[SUGGESTION] Making the Nex more beam-like w/ video

I managed to get a really nice looking, beam-like nex beam that I feel both fits the style of the game and offers the beam graphic that many people like. It didn't take much, just decreasing the trail spacing of the rings, stopping the size increase, decreasing the air friction, and increasing the alpha. I also turned down the smoke effect and turned on the "bright core" effect that was off (// in front of tex) because i think it gives it a really nice look. So I ended up with many small circles that look and function like the classic rail-style beam while still looking unique.

Here's a video. It's not me playing, just some people I was spectating. I know, I swapped some models and increased the mortar trail, but that's not what this thread is about.



And here's a clearer video of me demonstrating it.



And here's the new code from the effectinfo.txt

Code:

//// nex beam
//effect nex_beam
//countabsolute 1
//type beam
//tex 200 200
//color 0xFFFFFF 0xFFFFFF
//size 6 6
//alpha 128 128 192
// nex beam: ring smoke
// used in qcsrc/client/particles.qc:        trailparticles(world, particleeffectnum("nex_beam"), shotorg, endpos)
effect nex_beam
trailspacing 1
color 0x2680F0 0x2680F0
size 1 1
tex 32 32
alpha 512 512 512
airfriction -4
sizeincrease 1
type static
// nex beam: drifting smoke
effect nex_beam
trailspacing 1
color 0x5080A0 0x5080A0
size 1 1
tex 8 8
alpha 64 128 64
airfriction 10
sizeincrease 0
velocityjitter 64 64 64
type static
// nex beam: bright core
effect nex_beam
trailspacing 1
color 0x80CDFF 0x80CDFF
size 1 1
tex 48 55
alpha 128 128 640
type static
//sparks
effect nex_beam
trailspacing 2
color 0x1680A0 0x1680A0
size 4 4
tex 63 63
alpha 64 128 80
airfriction 1
gravity -0.01
type snow

I feel this beam would be an improvement over the current beam in both aesthetics and functionality. I know many of the pros are using a straight beam already, so it only makes sense to at least have the option. The classic nexuiz beam doesn't cut it either as it's hard to see, doesn't hang in the air, and servers do not allow it by default.

Edit: I've attached a copy of my effectinfo.txt, so anyone can try it without really messing wth anything. Just right-click, "save link as...", and put it in the Xonotic/data folder(either the main folder or the one in "my games" or "/root/.xonotic". It will only change the nex beam and mortar trail to what you see in the video, it won't change any weapon models or anything.

Edit 2: i made a 'lite"version that should have less impact on fps. I removed the "bright core" effect and reduded the "sparks" effect. Same instruction apply, just remove the word "lite" from the name to use it.

Judging by the video, that does look a bit better than the current beam.

I think the vid I posted might not be clear enough. I wanted to post a video of the beam during regular use, but it's not very easy to see. Here's one of me demonstrating it in single player with no bots

Does seem to be better looking, but shoot a few while zoomed. Main issue I have with current nex visuals is that beam looks fuzzy when zoomed.

I kinda like it, it looks good, and it makes the nex feel more powerfull. And shooting weapons that feel powerfull just feels good

Does seem to be better looking, but shoot a few while zoomed. Main issue I have with current nex visuals is that beam looks fuzzy when zoomed.

My zoom isn't set very high(see video #2), but I think it's more clear than the original beam. The reason being that it's smaller and does not expand like the original.

Edit: I've attached a copy of my effectinfo.txt to the original post with instructions, if anyone wants to try it out without getting their hands dirty

It sure gives an advantage to other players to locate hidden nexer when beam disappears pretty slowly, doesn't it?

I think you should put the 2nd video into the main post (lazy people don't read following stuff etc.), because the first video does not loot that good (imo).

Put the effects file in my game and definitely improves the beam and grenade trail A LOT. In my opinion this should become official.

I think you should put the 2nd video into the main post (lazy people don't read following stuff etc.), because the first video does not loot that good (imo).

Done

hmm forgot what the old nex shot looks like just going to compare looks very cool though! okay compared both versions and I can def. say I prefer the new nex beam. it is cooler and it gets my vote.

In my opinion this should become official.

Seconded. A merge in order?

I'm glad you guys like it! I was worried I would get an earful for tampering with the game, especially when i posted the effectinfo.txt

The effect looks great - good work!

HOW DARE YOU TO DEVELOP IMPROVEMENTS OR ENHANCEMENTS OF THE GAME WITHOUT OBTAINING OFFICIAL PERMISSION?!!!?!ONE

That clearly violates the spirit of the GPL. But I like it (Disclaimer: note that irony stops before the last sentence).

lol ok, point taken. But still, I have massive amounts of respect for the developers of GPL software, and I wouldn't want to step on their toes. And I certainly wouldn't want to post the effectinfo.txt if people considered that to be cheating. My intentions are definitely not to incite controversy or encourage cheating, just to contribute in my own (however limited) way. That's all I was worried about.

Well, personally I like the effect, and I know many others would like it as well. I'll be your sponsor on this one (whatever that means). If you're willing to go along w/ the GPL requirements and all that good stuff, I'll bring it up to the rest of the team in the morning. I'm just the web guy, so I'm not too keen on what other constraints come with this kind of feature.

Yeah sure, they can use it if they want to. It's nice to hear that my suggestion will be considered

I don't really have time to look at it right now, please commit it to git and do a merge request (or have someone do it for you)

I will say though, there may be some technical problems with this.. for example, decreasing the spacing between the particles: That cannot be done really, or rather it should not be done... Even decreasing it a little can have a negative impact on performance. -- and with increasing the alpha, that has an impact on the sight of the player firing the shot as well... We'll see.

What I would rather suggest doing would be using a flattened image as the center beam and having the particles go around it instead... This way, you don't have to use quite a lot of particles to make a consistent looking beam. (See: minstanex beam and hook gun chain effect)


You're probably not suggesting this, but just for clarity: Swapping the models is probably unacceptable too haha

I don't really have time to look at it right now, please commit it to git and do a merge request (or have someone do it for you)

I will say though, there may be some technical problems with this.. for example, decreasing the spacing between the particles: That cannot be done really, or rather it should not be done... Even decreasing it a little can have a negative impact on performance. -- and with increasing the alpha, that has an impact on the sight of the player firing the shot as well... We'll see.

What I would rather suggest doing would be using a flattened image as the center beam and having the particles go around it instead... This way, you don't have to use quite a lot of particles to make a consistent looking beam. (See: minstanex beam and hook gun chain effect)


You're probably not suggesting this, but just for clarity: Swapping the models is probably unacceptable too haha

I thought about that while I was doing it, but I didn't notice a decrease in performance. I'm running an a netbook with an Atom dual core 1.6ghz, Nvidia ION, 4GB ram, and WinXP SP3. I'm assuming that someone with a weaker video card might see a performance decrease though. My performance only seems to be affected by player models, AI, and some of the high end effects(reflections, gloss ect.).

I'll see if I can cook something up with a beam instead of rings. And I'll have to look into the commit to git/merge request thing, since I don't know what that is(to google! )

Edit: nvm, it appears there is about a 2 fps drop from the increased rings alpha and decreased trail spacing. That is, however, with none of the effects on. I lose a about 4 more fps when I add the effects to it. The default nex setting don't cause any fps drop. The old nex beam(the instagib beam) setting with an increased alpha(for visibility) causes a 1 fps drop. So the biggest impact on performance was the effects, probably the bright core effect(I'm guessing that's why it was disabled).

Anyway, here's a video I made of the nex before when I didn't have the bright core effect enabled. It's pretty much the same thing, just less flashy.

what is the possibility of making it 2 beams in a corkscrew shape?

... just a suggestion ... i know nothing of how these effects work

So I put it in the republic server With no bright core so hepefully there'll be no performance issues. Nex beam seems to obscure view a bit in close combat. But that might in fact be good as it affects mainly nex-combos and the impact is not big. Mortar trails are also improvement, btw. For now its a test, we will see how this plays out.

what is the possibility of making it 2 beams in a corkscrew shape?

... just a suggestion ... i know nothing of how these effects work

THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!!

Reducing particle quality will also help performance with Bright Core enabled. I can't remember where it was at when I shot those videos, but I think it was nearly at 1. I reduced it to 0.4 and have since noticed a less significant fps drop.

I was confused as to why I never noticed the fps drop initially. I figured out it's because I was using the static fps counter in the bottom right corner(enabled in misc menu). Apparently, that counter is not in realtime, it's an average or something. The the other fps counter(in the hud editor) will show the actual fps.

What... Really? Can any of the devs confirm this? Haha, here's me thinking that it was always in realtime...