Heat Wave Effect
by Jonathan · in General Discussion · 07/27/2004 (7:36 pm) · 4 replies
Does anyone know how to make a Heat Wave effect like the one seen in Mario Sunshine? I need to do this inside of 3D Gamestudio A5.52. Thanks a whole lot.
#2
Having used 3DGS, here's what I would suggest (not having seen the exact effect you're describing):
1) Create an animated texture that is almost (but not quite totally) transparent.
2) I'd suggest creating a "wave" pattern in this texture and give the wave peaks more opacity than the troughs.
Now you can handle this one of two ways.
>> If you want the heat wave effect localized within a level, i.e. a steam vent or something, you can place the texture as a billborad and orient it appropriately.
>> If you want to apply it to everything within a level, add it as full screen element directly in front of the camera. This will continue te effect no matter where the player looks.
Is it mroe work than shaders? Definitiely. But can it be done? Absolutely... there's always a way to "fake" a feature if you're willing to work hard enough at it. ;-)
07/30/2004 (8:51 am)
Actually, that's not entirely true Ben, it's just a matter of HOW you want to go about doing this.Having used 3DGS, here's what I would suggest (not having seen the exact effect you're describing):
1) Create an animated texture that is almost (but not quite totally) transparent.
2) I'd suggest creating a "wave" pattern in this texture and give the wave peaks more opacity than the troughs.
Now you can handle this one of two ways.
>> If you want the heat wave effect localized within a level, i.e. a steam vent or something, you can place the texture as a billborad and orient it appropriately.
>> If you want to apply it to everything within a level, add it as full screen element directly in front of the camera. This will continue te effect no matter where the player looks.
Is it mroe work than shaders? Definitiely. But can it be done? Absolutely... there's always a way to "fake" a feature if you're willing to work hard enough at it. ;-)
#3
07/30/2004 (9:44 am)
The difference is your way will not distort the pixels like the effect i'm sure he truly wants.
#4
07/30/2004 (1:49 pm)
Like I said - pretty much. There are always workarounds if you want something badly enough. :) 
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