Adding footprints (to the texture?)
by Michael Odden · in Artist Corner · 05/01/2010 (11:27 am) · 4 replies
Hello!
I'm currently working on a small RPG-game related to a class I'm taking and have ran into a small problem.
The engine is TGE, and I'm wondering: what might be the best way of adding static footprints to a part of a zone? I want my hero to come across some which in turn will lead him to a certain place.
My first try including creating a texture with the prints. At first I tried to create those as transparent PNGs and saved them for 8 different directions (for each 45* turn) but it doesn't seem like the terrain-format supports transparent PNGs. One option is to add them to non-transparent textures but then I'll have to do so for every texture the prints are supposed to cross which is, well, less than ideal :)
Best regards,
Michael
Student, Computer engineering
I'm currently working on a small RPG-game related to a class I'm taking and have ran into a small problem.
The engine is TGE, and I'm wondering: what might be the best way of adding static footprints to a part of a zone? I want my hero to come across some which in turn will lead him to a certain place.
My first try including creating a texture with the prints. At first I tried to create those as transparent PNGs and saved them for 8 different directions (for each 45* turn) but it doesn't seem like the terrain-format supports transparent PNGs. One option is to add them to non-transparent textures but then I'll have to do so for every texture the prints are supposed to cross which is, well, less than ideal :)
Best regards,
Michael
Student, Computer engineering
#2
05/01/2010 (2:10 pm)
Thanks, Michael! That makes very much sense of course. Yeah, I thought about the latter solution as well but hoped for something better. I'm trying the decals-way now. Thanks. 
#3
In this way[hackery] you could actually get a 'trail'....totally custom to actually where the AI stepped...might be a bit 'heavy-handed' with the length the decals stay rendering...but if carefully planned out...and get the 'generator' of the footprints deleted after making the 'trail'....
I like to use stock code whenever possible....;). It's easy for me to 'art it up'!
05/02/2010 (5:32 am)
Or you could use the stock footprint code and a path and an AI to run the footprints...this would take getting the footprint datablock for said character to have a super long fade time.In this way[hackery] you could actually get a 'trail'....totally custom to actually where the AI stepped...might be a bit 'heavy-handed' with the length the decals stay rendering...but if carefully planned out...and get the 'generator' of the footprints deleted after making the 'trail'....
I like to use stock code whenever possible....;). It's easy for me to 'art it up'!
#4
Yeah, that was a good idea as well. I have now solved the problem by using blocks of four and four footprints projected with sgDecalProjectors, but for educational reasons (and that I'd like to do this in a more flexible fassion) I'm now trying your approach as well. Good thinking =)
Thank you for your quick and accurate replies, Micael & Rex!
05/03/2010 (11:47 am)
@RexYeah, that was a good idea as well. I have now solved the problem by using blocks of four and four footprints projected with sgDecalProjectors, but for educational reasons (and that I'd like to do this in a more flexible fassion) I'm now trying your approach as well. Good thinking =)
Thank you for your quick and accurate replies, Micael & Rex!
Associate Michael Hall
Distracted...
Another alternative is to make a billboard dts that has a series of footprints on it and place it/them like a regular object.
Both methods would allow you to position/rotate as desired.