Atmosphereic Generator Thingy...

Post by **solarsnowfall** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 3:20

Here's the rundown. As you may know, I've got a few projects going on. While regretfully my Dooming time won't be what it once was (Yay! No more solar trolling!!!) I am very excited about this new job I've recently been hired for. It's starting at roughly $30k/year wich is a tremendous step up for me financially. On the down side, I'll be a systems analyst for the evil corporations Sprint

. But this being the best oppertunity I've ever had, I'm juping on it!

That being said, I've got a few side projects that progress will suredly slow down on. But, I have for you, today, a... neat little toy to play with. It was originally going to be a part of a much larger project, but it got so big on it's own, I decided to release it as is. The original concept was through a combination of decorate/acs to create all different manners of highly animated props and decorations. From realistic animated fire, to new sparks and (simulated) particle fountains of various types.

The Atmosphereic Generator Thingy... (particlesim.wad)

Simple concept, a room, a mapspot, and a bit of scripting. The idea here, was to generate several different kinds of weather or atmospheric conditions that are highly customisable. This is either something really cool worht looking at, or it's been a monumental waste of my time, still undecided. But, hopefully this will inspire others, by demonstrating how easy it really is.

In this room, there are series of switches (in no particular order):

Weather Type

Switches between snow, rain, hail, volcanic ash, volcanic eruption, rain of fire, and sparkles. Bare in mind, the last two are more comlpicated, so keep other factors in mind to avoid potential frame drops.
Wind Speed

Switches between low, medium, high, wind storm, and gale force, to simulate the effects of wind in our atmosphere.
Wind Direction

Switches between E, NE, N, NW, W, SW, S, and SE.
Intensity

Switches from 1x, to 2x, 4x, and 8x, then to 1/8x, to 1/4x, 1/2x, and back to 1. It's recommended that you don't have intensities for the fire and sparkle effects above 1x.
Speed Variance

Adds random factoring to create variation in projectile speeds.
Vertical Speed Variance

Adds random factoring to create variation in projectile drop speeds.
Angle Variance

Adds random factoring to creat variation in projectile angles. Speed, Vertical Speed, and Angle Variance switch from low, medium, high, extra high, and eratic settings.

And remember: Some projectiles like snow, rain and hail will work fine at high intensity, others like the fire and sparkles do not! Play it safe kiddies. And enjoy.

Download

Shinjanji · Post by **Shinjanji** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 5:23

Ooh, sexy. The script gets auto-terminated (runaway) when I try to test 1/2 intensity. Though from what I can see, it does look very nice.

Though I feel that some of the particles (fire, hail, rain) were a bit too slow, but they can be made faster easily enough.

BioHazard · Post by **BioHazard** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 6:34

OMG Solar this ROCKS!
I should make a really cool demo level for it.

Post by **solarsnowfall** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 13:08

Shinjanji wrote: The script gets auto-terminated (runaway) when I try to test 1/2 intensity.

DAMN IT!!! The switch isn't going right to 1/8x after 8x! I'll have to see if I can fix it after work.

@Bio: You were credited for help in the scripts lump

Cutmanmike · Post by **Cutmanmike** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 13:45

Damnit, I really want see this. CURSE YOU TIME GO FASTER!!

Phobus · Post by **Phobus** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 18:06

Well released solar, though my challange still stands

Post by **solarsnowfall** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 23:55

Phobus wrote:Well released solar

Heh, that was embarrasing. I messed up the numbering on the intensity switch. All better!

@Phobus: This one is actually a bit different than the one I sent you. I added an option, and streamlined the scripting by a noticeable amount.

Apothem · Post by **Apothem** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 0:23

Once again, something spectacular from good 'ol solarsnowfall. *archives* this could come in handy later down the line

Post by **Enjay** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 0:29

This is really cool. Very impressive. I like it a lot.

One minor tweak I would suggest - make your "particles" have a mass of <10. If they do that, then they will make the smaller splash type defined for various flats in the terrain lump. That means snowflakes won't make huge splashes on water and for anyone using my footsteps WAD (where footfall sounds are made when things jump onto all the different flats in the original Dooms) it won't sound like 100's of troops stomping around every time it rains.

And congrats on the career.

Post by **solarsnowfall** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 0:42

Thanks for the positive feedback!

@Enjay: I had totally forgotten to consider that, thanks!

*Updated*

Earlier, I wrote:From realistic animated fire, to new sparks and (simulated) particle fountains of various types.

Hopefully within a week or so, I'll patch all that stuff together in a wad, and release it as well.

Post by **wildweasel** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 1:01

I love this. There isn't a single thing left that I can say about it. How's about being able to use the snow part in the Arctic Wolf remake project? Or does this require GZDoom?

Post by **solarsnowfall** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 1:08

At the very least, it requires Zdoom 96x.

And thanks for the courtesy of asking. Go for it. If you need help with it, or perhaps some other bit of scripting trickery, you know where to find me.

Psycho Siggi · Post by **Psycho Siggi** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 2:29

This is awesome!

I regret not looking earlier

NecroMage · Post by **NecroMage** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 2:47

Sweet shiz, there are so many useful things for this. Keep up the good work!

BlackFish · Post by **BlackFish** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 3:38

Yay! Now to figure out how to use this in a map.