Glow Effects?

Y'know sky_larks icon? Well I have been thinking.. Imagine bitfighter with a subtle glow effect. That matches the colour of whatever is glowing.. for example: Walls will have a small blue glow, Ships will glow whatever colour team they are.. Force fields will glow whatever colour they are and so on.. If lag issues are present, It can be turned off in the setting, Though its doubtful.

[Little_Apple]

boosh

[bobdaduck]

NO.

[Quartz]

Thanks Little_Apple, I was going to make that point if no one else had.

I wouldn't mind said effect somewhere in the game for some module in the future or something, but yeah, all over the place? No thanks.

NO.

I said this in another thread:

- As reasonable as this idea might be, Z.A.P pretty much eliminated any chance of it ever being implemented, haha. Don't even try to further this idea, you won't like the result.

That said, I would be interested to see some other subtle graphics that still fit with the retro theme. Lingering smoke after a ship's explosion, charred walls where phasers impacted, etc. If added in moderation I think these would be pretty cool.

boosh

THAT'S AWEOSME! Is that just fan art or is that another game?

[Little_Apple]

thats a screen shot from Z.A.P. aka Zap!'s evil twin. the graphics are just way too busy and look extremely ugly imo.

[bobdaduck]

Z.A.P. actually failed pretty much exclusively based on its graphics. Everyone hated all the effects so bad and no one could see anything and it was gross and terrible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8o_yqPEg-k

OH nonononononono. You have it all wrong.
You see, The glow effect would be subtle, sort of like..

[kaen]

Opti's last example is called "volumetric line drawing". It was used perhaps most famously in Geometry Wars. It necessitates the use of GL Shaders (a feature I have implemented in one of my many secret branches). I personally would like to see bitfighter have a more polished retro feel, rather than the honestly pretty simplistic graphics bitfighter has currently.

It is my belief that we could polish bitfighter and make it more visually interesting (seriously guys, it's almost entirely simple lines and dots right now) without compromising the "retro" aesthetic. I also think that concluding (through false induction) that these improvements would be as nausea-inducing as Z.A.P's ostensibly were is a completely unfair assumption to make. There's a lot of creative power in this unusually dedicated dev team, and also a lot of critical evaluation that goes on before features are released.

Finally, (and here I brace for the ragestorm), you could always turn them off.

I'll let you all get back to your NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO fest.

[watusimoto]

I for one would like to see some of these ideas. Though I will admit to a healthy dose of skepticism, while at the same time agreeing to the potential for improvement.

In the past I have implemented alternate effects with an INI setting to allow users to try both and discuss which they prefer. Perhaps a /test-blah cmd makes more sense now.

Well whatever. I just want a subtle glow effect. Not as unpleasing to the eye as Z.A.P but sort of eye-catching and nice to look at. More of a dim-neon effect added to the objects of the game. Not so much that it obscures everything. But just enough so you can see it glowing. The way the game looks is MADE for this.

Here is an example of how TINY the glow effect would be. The outer line is the end of the glow, and the inner one is the ship.

[bobdaduck]

I like how basic the graphics are and I will forever be against this.

If its turn off-able then whatever. I wouldn't ever play the game with it on.

I like how basic the graphics are and I will forever be against this.

If its turn off-able then whatever. I wouldn't ever play the game with it on.

Wow bob, just wow.

Edited by raptor: Please no blatant attacks

[Little_Apple]

I like how this contributes absolutely nothing to gameplay and is still such a controversial issue.

[Quartz]

Well said kaen.

That's all I've got to say. =P

actully that image looks cool i think a gliowing effect like in geomoery wars would be cool as it would give BF a techo thme while still being retor i will forever be FOR this idea.

[Little_Apple]

i will forever be FOR this idea.

I will forever be against this.

dont troll threads.

1 other reason why i belive this would be a good idea is it would allow more artisitc levels.


Q1 should this be local or server sided

Q2. can it be programed.

Q3 what should reason 3 be.

[Little_Apple]

Have you seen actual gameplay with those "better" graphics? It's terrible. I makes me want to devour my laptop, vomit it out the window then jump out and commit suicied in the semi-digested remains of that virtual abomination. And as for "allowing for more artisctic levels", shouldn't level designers be more concerned about how the wall is made rather than how the wall looks? And when you make the graphics so stylized in such a major aspect of the game it can confine artistic freedom to only one major theme. I completely disagree with you, amgine.

I don't think level editors would really gain much of an edge when making artistic maps. We're not talking about a separate object that can be used to improve art, we're talking about adding a glow effect to some existing objects. I don't see how that would let players be more artistic in their designs? It's like if those same objects became black & white or sepia; the objects remain in their same forms but their appearance is slightly differed.

Did everyone forget the example? Z.A.P is ugly. This game "neon tango" Has a retro but at the same time stylish look. It bitfighter looked like this it would be much more eye catching and well, Nice to look at.

[bobdaduck]

Did everyone forget the example? Z.A.P is ugly. This game "neon tango" Has a retro but at the same time stylish look. It bitfighter looked like this it would be much more eye catching and well, Nice to look at.

Z.A.P has exactly the glow effect you're proposing.

Like seriously. Look at the screenshot.

[Quartz]

Did everyone forget the example? Z.A.P is ugly. This game "neon tango" Has a retro but at the same time stylish look. It bitfighter looked like this it would be much more eye catching and well, Nice to look at.

Z.A.P has exactly the glow effect you're proposing.

Like seriously. Look at the screenshot.

I think the walls look slick, and everything else looks like balls. xD

It's off-topic, but I think the other problem with Z.A.P was that they didn't really address the gameplay. Just made new maps and graphics mostly. Being part of a Zap! community for years, waiting patiently for new features or enhancements, only to see unimportant elements be updated was disappointing.

In hindsight, I didn't even dislike the graphics that much (c'mon, those ship trails are sick). I was just really bummed about the poor choice of direction the devs were taking the game.

Did everyone forget the example? Z.A.P is ugly. This game "neon tango" Has a retro but at the same time stylish look. It bitfighter looked like this it would be much more eye catching and well, Nice to look at.

Z.A.P has exactly the glow effect you're proposing.

Like seriously. Look at the screenshot.

Ugh, Look. Z.A.P's look is not subtle. And the inner parts of the ship glow too.
All I want is a glow effect AROUND them, Not inside the objects.
Seriously, Look up neon tango and tell me its not shear eye candy to look at.

[Little_Apple]

if you want neon tango graphics then play friggin' neon tango.

[bobdaduck]

Ugh, Look. Z.A.P's look is not subtle. And the inner parts of the ship glow too.
All I want is a glow effect AROUND them, Not inside the objects.
Seriously, Look up neon tango and tell me its not shear eye candy to look at.

^^Subtle.^^

I can't find a single screenshot of Neon Tango that does not leave me feeling "What the crap is going on." That's not eye candy. Tron is eye candy. Neon Tango is Rave Party every single level.

Opti, the problem is not your request, it's your example. As bobdaduck pointed out, it's hard to understand what you're hoping for when the screenshots provided seem to contradict your request.

[watusimoto]

Why not break out photoshop on a screen cap?

Why not break out photoshop on a screen cap?

I might do that. You see, ITs more subtle then neon tango.