Olisis: I hope they tone down the intensity on the Marine flashlight a bit. It is really difficult to see when you are at the back of a Marine train, and everyone in front has a flashlight on. That stuff compounds to a whole lot of 'can't see'.
I adjusted the intensity of the intensity of the volumetric lights on the structures. Extended the ranges for cyst atmos. lights from 100 to 128, intensity 1, inner/outer angle 50/75, atmospheric density 2. Extractor atmospheric lights extended to 192 range, 2 intensity, 30/75 in/out, atmospheric density 2.
First image comparable change, second image to represent expansion into lit territory, third image to test minimalistic cyst usage in a lightless hall. I like how the atmospheric lighting on the cysts aren't as noticable in fully lit rooms, but are able to add together in dark rooms to look foggy/humid.
I think it would be pretty cool if when Marines spent a bit of time in a heavily infested area, little water droplets would start to appear on the gun, Marine armor, Arcs, etc.
I really like how all this looks. It will look even cooler if there were those orange firefly things hovering about. And I agree it is reminiscent of NS1.
<!--quoteo(post=1924918:date=Apr 12 2012, 11:00 PM:name=Blasphemy)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Blasphemy @ Apr 12 2012, 11:00 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1924918"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I think it would be pretty cool if when Marines spent a bit of time in a heavily infested area, little water droplets would start to appear on the gun, Marine armor, Arcs, etc.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Very very cool. I'm thinking something like in Metroid Prime, if you ever played that game.
<!--quoteo(post=1924783:date=Apr 12 2012, 10:21 PM:name=Blasphemy)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Blasphemy @ Apr 12 2012, 10:21 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1924783"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Also, one of my friends was suggesting that the extractor light brightness value could be tied to when it is breathing. So when that orange sphere enlarges, the light would go brighter, and when it shrinks, the light would dim. I thought that would look very cool.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--quoteo(post=1924918:date=Apr 13 2012, 04:00 AM:name=Blasphemy)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Blasphemy @ Apr 13 2012, 04:00 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1924918"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I think it would be pretty cool if when Marines spent a bit of time in a heavily infested area, little water droplets would start to appear on the gun, Marine armor, Arcs, etc.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Great ideas, great work Blasphemy on Infestation and Lighting. I like to see that in the game and I hope devs are working on something like this. I saw some great flashlight effects and laser effects in promo videoclip on Interstellar Marines <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9pb7f0spG4&hd=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9pb7f0spG4&hd=1</a> They had some nice effects on HUD (water drops, breathing) and especially I like sound echo (you hear the player´s voice and voice of surroundings) in VoIP communication <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTkdHJsdnI4&hd=1&t=5m39s" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTkdHJsdnI4...d=1&t=5m39s</a>
I heard of this game! It looks very interesting. Wasn't it supposed to be a survival co-op vs. AI kind of game? Those laser effects coming from the Marine's pistol would look pretty cool. I really like the blood splatters on the visor and the helmet HUD overall. I remember playing Metro 2033 and I found the gas mask feature to be incredibly immersive.
As for Infestation screenshots, no progress right now. I've been working at getting another room of the map ready for Infestation/Lighting tests. I'm planning on testing what it would look like if the Shade used a "power interrupt" ability as a castable alternative to "cloak". This could be very useful for hanging lights that will be difficult to infest otherwise, because of the geometrical uniqueness of the light, and the speed influenced to wrap around those props. I'll also try to get a shot of the window to the Reactor being partially obstructed by infestation, therefore leading to some unique shadows.
I just sent an e-mail to Charlie containing this summary of the ideas in this thread. I thought you guys would like to see it too so here it is!
Power nodes: (This will be very useful in visually establishing Marine dominated rooms.) <ul><li>Socketed power nodes - Fully lit room. -- Infestation spreads half as fast.</li><li> Unsocketed power nodes - Half lit room. All lights running at 50% brightness. Some lights flicker, others turn off for a couple seconds.</li><li> Destroyed power nodes - Pitch black. -- Infestation spreads twice as fast.</li></ul> Shade: (Useful for quickly infesting Hive rooms to achieve Hatchery Conditions.) <ul><li> Have another castable ability alongside Cloak, where it disables all lights (unsocketed room) within a certain radius.</li><li> Cloak will be non-castable while the light blackout is in effect.</li></ul> Flourescent vs. Bioluminescent lighting: <ul><li> Alien structures cast Bioluminescent light.</li><li> Normal rooms cast Flourescent light.</li><li> Alien Comm + Gorge will have to work to achieve Hatchery conditions. Spread infestation across rooms to black out unsocketed lights.</li></ul> Hatchery Conditions: (Possible alternative to Alien tech upgrades?) <ul><li> No flourescent light</li><li> Certain number of local Bioluminescent lights met.</li><li> Will provide a bonus to all players evolving, and all structures building. Egg spawn rate increased.</li><li> If a Marine repairs power node + destroys a Cyst influencing Infestation covering a strong light, that light will cast into the dark room. Hatchery bonus is lost, possible structure stun from being "blinded" by light. </li><li> Emphasizes double infesting key light fixtures to prevent that from happening.</li></ul> Structure fog: <ul><li> All structures with glow effect cast light + lesser atmospheric light.</li><li> Certain structures cast more 'fog' than others. (Ex. from least to most: Shade, Whip, Cyst, Crag, Extractor, Hive.)</li><li> Has influence on Hatchery Conditions. Hive rooms will achieve hatchery conditions easier than a resource pointed room which will still achieve conditions easier than a small hallway.</li><li> When Hatchery conditions are met, exposure to humidity will leave little water droplets on Marine equipment (Gun, Armor, Arcs etc.) after a certain amount of time.</li></ul>
3 questions/suggestions: -Would it be possible for the infestation to "absorb" cyst light? Or become darker when receiving cyst light? So the more there is infestation in a room, the darker it is. The idea in a completely infested room would be for the marines to perceive almost only the orange spots, with almost nothing around them. If the room is half-infested, the infestation absorb less light, and you see better.
-An alternate idea to the first one would be to have aliens have infestation color appearing when they stand on infestation. Not a 100% infestation skin, but something like 30% opacity infestation skin on them. Combined with infestation and low lights, you give them an interesting way to defend their base. Maybe alien commander could make silhouette infestation (or gorges) to mess with the marines more. Like, you put a batch of infestation with the silouette of a skulk in a corner, tricking the marines into thinking that's a real skulk, only to lose their bullets for nothing.
-Can you make cysts emit more light when they get shot? If the cyst is hurt, it glows more until it's healed, giving the marines an incentive to shoot them to light the room up. At the same time, it can serve as a diversion tactic for aliens. While marines are shooting cyst, they're not shooting aliens.
I really hope the developers will consider your idea, probably the best I've seen around here.
<!--quoteo(post=1925515:date=Apr 15 2012, 12:13 PM:name=Blasphemy)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Blasphemy @ Apr 15 2012, 12:13 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1925515"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I just sent an e-mail to Charlie containing this summary of the ideas in this thread. I thought you guys would like to see it too so here it is!
Power nodes: (This will be very useful in visually establishing Marine dominated rooms.) <ul><li>Socketed power nodes - Fully lit room. -- Infestation spreads half as fast.</li><li> Unsocketed power nodes - Half lit room. All lights running at 50% brightness. Some lights flicker, others turn off for a couple seconds.</li><li> Destroyed power nodes - Pitch black. -- Infestation spreads twice as fast.</li></ul> Shade: (Useful for quickly infesting Hive rooms to achieve Hatchery Conditions.) <ul><li> Have another castable ability alongside Cloak, where it disables all lights (unsocketed room) within a certain radius.</li><li> Cloak will be non-castable while the light blackout is in effect.</li></ul> Flourescent vs. Bioluminescent lighting: <ul><li> Alien structures cast Bioluminescent light.</li><li> Normal rooms cast Flourescent light.</li><li> Alien Comm + Gorge will have to work to achieve Hatchery conditions. Spread infestation across rooms to black out unsocketed lights.</li></ul> Hatchery Conditions: (Possible alternative to Alien tech upgrades?) <ul><li> No flourescent light</li><li> Certain number of local Bioluminescent lights met.</li><li> Will provide a bonus to all players evolving, and all structures building. Egg spawn rate increased.</li><li> If a Marine repairs power node + destroys a Cyst influencing Infestation covering a strong light, that light will cast into the dark room. Hatchery bonus is lost, possible structure stun from being "blinded" by light. </li><li> Emphasizes double infesting key light fixtures to prevent that from happening.</li></ul> Structure fog: <ul><li> All structures with glow effect cast light + lesser atmospheric light.</li><li> Certain structures cast more 'fog' than others. (Ex. from least to most: Shade, Whip, Cyst, Crag, Extractor, Hive.)</li><li> Has influence on Hatchery Conditions. Hive rooms will achieve hatchery conditions easier than a resource pointed room which will still achieve conditions easier than a small hallway.</li><li> When Hatchery conditions are met, exposure to humidity will leave little water droplets on Marine equipment (Gun, Armor, Arcs etc.) after a certain amount of time.</li></ul><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Absolutely incredible. All of these things would be epic and they are exactly what I hope NS2 is going to have. These would also really help add asymmetry to the game.
Sounds pretty amazing, they have the engine for it so it would be superb if they went a lot further with it than they have currently. Am I the only one that doesn't hate the red emergency lightning though? I think it has its place, it should be lit for a while after a power node gets destroyed, until the infestation claims the lightning.
This is absalouty amazing work and i think would really be the icing on the cake for NS2 :D
I think what could also give the marrines a counter would be some sort of light structure (was thinking half the height ish of a protolab but slender like it with 360 degrees of light given off by 4 strip lights) that could be placed to slow down infestation spred lighting up a small/medium area around it (as well as letting marrines see :P) to be combined with power packs (or not cant decide perhaps not having their own power wouldnt make sense lol) and so would hinder infestation spred servearly And this could add even more dynamics to the game as infestation becomes more and more dangourus as builds go on esspecially with this. (although light cost would have to prevent spamming)
<!--quoteo(post=1925287:date=Apr 14 2012, 11:42 AM:name=Blasphemy)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Blasphemy @ Apr 14 2012, 11:42 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1925287"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I heard of this game! It looks very interesting. Wasn't it supposed to be a survival co-op vs. AI kind of game? Those laser effects coming from the Marine's pistol would look pretty cool. I really like the blood splatters on the visor and the helmet HUD overall. I remember playing Metro 2033 and I found the gas mask feature to be incredibly immersive.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Thats right, but they are at early stage of developement I think. They are still learning to use Unity engine. This is nice example of bonus points for creating your own engine. Go UWE, Go.
<!--quoteo(post=1925287:date=Apr 14 2012, 11:42 AM:name=Blasphemy)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Blasphemy @ Apr 14 2012, 11:42 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1925287"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I'm planning on testing what it would look like if the Shade used a "power interrupt" ability as a castable alternative to "cloak".<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> I was just brainstorming after I saw your amazing "Infestation and Lighting" screenshots and idea about <u><b>"lightning interrupt" ability</b></u> came to my mind <i>(I did not know, that you have much better ideas and you got it all sorted, so I just mention my quick thoughts)</i>.
Pitch black room would be lit by "foggy/humid" lights. When marine comes, Alien commander could activate the "absorb light" ability, so cyst/infestation stops light the surroundings => Marines have to use flashlights / Kharaa have the advantage in Alien vision
I think that there is the idea about "infestation interrupts lightning" from the begining.
I am just poor, not so thoroughly informed fan, so excuse my silly ideas.
<!--quoteo(post=1925515:date=Apr 15 2012, 12:13 PM:name=Blasphemy)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Blasphemy @ Apr 15 2012, 12:13 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1925515"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I just sent an e-mail to Charlie containing this summary of the ideas in this thread. I thought you guys would like to see it too so here it is!
Power nodes: (This will be very useful in visually establishing Marine dominated rooms.) <ul><li>Socketed power nodes - Fully lit room. -- Infestation spreads half as fast.</li><li> Unsocketed power nodes - Half lit room. All lights running at 50% brightness. Some lights flicker, others turn off for a couple seconds.</li><li> Destroyed power nodes - Pitch black. -- Infestation spreads twice as fast.</li></ul> Shade: (Useful for quickly infesting Hive rooms to achieve Hatchery Conditions.) <ul><li> Have another castable ability alongside Cloak, where it disables all lights (unsocketed room) within a certain radius.</li><li> Cloak will be non-castable while the light blackout is in effect.</li></ul> Flourescent vs. Bioluminescent lighting: <ul><li> Alien structures cast Bioluminescent light.</li><li> Normal rooms cast Flourescent light.</li><li> Alien Comm + Gorge will have to work to achieve Hatchery conditions. Spread infestation across rooms to black out unsocketed lights.</li></ul> Hatchery Conditions: (Possible alternative to Alien tech upgrades?) <ul><li> No flourescent light</li><li> Certain number of local Bioluminescent lights met.</li><li> Will provide a bonus to all players evolving, and all structures building. Egg spawn rate increased.</li><li> If a Marine repairs power node + destroys a Cyst influencing Infestation covering a strong light, that light will cast into the dark room. Hatchery bonus is lost, possible structure stun from being "blinded" by light. </li><li> Emphasizes double infesting key light fixtures to prevent that from happening.</li></ul> Structure fog: <ul><li> All structures with glow effect cast light + lesser atmospheric light.</li><li> Certain structures cast more 'fog' than others. (Ex. from least to most: Shade, Whip, Cyst, Crag, Extractor, Hive.)</li><li> Has influence on Hatchery Conditions. Hive rooms will achieve hatchery conditions easier than a resource pointed room which will still achieve conditions easier than a small hallway.</li><li> When Hatchery conditions are met, exposure to humidity will leave little water droplets on Marine equipment (Gun, Armor, Arcs etc.) after a certain amount of time.</li></ul><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
@Orz: Not yet, but I've been keeping myself pre-occupied with learning Lua, trying to get myself familiar with the game's Lua, and trying to work on my map, so I haven't really been bothered that much over the silence. My current plan is to see about trying to whip up some sort of script so when the game creates a cyst, it will also create some lights as children. I have no idea how I am going to do that, but I think I can look around the code to see how the Marine flashlight works. I'll also see about disabling the red emergency lighting from the power nodes.
If I can get those two things done, then taking screenshots of infested rooms is going to be a lot easier for me than manually placing the lights, and then the Cysts ingame. I think I'd probably try to see about giving the Shade that Blackout ability shortly after.
@gage_cz: I think that could be a useful ability for the hive. Maybe have it so it costs more energy the more cysts there are in the room to temporarily disable.
@AngryHillbilly: What if the Arc were to have a toggle-able headlights to do pretty much what you were describing?
@Xarius: While it is true that the red emergency lighting does allow people to see in the room when the power is off, I believe that if the Infestation could spread twice as fast, the rate of expansion would make up for the temporary lack of visibility. Especially if there was a slight price reduction on Cysts in blacked out rooms. I think I'll still give that a try. For all I know, a half infested room with red emergency lighting may prove itself to be worth keeping.
@Bobrun: I don't know if I completely understand what you are trying to suggest in the first part. Are you suggesting that the infestation were to act as some sort of light sponge, where the more the room is covered, the less bioluminescent light the Cysts cast?
The second suggestion though, of there being a small bit of infestation texture on the aliens is pretty neat. I was thinking though that the only real way for the aliens to do that, while not actually being infested would be to have their skin be like a chameleon and change the look of the cells to the surroundings. If that were to be the case, then maybe that could be some sort of passive bonus for when aliens choose the Camouflage evolution upgrade. Or maybe that texture will appear when the aliens are healing on the infestation.
I really like the third suggestion. A visual indicator of which cysts are injured/distressed by brightening the light casted would benefit both the Gorge and Marines in seeing which ones are hurt. Maybe when hurt above 50%, the light would be brighter and when it is below 50% it could have a light pulse which would gradually brighten/dim.
What ever happened about this idea? Because it was a really awesome one n it would be a shame to see it to go to such waste :S Did Charlie ever reply in the end?
<!--quoteo(post=1942339:date=Jun 9 2012, 12:37 AM:name=Angry Hillbilly 2)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Angry Hillbilly 2 @ Jun 9 2012, 12:37 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1942339"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->What ever happened about this idea? Because it was a really awesome one n it would be a shame to see it to go to such waste :S Did Charlie ever reply in the end?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> bumbing very cool ideas!... im in ^^
I haven't heard anything from Charlie since I sent that email. It does appear that they have this idea in the pipeline though. At least, the cysts casting light thing. It turns out it has been in Charlie's "Power Point Rework" google document since October 2011 (last year).
That being said, I am currently messing around with the Cyst.lua file, and did manage to get a light to cast on the cysts! Although most of this code was just copy/pasted from twiliteblue's lights mod shown here: <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=115242" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/in...howtopic=115242</a> I am having quite a time trying to figure this stuff out with other people's scripts and the ingame scripts, and because I am such an idiot with coding, this is turning out to be very confusing, but I am making progress.
I am still trying to rack my mind around how to move the light entity above the cyst model, in order for it to cast shadows. And unfortunately, that is something I am making little progress on. I bet once I can find some code telling me how I can move something in 3D space, I'd be set to apply it to every structure. Although one thing I would also like to do is figure out how to make the glow script isolated so you don't have to manually copy/paste it into every cyst.lua or harvester.lua file. So instead, it would just socket into the rest of the code.
Edit: I figured out how to move it, but I don't really understand why. In the "self.glowCoords.origin = self.glowCoords.origin + self.glowCoords.yAxis * 0.2", if you change the 0.2 bit to a 2, it does move it vertically, but I do not particularly understand why it has to be a multiple rather than a standard addition. I recognize it is taking the coords and moving it along the yAxis, but as I said, why does it have to be a multiple? Whenever I attempted to change it to an addition, it would give me console errors (and not even place the light.)
I'll try to see if I can get some explanations in the Modding section.
EDIT2: Here is what it looks like ingame. Note: The power is off. The cysts also cast some gnarly shadows. <a href="http://i.imgur.com/p0cL5.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/p0cL5l.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
DghelneshiAims to surpass Fana in post edits.Join Date: 2011-11-01Member: 130634Members, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow
edited October 2012
<!--quoteo(post=1988030:date=Oct 7 2012, 06:37 AM:name=Blasphemy)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Blasphemy @ Oct 7 2012, 06:37 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1988030"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Edit: I figured out how to move it, but I don't really understand why. In the "self.glowCoords.origin = self.glowCoords.origin + self.glowCoords.yAxis * 0.2", if you change the 0.2 bit to a 2, it does move it vertically, but I do not particularly understand why it has to be a multiple rather than a standard addition. I recognize it is taking the coords and moving it along the yAxis, but as I said, why does it have to be a multiple? Whenever I attempted to change it to an addition, it would give me console errors (and not even place the light.)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> The reason is simple: All the position and axis variables are three-dimensional vectors, and you cannot just "add" a number to a vector. Every vector has an x, y and z component, which are numbers. So, you <u>could</u> add a number to <b>self.glowCoords.origin.y</b> to move it up. (e.g. [1|2|3] + 5 = ???, but [1|2|3] + [0|5|0] = [1|7|3])
This particular piece of code you have there does something a bit more advanced. <b>self.glowCoords.yAxis</b> is the vector representation of the y-Axis of the object, not of the global world y-Axis. For example, if the cyst was placed on a wall and rotated by 90 degrees so it fits perfectly, the y-Axis would point away from the wall instead of just "up". So, if you add a multiple of the y-Axis vector to the origin vector, it will move the light upwards from its own perspective. This was required for gorge placed cysts.
I can try making a picture if my text is not comprehensible enough. You can also add me on Steam if you have any questions (same name as on the forums).
EDIT2: Here is what it looks like ingame. Note: The power is off. The cysts also cast some gnarly shadows. <a href="http://i.imgur.com/p0cL5.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/p0cL5l.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--quoteo(post=1988030:date=Oct 6 2012, 11:37 PM:name=Blasphemy)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Blasphemy @ Oct 6 2012, 11:37 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1988030"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I haven't heard anything from Charlie since I sent that email. It does appear that they have this idea in the pipeline though. At least, the cysts casting light thing. It turns out it has been in Charlie's "Power Point Rework" google document since October 2011 (last year).
That being said, I am currently messing around with the Cyst.lua file, and did manage to get a light to cast on the cysts! Although most of this code was just copy/pasted from twiliteblue's lights mod shown here: <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=115242" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/in...howtopic=115242</a> I am having quite a time trying to figure this stuff out with other people's scripts and the ingame scripts, and because I am such an idiot with coding, this is turning out to be very confusing, but I am making progress.
I am still trying to rack my mind around how to move the light entity above the cyst model, in order for it to cast shadows. And unfortunately, that is something I am making little progress on. I bet once I can find some code telling me how I can move something in 3D space, I'd be set to apply it to every structure. Although one thing I would also like to do is figure out how to make the glow script isolated so you don't have to manually copy/paste it into every cyst.lua or harvester.lua file. So instead, it would just socket into the rest of the code.
Edit: I figured out how to move it, but I don't really understand why. In the "self.glowCoords.origin = self.glowCoords.origin + self.glowCoords.yAxis * 0.2", if you change the 0.2 bit to a 2, it does move it vertically, but I do not particularly understand why it has to be a multiple rather than a standard addition. I recognize it is taking the coords and moving it along the yAxis, but as I said, why does it have to be a multiple? Whenever I attempted to change it to an addition, it would give me console errors (and not even place the light.)
I'll try to see if I can get some explanations in the Modding section.
EDIT2: Here is what it looks like ingame. Note: The power is off. The cysts also cast some gnarly shadows. <a href="http://i.imgur.com/p0cL5.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/p0cL5l.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
IMO, a little too much light being given off from the cysts, perhaps they should instead have a smaller point light radius. But great idea imo
This should definitely be the way it works in game. I honestly don't like the red backup power lights, the lighting they cast doesn't do justice to the games graphics. Something like this would show off the lighting effects, add ambiance, and reinforce the aliens' organic nature, all at the same time.
Definite +1, and I think the devs should really look into this.
<!--coloro:#aadd00--><span style="color:#aadd00"><!--/coloro-->Yeah, too bright, also the color doesn't seem right for how orange the glow on a cyst; too yellow-white.<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
Heh....this probably isn't helpful because it would involve more work than just changing lights but it would be a really cool effect for eggs to give off light as well, and the outer shell was translucent, allowing one to see the embryo inside. Even have the egg's light get slightly brighter and brighter as it gets closer to hatching. (When I say brighter and brighter it should still be relatively pretty dim compared to anything else; this is a little too narrow in scope - but it's just the first thing that came to mind)
Very awesome, that the normal lights go out, and the INfestation enviroment grows its own lights, makes it feel like the enviroment is changing very awesome!.
Comments
I adjusted the intensity of the intensity of the volumetric lights on the structures. Extended the ranges for cyst atmos. lights from 100 to 128, intensity 1, inner/outer angle 50/75, atmospheric density 2. Extractor atmospheric lights extended to 192 range, 2 intensity, 30/75 in/out, atmospheric density 2.
First image comparable change, second image to represent expansion into lit territory, third image to test minimalistic cyst usage in a lightless hall. I like how the atmospheric lighting on the cysts aren't as noticable in fully lit rooms, but are able to add together in dark rooms to look foggy/humid.
I think it would be pretty cool if when Marines spent a bit of time in a heavily infested area, little water droplets would start to appear on the gun, Marine armor, Arcs, etc.
<a href="http://i.imgur.com/pV1Ag.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/pV1Agl.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a> <a href="http://i.imgur.com/147Be.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/147Bel.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a> <a href="http://i.imgur.com/T8eOg.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/T8eOgl.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
<!--quoteo(post=1924918:date=Apr 12 2012, 11:00 PM:name=Blasphemy)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Blasphemy @ Apr 12 2012, 11:00 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1924918"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I think it would be pretty cool if when Marines spent a bit of time in a heavily infested area, little water droplets would start to appear on the gun, Marine armor, Arcs, etc.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Very very cool. I'm thinking something like in Metroid Prime, if you ever played that game.
<!--quoteo(post=1924918:date=Apr 13 2012, 04:00 AM:name=Blasphemy)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Blasphemy @ Apr 13 2012, 04:00 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1924918"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I think it would be pretty cool if when Marines spent a bit of time in a heavily infested area, little water droplets would start to appear on the gun, Marine armor, Arcs, etc.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Great ideas, great work Blasphemy on Infestation and Lighting. I like to see that in the game and I hope devs are working on something like this.
I saw some great flashlight effects and laser effects in promo videoclip on Interstellar Marines <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9pb7f0spG4&hd=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9pb7f0spG4&hd=1</a>
They had some nice effects on HUD (water drops, breathing) and especially I like sound echo (you hear the player´s voice and voice of surroundings) in VoIP communication <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTkdHJsdnI4&hd=1&t=5m39s" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTkdHJsdnI4...d=1&t=5m39s</a>
As for Infestation screenshots, no progress right now. I've been working at getting another room of the map ready for Infestation/Lighting tests. I'm planning on testing what it would look like if the Shade used a "power interrupt" ability as a castable alternative to "cloak". This could be very useful for hanging lights that will be difficult to infest otherwise, because of the geometrical uniqueness of the light, and the speed influenced to wrap around those props. I'll also try to get a shot of the window to the Reactor being partially obstructed by infestation, therefore leading to some unique shadows.
<a href="http://i.imgur.com/Hho0a.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/Hho0al.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a> <a href="http://i.imgur.com/7A6Rp.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/7A6Rpl.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
Thread link/info here: <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=116703&st=0" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/in...116703&st=0</a>
Power nodes: (This will be very useful in visually establishing Marine dominated rooms.)
<ul><li>Socketed power nodes - Fully lit room. -- Infestation spreads half as fast.</li><li> Unsocketed power nodes - Half lit room. All lights running at 50% brightness. Some lights flicker, others turn off for a couple seconds.</li><li> Destroyed power nodes - Pitch black. -- Infestation spreads twice as fast.</li></ul>
Shade: (Useful for quickly infesting Hive rooms to achieve Hatchery Conditions.)
<ul><li> Have another castable ability alongside Cloak, where it disables all lights (unsocketed room) within a certain radius.</li><li> Cloak will be non-castable while the light blackout is in effect.</li></ul>
Flourescent vs. Bioluminescent lighting:
<ul><li> Alien structures cast Bioluminescent light.</li><li> Normal rooms cast Flourescent light.</li><li> Alien Comm + Gorge will have to work to achieve Hatchery conditions. Spread infestation across rooms to black out unsocketed lights.</li></ul>
Hatchery Conditions: (Possible alternative to Alien tech upgrades?)
<ul><li> No flourescent light</li><li> Certain number of local Bioluminescent lights met.</li><li> Will provide a bonus to all players evolving, and all structures building. Egg spawn rate increased.</li><li> If a Marine repairs power node + destroys a Cyst influencing Infestation covering a strong light, that light will cast into the dark room. Hatchery bonus is lost, possible structure stun from being "blinded" by light. </li><li> Emphasizes double infesting key light fixtures to prevent that from happening.</li></ul>
Structure fog:
<ul><li> All structures with glow effect cast light + lesser atmospheric light.</li><li> Certain structures cast more 'fog' than others. (Ex. from least to most: Shade, Whip, Cyst, Crag, Extractor, Hive.)</li><li> Has influence on Hatchery Conditions. Hive rooms will achieve hatchery conditions easier than a resource pointed room which will still achieve conditions easier than a small hallway.</li><li> When Hatchery conditions are met, exposure to humidity will leave little water droplets on Marine equipment (Gun, Armor, Arcs etc.) after a certain amount of time.</li></ul>
8:24 PM - Blasphemy: <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=117722&view=findpost&p=1925515" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/in...t&p=1925515</a><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Please respond faster, I get linked this thread hourly by him.
3 questions/suggestions:
-Would it be possible for the infestation to "absorb" cyst light? Or become darker when receiving cyst light? So the more there is infestation in a room, the darker it is. The idea in a completely infested room would be for the marines to perceive almost only the orange spots, with almost nothing around them. If the room is half-infested, the infestation absorb less light, and you see better.
-An alternate idea to the first one would be to have aliens have infestation color appearing when they stand on infestation. Not a 100% infestation skin, but something like 30% opacity infestation skin on them. Combined with infestation and low lights, you give them an interesting way to defend their base. Maybe alien commander could make silhouette infestation (or gorges) to mess with the marines more. Like, you put a batch of infestation with the silouette of a skulk in a corner, tricking the marines into thinking that's a real skulk, only to lose their bullets for nothing.
-Can you make cysts emit more light when they get shot? If the cyst is hurt, it glows more until it's healed, giving the marines an incentive to shoot them to light the room up. At the same time, it can serve as a diversion tactic for aliens. While marines are shooting cyst, they're not shooting aliens.
I really hope the developers will consider your idea, probably the best I've seen around here.
Power nodes: (This will be very useful in visually establishing Marine dominated rooms.)
<ul><li>Socketed power nodes - Fully lit room. -- Infestation spreads half as fast.</li><li> Unsocketed power nodes - Half lit room. All lights running at 50% brightness. Some lights flicker, others turn off for a couple seconds.</li><li> Destroyed power nodes - Pitch black. -- Infestation spreads twice as fast.</li></ul>
Shade: (Useful for quickly infesting Hive rooms to achieve Hatchery Conditions.)
<ul><li> Have another castable ability alongside Cloak, where it disables all lights (unsocketed room) within a certain radius.</li><li> Cloak will be non-castable while the light blackout is in effect.</li></ul>
Flourescent vs. Bioluminescent lighting:
<ul><li> Alien structures cast Bioluminescent light.</li><li> Normal rooms cast Flourescent light.</li><li> Alien Comm + Gorge will have to work to achieve Hatchery conditions. Spread infestation across rooms to black out unsocketed lights.</li></ul>
Hatchery Conditions: (Possible alternative to Alien tech upgrades?)
<ul><li> No flourescent light</li><li> Certain number of local Bioluminescent lights met.</li><li> Will provide a bonus to all players evolving, and all structures building. Egg spawn rate increased.</li><li> If a Marine repairs power node + destroys a Cyst influencing Infestation covering a strong light, that light will cast into the dark room. Hatchery bonus is lost, possible structure stun from being "blinded" by light. </li><li> Emphasizes double infesting key light fixtures to prevent that from happening.</li></ul>
Structure fog:
<ul><li> All structures with glow effect cast light + lesser atmospheric light.</li><li> Certain structures cast more 'fog' than others. (Ex. from least to most: Shade, Whip, Cyst, Crag, Extractor, Hive.)</li><li> Has influence on Hatchery Conditions. Hive rooms will achieve hatchery conditions easier than a resource pointed room which will still achieve conditions easier than a small hallway.</li><li> When Hatchery conditions are met, exposure to humidity will leave little water droplets on Marine equipment (Gun, Armor, Arcs etc.) after a certain amount of time.</li></ul><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Absolutely incredible. All of these things would be epic and they are exactly what I hope NS2 is going to have. These would also really help add asymmetry to the game.
I think what could also give the marrines a counter would be some sort of light structure (was thinking half the height ish of a protolab but slender like it with 360 degrees of light given off by 4 strip lights) that could be placed to slow down infestation spred lighting up a small/medium area around it (as well as letting marrines see :P) to be combined with power packs (or not cant decide perhaps not having their own power wouldnt make sense lol) and so would hinder infestation spred servearly And this could add even more dynamics to the game as infestation becomes more and more dangourus as builds go on esspecially with this. (although light cost would have to prevent spamming)
But well done dude this is excellent work :)
Thats right, but they are at early stage of developement I think. They are still learning to use Unity engine. This is nice example of bonus points for creating your own engine. Go UWE, Go.
<!--quoteo(post=1925287:date=Apr 14 2012, 11:42 AM:name=Blasphemy)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Blasphemy @ Apr 14 2012, 11:42 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1925287"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I'm planning on testing what it would look like if the Shade used a "power interrupt" ability as a castable alternative to "cloak".<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I was just brainstorming after I saw your amazing "Infestation and Lighting" screenshots and idea about <u><b>"lightning interrupt" ability</b></u> came to my mind <i>(I did not know, that you have much better ideas and you got it all sorted, so I just mention my quick thoughts)</i>.
Pitch black room would be lit by "foggy/humid" lights. When marine comes, Alien commander could activate the "absorb light" ability, so cyst/infestation stops light the surroundings => Marines have to use flashlights / Kharaa have the advantage in Alien vision
I think that there is the idea about "infestation interrupts lightning" from the begining.
I am just poor, not so thoroughly informed fan, so excuse my silly ideas.
Power nodes: (This will be very useful in visually establishing Marine dominated rooms.)
<ul><li>Socketed power nodes - Fully lit room. -- Infestation spreads half as fast.</li><li> Unsocketed power nodes - Half lit room. All lights running at 50% brightness. Some lights flicker, others turn off for a couple seconds.</li><li> Destroyed power nodes - Pitch black. -- Infestation spreads twice as fast.</li></ul>
Shade: (Useful for quickly infesting Hive rooms to achieve Hatchery Conditions.)
<ul><li> Have another castable ability alongside Cloak, where it disables all lights (unsocketed room) within a certain radius.</li><li> Cloak will be non-castable while the light blackout is in effect.</li></ul>
Flourescent vs. Bioluminescent lighting:
<ul><li> Alien structures cast Bioluminescent light.</li><li> Normal rooms cast Flourescent light.</li><li> Alien Comm + Gorge will have to work to achieve Hatchery conditions. Spread infestation across rooms to black out unsocketed lights.</li></ul>
Hatchery Conditions: (Possible alternative to Alien tech upgrades?)
<ul><li> No flourescent light</li><li> Certain number of local Bioluminescent lights met.</li><li> Will provide a bonus to all players evolving, and all structures building. Egg spawn rate increased.</li><li> If a Marine repairs power node + destroys a Cyst influencing Infestation covering a strong light, that light will cast into the dark room. Hatchery bonus is lost, possible structure stun from being "blinded" by light. </li><li> Emphasizes double infesting key light fixtures to prevent that from happening.</li></ul>
Structure fog:
<ul><li> All structures with glow effect cast light + lesser atmospheric light.</li><li> Certain structures cast more 'fog' than others. (Ex. from least to most: Shade, Whip, Cyst, Crag, Extractor, Hive.)</li><li> Has influence on Hatchery Conditions. Hive rooms will achieve hatchery conditions easier than a resource pointed room which will still achieve conditions easier than a small hallway.</li><li> When Hatchery conditions are met, exposure to humidity will leave little water droplets on Marine equipment (Gun, Armor, Arcs etc.) after a certain amount of time.</li></ul><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
By the way, did Charlie respond to this??
If I can get those two things done, then taking screenshots of infested rooms is going to be a lot easier for me than manually placing the lights, and then the Cysts ingame. I think I'd probably try to see about giving the Shade that Blackout ability shortly after.
@gage_cz: I think that could be a useful ability for the hive. Maybe have it so it costs more energy the more cysts there are in the room to temporarily disable.
@AngryHillbilly: What if the Arc were to have a toggle-able headlights to do pretty much what you were describing?
@Xarius: While it is true that the red emergency lighting does allow people to see in the room when the power is off, I believe that if the Infestation could spread twice as fast, the rate of expansion would make up for the temporary lack of visibility. Especially if there was a slight price reduction on Cysts in blacked out rooms. I think I'll still give that a try. For all I know, a half infested room with red emergency lighting may prove itself to be worth keeping.
@Bobrun: I don't know if I completely understand what you are trying to suggest in the first part. Are you suggesting that the infestation were to act as some sort of light sponge, where the more the room is covered, the less bioluminescent light the Cysts cast?
The second suggestion though, of there being a small bit of infestation texture on the aliens is pretty neat. I was thinking though that the only real way for the aliens to do that, while not actually being infested would be to have their skin be like a chameleon and change the look of the cells to the surroundings. If that were to be the case, then maybe that could be some sort of passive bonus for when aliens choose the Camouflage evolution upgrade. Or maybe that texture will appear when the aliens are healing on the infestation.
I really like the third suggestion. A visual indicator of which cysts are injured/distressed by brightening the light casted would benefit both the Gorge and Marines in seeing which ones are hurt. Maybe when hurt above 50%, the light would be brighter and when it is below 50% it could have a light pulse which would gradually brighten/dim.
bumbing very cool ideas!... im in ^^
good question btw : /
That being said, I am currently messing around with the Cyst.lua file, and did manage to get a light to cast on the cysts! Although most of this code was just copy/pasted from twiliteblue's lights mod shown here: <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=115242" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/in...howtopic=115242</a> I am having quite a time trying to figure this stuff out with other people's scripts and the ingame scripts, and because I am such an idiot with coding, this is turning out to be very confusing, but I am making progress.
I am still trying to rack my mind around how to move the light entity above the cyst model, in order for it to cast shadows. And unfortunately, that is something I am making little progress on. I bet once I can find some code telling me how I can move something in 3D space, I'd be set to apply it to every structure. Although one thing I would also like to do is figure out how to make the glow script isolated so you don't have to manually copy/paste it into every cyst.lua or harvester.lua file. So instead, it would just socket into the rest of the code.
Edit: I figured out how to move it, but I don't really understand why. In the "self.glowCoords.origin = self.glowCoords.origin + self.glowCoords.yAxis * 0.2", if you change the 0.2 bit to a 2, it does move it vertically, but I do not particularly understand why it has to be a multiple rather than a standard addition. I recognize it is taking the coords and moving it along the yAxis, but as I said, why does it have to be a multiple? Whenever I attempted to change it to an addition, it would give me console errors (and not even place the light.)
I'll try to see if I can get some explanations in the Modding section.
EDIT2: Here is what it looks like ingame. Note: The power is off. The cysts also cast some gnarly shadows.
<a href="http://i.imgur.com/p0cL5.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/p0cL5l.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a>
The reason is simple: All the position and axis variables are three-dimensional vectors, and you cannot just "add" a number to a vector. Every vector has an x, y and z component, which are numbers. So, you <u>could</u> add a number to <b>self.glowCoords.origin.y</b> to move it up. (e.g. [1|2|3] + 5 = ???, but [1|2|3] + [0|5|0] = [1|7|3])
This particular piece of code you have there does something a bit more advanced. <b>self.glowCoords.yAxis</b> is the vector representation of the y-Axis of the object, not of the global world y-Axis. For example, if the cyst was placed on a wall and rotated by 90 degrees so it fits perfectly, the y-Axis would point away from the wall instead of just "up". So, if you add a multiple of the y-Axis vector to the origin vector, it will move the light upwards from its own perspective. This was required for gorge placed cysts.
I can try making a picture if my text is not comprehensible enough. You can also add me on Steam if you have any questions (same name as on the forums).
I really think it would make NS2 absolutely epic if there was more dynamic-ness like this in the game, particularly around power and creep.
EDIT2: Here is what it looks like ingame. Note: The power is off. The cysts also cast some gnarly shadows.
<a href="http://i.imgur.com/p0cL5.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/p0cL5l.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
a bit bright maybe for an unpowerd room : /
That being said, I am currently messing around with the Cyst.lua file, and did manage to get a light to cast on the cysts! Although most of this code was just copy/pasted from twiliteblue's lights mod shown here: <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=115242" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/in...howtopic=115242</a> I am having quite a time trying to figure this stuff out with other people's scripts and the ingame scripts, and because I am such an idiot with coding, this is turning out to be very confusing, but I am making progress.
I am still trying to rack my mind around how to move the light entity above the cyst model, in order for it to cast shadows. And unfortunately, that is something I am making little progress on. I bet once I can find some code telling me how I can move something in 3D space, I'd be set to apply it to every structure. Although one thing I would also like to do is figure out how to make the glow script isolated so you don't have to manually copy/paste it into every cyst.lua or harvester.lua file. So instead, it would just socket into the rest of the code.
Edit: I figured out how to move it, but I don't really understand why. In the "self.glowCoords.origin = self.glowCoords.origin + self.glowCoords.yAxis * 0.2", if you change the 0.2 bit to a 2, it does move it vertically, but I do not particularly understand why it has to be a multiple rather than a standard addition. I recognize it is taking the coords and moving it along the yAxis, but as I said, why does it have to be a multiple? Whenever I attempted to change it to an addition, it would give me console errors (and not even place the light.)
I'll try to see if I can get some explanations in the Modding section.
EDIT2: Here is what it looks like ingame. Note: The power is off. The cysts also cast some gnarly shadows.
<a href="http://i.imgur.com/p0cL5.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/p0cL5l.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
IMO, a little too much light being given off from the cysts, perhaps they should instead have a smaller point light radius. But great idea imo
Definite +1, and I think the devs should really look into this.