Will visible shield effects ever be implemented?

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euclid
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Re: Will visible shield effects ever be implemented?

Post by euclid »

Best shield effects I ever saw is in haegemonia legions of iron. Not really on topic but still worth mentioning ;-)

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Scoob
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Re: Will visible shield effects ever be implemented?

Post by Scoob »

ZaldronTheSage wrote: Wed, 7. Nov 18, 21:04 Hull shielding would work too, just put an impact animation or heck even a BMP where the impact would be to just simulate the effects of energy dispersing whatever is trying to get through. Its not like that blue bar is magic, so it should be represented.
As much as I like the bubble shield effect used in many games. I do agree that a hull shield would likely fit much better in X4. So, the small bubble shields protecting surface elements would remain unchanged, but direct hits to other areas of the hull would at least produce some sort of similar, albeit flat, electrical effect for example. I know this is purely a visual change, with no direct gameplay element, but it's be darn cool. Just sayin' :)

I do wonder what the reasons were for not expanding on the electrical hit effect certain Boron (IIRC) ships had in X2. I think they did it irrespective of the shields being up or not, but, though subtle, it was a cool effect giving a great visual indicator. Expanding on this to perhaps allow a colour change as the shields got weaker would be amazing.

Talking shield effects, I do like how Elite Dangerous does it and how, once a shield is down, we see a visual representation of scorch marks on the hull from laser impacts. Not persistent of course, but they look good.

It's only a little over three weeks now... :)

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Phinixa
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Re: Will visible shield effects ever be implemented?

Post by Phinixa »

Sup guys,

so here are my 2cents regarding shields: about 6 years ago I asked the same question :D I had no experience in writing shaders.
Now I have some experience and one of my first devstream questions was if custom shaders are possible(Answer was Maybe. Look into the announcement Q&A ;) ).
Depending on how much power we have with shaders, writing a shield bubble effect that reacts to geometry(Like Laser and Plasma) is relatively easy.
Look at Portal 2. The Material Emancipation Grill in Portal 2 reacts to nearby geometry, causing a highlight effect around it.

So if I were to write a mod that adds shield bubbles, they would usually be invisible and only show up when a laser/plasma/missile hits the shield and only near/around the hit location so the rest of the shield would still be hidden.
Also thats what a shield would look like most likely in real life( Earths magnetic field is a fitting example).

Anyone whos interested in this topic, google UE4 dynamic shield effect. I remember there was a tutorial on that for Unreal Engine 3. Maybe I can find it.
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Re: Will visible shield effects ever be implemented?

Post by Net-FX »

repatomonor wrote: Tue, 30. Oct 18, 21:57
Kane Hart wrote: Tue, 30. Oct 18, 21:46 All I can say is I'm surprised it's not in and you can do hull version without any performance hit these days.
Even X2 had that tbh. They don't implement it since Reunion.
Absolutely. I LOVED the blue sheilds with X2 and would often fire on my OWN cap ships just to see them lol.

It would certainly add a bit more immersivity? knowing you have to take down shields before boarding ect and seeing a visual representation [as opposed to just a blue bar] would be good. :)
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hartza76
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Re: Will visible shield effects ever be implemented?

Post by hartza76 »

euclid wrote: Thu, 8. Nov 18, 17:27 Best shield effects I ever saw is in haegemonia legions of iron. Not really on topic but still worth mentioning ;-)

Cheers Euclid
I actually play this still, one of the oldest and good games, i think it's bit hard to get working now.
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euclid
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Re: Will visible shield effects ever be implemented?

Post by euclid »

hartza76 wrote: Thu, 15. Nov 18, 11:21
euclid wrote: Thu, 8. Nov 18, 17:27 Best shield effects I ever saw is in haegemonia legions of iron. Not really on topic but still worth mentioning ;-)

Cheers Euclid
I actually play this still, one of the oldest and good games, i think it's bit hard to get working now.
Played it last time between the years and works fine on W10. And yes, I think for its age it's a nice game and not that easy to beat.

Cheers Euclid
"In any special doctrine of nature there can be only as much proper science as there is mathematics therein.”
- Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), Metaphysical Foundations of the Science of Nature, 4:470, 1786

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