Silent Storm, interesting destructible environment.
by Kyrah Abattoir · in General Discussion · 09/28/2012 (11:10 am) · 5 replies
So i spent quite a while watching with a lot of interest a "let's play" video of this game: Silent Storm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Storm
The concept is nothing new but the execution seems to be pretty good for a small studio from 2003. What especially startled me is the pretty "avant garde" environment destruction. Top put it simply, with enough explosives/gunshots you can level absolutely anything in the game.
Here is an example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGEKMdUgcsw&feature=plcp
This got me wondering, what are the common techniques to achieve this kind of festructible environment. I mean beside complex things like Red faction's geomod. What are "simple" or, more accessible techniques that are achieveable by indie developpers (who aren't necessarly OpenGL gurus) to achieve a "pleasing" result?
(something more flexible than the good ol "crack in the wall door/entity" that we saw in every games since quake)
Anyone has an idea on how "this" game achieved it? Is it just a very well designed tile system?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Storm
The concept is nothing new but the execution seems to be pretty good for a small studio from 2003. What especially startled me is the pretty "avant garde" environment destruction. Top put it simply, with enough explosives/gunshots you can level absolutely anything in the game.
Here is an example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGEKMdUgcsw&feature=plcp
This got me wondering, what are the common techniques to achieve this kind of festructible environment. I mean beside complex things like Red faction's geomod. What are "simple" or, more accessible techniques that are achieveable by indie developpers (who aren't necessarly OpenGL gurus) to achieve a "pleasing" result?
(something more flexible than the good ol "crack in the wall door/entity" that we saw in every games since quake)
Anyone has an idea on how "this" game achieved it? Is it just a very well designed tile system?
About the author
3D artist, programmer, game designer, jack of all trades, master of none.
#2
Link - 3D Buzz
You can do this with PhysX Apex Destruction module which is available for free at their site. You just need to sign up and be approved.
Apex Link
09/28/2012 (6:00 pm)
Here are a few things that may help.Link - 3D Buzz
You can do this with PhysX Apex Destruction module which is available for free at their site. You just need to sign up and be approved.
Apex Link
#3
I made a quick example to show the animation in Lightwave 10.
Here I am using ClothFX and an event to make the modeled pieces appear to break away.
09/29/2012 (5:27 pm)
You can make an object appear to be destructible through modeling and animation. Then in script you can play the animation when the trigger occurs.I made a quick example to show the animation in Lightwave 10.
Here I am using ClothFX and an event to make the modeled pieces appear to break away.
#4
09/30/2012 (11:29 am)
There are many ways of/to destruction in Torque. Several of us have demonstrated how to do it through script for any shapebase object and any combination of meshes (with or without animations), Physics Shapes are the 'new' cool way to breaking things, procedural voronoi fracturing if you know your way around Bullet (never did get around to playing with Nvidia's Apex), and it can even done be automatically with a properly setup model (a little something that not many seem to have picked up on) -- in fact Torque was capable of destructible objects long before it was popular in other engines..
#5
I was wondering if they might have used something simpler than "real destruction" that would have looked as convincing, which can be eventually used by someone who isn't that much of a programming crackpot.
I think i recall Battlefield bad company 2 using a system of prepared destruction tiles, where a wall can be broken by segments along it's length until nothing remains.
09/30/2012 (6:14 pm)
Yeah but those procedural fracturing are difficult to implement in multiplayer games, where you want an identical experience between all the players.I was wondering if they might have used something simpler than "real destruction" that would have looked as convincing, which can be eventually used by someone who isn't that much of a programming crackpot.
I think i recall Battlefield bad company 2 using a system of prepared destruction tiles, where a wall can be broken by segments along it's length until nothing remains.
Torque Owner Jeff Yaskus
jy games
But remembering the game-play, seemed more like they just had multiple tiles / models to reflect damage -- and replaced the original with damaged ones to simulate the effects.
Seems like it could be simulated in T3D using PhysX models and such ... like the PhysX example with a building constructed of different parts snapped together.
or maybe it could be done using the various examples resources for building destructible objects ... or some combination there of.
According to the game details & wiki,it was actual 3D environment ... but I dont recall if you could actually move the camera around or if it was a fixed view point -- suggesting they used isometric tiles to simulate the 3D ... which really, means its just 2.5D :D