving a flaming torch). This might be a bit more difficult to accomplish. (I am only guessing since I have not looked at the particles code and RL is taking over).

 

Okay then; after I package EL for fedora (which I'm working on now), I *will* work on this. :) Trailing the actor should be relatively easy.

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Thanks :P We are doing our best here. Hopefully with more developers/testers the effect can become even better. Here is another screnshot: Heal. Sparcling ring going from ground to head, leaving crystal fallout and fading at the end.

 

 

 

elscreen011.jpg

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Can you do sprite based effects too, or only particle based ones?

 

 

 

Well, 0ctane's framework works like this that each effect has it's own function... so as long as we know how to do it, we should be able to code any effect I guess ;)

Edited by Kindar Naar

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Can you do sprite based effects too, or only particle based ones?

 

 

 

Well, 0ctane's framework works like this that each effect has it's own function... so as long as we know how to do it, we should be able to code any effect I guess ;)

 

I've been working on some sprite-based eye candy. I've already got a really nice looking bit where glowy lights orbit around a point that can move (such as a caster's hand or body) in any kind of orbit (or no orbit even). I plan to move it into a full-featured eye candy system later today.

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