Water Effects and Flooded Dungeons

[Adhin]

@TRX850: The big screenshot from the link is a larger screen res (then is native to the game originally) of Planescape: Torment. The other picture is screen resolution sizes of the picture they released of a level they're working on for PE.

 

@JOG: You are literally argueing against me, and making my point.. sort of. Also perspective has little barings, in general, on how the effects work. If your in a first person and a NPC is submerged in water his lower half is still being blurred via an effect, it works the same way regardless of perspective. THAT ALL ASIDE. Atmospheric, from Directionary.com.

 

Atmospheric: 4. having or producing an emotional atmosphere: atmospheric quality; atmospheric lighting.

 

Water in a level, walking through it or not, will add to the general atmosphere of the room. Having you partially suberged will add to it. Weather or not that is a tactical thing, weather or not you fight in it can also add to that. Saying having an added option of being able to walk into it wont add anything to the feeling of the map, but then go on to say it will add feeling if you can walk in water (if your fighting) is.. just seriously man.

 

Adding water, walkable or not, will add atmosphere to a map. Having you 'walk on water' will ultimately negatively impact the atmosphere as it'll make little sense why even your feet aren't being submerged, that's the point I was trying to make. That and they can do it in the style of game they're doing. Feel free to sigh again and argue my point for me though.

[rjshae]

For wading in hip-deep water, a simple V-shaped wake effect and some splashing should be sufficient I would think. Possibly water swirls for underwater creatures. We likely won't be able to see more detail than that.

[Osvir]

Following this (which is more a "Q? Is this possible?" on models such as buildings etc. etc.)

Y = Model

W = Picture/Screen

Z = Player Perspective

 

Maybe the water on the "off" side isn't required (on the left side of the screen, behind the picture~)

A = Screen/Picture

B = Character Model

C = Water/Model

D = Hero Player Perspective with some mad Keyboard skills

Edited January 8, 2013 by Osvir

[Nonek]

Wonder if a powerful upper level druid could do the Gandy at the Ford of Bruinen thing?

[TRX850]

They could apply a real-time MeshDeform modifier to "divide" the water, allowing the party to walk across.

 

I'm picturing Josh Sawyer with his head in his hands right about now...

[HansKrSG]

I like the idea. You wont have to inlcude swimming and all the hassle that makes, and you won't have to make the game truly 3d, as long as you use graphic tricks to make it look right. Of course, speaking of truly 3d, an isometric game can be truly 3d without loosing the IE feel. In Ultima 8 (1994), you could walk over and under the same bridge, and is still isometric 3/4 overview.

[Osvir]

Prone stance is going to be in P:E to my understanding.

 

Prone is like swimming, but on ground. Making "prone" react to water as well~ yep probably could work and might not be too much of a hassle to just get the animation right.. as for the actual "swimming" working correctly in code and reacting to water and etc. etc. that's another question. Maybe there could be some "tunnels" in a dungeon you can swim to (over a pond or whatever). In Alundra (Zelda-clone for PSX) there are "maelstroms" that you can swim out to to get either "teleported" to another portion of the world or to get to an underwater dungeon.

 

Just saying

[Hassat Hunter]

Didn't read the whole discussion, but yeah, near-ly flooded dungeon sounds neat. Better than another sewers.

 

The more diverse areas the better...

[Malevolent]

The Flooded Dungeons in the title made me think of the Water Temple from OoT, and I had a brief flash of frustration. But anywhos...

 

I think that this would be really interesting to implement, and make for a lot of monster encounters otherwise unavailable to you. Aside from it just looking cool as far an environments go, you're certainly opening up a lot of possibilities for combat. Creatures you can't easily see, and therefore would have difficulty hitting. You could also have a special creature type that will attempt to drown characters it has grappled if you don't manage to release its grip from said character in a certain amount of time. You could also potentially do some things with fog or mist in these environments to add further to the atmosphere.

[TRX850]

You could also potentially do some things with fog or mist in these environments to add further to the atmosphere.

 

Fog and mist would look awesome in already creepy areas. Graveyards. Ancient battlefields, And the low, rolling kind in some cases too, like in underground crypts and cave networks.

 

I don't think it would overly complicated either. We still don't know exactly how far Obsidian can layer effects and 3D elements over a pre-rendered 2D backdrop, but now is the time to have everyone thinking about it.

[rjshae]

Stirred dust would be a nice effect as well, particularly in very old structures or along a dry road or passage. Having some dust pouring off the sarcophagus when you slide it open would add a touch of realism. Animated statues should start off with a small cloud of dust representing how long they've been motionless. Dust can also appear when traps are triggered or when old secret doors are opened.

[tychokepler]

Ooh it would be cool to have a classic RPG where your characters interact with the environment in uncommon ways.

I always feel with these games that the plane is too flat, too solid; like a diorama for an action figure.

[TMTVL]

Graphics have the useful effect of giving a hint to the underlying mechanics. E.g. a character is tromping through water, with half 'is body below the surface. It helps show why his movement speed suddenly dropped to snail's pace.

 

There's also decorative effects, of course (e.g. falling leaves) which add atmosphere and can do wonders for immersion and suspension of disbelief.

[Adhin]

Yeah, I'd love to see a collision interactive particle stuff for floors. Leaves, dusts, stuff that 'sweeps aside' as you walk past it. They could do grass like that though i doubt they will but a little bit of that here and there for taller stuff would be nice.