Florian Report post Posted November 26, 2006 I want to make the server send some extra information when a magic spell is cast, or in some other circumstances. //special effects ... //when a player casts heal summoned. Player #define SPECIAL_EFFECT_HEAL_SUMMONED 9 I'd like more local events and visual effects, like // radon pouch hit, orange gas cloud maybe #define SPECIAL_EFFECT_RADON_POUCH <byte> // cavern wall collapses, greyish cloud of dust maybe #define SPECIAL_EFFECT_CAVERN_WALL <byte> // mother nature gets pissed, maybe lightning strikes #define ... // blessing by queen of nature, green glow perhaps #define ... // stung by a bee, swam of bees flying around player #define ... // teleport nexus, same effect as for t2r spell, different color(s) #define ... Now go ahead and pick my ideas to pieces ... Flo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LabRat Report post Posted November 26, 2006 You wouldn't need any defines for those, or any special server messages, just parse the incoming messages for x just hit a teleport nexus etc. No real work at all (apart from the design of the new effects - I refer to the checking server string). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Acelon Report post Posted November 27, 2006 Sounds like a cool idea, maybe bring it up in the special effects thread in the programming section, see what the devs and karenrei has to say Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vanyel Report post Posted November 27, 2006 It would surely give the game a feeling. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
redsoxlovr10 Report post Posted November 27, 2006 yeah i like it, would make doing repetive actions more interesting when events like those happen. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Roja Report post Posted November 27, 2006 would be awesome if a programmer would do it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Florian Report post Posted November 27, 2006 Sounds like a cool idea, maybe bring it up in the special effects thread in the programming section, see what the devs and karenrei has to say done http://www.eternal-lands.com/forum/index.p...8676&st=140 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trollson Report post Posted November 27, 2006 I'd suggest having a configuration file which maps message strings to event effects. This would allow messages to be updated or extended on the server without having to rebuild the client (assuming event effects are available). May also support I18N. For that matter, if effects where designed to be composite rather than specific, it would allow new events to be represented without a client update. ie, rather than have a "radon explosion" effect, have a "spherical explosion radius X, colour Y, ...". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Learner Report post Posted November 27, 2006 I'd suggest having a configuration file which maps message strings to event effects. This would allow messages to be updated or extended on the server without having to rebuild the client (assuming event effects are available). May also support I18N. For that matter, if effects where designed to be composite rather than specific, it would allow new events to be represented without a client update. ie, rather than have a "radon explosion" effect, have a "spherical explosion radius X, colour Y, ...". If the effect is defined in a file, then an autoupdae could update the effect. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trollson Report post Posted November 27, 2006 If the effect is defined in a file, then an autoupdae could update the effect. Yep; if effects where defined in, say, an xml format, then a directory of platform independant effects files would be autoupdatable. Effects would then be specified by name, and new effects (or rather combinations/composite effects) would appear as-if-by-magic. This does require a lot of thought into the design of a SFX library. Meanwhile, even if the individual effects are hardcoded, a configuration files for string pattern (extract player name) mapped to event name for harvesting (and other) effects would be reasonable future proof. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LabRat Report post Posted November 27, 2006 Done Please note this code gives all events the same effect at the moment, but it is just a case of changing the SFX type for each one when the time comes. https://developer.berlios.de/patch/index.ph...p;group_id=1256 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Derin Report post Posted November 27, 2006 Sounds great! Even if it is "just eyecandy" it would still be a very nice thing to have Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KarenRei Report post Posted November 27, 2006 Good idea. I should be done with target magic in a few days, which only leaves a few special effects and making a patch on my list. I'll add these to the TODO list. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Athel's Report post Posted November 28, 2006 oooh sounds kl got to love eye candy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Florian Report post Posted December 3, 2006 And another eye candy idea: when a player puts on some armor, it just appears, when a player takes it off, it just disappears. Could there be some "fading-in" effect? Like let opacity go from 0% to 100% an vice versa. The server message "change clothes" is already there, so this would be another client-only thing. Regards Florian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
redsoxlovr10 Report post Posted December 3, 2006 Yeah and these eye candy effects really arnt that complicated so they wouldnt be that hard for a programer to do right? (Note: im not a programer so i got no idea on this) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Derin Report post Posted December 3, 2006 Yeah and these eye candy effects really arnt that complicated so they wouldnt be that hard for a programer to do right? (Note: im not a programer so i got no idea on this) Then you should hold off such statements ok..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ttlanhil Report post Posted December 3, 2006 Could there be some "fading-in" effect? Like let opacity go from 0% to 100% an vice versa.not so easily, not with the current setup. each part of an actor has a texture associated with it. that could be a shirt, or chainmail, or a fur coat, but always one of them.to do this, we'd need to add more texture slots (more memory), and run timers over the change (memory and processor time), as well as using a scale of transparency (processor/GPU time). IMO, the work required to add this, as well as the slight extra demand on computers, isn't worth the possible gains (personally, faded on clothes sounds odd to me) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Florian Report post Posted December 4, 2006 Could there be some "fading-in" effect? Like let opacity go from 0% to 100% an vice versa.not so easily, not with the current setup. each part of an actor has a texture associated with it. that could be a shirt, or chainmail, or a fur coat, but always one of them.to do this, we'd need to add more texture slots (more memory), and run timers over the change (memory and processor time), as well as using a scale of transparency (processor/GPU time). IMO, the work required to add this, as well as the slight extra demand on computers, isn't worth the possible gains (personally, faded on clothes sounds odd to me) OK, my fault, I thought the textures were layered one over the other. So removing one texture and blending in the other would make the char translucent for a small time OK, forget it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KarenRei Report post Posted December 4, 2006 As for the difficulty of adding new special effects, it depends on how complex the effect is and how similar of an effect I've already created. I'd wager that all of the harvesting effects together would probably be something like 6 hours of work to create + integration time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ttlanhil Report post Posted December 4, 2006 OK, my fault, I thought the textures were layered one over the other. So removing one texture and blending in the other would make the char translucent for a small time if you scaled both at the same time, yes. if you leave the old one at 100% and scale up the new one, and don't scale the old one till new hits 100% you don't get ghost-like clothing... the rest of the problems are still present though Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pennifuin Report post Posted December 4, 2006 one way of 'eye candying''it up would be to add a basic animation when any item of clothing is put on. not necassarily item specific, but there could be a brief moment of general scrambling around and a slight delay with texture change. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites