Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - RSSwizard

Pages: 1 ... 44 45 [46] 47 48 ... 50
676
Programming / Re: Explosion Graphics
« on: September 12, 2014, 06:28:40 am »
In regard to explosion size (blastRadius) ive brought this up too.

The Blast Radius setting should dictate how explosions decrease in strength rather than cut them off at a certain amount.

This way you can put blastRadius: 15 on a hand grenade that does 50 damage and it will spread out to 15 square radius.

The way to do this is as follows. Any time the engine calls for reducing the damage for an explosion based on its distance from source . . . the amount that is reduced is 10 * (Multiplier) per square. Rather than a flat 10 like vanilla.

That multiplier would be ( damage / (blastRadius * 10) ).


Likewise setting the blast radius smaller than usual will still confine the explosion to a smaller area, but it would do it because it is reducing the damage by more than 10 per square from source.

Likewise I think this should also affect the simulated size of the explosion as far as Sprite Spread is concerned (sprite spread treats the damage as if it were times ( (blastRadius * 10) / damage) ). But not necessarily the Density . . . the Density should remain the same.

That way you can get a small explosion that appears to be jam packed with explosion sprites, reflecting how much damage it actually does.

677
Work In Progress / Re: Weapon Rework/Expansion - Version 0.8
« on: September 11, 2014, 10:46:19 pm »
Quote
Sadly none of these pictures looks like the real-deal Fallout 1-2 Laser Sniper Rifle.
Yeah but they're a good base to work from. Once you resize things down to 32x48 even having a slihouette is enough, and even then you're going to change the proportions. I dunno its just one of those artist mindset things, it seems to be harder to start from nothing. Ive also been able to turn a perspective-based image into a flat one at the low level, as long as its lined up lengthwise.

And that Bozar is awesome, thanks for it (can it be used?).


Quote
btw early Starfleet weapons were difficult to aim...
Phasers shoot a stream and continuous fire, as soon as you pull the trigger you know where the shot is going, and you can adjust aim and "whip" the target with it. Just like a water gun. Thats like recoilless full auto using tracers, on steroids.

The plasma guns fired a "slow projectile" which it always appeared any enemies were able to dodge or duck out of the way easily. Combined with not having sights, of course. And whenever they did shoot someone with the pistols, the (tougher) aliens had to be shot like 2-3 times, and using their toughness as an advantage they would usually get away after the first shot. The initial scene of the Enterprise series where a klingon was shot with a plasma rifle and knocked backwards, thats a full size long-barreled plasma rifle, not a pistol.

At least thats what I remember from the Enterprise series.

Phasers have almost always been a one-shot-stop. And in any case where they wasnt, the alien almost universally had to be vaporized to be put down, since the higher settings wouldn't do the job either. I think there were a few aliens the entire star trek series who could take 1 stun blast and just be staggered by it (and I think the one bajoran chick who was the security officer on TNG was able to take a rombulan disruptor on stun and only get tripped up by it).


678
Resources / Re: Palettes for XCOM in GIMP/Paintshop format
« on: September 11, 2014, 10:20:47 pm »
I dont know about using MCD edit, why do you want to deal with the old MCD format when you can just import graphics into openxcom straight up? Sprite Sheets even.

My advice is just save the images as .GIF rather than .PNG. If it isnt broke dont fix it right?

And custom tailor your palettes to delete colors from them that are off limits, something that is easily recognizable in the image and is unlikely that you would ever use. My suggestion for the color choices are Fuscha (rgb 255 , 0 , 255) for the transparent color and straight red (255, 0, 0) for off limit pixels. Because xcom does not have a good emulation of red in its palettes. By Delete I don't mean actually reduce the color palette choices, I mean replace them with colors that are stupid so you wont use them.

Normally id suggest Teal (0, 255, 255) for the transparency color but it is similar to the blue-seagreen band near the end of the palette and colors might get remapped to it by mistake if you have a bright blue energy blast that you're trying to sprite. It might even get remapped to Teal if you had a bright gray metal sprite with bluish highlights.

679
Work In Progress / Re: Weapon Rework/Expansion - Version 0.8
« on: September 11, 2014, 03:07:06 am »
The klingons and rombulans both used disruptors but they were modulated differently. The early human starfleet used plasma weapons but they were weak and difficult to aim, so they upgraded to phasers when they got the chance.

This is something ive been trying to sprite for a very long time. Its some kind of generic energy weapon ive seen in the original battlestar galactica, and a few limited scenes in earth final conflict. I love the way it looks because it reminded me of the Gauss Rifle from TFTD and id say it might've been the inspiration for the gauss weapon art style. Finally tracked down a screenshot to build from, which I included.

680
OpenXcom Extended / Re: OpenXcom Extended
« on: September 11, 2014, 01:30:10 am »
Ability to coup-de-grace an unconscious character.
I hate having to use a medi-kit to revive an alien just so I can shoot him again. Since you get more points for killing an alien than you do for subduing it (like 20 or 25 for the later ones, vs 10 for capture).

682
Work In Progress / Re: Weapon Rework/Expansion - Version 0.8
« on: September 11, 2014, 12:18:36 am »
Thanks, I did originally mean for the rocket launcher to be a dual tube which "snapped onto" the launcher, but it makes much more sense for it to be a quad anyway. The tube ammo can take up 2x3 size too but you get 4 rockets instead of 2 for it.

And some more lasers here, these being for fans. I hate the way Fallout 3 lasers look, and despise Fallout 3 in general. But I couldnt find any silhouette fallout 2 fanmade models. I would go to the trouble of making them myself if i was going to use them (I am a rabid fan of fallout 2, but more specifically fallout 1).

683
Work In Progress / Re: Weapon Rework/Expansion - Version 0.8
« on: September 10, 2014, 10:47:26 pm »
LOL omg the blaster pistol from blake stone. Yeah but I absolutely loved the sound effect for it, and from the sprite death animations of the bad guys it looks like it does some serious frikkin damage.

Love that green gun too, reminds me of the rombulan disruptor rifles from star trek. Rombulan weapons kick hind end.

684
Work In Progress / Re: Help with the position of text on a UFOpedia page
« on: September 10, 2014, 09:31:06 pm »
Do ufopaedia graphics need to be .SPK format or can they be normal images like anything else?

Ive thought about doing a full-size ufopaedia rework before, where every single thing gets a full size color image just like the Aircraft. Including all of the items, armor, HWPs, and so on. But thats a hell of alot of work and I wont even try it unless I know if its feasible.

The alternative is making them like TFTD ufopaedia and treating them the same way that the Alien Autopsy is (so rather than the right side, its just on the left side)

685
Work In Progress / Re: Weapon Rework/Expansion - Version 0.8
« on: September 10, 2014, 02:23:36 am »
Got some more I think people could use.
I know the white p-90 looking thing is kinda stupid, but its got that minimalist 80s / 90s outer limits kind of feel.

686
Work In Progress / Re: Weapon Rework/Expansion - Version 0.8
« on: September 10, 2014, 12:39:30 am »
EDIT - - Pimp My Gun is a dam good starting place to make an authentic gun sprite from. When resized down to the small bigobs resolution you can easily make adjustments to make it more like you want it to be. However the monotone nature of the graphics from PMG means at the 96/64 pixel height stage youll need to define lines and raise the contrast on it so that way it doesnt turn into a bunch of gray goo when you go down to the native bigobs 32/48 pixel size. So if you dont want to take someone's gun picture it is still pretty easy to make your own.

I use Photoshop 7 for my spriting normally.

First I take an image and rotate  it around, flip it, whatever to get it in the proper orientation and I crop it down to the parts of the item that I want to be visible. That means for assault rifles the magazine might get chopped a little. Then because of the fat/squished orientation of a 2x3 size item I sometimes then select parts to squeeze and I just move them, like shortening the barrel or elminating parts of the stock to make it shorter.

Then (takes deep breath) . . . Resize it down to Height 96 or 64 depending on the size the item will be. . . Apply Unsharp Mask at about 50% to sharpen it a little . . . Then resize down to the native item size of 48 or 32 height.

Unsharp Mask it again and it should be ready for PRIMARY EDITING

I use the Pencil Tool at (1 pixel square size) and I adjust the OPACITY of the Pencil to about 25-35%. I end up having to go back and forth from 100% to the lower level frequently so I dont give it a specific number, I just move the slider (uggh).

Usually I pick a color like black and use it to darken lines and apply texture to the sprite. Or I select a lighter color of the type I want and use it as a kind of "lighten" tool.

>> This means I dont have to painstakingly select exact colors to use.
>> However I do have to generally stick to the kinds of colors and hues that are in the XCOM Palette otherwise I could get color inaccuracy.
>> Sometimes I check colors on the Xcom palette to make sure im picking ones that are close.


Post Processing
Fill in all areas that should be transparent with the transparency color (I pick a Hot Pink Fuscha since I will almost never use this color in anything).

Expand Canvas to 32x48, using the Top Left as the focal point.

Downsample to Indexed Color, using a specialized Xcom Battlescape palette as the Custom Palette to convert to. That palette is used in all of my images, and it replaces some colors in it (like the last 16 colors, and the first color) with odd colors that are unlikely to be present.

If there are any color errors in the preview I cancel the downsample, and select areas to Adjust Hue/Saturation on to adjust the colors so they will remap correctly. Then I downsample.

If there are any errant pixels I select a similar color from that area and I eliminate them (forbidden colors, or just pixels that stick out in the wrong places for some reason).

And often frustratingly have to set the Opacity of my Pencil tool back to 100% so it will draw in Indexed mode because I forgot to set it back before.

Then go into the Color Palette and use its eyedropper to select the transparent color so I can make an transparent .gif out of it. And then its done.


For Simple Color Remapping:
Convert to 24 bit, use Hue/Saturation and select a certain color range I want to mess with (like Reds or Blues or Yellows), then adjust the range more finely at the bottom of the dialog box. And I change it to the color I want.

Downsample back to the modified Xcom Palette again.


Source of Experience: Been spriting since Wolfenstein 3D came out (1992).

687
Work In Progress / Re: Weapon Rework/Expansion - Version 0.8
« on: September 10, 2014, 12:21:28 am »
Quote
Mine if I use a few in my mod?
Yup, they are free to use and modify as you see fit. They are generally taken from other places and resized and adjusted and so forth but sometiems I make my own. I don't care either way though, I feel better about it if people just use it (only restriction is that nobody else can restrict me from using it)

#DemLazers

688
Work In Progress / Re: Weapon Rework/Expansion - Version 0.8
« on: September 09, 2014, 11:19:24 pm »
Quote
Yeah, curiously, lasers are the least accurate weapons in the game.

I always felt that way about the lasers too. The idea was I guess to make them weaker from a game balance perspective.

Lasers should be Exceedingly accurate, not just from a pinpoint precision perspective. Because you can two-stage the laser. The laser emitter is a natural laser dot sight, and a bright one at that. But when you pull the trigger it engages full power and does the damage.

Then it has both fast target acquisition and pinpoint accuracy, without recoil (and without bullet drop at a distance). The laser shot literally goes right where the dot is pointed.

The accuracy stats ought to be almost universally over 100% or even 150% because they're so easy to aim (you dont even need to line up iron sights or look down a scope). But that breaks game balance. You could do the same things with plasma weapons too.

Arguments about lasers not being accurate at extreme ranges . . . well maybe that applies to the aerial Laser Cannon but not the handheld lasers, which are fired at ranges less than 200 yards. As we all know a laser of any kind, if properly aligned optically, will be accurate and pinpoint at that range and much further.

But . . . Lasers really should be single-shot-at-a-time guns though. The idea of using a Continuous laser beam that cuts is an industrial machine under controlled conditions, or a purely sci-fi concept.

For it to be able to operate at maximum efficiency it would be a Pulse Laser, firing at Terrawatt strength (like 50,000 Megawatts) but over such a very short period of time that it seems like it was instantaneous. They already have these, but they are bulky and have to be powered by a direct power line feed (NASA uses them sometimes to ionize paths for attracting lightning strikes).

The difference of course, is being able to turn that into a handheld weapon. More power just means rather than firing for a few microseconds maybe it fires for a millisecond.

In reality the damage tends to be kinda explosive in nature rather than piercing or cutting. When materials and liquids are vaporized they explode, and get in the way of the laser penetrating deeper, which causes them (in this short period of time) to expand even more violently.

The game does portray this accurately by making it a shot weapon just like any other. And it can do alot of damage (like the Tank/Laser) without it penetrating through.

Speaking of which . . .

689
Work In Progress / Re: Weapon Rework/Expansion - Version 0.8
« on: September 08, 2014, 08:59:01 am »
@elerium lasers - sounds good, but no thanks. I love the sprites for it though, and that it uses ammo. Those ammo packs for it look radd.

My idea is that the basic lasers are so effective for the fact that they dont require much research, that they are somewhat overpowered. They are good solid weapons all by themselves (ahem the laser rifle anyway), after all the laser rifle does 60 damage and the plasma rifle does 80 and in all other respects they're basically the same.

By adding additional research, and requiring you to have E-115 stocked to make them (but not maintain them) it balances them out more. I do think the heavy laser always deserved to do 100 damage for its weight and slow firing though, regardless of the timing or its role in the game. And it explains how they can be charged up for hundreds of shots and just plugged back into the wall again when you get back home.

690
Work In Progress / Re: Weapon Rework/Expansion - Version 0.8
« on: September 08, 2014, 03:45:46 am »
Niiiice on the translations. I cant even speak anything other than english so its kinda beyond me, one of the downsides of any mods im going to make will be it'll only have english entries.


Quote
Is it possable for me to use/modify/base off these sprites?  I'm currently working on a Elerium Based Laser Mod.

I love the idea of elerium based lasers. The way I see it is laser guns should be a kind of thing that automatically requires alien tech research, otherwise we'd already have them. Heating issues, battery storage, all of that is stuff that holds us back from having genuine laser guns.

In the mod im planning it basically goes like:

1) Initial research gives you bolters/gyrojets. They replace the role of lasers initially but the accuracy isnt great and they dont have many shots. There isnt any future in that research either.

2) E-115 research allows you to research Laser Weapons . . . you get Heavy Laser first, then Laser Rifle, then Laser Pistol (miniaturization dynamic). Each one requires ONE unit of E-115 to produce, and has infinite ammunition just like vanilla. Its explained that the E-115 is used to produce superconducting wires, and a capacitor that can hold a charge of hundreds of shots worth of energy. They still do roughly vanilla laser damage amounts, but unlike the gyrojets they have no ammo restrictions (the gyrojet pistol is a revolver with 5 shots, and the rifle holds 15)

3) Alien plasma weapons require a starter research just like Laser Weapons (called Plasma Weapons). You need to have Alien Alloys and E-115 researched first. And to research the weapons you also need to have the items. You don't need to research the clips, but the research requirements for the weapons are increased (1000 for each).

4) The alien plasma clips don't require any materials to produce, they're basically just gas canisters for ammo feed to the weapon. Instead the weapon costs upwards of 10-15 units of E-115 to produce. The idea I had for it was the plasma weapons could just have infinite ammo like the lasers do, but I wanted to keep the plasma clips around anyway just because of the balance factor (and because I love the way the Plasma Rifle Clip looks).

But then again in mine the plasma gun balance is changed. They're more like the TFTD sonics, and the pistol is a massacre because its fast and does as much as the rifle (so each one is generally equal in stature).

Speaking of which, another sprite drop (I dont have any use for this particular one, im guessing it would work as some kind of laser pdw, just me being creative)

Pages: 1 ... 44 45 [46] 47 48 ... 50