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FPS Creator X10 / Particle Effects in x10

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srealist
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Joined: 18th Dec 2010
Location: Orlando, Florida, USA
Posted: 3rd Aug 2011 23:29 Edited at: 8th Aug 2011 00:23
So, I'm tired of being jealous of x9s particle system and got to thinking about ways to achieve similar effects in x10.

First of all, you can modify the soft decal image file found in the gamecore folder. That's a given but not a very clean approach and it leaves you with one particle effect for your game.

However, I've been trying something with interesting results. Here's what you do:
1) Create a texture with a black alpha and grab a low poly mesh
2) Make a dynamic entity that references the mesh and texture but include decal0=[whatever decal you want]
3) Write a script something like below (or use movefore etc.) and assign your entity to it:
:state=0:rundecal=0
:state=0:floatrate=1,moveup=1,pivotrandom=5
4) Set that entity to spawn a whole bunch of times

And check it out!! Animated particle effects moving around in 3D space!

Looks kinda awesome if you tweak it and use the right kind of decal. You can create an AMAZING smoke stack with this technique.

If y'all are interested, I can make some examples.

Edit...Here is a first past at an example:
http://vimeo.com/27347692

And here is a better example
http://vimeo.com/27361251
science boy
15
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Posted: 4th Aug 2011 01:12 Edited at: 4th Aug 2011 01:17
that would be awesome srealist, you are on the ball and so is thoughtwire, nice to see dynamic enthusiasts who are on the case to advance without coding,

also how is the torch light going
i aint got it working yet only slightly dabbled


some screenies would be great too

an unquenchable thirst for knowledge of game creation!!!
michael x
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Joined: 10th Jan 2009
Location: Cybertron
Posted: 4th Aug 2011 04:02
I would like to see this happen.

more than what meets the eye

Welcome to SciFi Summer
ThoughtWire Software
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Location: Inside your fridge, drinking your milk.
Posted: 4th Aug 2011 11:59
Indeed! Some screenshots of this would make my day

Good work as always!

[center]

srealist
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Location: Orlando, Florida, USA
Posted: 4th Aug 2011 16:37
Thanks, folks!

@science boy, I'm currently finishing up a x10 snow pack along with some segments from ThoughtWire, and a decal pack but will turn my attention to the flashlight after that.

@everyone, This is the last week of summer semester for me and I have a dissertation report due on Monday so just give me a few days to get back with a demo. I think it's best to show you all a video of it in action rather than a screeny.

It's essentially a way to use scripting to mimic the behavior of particle systems. I got the idea after messing around with the smoke soft decal and also looking at the x9 features. I realized what many already probably know that the particle system is in essence an emitter of animated decals in 3D space. And while you can't animate a decal in x10, you can animate an entity that plays a decal. It's definitely a dirty approach but with some tweaking I'm sure we can figure out a way to make it useful.
srealist
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Location: Orlando, Florida, USA
Posted: 5th Aug 2011 22:15 Edited at: 5th Aug 2011 22:18
Here is a quick test video for you all. I will get back to this next week with better examples.

Ugh..embed fail...one moment

http://vimeo.com/27347692

I can't figure out how to embed from Vimeo. If someone wants to tell me the secret, I will embed. Otherwise, follow the link above.
budokaiman
FPSC Tool Maker
14
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Joined: 24th Jun 2009
Playing: Hard to get
Posted: 5th Aug 2011 22:37
Quote: "I can't figure out how to embed from Vimeo. If someone wants to tell me the secret, I will embed"

I think you can only embed youtube videos on these forums.

Nice work, looking forward to seeing what else you can do with this.


Be yourself, but make sure you don't sound like a dying sheep.
Le Shorte
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Location: Wisconsin
Posted: 6th Aug 2011 04:13
Looks great!

Cheesehead for life.
srealist
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Joined: 18th Dec 2010
Location: Orlando, Florida, USA
Posted: 6th Aug 2011 06:18
I've got a better example up now



http://vimeo.com/27361251
Le Shorte
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Location: Wisconsin
Posted: 6th Aug 2011 07:14
Wow (again ). It's not perfect, but it's better than the x9 particles, in my opinion.

Cheesehead for life.
srealist
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Location: Orlando, Florida, USA
Posted: 6th Aug 2011 20:05
Thanks, Le Shorte! I hope this will generate some interest 'cause it's pretty cool.

So..here's the plan. I will make about 8-10 new decals that work best with this technique put them together in a pack with the scripts, the entity files, and a short user's guide. The user's guide will go over the scripts and how to modify both the scripts and the spawning settings in the editor to achieve various effects. Then hand it over to everyone to do with it as they please.
science boy
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Posted: 6th Aug 2011 23:49
awesome work guys, nice to see some action going on the x10 forums plus number 1 piccy in the tgc gallery is an x10 shot showing we have a great engine


to all the workers on this forum you guys are great.

to you all

an unquenchable thirst for knowledge of game creation!!!
srealist
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Posted: 8th Aug 2011 00:18
Cheers, Science Boy!
michael x
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Location: Cybertron
Posted: 8th Aug 2011 07:54
great work indeed. cant wait to get this pack.

more than what meets the eye

Welcome to SciFi Summer
srealist
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Location: Orlando, Florida, USA
Posted: 12th Aug 2011 19:53 Edited at: 12th Aug 2011 19:56
If anyone would like to make some animated decals for me to include in the pack, that'd be great.

I'm working on this a couple hours everyday, so it is moving forward. There's just a few things I really want to get right before releasing. And a lot of the little things are time consuming.

If you are interested in making a decal for this pack, allow me to suggest a couple things: 1)No fade in or out; make it an endless loop (e.g. a fire instead of an explosion), 2) Depending on the desired effect it may be good to have the decal be about 50% transparent, 3) Think "would this look good if I spawned it a bunch of times and had all the spawns moving around", 4)It is good to have soft edges

However, everything above is just my perception right now. A good decal is a good decal, so feel free to break all those suggestions.

Any and all help is appreciated. I'm especially in need of a good looping smoke decal with a seamless loop and soft edges.

Thanks!
SREALIST

Edit: And remember these must be original creations as we intend to release this for free and for use in any and all applications.

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