How can I improve this graphically (thunders)
game_makerHi today I started something verrry intersting ,,, I think its called thunders (not sure really !) any way you can see it here : http://axdteam.com/temp/thunder.jpg About : a thunder class for ex13 its randomized around the terrain (it tooks me 5 minutes to capture the screen shot !) + you can control the time of (appearing & disapearing with rnd values also) & shape & size & every thing else I could think of ,,, soooo this is not the problem hmmmm ,,,, at the beginning I made it by LineStrip then I change it to TraingleStrip (to improve it alittle [:)] ) ,,, I Also disabled lighting and fogging then I added a simple billboard rotation then appling alpha-blending thats all ... But it Not realistic [8)] ,,, any ideas ?!!
game_makeragain Hi [:D] about the other thing (not the thunder) ie the light & sound between clouds ,,, thender is between cloud and earth ,,, anyway that (other thing) how can I design it ?! Is it by color(of the sky) or by light or by texture or by some volume complex things !!!
Eric Coleman"lightning" is the electricity, and "thunder" is the sound it makes. Lightning isn't just a single line, its like a large tree structure. There should be many smaller branches off the large center line. If you want it to be realistic, then the lightning should be animated so that you see it "grow."
cjb0087when lightning flashes,set the ambient light up for around .2 seconds, and make a REALLY loud BOOM sound
game_makervery nice ^^ branches is a good idea ,, and I am totally forgot about them ... therefore animation too ... the good thing about animation it's that all I need to do is simply increases the primatives acount from 0 to n (in the redering part),, so it won't be a problem at all [:)] also setting the ambient light as long as the lighting exist with a random boolean value to randomize from current color to pure white would be a clever effect [;)] thanks folks [8D]
VBBRHey Eric I see absolutely no point in making the lightning "grow". Just remember two physycs lessons: a) light speed is 300.000 metres per second b) the lighning actually doesn't come "from the clouds to the ground" but the opposite. Mainly about the first... I don't think the PC could draw something like 1,000 FPS so we can see the animation right? [8D] (assuming a 300 metres height)
EACamanimating the lightning? I dunno, light isn't very slow. if you do animate it tho, it's gotta be animated between like 2 frames, or else it'll look cheap. [;)]
EACamyup, that's 180,000 miles per second (in a vacuum)...what am i saying? everyone knows that ! [:)] Unless your world is made up of solid glass (light travels slowER in solids), you might want to forget animating it. VBBR, Physics lessons? I learned that stuff in General Science [;)]
VBBROh, wherever it is learned, anyway it IS physics isn't it...? Some topic called "electricity" (duh) Also light speed in the Earth atmosphere is something like 178k miles (or 297k meters) per second so it isn't much difference.
game_makerIntersting information ,,, actually I am a student of electrical engineering [:D] ,,,, we call clouds capacitors becouse they save electric energy (charges) and the reason for this is becouse of the "dielectric breakdown" .... from electrostatic subject but unfortunately I am very fresh engineer (second year [8D] ) I don't know actually the lighting shape exactly .... I rarly see it (( mostly it comes from cartoon [:D] )) mayby 3 to 4 frames would be right [8)] ,,, its agood idea & I must to use it anyway [:)]
SpodiJust have a few different lightning textures, then plop it onto the screen and increase the ambient light of everything. Just hold it like that for a second or two. That should be fine.
Eric ColemanLightning does not travel at the speed of light. The emitted light will travel at the speed of light in the current medium, which would be air, but the lightning does NOT propogate at the speed of light, because it is NOT light, it only gives off light.
VBBRHumm... interesting. Lightning is really electricity, right? So what's the speed of the electricity in air? (wait isn't it the same as light's? ...is there any physicist here?)
EACamElectricity is NOT the same as light. Electricity is essentially the movement of electrons, light is an electromagnetic wave. [:)]
VBBRI know light <> electricity. I was just talking about the speed of electricity... I said "the same as light's" and not "the same as light" which means "the speed of electricity is the same speed that light has". Also I was asking if someone knows what is the speed of electricity... because I am not sure, I THINK it is the same as lightspeed. [:)] Oh and one more thing, the lightning really travels very fast, because the big thunder sound we hear is due to the speed of the lightning that kinda "breaks" the air.
EACamoh Thunder is due to the lightning heating up the air around it rapidly (in about a millisecond) to extreme temperatures (1,000 degrees F or higher). This causes the air to rise extremely fast creating a vacuum beneath it...blah blah...which causes a gargantuan sound wave. Really awesome actually. God certainly knows how to show off...He got my attention. [:)]
Almar JolingDownload Elements of Nature at www.persistentrealities.com -> Code.. some great thunder :). The screenshot didn't work, so not sure what you want :)
game_makernice site , you are very professional ^ 100 [8)] ,,, actually the lighting is same as the lighting in your example (but you have added a little branches ) ,,, but it's not that realistic because its friendly ,, very friendly while it should be scary [:)] .... by the way I visited your site for lighting issue but now I am stack with a lot of other things [:D] "God certainly knows how to show off...He got my attention" Half True,,, the Full true is (terrifying and cupidity),, cupidity is for the benefits,,, and the benefits is not just comes from the rain after the lighting,,, it also comes from lighting itself,,, I remember when I was in high school the chemistry teacher says that when the lighting hits the ground it raises the ammonia (NH3) witch is very good for ground... I have added some of the ideas mentioned here ... the result is 300% more realistic [:)] now I am terrifying to run the program [;)]
Lachlan87If electricity travels at the speed of light, why do we bother with fiber optic cables? Regardless of how fast lightning actually travels, under the right conditions it will appear to "grow". I admit that at least around here it is pretty rare for it to seem that way, but I have seen it. Also, not all lighting hits the ground by any means. Usually I see most of it going between the clouds. Most of the strikes that hit the ground seem to have one main branch, and a few very small(sometimes so small you don't notice) branches coming off. Watch a few thunderstorms! It's fun, and you might learn something.
VBBRI know! Once I watched a great show from a house roof [:)] But... assuming the lightning comes from gound to clouds, or we make it realistic, or we make the way people THINK is the real... Because almost everyone thinks that is comes from the clouds to the ground...
cjb0087electricity goes nowwhere near the speed of light, because it has resistance. may i also point you in the direction of http://www.amasci.com/miscon/speed.html
SuperChttp://www.sulaco.co.za/nitrogen/projects.html This site contains working source code and exe to a lightning demo. The source though isnt in VB.
game_maker"Usually I see most of it going between the clouds" Air is a combinations of dielectrics materials so this will decrease all electric elements ,, also dielectrics has limits if you have a very high voltage a cross the two clouds these dielectrics will breakdown so they will be no longer dielectrics ==> conductors [:)] and you can have this high voltage by simple changing the distance between them (clouds) You can actually calculate the speed of lighting by simply comparing the time you heard and sow the thunder (it will be a lot different)... distance1 = speed of lighting * time you saw the lighting distance2 = speed of sound * time you heard the lighting distance1 = distance2 Hence, Speed of lighting = (th / ts) * speed of sound sorry ,,, I am not sure about this its comes from me ,, but I thing its true equation , don't you think ?! [8)]
Eric Colemangame_maker, those equations don't make any sense. The "time" in your equation is vague, and it really doesn't mean what you think it means. To get back on topic, you don't need to know physics to create a lightning effect. You simply create a tree structure, and maybe put a texture on it.
game_makeroops [:D] will its over from the first replys ,, put branches and ambient light and thats it ... [:)] then the subject had another direction [:p] witch is very tempting
cjb0087dont forget the boom sound :D
game_makerSure [8D]
cjb0087got a new screenshot?
game_makersure ,,, actually the screen is playing on my pc for 4 days !! but there is a problem on my server and the provider promised me to fix it very soon (it happens time to times ) ... so by day or 2 I will upload it ... BUT ... I realy wan't you to SEE the "boom sound" & the "ambient light" witch can't be be seen from the picture ! and it has 50% from the general effect [:)] ...
Sr. GuapoIt sounds cool. Is this a future game, or what? can't wait to see.
VBBRHum game_maker, maybe you could create a small AVI showing the BOOM part?
SpodiOr just upload it. :)
VBBRHah, the upload feature of this forum I think accepts the max of 90 kb.
DanI know I'm a bit late on this discussion - Being in the UK I'll tend to be ;) The screen shot of your first lightening storm isn't that bad - compare it with this one [img]http://aboutcalgary.ab.ca/postcard/weather/lightening01.jpg[/img] [img]http://aboutcalgary.ab.ca/postcard/weather/lightening02.jpg[/img] You can see from the photos that a feeler is sent down first, as soon as it gets close enough to the ground - The torrent follows behind creating a brighter lightening strike. The feelers can and will branch, the branch that makes contact with the ground will always be the brightest [img]http://www.weatherpix.com/L18.jpg[/img] For some very pretty and dramatic lightening strikes check out this site : http://www.weatherpix.com/lightnin.htm
game_makerhmmm ,, I hope it's better ! [img]http://axdteam.com/temp/thunder3.jpg[/img] Dan : It will never be too late ,,, I will upgrade every class even after 10 years depending on the information I get [:)] "The feelers can and will branch, the branch that makes contact with the ground will always be the brightest" hmmm ,,, you mean the main one get(1,1,1) but the other (branches) is lower ie (x,x,x) where x is (1,0) nice I will include this with the class [:)]
DanLooking better :) To qlarify what I said, Which ever branch hits the ground first will be the conduit to which the main strike will take to ground. If you are programming it in a way that you know which branch will hit the ground before it does - ie - branches are known not to touch the ground when they are created, Then you can trace over the path of your main feeler. Although a better way would be to trace in reverse the main strike once a feeler intersects the ground. This approach would allow you to model multiple strikes from a single bolt - like the photo below shows.. [img]http://www.weatherpix.com/L23.jpg[/img] One other point - I've never seen lightening during a snow storm - or rain to that matter, Normally comes before or during a heavy downpoor after a long period of dry weather.
Eric ColemanThe lightning in that picture looks really close to the guy. If game character is that close to the lightning, he would realistically die. If you're going to have lightning in your game, I would put it in the background instead of in the middle of the action. If the lightning is very close to the game character, people will expect that it effects him somehow. If the lightning is in the background, it would be similar to a camera lens effect from the sun, something that is just a special effect for the graphics, and doesn't effect how the game is played.
EACamDie? Not necessarily. I've heard of a park ranger who's been hit 7 times...and he's still alive. [:0]
VBBRWow...
masterboodaI knew an old man that was hit by lightning and it made him blind, the year after that he was hit again and he could see but he was then def... I asked him if he was going to get hit again... so he could get his hearing back, and he told me... he will remain inside during the storms from now on... Smart man... DaBooda out....
Almar JolingOne I made once :) [img]http://vulcanus.its.tudelft.nl/~unreal/sponge/onweer1.jpg[/img] Edit: wanted to say I mis the "glowing" a bit. I'm sure it's possible.. but I am not sure exactly how...
game_makerAlmar Joling quite amazing [:0] ... more information please [:)] ? I have changed the object from plane to Cylinder (Partial Objects) just to try the result ! [img]http://axdteam.com/temp/thunder4.jpg[/img] there is no meaning for this project it's only a tutorial for the engine !! so the snow with the thunder is not a matter [:)]
VBBRIt's very better now, but I think you should add a little blue to the lightning. Also... it seems clear that the lightning is poligonal, couldn't you make it with billboards?