MKY Blizzard and Snow script

[m0nkey 111]

UPDATE: November 2, 2015

Beta Version 2

 

10.25.2015 MKY_Snow_Script - beta v2 

this is the full script version.

 

* add - sample mission

* add - batch file to create mission file for all winter maps

* modify - use sound instead of music for audio

* modify - only use one sound now

* modify - many tweaks made to the blizzard effect

* fix - many small issues I found

 

10.08.2015 MKY_Snow_Script - beta v1

this is only one snow effect, not the entire script

 

So here is a beta version of the particle effects for a blizzard I have been working on. I've got a larger version than this one which does more than just blow snow. 

 

There are two missions here, exactly the same. One uses Meaty Reskins for the snow camo, the other is vanilla. There is a marker on the map with a dozen opfor/csat patrolling the small area. Just go there and kill, nothing special.

 

I've ran it through a few times, no issues so far. Feedback desired.

 

And yes, the framerates will be affected. Its a blizzard and uses a lot of particles to create this effect. Its better than it was but without better particles, it is what it is. In my testing though I've not seen any performance issues other than lower than normal fps.

 

 

Get the sample missions here

https://app.box.com/s/01bryqosrfqyp0nfvemxnyozpa3h4wa9

 

UPDATE: Beta 2 is now finished. Here is a video montage of all the maps except thirsk.

 

 

There is a readme and a batch file. You should de-pbo the mission if you are going to use it, as there are both the mission init.sqf and description.ext as well as a very simple basic-int.sqf to use as an example. Its not complicated at all. Well, if you are used to scripting in arma, it shouldn't be hard at least :)

 

I would greatly appreciate any feedback. I have not finished the addon version yet. I have not looked at stopping snow in buildings yet. Also have not looked at a proper sound solution. Real life is keeping me busy ;) So while I cannot say your requests will ever be fulfilled, I still would like feedback to improve it as I get time.

 

The only bug I have seen so far that I have not fixed is sometimes when you load a mission/map, the snow comes down in a line rather than spread out, like a wall. Subsequent starts of the mission do not exhibit this behaviour. I have not figured out why it does this. Also, the JIP and dedicated portion need more testing than I can give it in my house.

 

Oh, and I don't know how to put times in or whatever on the youtube video, like bookmarks or something? I would edit it so those are available if someone told me what to look up or what its called. Here are the times of each clip, in order

1:24 1:26 1:24 1:39 1:45 1:38 2:05 2:02 2:22 1:23 1:16 5:41

[McLupo 118]

Hi,

 

thanks for the link. 

Download done. I will give it a go at the weekend and report follows.

 

Greetings

Mclupo

[Guest]

Release frontpaged on the Armaholic homepage.

 

MKY Blizzard and Snow v0.1 beta

[MrSanchez 243]

This will still make the snow effect when ur inside buildings, rite?

 

Kind regards,

Sanchez

[Przemro 18]

How does it work with AI? Should it have any effect on them?

[McLupo 118]

How does it work with AI? Should it have any effect on them?

No, it doesn't affect to the line of sight (LOS).

But it has a huge effect to the atmosphere in game, that's for sure!!!  :)

 

Greetings

McLupo

[bumgie 49]

Does each player see this differently?

[m0nkey 111]

It snows in buildings. Have not even looked at stopping this yet. It does not snow in vehicles though.

 

The snow is all but impossible when driving because to make it "float down" realistically it needs time and height. There are not enough particles available to do this when you are traveling faster than a sprint. I am just barely able to keep the effect when you sprint and that only by changing how to use the particles (when compared to how every other example I have seen used them).

 

As McLupo stated, this has no bearing on AI at all. I do use randomized fog in that example mission though, which does have some effect.

 

With this specific example mission every client would see roughly the same effect because the wind always blows from one direction and one speed and there is only one snow effect. The larger script I am working on has various snow effects, that change dynamically. It has an algorithm designed to let a server (dedicated or listen) give data to clients so that everyone sees the same snow effect, same wind, same fog, at roughly the same time. Its all client side, except that info.

[McLupo 118]

Hi,

I like the example Mission it is very immersive as I expected and I have alot of fun when I am playing around with this new visual feature, but I got an error when I try to start the second mission "test_snow_meaty".
Error at mission start: Missing "example retexture config".

It seems you have not deleted your personal units before you released it. ;) 

 

Thanks for that great work iIt´s so cool - literally  :)

 

Greetings

McLupo

[m0nkey 111]

Well, it should be one mission is def (default) and one is meaty (requires meaty reskins). To use meaty version, you have to download meaty blufor and meaty opfor and add them (ie. mods=@meaty_blufor;@meaty_opfor). Then, when using the meaty pbo mission, you will see the nice snow camo.

 

Edit: as this is a coop mission I have enabled the console. One thing to play around with is skipTime 1. Or .3 or whatever time increment you want to use. The lighting drastically changes the whole effect. Its pretty neat IMO.

[McLupo 118]

Argh, my bad... :D

 

Think before posting....hahaha

 

Thanks buddy!

 

Greetings

McLupo

[jeza 5416]

Thanks for the work.

 

Did a short video of the mission with Real Light running Arctic Lut:

[cosmic10r 2331]

Had a chance to test this out on Esseker in the West to East mission and had to clean my pants out after... all of sudden the opfor are looming in blowing snow and all poop hits the fan... awesome stuff

 

 

 

[FTWxxxPHOENIX 0]

Man, I feel like a noob asking this, but is it possible to use this script on any map? I already have some pre-made missions and it would change the them dramatically with a blizzard.

 

Also, is it possible to add the script to a dynamic weather system mod, so a blizzard would be in rotation?

[m0nkey 111]

Thats what I am working on. This mission is a sample. If you know how, its really easy to include it in your mission. If not, you'll have to wait till its done I am afraid. 

 

How it plays with existing weather routines remains to be seen.

[FTWxxxPHOENIX 0]

Awww, I'm sad :(, but I can patiently wait. :)  

[FTWxxxPHOENIX 0]

@monkey

 

I noticed that on your video there was snow on ground and trees. Is that part of the script or just the blizzard itself? If not, is it possible to add to the script? Did you add the snow to the test mission or is it an added snow map mod? I  just viewed cosmic's vid and noticed no snow on ground and trees.

[cosmic10r 2331]

@monkey

 

I noticed that on your video there was snow on ground and trees. Is that part of the script or just the blizzard itself? If not, is it possible to add to the script? Did you add the snow to the test mission or is it an added snow map mod? I  just viewed cosmic's vid and noticed no snow on ground and trees.

 

 

That snow is Native to the thirsk map so even if Monkeys blizzard isn't going it still has snow on the ground... I was on esseker where a hurricane force bilzzard called "Monkeys Wrath" rolled in lol

[IndeedPete 1038]

Looks good so far. Minor remark: playing the wind sounds using playMusic might conflict with actual music played during missions.

 

Other than that, what are the terms of use?

[m0nkey 111]

I had playSound at first. Problem was that you could not stop it. So, randomizing a blizzard ended up not so random. Using playMusic allows one to stop the music. Not my ideal solution, but for the moment it works. I might just have to spend some more time with audacity and make different sounds that are able to blend in together that offer greater timespan variability.

 

Terms of use? You could mean actual ToS like legal mumbo-jumbo? In that respect, I care not. Use it, claim it, steal it, sell it. Its the last freaking true PC computer game out there IMO, and I am happy to be able to do this sort of thing. Thats enough for me. Gone are the days of BF1942 Forgotten Hope and Desert Combat. Gone are the days of mini-mods for RedFaction. Oh man, theres soooo much thats gone now, replaced by closed source console ports that roll new editions out every year, and I hear now are almost subscription DLC. 

 

So man, if you like ArmA and you like anything about my scripting, use it how you like.

 

Now if you mean terms of use as in how do you use the script, well, my example mission is just calling in the snow effect. I am still working on the larger script that does a good deal more. As I am finding out, if you want to integrate it into an existing mission that uses other scripts/mods, its rather fickle. Calling my script I am working on is only a few options really.

 

Its mostly done. I got the emitters behaving like I want, looking like I want, and other than the blizzard, to a manageable performance level. Now its these constant little issues I keep running into. But what use is producing a snow effect that won't integrate into existing missions really? So thats where its at right now. 

 

Umm, I might not even have answered your questions.. sorry... I get rolling and can't stop the mind or the typing sometimes :)

[m0nkey 111]

Looked into createSoundSource. Seems to be the most likely answer to a blizzard sound. There are some vehicle types in the game, like Sound_Music. Does anyone have any good sources of info for how to create the class needed to use a "sound vehicle"? I've not messed with classes outside of those in different aspects of description.ext, so I would need a good example or tutorial. Seems like the best way to approach it though.

 

Open to any information in the sound realm :)

 

Also needed, some sort of "master command" that will turn off any weather effects locally. The biggest issue I have right now is that if a mission is using a weather script of any kind, how my script can "take control" of the weather. It can obviously be done by modifying scripts involved, but I was hoping for a method to just make it work. I can't see this ever becoming an addon without the ability to control the wind/rain and possibly ppeffects. To get the look and feel of anything other than flurries I need to have some weather consistency.

 

I think I've got most all else done at this point, at least locally. Have to do some dedicated and jip tests on some changes.

[cosmic10r 2331]

The release version worked well on dedicated when we tested it :)

[m0nkey 111]

The final version will (hopefully) sync all clients to a type of snow (flurry/blizzard/etc) and set the fog/wind to a given value, so that the effect is consistent for everyone. Thats the idea anyway. I designed the algorithm to keep network traffic to a bare minimum, about one set of information (public variable) sent from server to all clients every 90 - 230 seconds roughly.

 

Unless a JIP requests data, in which case its only sent to requesting client. 

[m0nkey 111]

A few more examples on different maps. It sure makes for ambiance IMO. I just need a few more hours in the day ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[m0nkey 111]