Particle Effect & Continuous Update...

[Corwin]

I have the following problems :

- I want to make a dynamic light using the particles like "light_flicker". I make a FSM producing the right particle with a timer to repeat it and it works, but if the player don't look at the FSM, it don't produce the light, so if he look at the wall next to the FSM without looking at the FSM, he won't see any light. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mryuck.gif

- The second problem is when you use a light_color_radius PFX, like light_white_8m. If you stop looking at it, it disappears and don't appear again when you look another time. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[u]So my question is</u> : How can I make a particle effect using the continuous update thing without modifying it or creating a new one ? Do I need to put it in a DO with the continuous update flag ticked ?

Thanks.
Corwin

[Joonas]

In reverse:


Corwin said:
Do I need to put it in a DO with the continuous update flag ticked ?



No. (i.e. why haven't you tried that already? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif)


How can I make a particle effect using the continuous update thing without modifying it or creating a new one ?



Sorry, you can't. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

You could try making a dummy, invisible DO that is huge in size so that you cheat the game to think that the player is constantly "in view" or something.

[Corwin]

Ok, thanks Joonas, I will try your method if I really need to make it working, or I will just find another way to make it .

(For the lights that do not flick you can make a timer that stop and restart the effect every second for example but it is dumb and it makes it flickering a little when you look again,and if you don't look at it it won't appear anyway, this is the really big issue, and I don't think it is good for the engine performances to make an effect disappearing and appearing every 0.1 seconds http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif , and nothing more http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif )

Thanks.

[StratonAce]

I had this problem in Katana with Max Payne 1. In the first level there is a dark hallway where a gun battle occurs. This hallway is entirely lit up by several lamps that use a PFX light. The idea was that if you or an enemy shot out the lamps, you had to fight in the dark. Unfortunately, for the problem you mentioned above, it did not work out as hoped. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

If you DO manage to find a work-around for this problem, please share it here as I'd like to know a way to do this too. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Corwin]

StratonAce said:
If you DO manage to find a work-around for this problem, please share it here as I'd like to know a way to do this too. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif



Of course ! http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Joonas]

And my non-DO fixes are trademark secrets, then... http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Imrahil]

I had no time to check whether it really works, but I think I got at least for your second problem a solution:
create a trigger in the size (or bigger) of your lamp and set its activation properties to <visibility> (below player, bullet, enemy etc.) Everytime the trigger is in line of sight it gets activated. Just add the ps_starteffect message to the trigger an everytime the trigger triggers you should get a freaking trigger light triggering http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Joonas]

Too bad it would result in unneeded looping and it wouldn't work anyhow since the visibility trigger wants the player to look at the the trigger's origo...