TPW MODS: enhanced realism and immersion for Arma 3 SP.

[tpw 2315]

TPW_STEAM?.......it can get hot and sweaty when your deep in the jungle.  :P

 

.  

Hmmmmmmmm, very interesting idea. I'll see about adapting the dustcloud functions of TPW FOG to this purpose. Thanks EO

 

EDIT: How about something like this?

 

 

[RabidStoat 39]

My girlfriend is very disappointed - apparently I should only be making those noises for her...

[Valken 622]

Thanks gatordev, testimonials like that are why I continue to work on my mods!

 

Valken, thanks again for all the input. I will add a simple car whitelisting function to CARS and PARK so that you may specify car strings for inclusion. Re skirmish: sounds like you might need to move on to a more comprehensive system. Skirmish is not meant to be a full battle simulator with armour, air etc. It's based on current US doctrine of only putting boots on the ground when there is overwhelming logistical support, which means the enemy won't be calling airstrikes etc. Sorry about that, but that's a decision I made several years ago.

 

Hi TPW,

 

I think I did not clarify my request. I actually do NOT want full armor battles. I cannot get skirmish to spawn this vehicle (the silver triangle with circle on top) because it is set as a TANK/ARMOUR in the EXT mod instead of a CAR:

 

 

I can spawn the space guys as OpFor but they roll into battle with CSAT vehicles and it would be better to have SKIRMISH spawn those "Tripods" instead.

 

The classname is actually SAB_EXT_TANK and SAB_EXT_TANK2 but it doesn't work in TPW_MOD if I list those exact names or "SAB_EXT_" under opfor_vehicles.

 

I can manually put it into the game via Eden but then once I clear one, no new one would spawn. Only CSAT vehicles. 

 

The mod probably needs it config.cpp updated but I was hoping you may have a fix to allow it to spawn even if it is classified as a TANK.

[froggyluv 2130]

 Like the jungle humidity -especially for summer months. Anyones that ever spent any time in a jungle can attest to how oppresive the heat his -maybe mosquito and even sweat drops is good idea tho latter may be overkill :P

[major-stiffy 269]

Hi TPW

 

While playing Tanoa today for the first time using SOAP, I think the house and other sounds are too loud for my liking. If I edit the hpp like so, am I doing it correct to lower the sounds?

// SONIC AMBIENCE
tpw_soap_active = 1; // 0 = inactive
tpw_soap_ambientvolume = .4; // Ambient sounds volume (0-2)
tpw_soap_musicvolume = .2; // Music volume (0-2)
tpw_soap_azanvolume = .2; // Azan volume (0-2)
tpw_soap_housefxvolume = .2; // House fx volume (0-2)
tpw_soap_screamvolume = .5; // Screams volume (0-2)

I think they were all default of 1.

 

Thanks

[gatordev 215]

That mist is really nice.  Does it impact performance much?  The fog from breath is pretty low key, but I would guess full on mist starts to take resources.

[tpw 2315]

Hi TPW

 

While playing Tanoa today for the first time using SOAP, I think the house and other sounds are too loud for my liking. If I edit the hpp like so, am I doing it correct to lower the sounds?

// SONIC AMBIENCE
tpw_soap_active = 1; // 0 = inactive
tpw_soap_ambientvolume = .4; // Ambient sounds volume (0-2)
tpw_soap_musicvolume = .2; // Music volume (0-2)
tpw_soap_azanvolume = .2; // Azan volume (0-2)
tpw_soap_housefxvolume = .2; // House fx volume (0-2)
tpw_soap_screamvolume = .5; // Screams volume (0-2)

I think they were all default of 1.

 

Thanks

Hi Major, yep those settings should do the job.

 

That mist is really nice.  Does it impact performance much?  The fog from breath is pretty low key, but I would guess full on mist starts to take resources.

Well, you don't get anything for nothing with this engine, but the mist system I'm working on has a surprisingly low impact on framerate, maybe a couple of FPS in dense jungle. It spawns large (>50m) particles with 30 second lifetimes around the player, which means that it doesn't actually have to spawn too many of them to still generate a nice effect.

 

Actually the whole system is coming along nicely as I've hooked it into the dewpoint calculations of TPW FOG, so that mist will only form if the temperature drops below the dewpoint. In the tropics the dewpoint is often 25degC (ie extremely humid), but if the temperature is 30degC there won't be mist. To make it work in the jungle I just count the number of trees within 200m of the player and crank the dewpoint up by 1 degC for every 100 trees (to simulate the increased humidity from transpiration). So on a 30degC day with a dewpoint of 25degC, there shouldn't be mist around towns or out in the open fields, however in dense jungle the dewpoint might be 33degC. Et voila, mist. Similarly if it becomes heavily overcast or rains, and the temperature drops below 25degC, then you'll get mist.

 

I realise that the system won't be to everyone's taste so it will be optional and configurable.

[Jimmakos 168]

Hi Major, yep those settings should do the job.

 

Well, you don't get anything for nothing with this engine, but the mist system I'm working on has a surprisingly low impact on framerate, maybe a couple of FPS in dense jungle. It spawns large (>50m) particles with 30 second lifetimes around the player, which means that it doesn't actually have to spawn too many of them to still generate a nice effect.

 

Actually the whole system is coming along nicely as I've hooked it into the dewpoint calculations of TPW FOG, so that mist will only form if the temperature drops below the dewpoint. In the tropics the dewpoint is often 25degC (ie extremely humid), but if the temperature is 30degC there won't be mist. To make it work in the jungle I just count the number of trees within 200m of the player and crank the dewpoint up by 1 degC for every 100 trees (to simulate the increased humidity from transpiration). So on a 30degC day with a dewpoint of 25degC, there shouldn't be mist around towns or out in the open fields, however in dense jungle the dewpoint might be 33degC. Et voila, mist. Similarly if it becomes heavily overcast or rains, and the temperature drops below 25degC, then you'll get mist.

 

I realise that the system won't be to everyone's taste so it will be optional and configurable.

 

Nice we can simulate this as a spooky ground fog instead of a mist affect as well.

[tpw 2315]

Nice we can simulate this as a spooky ground fog instead of a mist affect as well.

Yep, it also works in cold climates, so if it's cold enough for foggy breath then you may see mist too. And of course you will just be able to call tpw_fog_fnc_mist as a function whenever you'd like mist.

[CannonSong 688]

Seeing all these wonderful improvements, it makes me all... misty-eyed.

Eh? Eh? ...I'll see myself out.

[tpw 2315]

Seeing all these wonderful improvements, it makes me all... misty-eyed.

Eh? Eh? ...I'll see myself out.

[kremator 1064]

tpw, I don't know if you ever remember a fog addon (for Arma2) that spawned fog AROUND the player in a large circle at ground height.  It was very atmospheric and worked in a whole host of missions.  Obviously the fog moved with the player (just a simple particle trick really) - sounds like what you are trying to do.

[tpw 2315]

tpw, I don't know if you ever remember a fog addon (for Arma2) that spawned fog AROUND the player in a large circle at ground height.  It was very atmospheric and worked in a whole host of missions.  Obviously the fog moved with the player (just a simple particle trick really) - sounds like what you are trying to do.

That's it in a nutshell, there's nothing particularly ground breaking about this, except maybe the dewpoint related stuff.

[Jimmakos 168]

tpw, I don't know if you ever remember a fog addon (for Arma2) that spawned fog AROUND the player in a large circle at ground height.  It was very atmospheric and worked in a whole host of missions.  Obviously the fog moved with the player (just a simple particle trick really) - sounds like what you are trying to do.

 

I've been used this kind of fog on some of my workshop missions, but it all had to be done with a daytime zone array. So you either had "fog" at a certain time or you didn't. Those simulated particles used to be a huge performance hog (talking from experience) so it might was good for me but not for others.

 

On the other hand as tpw mentioned this type of mist-fog is going to be a more complex thing that will take into consideration temperature and dewpoint values that come straight from his fog script,which i find awesome since we can have mist-fog random during a day or night depending the op as been said and not predefined from daytime values.

Cant really wait for this new type of fog,since i'm always keen on when something has to do with a better environment ambience.

[domokun 515]

TPW: is there any way that a unit's fatigue could be linked to foggy breath?

e.g. when heavily fatigued foggy breath is more frequent and so is steam from unit's head and shoulders?

It brings back fond memories of shivering in cold mud while watching clouds of steam rise from the forwards in my rugby team on freezing winter afternoon.

[tpw 2315]

TPW: is there any way that a unit's fatigue could be linked to foggy breath?

e.g. when heavily fatigued foggy breath is more frequent and so is steam from unit's head and shoulders?

It brings back fond memories of shivering in cold mud watch clouds of steam rise from the forwards in my rugby team on freezing winter afternoon.

Hi domokun

 

TPW FOG should already increase the foggy breathing rate on a fatigued unit by executing the exhale breath function when the unit makes a loud breathing noise. I'll look into it today as part of my overhaul just in case I can improve it. I never thought about the steam rising off a fatigued player, I might have a shot at that too.

 

Keep the ideas coming guys!

[gatordev 215]

...lots of well thought out design points

 

Ooo, exciting.  Nice job isolating open areas from forested ones.  I wasn't aware that the game actually dropped the temp when rain came.  That's actually pretty cool, and works perfectly for the "fog engine" you've built.

[pvt. partz 248]

 

Keep the ideas coming guys!

   Hi TPW

   We chatted a while back about little dust clouds swirling and tumbling along the ground whilst looking down onto a valley floor on a breezy afternoon. Is that something that could evolve from your latest venture with the fog?

[tpw 2315]

TPW MODS 20160714: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/481663/TPW_MODS_20160714.zip

 

Changes:

• [ALL] Slightly randomised loop sleep times to alleviate synchronised resource hogging.
• [AIR 1.31] A random subset of available aircraft are used. These are prespawned to cache them and reduce the microstuttering in game.
• [FOG 1.39] Added dewpoint based ground mist fx for tropical/jungle and cold winter environments. Improved foggy breath relationship to stamina.
• [CARS 1.46, PARK 1.15] User specified car classname strings can be used to add additional car types.
• Please update your tpw_mods.hpp

---

Phew, this was a non trivial update. As some of you following this thread are aware, I've been flat out working on implementing a ground mist system following a suggestion from Evil Organ. I'm pleased to take the wrapper off the first implementation, which is now part of TPW FOG strangely enough.

 

Ground mist is hooked into the temperature and humidity functions of TPW FOG and actually functions in a dynamic way. If the air temperature falls below the dewpoint then moisture will condense out and mist will form. Mist thickness is dependent on the difference between the temperature and the dewpoint. Things which drop the temperature (overcast, rain) or raise the dewpoint (lots of transpiring trees) will result in thicker mist. You're thus more likely to see thicker mist in the jungle during rain in the morning than you are in an open field on a sunny afternoon.

 

Mist relies on particle effects for its implementation. Large particles spawned near the player can lead to brief visual anomalies. To minimise this, particles are not actually spawned around the player, but are instead spawned from an invisible logic which is moved to a random position around the player every second or so, and is never closer than 75m. As well as minimising player/particle interaction, it also leads to more realistic localised mist clouds rather than a general fogginess, and reduced FPS impact. Basically you'll see the mist slightly off in the distance, and it usually dissipates by the time you reach it. 

 

TPW FOG mist is IMHO very effective on Tanoa, but also works surprisingly well on cold climates, where it complements ground fog and foggy breath. However I realise it may not be to everyone's taste so it is disabled by default.

 

If you'd like to use it then I recommend the following setting in the tpw_mods.hpp or in a script or trigger

tpw_fog_mist = 0.05

Full TPW FOG documentation

 

As always, I welcome any input or suggestions for improvement.

 

 

 

[EO 11231]

Aw shit, gotta go and do a whole day's work before I can try out that beautiful mist....bummer. Looks fantastic.

 

I never thought about the steam rising off a fatigued player, I might have a shot at that too.

 

 

This would look awesome as the player comes to rest, takes a knee or goes prone.....

 

Edit. Where is the donations tray!!

[Riksen 183]

AMAZING WORK TPW!

[kremator 1064]

Just awesome work tpw!  Thanks again. 

[Guest]

New version frontpaged on the Armaholic homepage.

 

TPW MODS v20160714

Community Base addons A3

[denison10 0]

Thank you for the great work!!! :627: 

[tpw 2315]

Thank you for the great work!!! :627: 

Thanks for your 1st post!

 

And thanks to you all for your kind words too.