Well the trouble with the LMG's scope is that with the angle, you'd see through the sides of the scope. Someone would have to model the insides of the scope as well....
And besides, normally, you cannot see the inner sides of a scope in real life due to the magnifying lens and all.
This is <i>additive</i> blending, not alpha blending though, which considerably reduces its usefulness.
Alpha blending is reducing the opacity of an item (that's how cloak works), while additive blending adds the colour values of the texture and whatever is behind it together (like alien flashlights). Anything done with additive textures then is going to look rather pale/bright.
The simpler masked blending is going to be the best way to make use of this new feature.
(and of course, getting the visor-huds people want is still going to take a lot of remaking of v_models)
<!--QuoteBegin--Souris+May 9 2003, 09:53 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Souris @ May 9 2003, 09:53 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--IceWolve+May 9 2003, 09:37 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (IceWolve @ May 9 2003, 09:37 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> The doom model and others would greatly benifit from this. You can now see the faces and not just the glass, oo the sc marines would look much kewler now, even with teh glass slided up a little more then half way it will look cool. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> Well, here's something I whipped up with my <a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=19&t=27571&hl=heavy' target='_blank'>HA visor hack </a>(which I neither finished nor released) showing that it's not perfect by any means.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> ahhh! its freaky! it just looks weird...
So I thought it might be fun to try out a nice little laser sight thingy for the marines using this transparency (though it's a little cheaty in the spiked models department). See how the transparent texture goes <i>behind</i> buildings?
(actually at the moment I'm of the opinion that the model sucks <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> )
<!--QuoteBegin--Souris+May 10 2003, 03:35 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Souris @ May 10 2003, 03:35 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> See how the transparent texture goes <i>behind</i> buildings? <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> Also see how it goes right TROUGHT this buildings and walls. Sorry but this is a cheating spike model no matter how good it looks. Red laser lights out of weapons (as env-beam like the HL rocketlaunscher+ray) were already tried on one NS modificarion during 1.2 client patch to enforce marines to more teamwork... this ballancing project failed.
a nice idea would be a red light in the v_model. A nice red diffuse round light coming from the right ear as light marine. Nice atmosphere and no spike model here.
/me notes how even with two disclaimers (albeit subtle ones) about the models being tests (because spiked models are bad, yo) someone still saw fit to say OMG YUO CHEATR HAX MODLES!!1
i don't know how to model but i did make this as a test. skulk in a tube. so ingame it works, but when you look at things behind it they stand out if they are entities.
... the upshot of this (my and RoyGBiv's pics) is that visor hud type setups aren't going to work. Or at least, all your entities are going to show up as if there was no window in the way.
coilAmateur pirate. Professional monkey. All pance.Join Date: 2002-04-12Member: 424Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
It might make all entities glow... hmm, that's disappointing. ):
These transparencies should be used <b>in moderation</b> and <b>with caution</b>. First of all, PLEASE don't jump on the bandwagon just so you can say "omg look at mai tr4nsp4r3ncy!!!" If your model doesn't NEED transparency to be effective, don't use it. Quake3 has had transparency since it was released, and it's still a very seldom-used effect - mostly because most of the time it's not needed, or the desired effect can be better done using conventional methods.
Secondly, keep in mind the two different kinds of transparencies you can do: additive or masked. A quick explanation:
1) Masked works the way transparency in world brushes works. The 255-blue (or whatever the last color of your palette is) becomes totally transparent. As a side note, you can create a semitransparent effect by using a checkerboard pattern (as someone else said) - simply create your texture, and apply a checkerboard of 255-blue on top of it. You will get a semitransparent texture using masking, which *shouldn't* create the effect RoyGBiv got in his screens.
2) The other technique is additive - note, this is NOT the same as alpha-channel transparency! Additive can affect elements behind it in odd ways, as seen in RoyGBiv's skulk tube and the see-through helmet HA hack. In the case of the tubes, I'd say this is an example of when a world brush would be preferable to a model, since it will not have the strange effects on elements behind it.
Personally, I see more use in the masked transparency feature than the additive, though admittedly that is in part because I don't understand quite how to use it. But especially since you *can* get a semitransparent effect using masked textures, there isn't a great need for additive unless you're getting fairly complex.
A last caveat: keep your transparent details SMALL. The welder is a perfect example of transparency correctly implemented - the issues with the additive texture are minimized, since the transparent area is so small. Large-scale masked transparencies will reveal the fact that the "edge" of the model is actually 2-dimensional, spoiling the illusion.
So proceed with caution, but have fun. (: I'm looking forward to playing with this all summer. (:
Comments
Someone should make the LMG scope transparent now.... and the lerk's wings like 5% transparent.... *shrugs*
I like small subtle changes...
And besides, normally, you cannot see the inner sides of a scope in real life due to the magnifying lens and all.
Alpha blending is reducing the opacity of an item (that's how cloak works), while additive blending adds the colour values of the texture and whatever is behind it together (like alien flashlights). Anything done with additive textures then is going to look rather pale/bright.
The simpler masked blending is going to be the best way to make use of this new feature.
(and of course, getting the visor-huds people want is still going to take a lot of remaking of v_models)
Well, here's something I whipped up with my <a href='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=19&t=27571&hl=heavy' target='_blank'>HA visor hack </a>(which I neither finished nor released) showing that it's not perfect by any means.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
ahhh! its freaky! it just looks weird...
omg....! same here <!--emo&:0--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wow.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wow.gif'><!--endemo-->
it's the souris "suppa secret PWN YOU!" model
anything more, and i would be killed...
but then again, i've been given no special info, other than it'll be awsome.
Sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but there's nothing we can say at this time.
Carry on people, nothing to see here.
[/ot]
Also see how it goes right TROUGHT this buildings and walls. Sorry but this is a cheating spike model no matter how good it looks.
Red laser lights out of weapons (as env-beam like the HL rocketlaunscher+ray) were already tried on one NS modificarion during 1.2 client patch to enforce marines to more teamwork... this ballancing project failed.
a nice idea would be a red light in the v_model.
A nice red diffuse round light coming from the right ear as light marine. Nice atmosphere and no spike model here.
If you don't have DoD, download the .dlls and put them in your x:\Sierra\Half-Life folder.
These transparencies should be used <b>in moderation</b> and <b>with caution</b>. First of all, PLEASE don't jump on the bandwagon just so you can say "omg look at mai tr4nsp4r3ncy!!!" If your model doesn't NEED transparency to be effective, don't use it. Quake3 has had transparency since it was released, and it's still a very seldom-used effect - mostly because most of the time it's not needed, or the desired effect can be better done using conventional methods.
Secondly, keep in mind the two different kinds of transparencies you can do: additive or masked. A quick explanation:
1) Masked works the way transparency in world brushes works. The 255-blue (or whatever the last color of your palette is) becomes totally transparent. As a side note, you can create a semitransparent effect by using a checkerboard pattern (as someone else said) - simply create your texture, and apply a checkerboard of 255-blue on top of it. You will get a semitransparent texture using masking, which *shouldn't* create the effect RoyGBiv got in his screens.
2) The other technique is additive - note, this is NOT the same as alpha-channel transparency! Additive can affect elements behind it in odd ways, as seen in RoyGBiv's skulk tube and the see-through helmet HA hack. In the case of the tubes, I'd say this is an example of when a world brush would be preferable to a model, since it will not have the strange effects on elements behind it.
Personally, I see more use in the masked transparency feature than the additive, though admittedly that is in part because I don't understand quite how to use it. But especially since you *can* get a semitransparent effect using masked textures, there isn't a great need for additive unless you're getting fairly complex.
A last caveat: keep your transparent details SMALL. The welder is a perfect example of transparency correctly implemented - the issues with the additive texture are minimized, since the transparent area is so small. Large-scale masked transparencies will reveal the fact that the "edge" of the model is actually 2-dimensional, spoiling the illusion.
So proceed with caution, but have fun. (: I'm looking forward to playing with this all summer. (:
What, the shovel has a see through 200x scope now, hey?