looking for examples for fancy lazers

[BrashMonkey]

Hi everyone,


I'm working on a side scrolling SHMUP (like R-type) but I'm having trouble finding examples for how to make some fancy lazer effects. I'm hoping to make some nice looking effects without the need of HWA. I'm especially looking for effects like beams that cleanly leave a long,fading linear trail as they travel.

Heres some youtube examples of such beams...I'm especially interrested in ones that curve cleanly without breaking the trail.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEh9x9pIXLA youtube example



thanks for your help.

[mobichan]

The glowing effect and soft edge to the laser can be acheived using the Add blend mode. Add uses the grayscale value of your image to determine how transparent it will be. So, a black pixel is transparent and a white pixel is totally bright (but won't ever be opaque) This means you can have objects fade to transparent by using a gradient. So, for a laser, you can make a gradient from black to white to black across your image. Then set it to Add blend mode. You will need to tweak the image once you see what I mean, but that is the basic idea.

To make the trails, you could just use an alterable value in the laser(active) as a timer. Then "Always" set that timer to your laser's transparency value. Put in a condition that adds to that alt. val. every frame and it will make the laser look like it is fading over time.

As for behaviors, I'm not too good with math, so maybe others can help you out.

Mobichan

[drnebula]

mobichan,

While I understand the concept, I'm unclear as too where these things would be found. In the picture editor in MMF? As a property of an active object? In Photoshop? Any clarification would be appreciated.

STeve

[BrashMonkey]

thanks mobichan, but I know that aproach already and I'm looking for something smoother...never an unbroken or irregular trail...a nice, clean faded line, even when the lazer curves into graceful archs. I'm certian the basics could be done with the old overlay reduxe object, but NOT with add mode as it did not support it. I wish it were updated to support the new effects

[LB]

Why not just use Alpha Channel in the active object animation editor!? There's no need for the old add blend... As for smooth turning why would a lazer beam turn?

[BrashMonkey]

a lazer would turn because I want it to as the designer of the game. for the sake of gameplay, visual appeal and to stay in keeping with a long standing tradition of shmup games... Also, add mode is actually better for some effects than alpha blending...its a different effect that can looks more vibrant and energy like...theoretically its also faster for processing(framerate) and certianly requires less data. (no alpha data)

ps. maybe there's a black hole nearbye

[mobichan]

I don't think what you want can be acheived without HWA if you plan to draw an actual line using control points or something similar. If you made the laser line from extremely small actives (like a single pixel surrounded by a radial gradient) you could make your laser very smooth looking. But it would cost alot of actives to do this and it would probably kill your framerate. Honestly, if you are trying to copy the stuff Treasure did in Gradius, then you might be using the wrong software. HWA might be your best bet.

drnebula: Sorry, I didn't use MMF terminology. ^_^' I was talking about the "Ink Effect" under the active's properties. If you change that dropdown menu to "Add" then you are using the mode I described above.

[drnebula]

Thanks mobichan, now I understand.
Steve