New weather effect - atmospheric fog

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Hemisphere
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New weather effect - atmospheric fog

Post by Hemisphere »

Not sure how technically feasible this would be, but it would basically involve overlaying a semi-transparent graphic over the entire screen - ideally scrolling very slowly to the right to give the impression of a rolling mist/fog.

They could be triggered in appropriate situations, for example just as the sun starts to rise, it would be typical to have a light, rainy mist, or even, far less frequently, a dense fog.

Desert areas could be prone to "sandstorms", and some dungeon areas could be filled with a vile green, almost luminescent fog.

Some mockups of how it might look:

Image
No effect

Image
A cool mist

Image
A dense fog

Image
A sandstorm

Of course it would be rather difficult to play in a dense fog, or a sandstorm, but that's realism for you :D

They also have the added advantage of making the game look absolutely beautiful (imo) ;)
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Lord Arcia
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Post by Lord Arcia »

I think this is a wonderful idea. What would be even better is if during the times of dense fog/sandstorms, your map was disabled. Ever tried walking through a sandstorm? It's hard, even if you know where you're going.
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Hemisphere
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Post by Hemisphere »

Yes, the map thing makes sense too, probably makes it harder to impliment though, and as I understand it developer attention is at a premium around here ;)

The fogs I showed already btw were pretty much monotone - I just tried playing with putting 4 or 6 colours into the fog, and the result is even nicer imo!

Image

Also filters could be applied* to the image to give a more "videogame" style fog:

Image

Generally I prefer it, but that's probably a matter of taste.

*Filters in the design process of course, not in the client!

Edit: I was thinking, it could even be a more standard client effect during regular gameplay, with the user being able to determine whether they want it on or off. For some people atmosphere and beauty is most important, and for others precision and clarity, so it would be unfair to force it on everyone - it could be set to off, low, medium, o hrigh, depending on individual user preference.

Would look super swanky when promoting the game too - good graphics really do turn heads!

Image
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Jupiter
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Post by Jupiter »

I love fog and I would love to see this IG :P
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Pellandria
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Post by Pellandria »

Wow man, you are the best addition to the game, since a long time, that fog looks freaking awesome, would be nice if it actually moves while you walk trougth it.

That "coloured" fog could be implented after smoking sibanac or after drinking too much alcohol.
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Llama
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Post by Llama »

Pellandria wrote:That "coloured" fog could be implented after smoking sibanac or after drinking too much alcohol.
And the human graphics are changed to animal ones :P

Everything else looks neat-o ;)
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maryday
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Post by maryday »

Try that sandstorm grainy and rough maybe.
((Might be also an interesting idea for the devs, as one might need some slight screen-blurring or tiny-localized palchanges?
Filters for the client. Yes, imo.))

I suppose you can prepare different sheets (eventually bigger then screen-res) to blend over each other, for showing
different ammounts of deposit/condensation.

Would be interesting as you manage to animate the fog somehow..to make it swelling thickly, or just dipping all in a soft, creeping mist.

You could also give a try to some area-curtailed effects.
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Aust
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Post by Aust »

This looks great, thank you! =) Personally I prefer the first layouts though.
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AlexRose
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Post by AlexRose »

Hadrian_Abela wrote:And the human graphics are changed to animal ones :P
That would be hilarious. I can imagine the trouble that would cause at the pig pen.
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Post by Damien »

DRUG FOG YAY !

;)
1d20
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Post by 1d20 »

Or if people smoke too much sibanac, then the fog would appear?
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Post by Damien »

I'd apply the fog to mushrooms instead of sibanac, but the fog colour should change all the time.
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Olaf Tingvatn
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Post by Olaf Tingvatn »

looks awesome:D and yeah seeing some kind of "fog" when you have had a tad to much to drink would be awesome. and morning fog during summer and night fog during winter and such would be awesome to:)
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maryday
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Post by maryday »

-global wind directions or strenght;
-weather setting zones/layers; ((would need to add marker to each tile?))

((already implemented?))

-humidity var ? ((increasing fog/rain chance..decreasing sandstorm chance, and on...))

or too realism fixed, Estralis?

-hail((less PER-penalty then fog, high chance of sickness if nutrition bad..))
-blizzard((PER-penalty like fog, highest chance of sickness if nutrition bad..))
as addition to snow?
((Just thinking, would not need high probabilities for sandstorm/hail/blizzard, just a seldomly occuring effect..))
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Avalyon el'Hattarr
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Post by Avalyon el'Hattarr »

First Maryday post that I read and actually makes sense :P
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Llama
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Post by Llama »

Avalyon el'Hattarr wrote:First Maryday post that I read and actually makes sense :P
You have clearly never browsed the forum while drunk then ;)
Valione
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Re: New weather effect - atmospheric fog

Post by Valione »

Hemisphere wrote:
Image
A cool mist

Image
A dense fog
These are the good ones. The others seem too messy.
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Hemisphere
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Post by Hemisphere »

In hindsight I agree with you on those two actually :) it was all done on very little sleep tbh and it's just ideas at the moment - if anything does happen, it'll only be after some rigorous testing and stamps of approval all round.
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AlexRose
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Post by AlexRose »

Well as for regular fog, we already have that ;)
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Hemisphere
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Post by Hemisphere »

Oh yea! duh :) should have remembered that from the website screenshots..

Still, my fog is nicer :D
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Llama
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Post by Llama »

Hemisphere wrote:Oh yea! duh :) should have remembered that from the website screenshots..

Still, my fog is nicer :D
Why did I get the impression that you haven't been IG for a long while ? :P
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Hemisphere
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Post by Hemisphere »

I've only played Illarion for a few hours, and most of that's been spent wandering around looking at the trees ;)
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