Particles!

[yurch]

A yurchpost. About particles. Again.

Particle effects can be used to convey a 3D sense of motion and life without some of the more time consuming processes of animation. They are effectively small sprites being deployed in groups with simple individual behavior. The game already makes fairly good use of them for things like the shock dirt kicking up around vehicles firing 120mm, heavy mortar impacts, vehicle driving, and the smoke from wrecks.

The god of particles is never appeased, however. While most of these are highly optional, there are those of us who will be using these options.

Impacts:

I’ve discussed two impact effects in the past here. The first effect is in the game to a degree, however only for a few of the rounds. The first suggestion, therefore, is to simply have more of these. I use a personal mod that adds penetration particle effects for everything from the ATGM to HE rounds to the 10mm rifle. We are using a ‘spark’ sprite on hit location already – it’s just a matter of adding a 3d element to this effect. While I don’t recommend the utterly excessive amount I use for just everyone, (20mm nearly blinds me when I’m hit) anywhere from 2-10 sparks for the lighter calibers is acceptable in conjunction with the sprite that’s already there. I’m not entirely sure what the criteria are for displaying this impact, though. It does not currently appear in all penetrations.

Effect B from the above link is absent. This could be quite helpful for ion users in particular, as this is a difficult weapon to use in laggy conditions. To hit a shrike in a high speed tempest chase, for example, you often have to fire the beam in front of it a full length or more. There’s very low feedback on the ion for harder targets except for tires exploding. Effect B could alleviate this somewhat, assuming the beam effect isn’t entirely clientside.

The particle counts and speeds could probably use some variation. The hit effects can look rather boxlike with the particles always stopping at the same range.

The Particles themselves:

Particle effects are often a bit easier on performance the smaller they are. The reason for this is that drawing overlapping transparent sprites is more of a strain. Some of our current effects can cause a bit of a problem already, namely the ATGM and the driving-dust-kickup. Fire an ATGM while zoomed through the dust of a driving track on a desert map and you’ll see what I mean. While I am suggesting many more types of particles, at the same time I think these two in particular need to be thinned a bit in terms of sprite population.

Many particles should inherit the velocity of certain hosts at all times. In particular, hit effects and flying effects. Penetrating hit effects on a tempest going 180 northward should also be spawned going 180 northward, as many of those bits are parts of the tempest.

Particles shearing off of projectiles, like the purple bits coming off the shots plasma turrets fire, should retain the velocity of the shot. As of now the bits look like they’re being deposited in space behind the shot.

Gravity and air resistance do not appear to be dependant on the map. The dust and sparks kicked up by an impact on Raid looks the same as the ones kicked up on one of the moon maps, which certainly doesn’t have the atmosphere to slow such things down!

Muzzle:

Pictures of tanks firing are a favorite of websites. Nowhere can you find a better representation of the sheer power and terror of large-scale military devices than in a 15 foot muzzle effect. There certainly is a ton of particle potential here, and no shortage of reference material!

Flight:

There are some potential special cases when considering particles associated with the flight of projectiles.

The ATGM missile smoke should be fired out the back of the missile while still inheriting the forward velocity. If the missile is going fast enough, some of the smoke could have the net appearance of following the missile until air resistance slows it. Initial acceleration, on the other hand, will blow smoke behind the launcher. Air resistance could be reduced somewhat for this case as the wake of the missile has an effect on the air.

120mm AP rounds are saboted projectiles, and seeing a brief glimpse of the bits shearing off from time to time could be a nice touch.

Beam weapons are a bizarre invention where nobody really has any idea of what it is supposed to look like. “Further vaporization” of air molecules, static discharges similar to the EMP bomb, attraction of particles (especially near the barrel) and the near-simultaneous ignition of insects are potential ideas. Care must be taken not to overlap too many sprites here, (like the ATGM) since the beam carries a very far distance and is direct line with the gunner’s viewpoint.

Ground:

It’s still a little weird seeing a 4kg projectile strike the sand with enough velocity to penetrate a Thor and not have anything happen. A dirt impact effect (much like the blasting HE rounds) would certainly be appropriate.

Explosions:

I’m going to deviate a bit from particles here. The critical explosion (the one that causes the model to be replaced with the “wrecked” black model) is handled fairly nicely. I think it would be better, though, if the other attached physobjects would explode as well. Seeing a wrecked Thor with an intact turret is a bit strange. A small delay (as in, tenths of seconds) between exploding of the chassis and the explosions of the turret (and maybe even individual subsystems) could add a dramatic cascade effect.

I’d be more than happy to assist with the additions of some of these, if it’s possible. As it stands now, unfortunately, there doesn’t seem like much I can do from behind the XML files.

[yllamana]

I think the big problem with the ion aiming is how the beam appears visually to be fired directly out of the gun sight - which it isn't, because if you're in an ion firing from a hull-down position you can end up striking the ground ahead of you when your target is well above it. If it appeared to be fired from, say, below and to the left of the sight, it might be a lot clearer what it's actually hitting.

I agree with all the rest, though. I'd like to see an emphasis on getting a lot out of the particles used so the game runs super well as well as looking great.

P.S. you need to make a thread on mortars.

[yurch]

Originally posted by yllamana:

I think the big problem with the ion aiming is how the beam appears visually to be fired directly out of the gun sight - which it isn't, because if you're in an ion firing from a hull-down position you can end up striking the ground ahead of you when your target is well above it. If it appeared to be fired from, say, below and to the left of the sight, it might be a lot clearer what it's actually hitting.

If you're seriously cruising in a tempest online you can see the delayed beam on occasion. It seems the beam is just invisible when viewed from a sharp enough angle. No idea if it's not lining up with the muzzle effect or if the beam collision is too wide for your situation.

P.S. you need to make a thread on mortars.

Sounds like a challenge to me!

[yllamana]

I've also heard a rumour that there's a bug in the infantry ion where the beam can be invisible to whoever's being hit by it. I haven't observed this personally, since it was my ion, but I've had a couple of surprised comments by people who exploded without ever seeing the beam.

Good point about the beam size, maybe that was the problem. The crosshair was well above the target though. Maybe they'll revamp the ion effects when they change its mechanics. It really is hard to tell if you're hitting anything when it's moving fast and you have a fair bit of latency. I would love a pretty particle effect to replace the Generic Smoke #1 that we get for hitting anything at all now.

[bboyle]

Originally posted by yllamana:

I've also heard a rumour that there's a bug in the infantry ion where the beam can be invisible to whoever's being hit by it. I haven't observed this personally, since it was my ion, but I've had a couple of surprised comments by people who exploded without ever seeing the beam.

Good point about the beam size, maybe that was the problem. The crosshair was well above the target though. Maybe they'll revamp the ion effects when they change its mechanics. It really is hard to tell if you're hitting anything when it's moving fast and you have a fair bit of latency. I would love a pretty particle effect to replace the Generic Smoke #1 that we get for hitting anything at all now.

I have had the invisible beam problem...although not recently. You hear the sound effect and you see the puff of smoke but you don't see the beam itself. Once you realize it's a bug it is no big deal but the first time or two you think that you aren't getting hit.