Realistic Tracers

[sickboy 13]

i mentioned Col.SandersLite and Mandoble just because they did some work on particles and stuff, no harm intended, i cant praise enough the work you guys are doing

BTW: MadDogX, about the glow in the tracers, something i mentioned a few pages back and i feel it will be a very nice feature, were in the scripts do we copy\paste those lines?

None taken mate.

And thanks MadDog for the lightsource snippet.

About the optimizations, I'll post a beta tomorrow; Preliminary tests show even better performance.

[maddogx 13]

Hey there. I optimaized the lighting snippet a bit, so that the glow is more apparent but not unrealistic.

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">

_unit = _this select 0;

_ammo = _this select 4;

_bullet = nearestObject [_unit, _ammo];

if !(_bullet isKindOf "BulletCore") exitWith {};

_tracerColor = getArray (configFile >> "CfgAmmo" >> _ammo >> "tracerColor");

_light = "#lightpoint" createVehicleLocal (position _bullet);

_light lightAttachObject [_bullet, [0,0,0]];

_light setLightBrightness (_tracerColor select 3)/2;

_light setLightAmbient[(_tracerColor select 0)/3, (_tracerColor select 1)/3, (_tracerColor select 2)/3];

_light setLightColor[(_tracerColor select 0)/10, (_tracerColor select 1)/10, (_tracerColor select 2)/10];

waitUntil {!(alive _bullet)};

deleteVehicle _light;

@Bonko: The code isn't designed to be directly incorporated into the Realistic tracers script, it was just something small I wrote for my own testing.

[sickboy 13]

Thanks MD! Looking forward to having a look at them tomorrow.

If you guys want i'll include it as an optional feature in the beta I will upload. So all can try and see.

[Richieb0y 0]

those traceers looking great only a bit hard 2 see in the dark

but whit NVG i get a nice show on the BF:)

i wish there where brighter in the dark whit out NVG

great job guys

[rcspikee 0]

Quote[/b] ]I as such would be happy with a proper new effect in any of the 3 methods

Agreed!! Cant wait to use them, when you realise a beta by the pic they look loads better then the green sprites that im using now

Great work Guys sickboy

Keep it up

[-=anders=- 0]

Have tried the mod, but no tracers at all are shown...

Not on MGs including M2 .50cal gun, or the vulcan. Wich damn guns would it be intedended to work with?

[sickboy 13]

MadDogX:

The lightsource looks and works fine... My only problem was that when I left the waitUntil{!alive blabla}; deleteVehicle _light; in the code, I would start missing tracers after a certain moment and then they suddenly start working again. It seems there are too many script instances running and waiting for bullet death, at least when firing the Shilka's while some armies are fighting eachother )

I wrote a temporary workaround by adding the lightsources to an array and delete + remove the first entries when it goes over 150 lightsources. Still looking around for different solutions.

As Promised:

http://www.6thsense.eu/tmp/CENT_TRACER_BETA_NEEDS_FEEDBACK.rar

(These are only missions, you will need the CENT_Tracer.pbo as usual)

From the Readme:

Changes:

- Removed the Unit Arrays, replaced with system that sets and gets Variables directly from the unit objects saving quite a lot

- Added a system that will save the tracer setting for all Ammotypes so that the settings only have to be checked once per session

and then it will be taken from the saved settings in every instance of the script.

- Removed the Ricochet scripts as ArmA has it's own handeling

- Numerious other small code tweaks

- Added LightSource Snippet by MadDogX, available in the DemoTest2 and DemoTest3 mission

For comparison I included 4 missions:

Demo - Uses the CENT_Tracer from release

DemoTest - Uses new methods as described above at Changes

DemoTest2 - Adds the MadDogX Lightsource effects

DemoTest3 - Adds the MadDogX Lightsource effects but disables the old glow effect

Questions:

- How is FPS in the Test missions compared to the normal Demo mission

- What do you think about the Lightsource effect (any ideas on improvement?)

- Which setting you like best, the one from Test2 or Test3

[Richieb0y 0]

euh sickboy i want 2 help u but where do i put the files and if its a script how do i use it i doont know alot about command lines

thx

oke i got the demo too work and im testing now sry

[Universel 0]

Ok, forgot the cent addon

[sickboy 13]

Updated the Beta Package with mission pbo files and updated the readme on how to look into the missions.

So Redownload it from my previous post

You must already have the CENT_Tracer addon installed as described in the package you can download from the first post.

It is a beta test, At least some basic OFP/ArmA-knowledge is required.

[Universel 0]

offtopic, but what s the difference between the pbo and the directory ? Besides name.

I mean, I put the dirs in Mission dir and they work fine.

[Universel 0]

edited

[sickboy 13]

I wasnt sure if the folders worked from within the missions folders, if im not mistaken this didnt work in OFP but I can be wrong.

Anyway, having pbo's around is cleaner than a bunch of mission folders to my opinion

[Universel 0]

Ok I tried the missions.

I think the 3rd (of 4 - aka Test2) one is the coolest (when the tracer lights the surrounding terrain). No noticeable performance hit (all details max).

But your implementation looks bugged compared to cent's. Tracers fall way before bullets do and seem slower.

And another bug : tracers "light up" the surrounding terrain of their impact. Fire at the ground and you ll light it.

[ck-claw 1]

@ sickboy dunno if its just me but the original cent_tracer, if you had it-you would see the tracer effect!

Now i updated one of our SAS missions with your edited tracer-and everyone gets kicked off our server.

Seems now that it has became a 'dependable' addon and i had to upload the pbo to the server addons!

edit:-

Well either way nice work!

[Richieb0y 0]

sickboy nice work u have done i realy like demo 3&4 between those 2 i cant choose but in one of those 2 i find that if i shoot on the ground the orb keeps giveing light off

im back in game now thx SB

[froggyluv 2136]

hmm. I'm getting that "cant play/edit mission dependable download blah blah blah" error on a fresh 1.06 install with only cent's addon in my addon's folder.

PBO's are in mission folder. Is this for use only with 1.07 beta's?

[sickboy 13]

@ sickboy dunno if its just me but the original cent_tracer, if you had it-you would see the tracer effect!

Now i updated one of our SAS missions with your edited tracer-and everyone gets kicked off our server.

Seems now that it has became a 'dependable' addon and i had to upload the pbo to the server addons!

edit:-

Well either way nice work!

1. There was no way to automatically enable the tracers before, afaik. Only manually by trigger or manually running tracers on every unit. I did however sent thePredator a system to enable the Tracers in a config-mod, enabling them Automaticly.

6thSenseMod has them enabled by default.

2. If you don't want it to be Addon dependable, then simply don't use the gamelogic methods but the ScriptsInside Method or the Legacy method. I see there's a bug in the Legacy mission, open mission.sqm and remove CENT_Tracer from the addons list.

Froggy; tested with 1.07, do not remember results from 1.06.

[ck-claw 1]

Ah that explains it mate -used the gamelogic method!

Not a problem,just spun me out when everyone was getting kicked!

No big deal to upload a 16kb addon to the server!

Thanks alot anyway!

[sickboy 13]

NP

Richie & Universal, thanks for the feedback, will be taking a look

[Winters1807 0]

this is really good, but, when fighting in day, the tracers arent very noticible, and i have noted in a few videos that the tracers are generally easy to see in the daylight, perhaps they should be made more visible

[sickboy 13]

Beta2 Needs Feedback!

Changelog, Readme Updated:

- Light_array system replaced back to system suggested by MadDogX (waituntil{!alive _projectile};deleteVehicle _light).

Switching from spawn to call in the EventHandler solved it

- Added 2 Mi17 chopper groups to fire at with the added Shilka in the Test Demo missions

Let me know how it goes now, these should fix the problems:

- Lights dont go out when hitting the ground or when bullet is already gone otherwise

- Tracers should follow the bullets more correct now

Awaiting your feedback!

Thanks for the video, I will use those as reference when I research the different tracer options (camcreate, particle source with particleparams, drop). In the meantime maybe they are good reference for anyone who would like to supply me better tracer effects

[Universel 0]

Tracers still not follow bullets.

I quickly tested mission 3 (Test2), with the M4, when you fire the 3rd round the terrain illumination DOES follow the bullet, but the orb itself goes completely wrong AND is slower.

I think you should use a bit of camera.sqs to see it better.

[sickboy 13]

Tracers still not follow bullets.

I quickly tested mission 3 (Test2), with the M4, when you fire the 3rd round the terrain illumination DOES follow the bullet, but the orb itself goes completely wrong AND is slower.

I think you should use a bit of camera.sqs to see it better.

Thanks for the hint, will experiment some more in the next days, mostly done script optimization and enhancements and the performance seems great atm.

Darn effect and tracer-stickyness tuning lol

[Universel 0]

Actually just jump in the shilka, turn 180° to aim the airfield, zoom max and fire horizontally (try to hit the jeep on the far side). You ll see that the tracer, the light and the bullet split pretty quickly.

This is for the configuration.

About the effects, you could find inspiration in the VBS2 trailer, in case you already didnt

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-8253724260569242420&q=vbs2 the first 2 minutes (the hires must be near too)