Blastcore: Phoenix 2

[SouthernSmoke 10]

Congrats on the new release. Most effects look really nice and for the most part improved. But what happened to the smoke from burning vehicles?

In previous versions, the black smoke from heavy vehicles like tanks would rise HIGH into the sky. When a tank exploded a lot of debris would fly out in all directions and the smoke was very dark and thick.

Now, the smoke from burning armor has been toned down significantly. The smoke from burning aircrafts still looks great but burning ground vehicles pale in comparison. The smoke doesn't rise anywhere near as high as before and seems so thin that you can see right through it. Smoke from light vehicles now resemble campfires. Was this intentional?

Two friendly suggestions: 1. Make the lackluster smoke from burning armor and other ground vehicles more like it was in previous versions. 2. Add blood mist that lingers for a second. An older SOS had a pretty good blood mist that must be incompatible with BC as the blood produced from gunshots only stays visible for a split second. I think lingering blood mist would be a worthwhile addition.

Heres hoping you continue your great work. Perhaps a couple respectful suggestions from a grateful user of your mod can provide some positive motivation to continue on?

Thanks for your effort, it takes the game to a whole new level.

[neodammerung 8]

I have the same problem.

Particles are also set to high.

Looks like it happens with fire already placed in the editor.

Also I don't know how a Non-Blinding Sun must looks like but I'm not sure how I can see the difference

(Non-BlindingSun.pbo enabled)

[Tonci87 163]

From the steamworkshop page:

Let me focus on the part that I think many people miss:

Never once did I or anyone else claim that Blastcore was anyone else but Opticalsnare's work. Stealing someones work without credit is what the Arma 3 Life people did. I took a mod that needed bug fixing, and bug fixed it. Thats not stealing. He refused the bugfixes. So I uploaded those bugfixes for those who wish to have it.

Initially I respected OS over the good work that BC for Arma 2 was by offering to help him. I communicated on these forums that I wished to help him as it was obvious that he couldn't do it himself.

After OS's childlike response to someone offering a helping hand (communication) and obvious incompetence when it comes to the maintenance and releasing of mods I lost respect for him. Similar to how I lost respect for the JSRS dev after he threw a tantrum with his personal situation.

I wont have people like you warping the story to fit your narrative.

Please just go away from this thread, you have caused enough harm. We remember very well how you took OS work and declared it as your own, you didn´t get banned for nothing. If your memory fails you you are welcome to read it all back in this thread.

You are also more than welcome to develop your own FX mod from the ground up, I´ll be more than happy to give you constructive feedback on it.

And if you had any idea about the JSRS devs personal situation you wouldn´t dare to post disrespectfull shit like that. From now on I´m reporting every post of yours that is even slightly disrespectfull to a modder.

[Spartan0536 189]

After OS's childlike response to someone offering a helping hand (communication) and obvious incompetence when it comes to the maintenance and releasing of mods I lost respect for him. Similar to how I lost respect for the JSRS dev after he threw a tantrum with his personal situation.

Ok I seriously did not just read that, JSRS personal issues were MORE than valid, in fact 99% of us modders on here DO NOT GET PAID FOR THIS, some get donations which help but they by NO means "pay the bills". I take breaks from time to time for various reasons and because its my work and my life all my reasons and subsequently any other modders decision to take a hiatus or flat out quit is valid for them. I am not sure what is more insulting you stealing OS's work which BTW because you did NOT have his permission to upload a "fix" and and you did anyway in addition you also named it HOPECORE which is an insult in itself; or you insulting LordJarhead for his personal issues in his life that forced him into hiatus. Had you gone to OpticalSnare in a PM showing him the edits you did and ask for credit where due I am sure he would have been more than happy to accommodate you and you most likely would a good standing reputation and not a series of bans. I can honestly say the line I quoted you from is one of the most blatantly ignorant and offensive posts I have ever read on here, I am even considering putting it into my signature as an example for others to look on in shame.

[chompster 29]

I'v only had that fire bug when i used MCC to light something on fire. Other than that it always works. Absolutely loving this updated version, so much less performance intensive and looks beautiful. Nnnggh... exploding houses....

..There are a few minor gripes though.

http://i.imgur.com/GUqIQA1.jpg

Is the difference in air vehicle and ground vehicle FX on purpose? If so then thats dissapointing.

http://i.imgur.com/wdYaQ9L.jpg

Air vehicles don't emite enough glow imo.

http://i.imgur.com/b0Zu8VZ.jpg

Fire glow are back to being Yellow.. instead of an orangy-yellow.

Was also wondering if the IEDs were purposely ommite? Their FX seem even more lackluster than the vanilla ones.. EOD mod has them pretty damn well, big heaps of dirt flying into the air, kinda like the 155m arty.

My 2c.

[christian2526 68]

I dont know why, but the air vehicles should burn brighter as they are filled up with kerosine and ground vehicles with normal fuel. Also they are build with different materials which influence the brightness of the fire, for example burn some magnesium and you can get blinded by it.

Pic of an aircraft fire exercise:

Pic of a tank fire:

I wouldn`t say its a bug, rather a feature!

[shurik_spb 10]

I dont know why, but the air vehicles should burn brighter as they are filled up with kerosine and ground vehicles with normal fuel. Also they are build with different materials which influence the brightness of the fire, for example burn some magnesium and you can get blinded by it.

Pic of an aircraft fire exercise:

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ts7O-hxJJ38/hqdefault.jpg

Pic of a tank fire:

http://www.haaretz.com/polopoly_fs/1.512519.1364552869!/image/2349077637.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_640/2349077637.jpg

I wouldn`t say its a bug, rather a feature!

Because the burning kerosine is light emitter (lol), try to find similar photos at night time.

[CyclonicTuna 87]

I dont know why, but the air vehicles should burn brighter as they are filled up with kerosine and ground vehicles with normal fuel. Also they are build with different materials which influence the brightness of the fire, for example burn some magnesium and you can get blinded by it.

Pic of an aircraft fire exercise:

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ts7O-hxJJ38/hqdefault.jpg

Pic of a tank fire:

http://www.haaretz.com/polopoly_fs/1.512519.1364552869!/image/2349077637.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_640/2349077637.jpg

I wouldn`t say its a bug, rather a feature!

You should take into account that the top picture was taken at sundown/rise at very low light conditions. On top of that it doesn't seem like a very good camera that took the top picture, so its easily over exposed in those conditions. The bottom picture looks like its taken by a reporter with a very good camera during the day when the sun was out.

These two pictures are not very comparable in that respect.

Besides that I've never heard one type of liquid fuel burning brighter than the other, diffrent colours sure but I think all fuels who are liquid at room temperature burn pretty much equally bright.

The only fuels that I can think of that burn blindingly bright are solids like Magnesium, Aluminium or Iron infused fuels.

Edited June 14, 2015 by CyclonicTuna

[christian2526 68]

Yea guys, looking back at the 2 pictures they are really uncompareable, i dont know how i came up with that. Alright, but i think having that difference isn`t too bad at all.

[ricardo92 10]

...

I kept a backup of the old version and i just compared both and i do agree that the burned out effects of the older version are much better, the current version has a mellow yellow, as the old version is bit more orange and much more intense.

Also i really liked the white flash on the beginning of the explosion on the old version.

Heres a comparison of the 2

Old version:

http://imgur.com/a/3UZhc

New version:

http://imgur.com/a/vfWIM

Besides that, im loving the new update and effects :D

[Yoyo2a 10]

Same problem here Os for the 'pixel smoke'

U can see it on the mission : ==> Play ==> Showcase ==> Combined Arms when the mission start look outside the chopper on the right side (on the base) :/

[nikiforos 450]

So I guess I should just keep the old version when I return home after vacation. Reading about the new smoke is quite disappointing.

[Opticalsnare 12]

So I guess I should just keep the old version when I return home after vacation. Reading about the new smoke is quite disappointing.

Well can't make everyone happy. I will fix the issue with the pixal smoke as i know whats causing it. Although the smoke lasting less than before was intentional to increase performance and allow other effects to have more detail and limit the possibility of particles being cutoff during heavy scenes, many people reported getting a drop in frames during gameplay because too many particles were being generated. If for example x number of vehicles produced x number of particles and a couple of explosions from a very a high particle count laser guided bomb then it would wipe out the smoke from vehicles and other effects completely. I can make the smoke last as long as before but i cannot guarantee that you won't have particles being cutoff during gameplay.

The mod in terms at particle generation for some of the effects are at the absolute maximum.

Edited June 14, 2015 by Opticalsnare

[snowingjimbob 34]

Personally I like the thick, high-rising really black smoke for destroyed armor that was in the previous version. But whatever you end up doing will be fine with me.

I'm loving this new update. The jdam explosions look phenomenal with the amount of dirt/particles flying high and the lingering dust etc. And the destroyed buildings are great. Love the new smoke grenades and I'm a huge fan of the bullet impacts and grenade explosions. That's all I've been able to rest so far.

You've done some incredible work here. Thank you so very much.

[Opticalsnare 12]

Personally I like the thick, high-rising really black smoke for destroyed armor that was in the previous version. But whatever you end up doing will be fine with me.

I'm loving this new update. The jdam explosions look phenomenal with the amount of dirt/particles flying high and the lingering dust etc. And the destroyed buildings are great. Love the new smoke grenades and I'm a huge fan of the bullet impacts and grenade explosions. That's all I've been able to rest so far.

You've done some incredible work here. Thank you so very much.

Well im adding in the old smoke, but like i said performance is going to take a hit. Fixed the square smoke issue and will update the mod again tonight, as im back to work tomorrow and proberly won't have much time to work on the mod as i will be getting on with other projects.

[1212PDMCDMPPM 200]

Sorry if I missed something but they were talks about a Blastcore version without the smoke grenade effect to improve the MP experience. My understanding is that if the server is not running Blastcore (or the HC, in brief, where the AI are handled), AI will behave based on vanilla smoke while, on client running Blastcore, you won't even see the AI.

Is this version still scheduled or is it something that has been cancelled ?

[ricardo92 10]

Well im adding in the old smoke, but like i said performance is going to take a hit. Fixed the square smoke issue and will update the mod again tonight, as im back to work tomorrow and proberly won't have much time to work on the mod as i will be getting on with other projects.

What about the Light ive shown in my previous post? Will that be included?

[Opticalsnare 12]

Sorry if I missed something but they were talks about a Blastcore version without the smoke grenade effect to improve the MP experience. My understanding is that if the server is not running Blastcore (or the HC, in brief, where the AI are handled), AI will behave based on vanilla smoke while, on client running Blastcore, you won't even see the AI.

Is this version still scheduled or is it something that has been cancelled ?

The smoke grenades are in its own .pbo you just delete it or move it to its own mod folder.

What about the Light ive shown in my previous post? Will that be included?

Yea for some reason i don't know why but glare/glow does not work on linked effects like aircraft or other destruction effects. They seem only to work on static emitters like vehicles unable to move or explosions being emitted. As the aircraft fire,smoke and light are connected to the aircraft so it follows etc the glare from the light source does not. As for the light source from vehicles, i found that the black texture issue which sometimes happens and still does in some cases was somehow part of the amount of light being produced, i found making the light sources less minimized this glitch. Im pretty sure the engine itself was not designed to handle this kind of punishment to its lighting and particle system.

Edited June 14, 2015 by Opticalsnare

[1212PDMCDMPPM 200]

The smoke grenades are in its own .pbo you just delete it or move it to its own mod folder.

I didn't noticed that. Thx a lot !!

[nikiforos 450]

Thanks OS but I have last question. Can you let us have two smoke options? One more demanding and one optional light version included in the update?

[Opticalsnare 12]

Updated link on first page.

Changes are:

- Reverted to old smoke & destroyed light source.

- Fixed issue with smoke on some vehicles.

Edited June 14, 2015 by Opticalsnare

[kecharles28 197]

Updated mod v1.2 available at withSIX. Download now by clicking:

[LordJarhead 1721]

Updated link on first page.

Changes are:

- Reverted to old smoke & destroyed light source.

- Fixed issue with smoke on some vehicles.

Hey OS,

thanks a lot for your update and the mod entirely, Its one of the best mods there are and probably one of the really few must-haves for me :) So thanks for this and all the other versions, updates and mods that you brought to us over the years!

And well, I dont really want to start with what have happened on the last few pages, I dont really know what happened in the past but reading all the posts I kinda got the idea of what was going on. So either way, I have massive respect for your work, your mod, and for you as a person! I know that there are always people who are not liking what you do, or, we do as modders. Its only fair for everyone to say his personal opinion I guess.

And I also know this feeling, giving your own work "away" into other peoples hands and loose the control over it (even if its not entirely). We are proud of what we do and when we get suggestions and therefore even new ideas that motivates us to continue to work on something, trying to improve it, it does not matter to us if its a thousand percent perfect, because that just leaves room for improvement, to improve the work we've done, to improve our skills, to improve our knowledge even. When I think about all the stuff about weapons, military vehicles and combat I learned over the past few years just because of modding and being interested in trying my best getting something simple as sounds to a top notch mod, I can only understand your feelings about what have happened.

I dont want to piss anyone off now, so I keep it kinda short. We make the mods because we like doing so, its a fact. Making these little effects, build it in, put it together, test it ingame and see the results, that's just an awesome feeling.

So, no matter what have happened, you have real fans out here, you have people standing behind you, loving your work and have massive respect to you! If you do your work, your mod, people will be always grateful and no matter who is releasing any other FX mods, or updates for it, or what ever, people will always know that YOU are the Author of Blastcore, this one mod that almost everybody knows about!

And besides some kiddies, there are all of us millions of players out here telling our friends or newcomers "If you start with ArmA, get Blastcore! Its a must have!"

So, I wish you all the best getting out of this dis-motivating situation back to where you once were, this feeling that you need to improve your work, improve yourself, and get better by each step you go!

Thank you, for the mod, for the past years, for the inspiration you spread by every release!

THANK YOU!

LJ

Edited June 14, 2015 by LordJarhead

[rekkless 240]

Well OS I hate to say this but I think you damned if you do and damned if you don't. I agree with SnowingJimBob I like the thick black smoke wofting away many meters in the sky. But I think... dare i say it... you've over done it now (in 1.2). You can hardly see the flame effects, at least on smaller cars like Technicals, Humvees, Hunters, Punishers etc. this isn't necessarily your fault as ArmA spawns the smoke clouds from the ground not from the top of the flames like a real fire. But now you can hardly see the flame effect as there is so much smoke and because of it it makes it look like there is too much smoke for the damage done. Tanks and Transports its ok and for choppers the smoke is perfect. Well at least that is my interpretation. You see why you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

However the big thing I miss is the large Star like explosions from the hunters, humvees and tanks. The new explosions are really nice and look very life like, they just lack the 'WOW' or the 'HARDCORE' factor seen in Phoenix 1. Afterall this mods is called 'Blastcore' I assume for a reason. In fact I might go so far as to say the hunter explosions and other small vehicles explosions aren't that much more impressive than the standard ones.

This is what I'm talking about missing:

I would like to say the explosions for the chopper and aircraft are amazing. The Tanks and Armoured vehicles are pretty much perfect too, maybe go a little larger. But honestly I could happily live with how they are. Just the smaller vehicles seem a little underwhelming.

Now my griping aside. The mod is still amazing and IMO a must for anyone. And what ever you decide to do with the mod myself and my squad thank you for your time your work and your effort and wish you best of luck in your future projects. I holeheartidly agree with LordJarhead and honestly feel the same about JSRS as I do about Blastcore they are must haves and really transform the game into some really special.

Perhaps you and LordJarhead should go work (and get paid) with the guys making Squad and make an ArmA killer....

Edited June 14, 2015 by Rekkless

[ricardo92 10]

Updated link on first page.

Changes are:

- Reverted to old smoke & destroyed light source.

- Fixed issue with smoke on some vehicles.

Thanks ;)