next »

[JobLeonard]

How will smoke affect gameplay?

(also, I'm assuming that making smoke affect the lighting is a bit too intense for the CPU/GPU (whichever you use for these simulations))

[KPas]

How will smoke affect gameplay?

The player will primarily use booby traps and time bombs, so no firearms. That's why explosions are important in any case.

On the one hand, the smoke should make the strength and range of the explosion clear, so that the player can assess where he is reasonably safe. On the other hand, the smoke hides the result of the explosion for a while, which hopefully creates tension.

It would also be possible to use a smoke bomb to get rid of pursuers. And probably explosions with less smoke will also be in the game.

(also, I'm assuming that making smoke affect the lighting is a bit too intense for the CPU/GPU (whichever you use for these simulations))

The smoke actually has no particular effect on the lighting, except that it obscures everything below it.
The previous lighting system was expensive. The current one is really nothing more than coloring the viewport, regardless of what is on it.

[JobLeonard]

Does it obscure things behind it?

[KPas]

Your question is a thought-provoking idea, if I understand it correctly ...
If I think this through further, the black field of view would have to be partially placed on the opaque smoke, so that the player cannot see anything that is on the other side of the smoke.
I'm not sold on this right away, but it's worth thinking about for a while ...

[bleeks]

That explosion smoke effect looks really good. Like how it is affected by the walls.

[KPas]

@bleeks
Thanks! Glad to hear it.

[JobLeonard]

I'm not sold on this right away, but it's worth thinking about for a while ...

Yeah gameplay trumps realism any day of course, I was just curious what your plan was

[KPas]

I wanted to build a room as it might actually occur later in the game. There are large tanks, pipes, cabinets, boxes and even drain goo. It has 2 ceiling lights, but they don't reach every corner, so the player moves around in the dark sometimes.

In the meantime I had improved the outline shadows for the interior and also installed them for the walls. Maybe I'll make them a little weaker, but basically I think it's good that you can see the outlines easier overall.

[KPas]

I am still dealing with the lighting. Originally I wanted light and shadow in the game. That was possible in principle with the available means, but only to a limited extent. Currently there are no shadows in the game but a system that transfers the brightness and light color at the player's location to the entire screen. This works quite well, but I would still prefer to have dynamic shadows in the game.

I have developed Creepmoon so far in Godot 3. In Godot 4, however, there is the possibility to use signed distance fields in 2D shaders, and I found that promising. In the meantime, I built a shader that can most likely handle the lighting. Of course, I can only use it if I port the game to Godot 4.

I'm also exploring the possibility of recreating the explosion smoke with particles and SDF collision, which would be really convenient.

[KPas]

There is good news in the lighting matter: I ported Creepmoon to Godot 4. That means I can now use the Signed Distance Field of the viewport and create lighting with lots of lights and soft shadows through appropriate shaders without worrying about the cost.

For me, this was quite challenging and sometimes frustrating, but in the end - and everyone here probably knows this - it feels good when you've done it.

For the game atmosphere, dynamic shadow is a plus, and I think the player expects it in this genre as well.

[Schrompf]

I love the new lights and shadows! I was about to suggest my Splatter shadow technique to you, but Distance Fields are also a great tool.

[KPas]

Hey, that makes me happy, thanks! 
The lighting of Splatter made my jaw drop at the time.

[KPas]

As already mentioned, explosions play a big role. One of the special effects here is smoke. I don't want the smoke to spread through walls and closed doors.

For example, if the player has laid out a booby trap and is waiting behind a door for the explosion, then as soon as he opens the door, he should see the smoke on the other side. But even then, if he just goes around the next corner to find cover, the smoke should follow him a bit.

I've managed that so far with the help of the physics server.

But as we all know, the stress on the computer during an explosion is concentrated in fractions of a second: Things are pushed and suffer damage. Effects of all kinds are generated. And then there's the smoke that billows along the walls. As soon as several explosions overlap, things can get jerky.

And that's why - to get to the point - I'm relieved to have found an alternative for the physical smoke that offloads some of the work onto the GPU: a particle shader that can react to obstacles with the help of signed distance fields.

[Schrompf]

Very cool. The quick expansion at the beginning might even be a bit quicker, but I guess implementation details are lurking beneath that somehow limit the max speed of the particles. And maybe you could fade out the slowing of the particles so that they crawl on slowly until dissolving? I love this large BOOM that sends dust clouds around the corner

[Ramos]

I like the direction your project is going for!

Also as a top-down designer myself I appreciate a lot the fact that you placed objects on the top layer for maximum depth.



 

[BestFriendStudio]

As a big Teleglitch fan I can say that this looks great. It was always fun how with very small elements this genre manages to achieve such a creepy claustrophobic atmosphere.

I really like how enemies move, and AI looks quite solid. The smoke and how it interacts with obstacles is true highlight for me.   

[KPas]

Very cool. The quick expansion at the beginning might even be a bit quicker, but I guess implementation details are lurking beneath that somehow limit the max speed of the particles. And maybe you could fade out the slowing of the particles so that they crawl on slowly until dissolving? I love this large BOOM that sends dust clouds around the corner

Thank you! Yes, I still have to do something about tunneling, and then I hope that higher speeds are possible. I like your suggestion of letting the smoke creep on.

I like the direction your project is going for!

Also as a top-down designer myself I appreciate a lot the fact that you placed objects on the top layer for maximum depth.

Thanks, I'm glad to hear that! Yes, the black outlines on top work better than one would expect.

As a big Teleglitch fan I can say that this looks great. It was always fun how with very small elements this genre manages to achieve such a creepy claustrophobic atmosphere.

I really like how enemies move, and AI looks quite solid. The smoke and how it interacts with obstacles is true highlight for me. 

Thanks a lot!

[vladoCanEater]

It looks amazing! it captures the vibe of teleglitch so good

[KPas]

It looks amazing! it captures the vibe of teleglitch so good

Thank you! You do what is necessary - and what you can.

I have made decisive progress with the smoke. I am very satisfied with the propagation speed.
And Schrompf's suggestion (the smoke keeps moving) is also in there and I like it. 

[Schrompf]

Now this is an explosion! I see you're going for real explosions, not the filmic ones?