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DarkBASIC Discussion / DBC: Animation and other advice request

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Hangar18
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Posted: 28th Jun 2007 02:56
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Hi All, I am writing a Space Sim game and in the process of doing the following:

1. Creating Explosion animations
2. Creating pre-explosion effects (e.g. when shields close to zero I want to see flames coming out or debris etc)
3. Creating exhaust fume animations.

In this regard I have the following questions.

1. What animation software would you recommend for doing the tasks above? (preferably free but very happy to spend money (up to say $200) if the package is worth it)
2. Are there any simple tutorials out there on to make animations of this type. I can see plenty of examples on how to make humans walk etc, but nothing for this type of thing.
3. Is there a comand or easy way of recognising the exhaust ports of objects (or back end of ships). What I mean is this. If you can imagine the exhaust fume animation as being a long blue flame, then I need to tell the animation to start where I've put the exhaust part of the object. Obviously I know the center position of the object and its size, but not where it finishes. Is it just a case of trial and error of taking the ships position +/- a certain amount on the X,Y,Z coords to get the back of the ship or is there an easier approach.
4. Just wondering if there are any clever ideas / examples out there of how to change the exhaust animation when the ship turns. I.e. when flying straight, the exhaust animation will be a long straight blue flame, but when it turns, it should start to curve.

Thanks in advance for any help with these.
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Latch
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Posted: 28th Jun 2007 12:15
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1. Blender has an excellent particle generation system with which you can create animated textures with and save them as images or even avi. And it's free...
http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Manual/Particles

2. Usually particle generation handles the type of effect you are looking for. There are many tutorials on that on the web. And I believe TDK_Man has a tutorial for DBC:
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=99390&b=10&p=0

3. Let's say your ship model has an exhaust port on the back. At the end of the exhaust port, put a hidden object there whose position is updated as the ship moves around. This is your point of reference for the flame or exhaust.

Another easy trick is to position the smoke or whatever directly at the ships location, set the smoke object orientation to the ship, then use move object -some value behind the ship. That will place the smoke directly behind the ship at whatever value you specify and at whatever angle the ship is at. You refresh the screen after the exhaust has been moved to the back of the ship.

4. If you use the particle emmission method, then objects will be left behind at the ship's last location (and maybe they drift). The particles will have a certain life span and then disappear, but as you move and turn they will be left in the pattern your ship moves until they vanish (get recycled).

Enjoy your day.
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Jmahmood
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Posted: 28th Jun 2007 13:19
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I Have Some Explosion Animations u can use..They r in bmp format.I can send you those, just mail me.
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TDK
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Posted: 28th Jun 2007 15:28 Edited at: 28th Jun 2007 15:35
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Quote: "Are there any simple tutorials out there on to make animations of this type. I can see plenty of examples on how to make humans walk etc, but nothing for this type of thing."


I searched just this board for: 'Explosion'

Results:

http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=89286&b=1
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=100940&b=1
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=97073&b=1
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=46793&b=1
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=42365&b=1
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=14989&b=1

And many more!

There are probably hundreds more on the other boards.

TDK_Man

* TDK's Game Programming Forums - Open To All - DB & Team Request Boards *

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Hangar18
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Posted: 29th Jun 2007 01:32
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Thank you all so much for this! I might take you up on your kind offer Bat out of hell. I tried emailing you but after clicking on the msn and yahoo buttons got some kind of error message (suspect the 1000 firewalls we have at work are to blame). My home email adress is [email protected].

Thank you also TDK - I feel a bit embarassed as I simply searched "animation" without it ocurring to me that Explosion was obviously a better bet.

Really appreciate your help!

Chas
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TDK
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Posted: 29th Jun 2007 02:53 Edited at: 29th Jun 2007 02:54
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No problem.

The down side of searching is that if you get the search criteria wrong you find nothing of use.

Did you see the free explosion creator in the first link?

TDK_Man

* TDK's Game Programming Forums - Open To All - DB & Team Request Boards *

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Jmahmood
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Posted: 30th Jun 2007 06:11
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Hangar18

Plz check ur mail....
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Libervurto
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Posted: 30th Jun 2007 21:17
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@ Hangar

Take a look at this it seems to be very similar to what you're trying to make, it's free and freakin' awesome too !
http://oolite.aegidian.org/

I make music and art. Here is a sample of my art: done in Paint! It's all I have
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Sinani201
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Posted: 1st Jul 2007 05:53
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There is an explosion in the DarkBASIC media folder.

Did someone say 3D scanning on my desk, or was that just an AdBot?
What happens when when you mix coke, pop rocks, vinegar, and baking soda?
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Hangar18
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Posted: 2nd Jul 2007 02:01 Edited at: 2nd Jul 2007 02:02
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Guys you have no idea how grateful I am for your help. Thank you!

@Latch, thanks, this looks most promising.

@TDK thanks for those links - I've quickly browsed them and will work my way through them (especially the first).

@Sinani201 - no I didnt know that but will check it tonight.

@Bat out of hell, thanks again for your generosity.

@Obese87 yes i did know and have been playing it! what a remake it is. I've also heard on the grapevine that someone is redoing Frontier (Elite 2). Cant wait for that to come out. Its interesting but I find playing games in conjunction with writing them really lends itself to imagination and new ideas.

Unfortunately I also have an 18 month daughter that obviously requires a fair bit of attention (in addition to a full time job) which can mean progress is somewhat sporadic.
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