Fractal Softworks Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Simulator Enhancements (03/13/24)

Pages: 1 ... 5 6 [7] 8 9

Author Topic: [0.91][UTILITY] Starsector FX  (Read 84551 times)

xenoargh

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 5078
  • naively breaking things!
    • View Profile
Re: [0.81a][UTILITY] Starsector FX 0.8.7a (and example mods!)
« Reply #90 on: August 14, 2017, 10:04:34 PM »

Version 0.87a has been released.

Features:

Cleaned up some speed issues with the new (speedier) code, making it even faster and able to support more FX at once.  Raised the default number of particles present to 1000 additive, 1000 normal.  You can set this lower by altering fx_mod.ini in the core AAA_FX_Mod file.

Cleaned up rendering for additive particles and normal particles, so that they render perfectly; no more occasionally-glitchy effects.

Made smoke from big explosions last a bit longer, so that the battlefield feels a bit more dynamic.

Cleaned up the fake engine code, so the fake engines no longer get so huge in certain situations.



I'll probably be doing another pass on weapons now that the additive issues have been addressed; some look great, some could use a few tweaks.  I hope this is running bug-free in people's games thus far; it appears to be solid over here and this code further-improved the speed and stability.
Logged
Please check out my SS projects :)
Xeno's Mod Pack

xenoargh

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 5078
  • naively breaking things!
    • View Profile
Re: [0.81a][UTILITY] Starsector FX 0.8.8a (and example mods!)
« Reply #91 on: August 19, 2017, 01:01:01 PM »

Version 0.88a has been released.

Features:

Further cleanup / speedup of the core of the rendering system; it's now about as fast as it can get, I think.  I figured out a reasonable way to get the OpenGL side really pared-down this pass.  For most users, if you're already having great performance with Thruster FX or FX B, you won't notice much change; for a few low-end CPUs, this might help, though.

Small fixes for a few FX issues; there's a new engine style available, etc.
Logged
Please check out my SS projects :)
Xeno's Mod Pack

MesoTroniK

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 1731
  • I am going to destroy your ships
    • View Profile
Re: [0.81a][UTILITY] Starsector FX 0.8.8a (and example mods!)
« Reply #92 on: August 19, 2017, 04:04:29 PM »

You have many mods Xeno, and none of them leverage Version Checker. Have you considered doing so? Improves things overall, health wise of the Modiverse :)

xenoargh

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 5078
  • naively breaking things!
    • View Profile
Re: [0.81a][UTILITY] Starsector FX 0.8.8a (and example mods!)
« Reply #93 on: August 20, 2017, 08:26:23 AM »

I think that might be more appropriate when I get around to having some sort of unified project space.  It's rather annoying atm just updating all of the release posts, etc., frankly.  I don't like how we don't have Sub-Forums for active modders here; our work gets buried in the Forum too easily as it is.  It was much easier when I was just maintaining Vacuum and it was all in one project and clearly visible to the public, etc.
Logged
Please check out my SS projects :)
Xeno's Mod Pack

xenoargh

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 5078
  • naively breaking things!
    • View Profile
Re: [0.81a][UTILITY] Starsector FX 0.8.9a (and example mods!)
« Reply #94 on: August 24, 2017, 10:35:43 PM »

Alpha 0.89 is now available.

Features:

1.  Warning code to catch people not installing LazyLib, etc.

2.  Fixes for various goofy weapon offsets in Vanilla weapons.

3.  Ships whose engines have been knocked out will no longer show engine flares.

4.  Other little improvements here and there.
Logged
Please check out my SS projects :)
Xeno's Mod Pack

xenoargh

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 5078
  • naively breaking things!
    • View Profile
Re: [0.81a][UTILITY] Starsector FX 0.8.9a (and example mods!)
« Reply #95 on: August 29, 2017, 11:27:34 AM »

I have a couple of big features for the next build.  The core fx_Particle objects will have a new optional property, spin, that will allow the particles to, well, spin, and they will also have a deceleration value, so that they can start at a high velocity and then rapidly slow down, for example.

The math on these two things is comparatively cheap, but they add a lot of flavor.  If these variables aren't used (and they will not be, by default, by createNewParticle) then they'll not do anything.

I was thinking about even making certain types of weapons eject casings, but that's probably going to be too expensive unless I write a special routine just for them, and probably not worth it, in a game where we're so zoomed out.  I'm tempted to do it just so that the code exists, though ;)

I'm also (finally) rebuilding the explosion event system in Starsector Weapon FX, so that customizable explosions are possible, to a certain extent, via JSON, rather than being purely generated dynamically. 

I'm not super-keen on making the system enormously tweakable, because of speed concerns, but I'd like to be supportive of some customization to achieve different looks with minimal effort / coding knowledge.  Don't worry, I won't break your current effects, if you're already using the systems; this will add new (optional) features.

If folks have some behaviors they'd like to see, let me know.  Right now, what's planned is:

1.  A basic fireball; high interior glow value, rapid decay, no directionality.
2.  Several directional flare / flame types reflecting different types of event.
3.  ADTSPS style impact events (think short flash, followed by small particles fading out) for Kinetics.
4.  Finally, a proper Flak-style explosion for Fragmentation weapons.
5.  Something properly "nuclear warhead" for really powerful missiles like Reapers to give them a really punchy feel.
6.  Whatever else seems cool at the time.

Lastly, once Weapon FX is a little more mature, the last big optimization step is probably going to be to shift the effects to a single sprite sheet and use a texture-atlas approach, to cut down some overhead that will increase quite a bit as more specific effects are added.  Don't worry, this won't change anything in the core system, if you're trying to code your own particle effects using the FX Core- just Weapon FX.

Anyhow, I'll show some new screenshots of this stuff in action pretty soon; I got the basics working last night and it looks good.
Logged
Please check out my SS projects :)
Xeno's Mod Pack

xenoargh

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 5078
  • naively breaking things!
    • View Profile
Re: [0.81a][UTILITY] Starsector FX 0.9a (and example mods!)
« Reply #96 on: September 03, 2017, 01:35:25 PM »

Alpha 9 has been released. 

Features:

1.  Revamped FX under the hood for explosions and gunfire.

2.  Dynamic performance code to ensure that the mod helps keep framerates smooth.

3.  Several other small improvements and optimizations.
Logged
Please check out my SS projects :)
Xeno's Mod Pack

Serenitis

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 1458
    • View Profile
Re: [0.81a][UTILITY] Starsector FX 0.9a (and example mods!)
« Reply #97 on: September 16, 2017, 01:59:05 AM »

Quote
Starsector FX Core must be active, or none of the FX mods, or mods that depend on it, will work at all (and the game will probably crash).

The other two projects are optional.  They are examples of what can be done with the FX Core.

Weapon FX makes changes to the visual behaviors of all of the weapons in Vanilla and saves CPU by using fewer particles.
Thruster FX replaces every single Vanilla ship Engine with new special effects systems and replaces the Vanilla missile trails with new special effects that use less CPU.



Where is the core mod which everything else depends on?
Will it even work if I just add everything marked 'fx' since there is no 'core' module?
What is all that other stuff anyway?
Why is there a ton of non-fx things in the fx mod package?

It's just a huge bowl of spaghetti.
Why do I want to add any of these to the game if you can't even segregate unrelated things, or even adequately identify required elements?
Fx needs tidying into it's own mod pack with nothing else in it, and with each part clearly identified.

I've been looking forward to this, but 'kitchen sink' modding is one of the surest ways of putting off people who don't want to spelunk through your collection of <thing>.
Logged

xenoargh

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 5078
  • naively breaking things!
    • View Profile
Re: [0.81a][UTILITY] Starsector FX 0.9a (and example mods!)
« Reply #98 on: September 17, 2017, 08:40:08 PM »

I agree, it'd be nice if the "Core" was marked a little better.  I figured that marking the folders with "FX" in their name was easy enough, but I guess not :)
Logged
Please check out my SS projects :)
Xeno's Mod Pack

atreg

  • Lieutenant
  • **
  • Posts: 67
    • View Profile
Re: [0.81a][UTILITY] Starsector FX 0.9a (and example mods!)
« Reply #99 on: September 18, 2017, 01:26:18 PM »


The weapon fx mod seems to split up the Mining Blaster's projectile into five hits, each with the same damage as the original.
Logged

xenoargh

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 5078
  • naively breaking things!
    • View Profile
Re: [0.81a][UTILITY] Starsector FX 0.9a (and example mods!)
« Reply #100 on: September 18, 2017, 03:38:52 PM »

Yeah, that's a legacy of the problems with JSON inheritance; the FX Mod and the Rebalance stuff conflict a little bit here.  I'll fix the damage issue so that it's at least consistent across the two projects until those things can get addressed.
Logged
Please check out my SS projects :)
Xeno's Mod Pack

xenoargh

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 5078
  • naively breaking things!
    • View Profile
Re: [0.81a][UTILITY] Starsector FX 0.91a (and example mods!)
« Reply #101 on: September 21, 2017, 08:27:47 AM »

Alpha 0.91a has been released.

Fixes a couple of minor issues (including the issue with the Mining Blaster, sorry about that) and improved performance a little.

Also, labels the "CORE" folder so that it's totally obvious to people just wanting to try out that part of the Mod Pack.
« Last Edit: September 21, 2017, 11:38:25 AM by xenoargh »
Logged
Please check out my SS projects :)
Xeno's Mod Pack

xenoargh

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 5078
  • naively breaking things!
    • View Profile
Re: [0.81a][UTILITY] Starsector FX 0.91a (and example mods!)
« Reply #102 on: April 09, 2018, 10:54:20 PM »

So, I heard people like trails.


Works great for missiles thus far; very customizable and it handles common situations.  I'm working on a more generalized one for... whatever you want to do a trail with, pretty much; this is a generic trail system in basic OpenGL.  I've been talking about getting around to this for, like, ever.
« Last Edit: April 09, 2018, 10:56:33 PM by xenoargh »
Logged
Please check out my SS projects :)
Xeno's Mod Pack

Histidine

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 4661
    • View Profile
    • GitHub profile
Re: [0.81a][UTILITY] Starsector FX 0.91a (and example mods!)
« Reply #103 on: April 10, 2018, 03:42:31 AM »

Pretty!

One feature request, if you haven't already done it: Would it be feasible to have API methods for turning trails on/off on the fly?

The use case that came up is certain shipsystems or other abilities that teleport a missile (or indeed, any other combat entity that ends up having one of these trails) from one location to another. The (current) vanilla trail system leaves a stretched trail between the teleport entry/exit points, and it would be beneficial if the FX mod implementation provides an easy way to avoid this.

For that matter, a ship could have a system that adds trails when active and removes them afterwards.

EDIT: Also, are you planning support for custom trail textures?
« Last Edit: April 10, 2018, 03:49:35 AM by Histidine »
Logged

xenoargh

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 5078
  • naively breaking things!
    • View Profile
Re: [0.81a][UTILITY] Starsector FX 0.91a (and example mods!)
« Reply #104 on: April 10, 2018, 08:18:31 AM »

Quote
One feature request, if you haven't already done it: Would it be feasible to have API methods for turning trails on/off on the fly?
That's already built.  Essentially, trails can be "killed" at any point and moved to a seperate "dead trail" list, where they'll fade out (or not, if you desire; they're still completely manipulable).

Each trail's member segments can be altered at any time and all of that's subject to code modification; trails, like the fx_Particle class, are built around an object that provides pretty complete data access to all of the major stuff people will want to do (animating one to be a tentacle, etc. would still take real work, though, lol).

Quote
a ship could have a system that adds trails when active and removes them afterwards
I'm planning to write a specific example of that.

Quote
Also, are you planning support for custom trail textures?
Maybe.  The current one uses a simple tile that repeats that suffices for most generic uses, but the system is designed to support multiple textures.  

However, I am chagrined to admit I ran into some severe problems with texture coordinates on a GL_TRIANGLE_STRIP that I wasn't able to figure out yesterday; was trying to get something able to support a texture over the length of the geometry, but somewhere it got borked and I'll have to figure it out first.  I may have to ask for help on that one :/
« Last Edit: April 10, 2018, 08:21:07 AM by xenoargh »
Logged
Please check out my SS projects :)
Xeno's Mod Pack
Pages: 1 ... 5 6 [7] 8 9