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Dust Animation with Arty Bombardment?


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Hi

I was wondering if it is possible to add some dust animation when artillery shells land.

The crater holes popping up when the shells land seem a little undramatic to me.

I love the game's animation of a house when it collapses and dust kicks up for a turn or two. I wish arty shells would leave a little dust in the air after blowing up - it would look so cool in game.

Since there is already an explotion animation in game when the shells land on the ground, I would assume it would be technically possible to make a dust animation by just lengthening the animation of the explotion graphic. Although I am not a programmer, so I am not 100 pct certain.

Of course I understand the dust eye candy may be too much for lower-end machines, but perhaps it could be an optional toggle feature, just like the smoke graphics options in the game right now.

I think it would be also be great if there was a graphic for broken trees too, but I suppose that would have to wait for the next version of the game.

CMBB is a great game - thanks for listening Battlefront!

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This may be heading towards a return to the great shoch wave debate. Back in CMBO explosions had a shock wave bubble. This was removed in CMBB for added realism. There has been considerable debate on the pros and cons of this and I believe that there is a MOD out there that will put them back. I know its not a nice graphical dust animation but it might go some way to achieving what you want. With the dust idea there would be added complications as the existance of such dust would be dependant on the ground conditions.

Just my 2c worth

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Yes, I know a dust animation graphic may not be appropriate for very muddy and deep snow environmental conditions. But if there was a toggle option for it. You could manually turn it on and off for each scenario. Not ideal, but that is probably the only realistic way to implement it in CMBB.

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Almost certainly something that will have to await the engine rewrite.

Something else that would be nice is a progressive worsening of visibility due to smoke and dust in the air over the course of a battle. Something that takes into account at least some of the visibility effects of changing lighting, especially in the dawn/dusk battles, would also be extremely cool. And can you dig what it would be like to have a battle that begins in bright sunshine, gets dark and showers for ten minutes, then gets sunny again?

Michael

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  • 1 month later...

OK I am not a programmer, but I was wondering...

I wonder if it is possible to rename the graphic files of building collapse animation to the names of the graphic files of an artillery shell explosion animation.

Could that possibly kick up dust when an arty shell falls like when a building collapses? Does anyone know if that would work?

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And can you dig what it would be like to have a battle that begins in bright sunshine, gets dark and showers for ten minutes, then gets sunny again?
In a 30-45 minute battle? Perhaps more appropriate for a racing or golf sim.

Steven Ambrose was Spielberg's technical advisor in Saving Private Ryan. During an interview he as asked to grade the realsim of the battle scenes. 'High', he answered except that he felt there should have been a lot more smoke.

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Originally posted by Michael emrys:

Almost certainly something that will have to await the engine rewrite.

Something else that would be nice is a progressive worsening of visibility due to smoke and dust in the air over the course of a battle. Something that takes into account at least some of the visibility effects of changing lighting, especially in the dawn/dusk battles, would also be extremely cool. And can you dig what it would be like to have a battle that begins in bright sunshine, gets dark and showers for ten minutes, then gets sunny again?

Michael

OK, you got me....

I am salivating! :D

That would be AMAZING!

Re:

"And can you dig what it would be like to have a battle that begins in bright sunshine, gets dark and showers for ten minutes, then gets sunny again?"

It would seem the expectations for the re-write (and here's hoping it includes the ETO!) are VERY high smile.gif !

-tom w

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Peter, I don't know about CA but the weather here in Europe changes faster than movie stars changes spouses :eek: . Seriously though, I know at least from Poland westward the weather changes from one extreem to another regularly. Maybe some of our Russian companions can let us know about it further east :cool: .

For a couple of examples, in Berlin I left the Barracks in bright sunlight and by the time I reached the end of the parking lot (about 200m) a snowflake hit me in the face and the sky was solid overcast. Another time we rolled a Regimental attack here in Hohenfels in 6 inches of snow, and hour later all of it was gone and the ground was a solid sea of mud. Stuff like that happens all the time here.

It would be very realistic to add variable weather and visibility. Anyone who doesn't think a barrage of artillery raises a dust cloud has never seen one. All the smoke and dust on the battlefield (especially in summer or when it rains) kind of blends into a low grade haze that can severly degrade long range optics. Of course the dust problem isn't as bad when it is muddy but there is still some. As it is now the battlefield is just a bit too static.

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Although one could presumably do this via the number of turns for a scenario, it would be rather interesting to have some time pressure put on an attacker by an approaching snowstorm.

Similarly for a rain squall to provide additional concealment for an assault across a stretch of open ground. This would be especially neat if the weather could incrementally encompass more and more of the battlefield.

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Something else that would be nice is a progressive worsening of visibility due to smoke and dust in the air over the course of a battle. Something that takes into account at least some of the visibility effects of changing lighting, especially in the dawn/dusk battles, would also be extremely cool. And can you dig what it would be like to have a battle that begins in bright sunshine, gets dark and showers for ten minutes, then gets sunny again?

I have a Sega tennis game where fast-moving cloud shadows periodically sweep over the court. It's just a simple little thing, but very effective.
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