Video of environmental effects in Link-Dead. The Dust Processor uses a cellular automaton to produce the effects (no particles were used).
Written by MM. Posted at 3:09 pm on September 20th, 2009
32 comments.
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I assume the projectile-impact ‘white smoke’ effects will dissipate properly in the finished version? At present, it’s slightly jarring to see them suddenly vanish into thin air.
Otherwise, very impressive; I look forward to the sequel.
Great effects!
Imagine this with the official graphics of the game.
success
That’s really cool, but the clouds look a little “jittery” for lack of a better term?
Looks awesome. The only think i dont like is the smoke while climbing.
(Still playing test release)
Wow this is looking pretty amazing, but will these environmental effects be synchronised across the network for all players?
the smoke looks like snow :/
Looks sweet. I just have the same concern as Profesh. I’m assuming you’re gonna use this processor to generate the dust particles that projectiles create when they hit the level?
Doesn’t the dust seem to linger a bit too long?
fucking nice, I can’t believe you pulled it off so quickly. I can see Link-Dead pioneering a new world of video game graphics starting with this. The “perfect smoke” of Link-Dead!
FUCKING AWESOME!!!
Inferno!
If there is a metal corridor in the map, how do you prevent it from making dust when you shoot/climb/walk/fuck it?
Will we be able to use this in the editor? I can imagine an old abandoned military instalation with dense fog, the player recently waking from a coma, remembering bits and peices of how he got there, armed with a large peice of rebar and an old flashlight. *Thinks up the most awesome mod*
Its really nice considering I made it in 2 days.
The jittering will be gone.
Doesn’t the dust seem to linger a bit too long?
Go out out into RL once ina while. Dust lingers for a very long time. Its only in crappy games that they make it disappear immediately cause of memory and rendering issues.
Wow this is looking pretty amazing, but will these environmental effects be synchronised across the network for all players?
Yes, its a cellular automaton. It is predictable.
If there is a metal corridor in the map, how do you prevent it from making dust when you shoot/climb/walk/fuck it?
The same way there will be different sounds for the environment. The dust processor takes into account the collisions. Look how it spreads around the corners.
Will we be able to use this in the editor?
Yes, you will be able to invent your own effects with simple scripts. Your imagination is your limit.
So will the graphics of the dust processor also be upgraded whenever your progress in the development of LD rises?
huh?
Looks cool except for the bullet hit effect. It’s really shitty how it disappears and looks more like a texture. What I like is how the brown dust stays in the environment for a long while. Would be awesome to see streams of smoke or gas from pipes. I assume it “collides” with the game world? Add some wind to everything and we have awesome smoke grenades. Good work but don’t tap yourself on the back too much.
It’s looking pretty impressive for 2 days of work. How large are the cells, and are they updated even when off-screen?
I can see the dust as an advantage – so that you can see where your enemy went just by following the trail. However for the system to workp pretty (that is, so that a bullet rips through the smoke convincingly) you need small cell size.
What states does a cell have? Does it have a 3×3 matrix defining the intensity of dust in each direction? Just one variable defining it’s dust intensity?
How large are the textures in conpare to cell size? 1:1 or are the textures rendered for blocks of x*x cells? (That would also solve the need for a dust-direction matrix)?
Yeah I know I’m a nosy asshole, but be so kind to give a quick rundown of this. It’s really interesting.
Propably needs more…
Blood and gore!
Definetly!
Also, as per the individual shots:
I can see how great that would work with particles AND dust. Dust at the impact point + 1 – 3 particles that leave a trail of dust.
However I’m not sure your dust processor can support a sharpness effect. When large powers and lots of matter is invoved the dust is so dense you can clearly see it’s borders – it’s so dense it looks almost like solid, amorphic matter. With time, the particles spread and the whole thing becomes more blurred and transparent.
How does this work? Feel free to use technobabble.
Yes, you will be able to invent your own effects with simple scripts. Your imagination is your limit.
Did anybody say LEGEN… wait for it… DARY! 😀
As in terms of dust lingering, Michal is correct. If you’ve ever driven down a gravel country road – if there is no wind, dust can hang for up to 10 minutes before dissipating. I’ve seen dust hang in the air for hours after a good dust storm or burst of wind. Even working out in the fields on a very dry day will kick up a lot of dust that will stay suspended for a good length of time.
What’s more – dust that occurs in industrial sites for instance is a mixture of particles that can also stay suspended for lengthy amounts to time. Examples are dust and particulates from vents, paint dust (which hangs for hours) and dust from any light solid chemical or material. So if you’re shooting around in some ruined building with dried out wood/plaster/concrete walls – most likely with paint on them as well. You’ll have thick dust and when the thick stuff settles down, you still have a bit of light suspended dust that will reduce visibility in that area… which, is something I like. As said before, a game such as Link-Dead will require more stealth. This is the kind of realism I’ve been waiting for for a long time. Up till now, realism has been mostly eye-candy and CPU draining physics. But natural conditions, such as rain, snow, wind, smoke, etc have been a let down. What’s the point of setting a fire in one of the latest GPU intensive first person shooters, if you can’t hide behind the smoke… because the smoke is unrealistic little puffs that just dissipate within seconds? Modern Warfare 2 is on the right track – one of the levels has you shooting enemies in a thick blizzard. I sincerely hope that that level is multiplayer as well.
So keep going Michal. Link-Dead is becoming very impressive and is on the right track.
*begs for next release with another world’s sentrys shooting weird plasma*
>>> How does this work? Feel free to use technobabble.
I want to see some dust processor code.
1.Awesome.
2. Wtf is inferno
3. Give us smoke granades. plz.
4. What’s going on with machines, network etc. ?
5. When will we know weapon set ?
The realism of how long dust lingers is great for real life.
is fucking amagazing!!!!
When will the game be finished?
Like you, I miss the great team of folks that we got to work with every day. Here’s hoping that evoyerne’s paths cross again sometime soon. I’ve taken an opportunity that will give me a ton of project mgmt experience. Maybe I’ll be Turner bound again this time next year. I’ll be looking for opportunities there in the future, that’s for sure.
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This has been an awesome post and great to see all the responses you have had from it. Obviously you have touched something in a lot of people