devWAM • Animated sky in C1 and C2

Toshiba-3 created Animated sky in C1 and C2 on Thu Nov 20, 2014 10:15 pm

Hello!

Been some time since I last posted something new so here:

Looks like the end of the world heh! Don't know what this animated background is from, I found it on /wsg/. From a fighting game ala Street Fighter I guess.

This trick might work with C2 via texturebits or frames, haven't tested at all yet.
It seems to act differently between the glide mode and the software mode which is a bit annoying. (The video is the software mode).
BTW I override the horizon texture by loading a .flic into HORIZON.MAT via a FUNK :ssmile:

Glide mode tends to keep the original texture and then add the flic above it. Software mode replaces the texture by the flic and renders correctly. CARMA95 MASTER RACE!

[edit] Turns out it works in C2 too via a FUNK using frames! :sbsmile:

All you have to do is apply the funk on HORIZON.MAT! 'Frames' funk also works in C1 and will display a more stable sky from software to accelerated mode. Though ofcourse both C1 Glide and C2 deform the sky texture...

coffeycup on Thu Nov 20, 2014 11:56 pm

Oh man, that's wild! I have to test that out. Some time-lapse clouds could be cool. I suppose there's the 22 or so frame limit?

Nice discovery! :beer:

Harmalarm on Fri Nov 21, 2014 1:19 pm

This is amazing Tosh! What made you think of trying this? This will be a great a addition to C2. I can think of all sorts of applications, moving clouts, flying comets, raging tornado's, etc...

Toshiba-3 on Fri Nov 21, 2014 2:44 pm

@Coffeycup: this one does look wild indeed! But yes, even simpler skies could benefit from subtle moving clouds and the likes :scool:

The frame limit is still there too. What you see here (even though interlaced in a FLIC) is made of 8 frames, you can imagine what's possible with more frames!
While C2 really wants 256² horizon textures, C1 doesn't care much and accept larger textures (even in Glide!). The one from the video is around 450x200 I think.

@Harm: It's the thread in /wsg/ (this one if it's still up, more here) that gave me the idea. You know how fond I am of oldschool games and pixelart and I thought this feature would be a real nice addition in C1! I had a look at the skybox material and it turned out to always be HORIZON.MAT. Just had to mess with it.
And yes, it offers a good way to visually support/enhance a race's setting :) It makes thunderlights really easier to achieve than relying on mini sfx volumes for example.

Now I actually wonder if it'd be possible to apply a lollipop on the skybox. It'd require finding the name of the actor, but that would allow us to have fixed backgrounds, which can be interesting as well!

A flic funk looks like this (only for C1):

Code:

HORIZON.MAT
constant
no effect
no lighting
flic
accurate
YOUR_SKY.FLI

and a frame funk like this (C1 and C2):

Code:

HORIZON.MAT
constant
no effect
no lighting
frames
accurate
continuous
4
3
UR_SKY_1.PIX
UR_SKY_2.PIX
UR_SKY_3.PIX

It is important to set a horizon pixelmap anyway (or the game won't apply a material). With a flic, I think having said pixelmap the same size as the flic is important as glide mode tends to load the pixelmap first (and thus adjust to its size) and then overlay with the flic.

Harmalarm on Fri Nov 21, 2014 4:11 pm

Quote:

It's the thread in /wsg/ (this one if it's still up, more here) that gave me the idea.

Wow these are great. The rainy ones especially!

Toshiba-3 on Sat Nov 22, 2014 7:59 pm

A nice example in C2 by Mastro:

C2_Scientist on Mon Dec 22, 2014 11:04 pm

That's a nice find, and I like how Mastro used it :-)

Can you combine this eg. with a "roll" funk, to create both animated and moving background? Thinking of pure cloudscape horizons (with no static scenery in them, of course).

Mastro 666 on Mon Dec 22, 2014 11:36 pm

That doesn't work.

coffeycup on Tue Dec 23, 2014 12:33 am

Yeah I tried just a roll funk with static cloud but didn't work.