Hi,

today i did stumble over part of EAW code that i didnt understand when i was looking to it last time.

Looks like 3d clouds was always possible in EAW, just the needed 3dz is missing and the procedure to enable the clouds is strange.
looks like a forgotten part of code.

It work like this:
For a test take the Ord19.3dz file and call it "clouds.3dz".

1. Start EAW with weather set to "particular clouded".

2. Hit "ctrl c".

Now you should see big 300l droptanks somewhere in the cloudlayers.

I dont know if just one clouds.3dz will bring the wanted result, but it should be worth a try.

Edit: just made the test, this even work in EAW1.2!

Greetings,

Knegel

Hi Ralf.

We have the 3dz cloud, but it's an old PAW model, It's nothing special, and to be honest, looks crap by todays standard.

I thought you were working on something a bit more sophisticated?

This info is quite old allready Ralph,

It was found about 5 years ago and I've shown some pictures with em back then. I agree with Col. Gibbon on this one, I don't think anyone wants em.

VonBeerhofen

Good to know, but this is a starting point to implement better clouds.

and them being really extra large tanks too...can you give it a DM/hitpoint, if they weren't so shakey could simulate something more simular? let me think...nah! forget it!

There were 3d clouds in "Aces Over Europe", at the time it was possible to duck inside a cloud bank to escape the bad guys. By todays standards they would most likely look pretty crappy. But, they did function pretty much like the real thing.

Ralf, working 3d clouds would be amazing. Might even give me a change againt you in a dogfight. Just think, me being able to dodge your slingshot fire, out climb your hangglider and disapear safely into a cloud. The odds keep looking better.

Would be nice if we could see what the 3D cloud looks like? (Screenie?)

Is it the way a 3dz file is made that makes a new 3D cloud complicated?
Sorta like how it's so hard to make a wheel round?
Is a sprite a 3dz?
What is the possibility of taking a bmp or jpg cloud picture and turning it into
a sprite? (Or 3dz. lol!)
It's amazing this sim still has stuff you can do to it...!!!
AO

Knegel,
You might want to search the game programming sights such as gamedev.net and gamasutra.com. 3D clouds is now old tech. The elder archives should have info that will help you.

Just a thought, but it would be hard to do in Glide wrapper as there transparency is 8 bit and not Alpha mask math.

A cloud is a box.
The cloud is more dense in the center.
To simulate fire, old school was to place textures on polys that gridded the box.

A box may change it's size based on variables and randoms.
Opacity may be changed by changing the A value of the color.

A cloud is also a point in 3D space. Particles can be spawned from a point. Particles can be manipulated by many variables.

There are a number of ways to simulate clouds. What fits best to EAW will take trial and error.

I honestly say thank you to the people who mod EAW by giving of there time.

wow, the tholians from star trek have returned. ;p