I'm attempting to recreate the look and feel of the original BattleStar Galactica lasers that the Colonial Vipers (red lasers) and the Cylon Raiders (white/blue lasers) produced. Below you can see a montage of screen shots showing the various lasers in action. There's also a link to a short 4 minute clip of the show showing the two ships shooting at each other.
I've tried to recreate this effect a number of different ways using image files, rotozoom and_PUTIMAGE, shading using alpha blends, and other various things that always look like crap. I'm horrible when it comes to custom graphics.
So here's the challenge if you choose to accept it: Create this laser effect on a 2D screen where the laser can be pointed and shot in any one of 360 degrees. I've posted an early attempt of my code to give you and idea of what to shoot for. I'm working on a game based on the old BG series and I really want to get the lasers looking as authentic as possible.
TYPE TYPE_LINE
Start AS TYPE_VECTOR ' start coordinate of laser beam line
Finish AS TYPE_VECTOR ' end coordinate of laser beam line 'Center AS TYPE_VECTOR ' center coordinate of laser beam line END TYPE
Index = -1' reset index counter DO' begin free index search
Index = Index + 1' increment index counter IF Laser(Index).Active = 0THENEXIT DO' is this index free? LOOP UNTIL Index = UBOUND(Laser) ' leave when all indexes checked IF Laser(Index).Active THEN' were all indexes checked?
Index = Index + 1' yes, no free indexes, increment index REDIM_PRESERVE Laser(Index) AS TYPE_LASER ' create a new index in array END IF
Degree = FIX_DEGREE(Degree)
Laser(Index).Active = -1
Laser(Index).Origin = Origin
Laser(Index).Vector = Vec(Degree)
Laser(Index).Degree = Degree
LINE (Laser(Index).Tail.Start.x, Laser(Index).Tail.Start.y)-(Laser(Index).Tail.Finish.x, Laser(Index).Tail.Finish.y), Laser(Index).LaserColor LINE -(Laser(Index).Head.Finish.x, Laser(Index).Head.Finish.y), Laser(Index).LaserColor LINE -(Laser(Index).Head.Start.x, Laser(Index).Head.Start.y), Laser(Index).LaserColor LINE -(Laser(Index).Tail.Start.x, Laser(Index).Tail.Start.y), Laser(Index).LaserColor
LINE (Laser(Index).Tail.Start.x, Laser(Index).Tail.Start.y)-(Laser(Index).Tail.Finish.x, Laser(Index).Tail.Finish.y), Laser(Index).GlowColor LINE -(Laser(Index).Head.Finish.x, Laser(Index).Head.Finish.y), Laser(Index).GlowColor LINE -(Laser(Index).Head.Start.x, Laser(Index).Head.Start.y), Laser(Index).GlowColor LINE -(Laser(Index).Tail.Start.x, Laser(Index).Tail.Start.y), Laser(Index).GlowColor
Deg = Degree ' get passed in degree value IF Deg < 0OR Degree > 359THEN' degree out of range?
Deg = Deg MOD360' yes, get remainder of modulus 360 IF Deg < 0THEN Deg = Deg + 360' add 360 if less than 0 END IF FIX_DEGREE = Deg ' return degree
I think the effect you are looking for is called bloom. You might be able to recreate it in OpenGL. I found this article to give an overview how to do it. https://learnopengl.com/Advanced-Lighting/Bloom
That looks sort of like one of the attempts I made, but I believe JustSomeGuy has the right idea below, I'm looking for a bloom effect. I read through the article he supplied and oh boy, I have some studying to do.
Software and cathedrals are much the same — first we build them, then we pray. QB64 Tutorial
(07-15-2023, 09:27 PM)justsomeguy Wrote: I think the effect you are looking for is called bloom. You might be able to recreate it in OpenGL. I found this article to give an overview how to do it. https://learnopengl.com/Advanced-Lighting/Bloom
Yep, that appears to be what I am going for. I read the article and have some investigating to do.
Has anyone else ever taken a stab at the bloom effect with QB64?
Software and cathedrals are much the same — first we build them, then we pray. QB64 Tutorial
07-15-2023, 11:44 PM (This post was last modified: 07-15-2023, 11:48 PM by Dav.)
I haven't. Over my head. Was thinking though, what if you just blurred it some? I know Eric from relsoft did effects like that in some of his FB games.
TerryRitchie, You are on the right track as look goes. All you need is perspective. The images should help. Everybody else knows more than I do about how do that is accomplished. I hope I'm not telling you something you already know. It runs well clockwise turning and no lag.
07-16-2023, 01:34 AM (This post was last modified: 07-16-2023, 01:35 AM by TerryRitchie.)
(07-15-2023, 11:44 PM)Dav Wrote: I haven't. Over my head. Was thinking though, what if you just blurred it some? I know Eric from relsoft did effects like that in some of his FB games.
- Dav
That's exactly what justsomeguy suggested with blooms. Turns out they are Gaussian blurs of the bright spots of objects applied back to the objects. I was playing around with Gaussian blurs after reading the article that justsomeguy pointed me to and I came up with the very crude image below on my first attempt. It still looks better than anything I had done up until this point. Some more tweaking and playing around and I should have something at least acceptable.
If any of you can come up with something better please do. Again, I really am amateur hour when it comes to custom graphics compared to some of the amazing skills I've seen posted from you guys over the years.
Software and cathedrals are much the same — first we build them, then we pray. QB64 Tutorial
07-16-2023, 01:42 AM (This post was last modified: 07-16-2023, 01:44 AM by Dav.)
I was just now adding a simple blur to see what it would look like. Not optimized or nothing, just wanted to see if any blur in realtime would work. Kept it all in one area, had to DIM variables there.
EDIT: Came on THIS post on freebasic forum. Has some simple steps on one of the posts.
- Dav
Code: (Select All)
Option _Explicit
Const SWIDTH = 1280
Const SHEIGHT = 720
Type TYPE_VECTOR
x As Single ' x vector/coordinate
y As Single ' y vector/coordinate
End Type
Type TYPE_LINE
Start As TYPE_VECTOR ' start coordinate of laser beam line
Finish As TYPE_VECTOR ' end coordinate of laser beam line
'Center AS TYPE_VECTOR ' center coordinate of laser beam line
End Type
Type TYPE_LASER
Origin As TYPE_VECTOR
Head As TYPE_LINE ' overall rectangle
Tail As TYPE_LINE
Beam As TYPE_LINE ' center beam
HeadSpeed As Single
TailSpeed As Single
MaxSpeed As Single
Vector As TYPE_VECTOR ' vector direction of laser
Degree As Integer ' degree direction of laser
Speed As Single ' speed of laser
LaserColor As _Unsigned Long
GlowColor As _Unsigned Long
Active As Integer ' laser is active (t/f)
End Type
ReDim Laser(0) As TYPE_LASER
Dim Vec(359) As TYPE_VECTOR
'DIM i AS INTEGER
Dim Degree As Integer
Dim Origin As TYPE_VECTOR
Dim Colour As Integer
Dim Speed As Single
Dim RapidFire As Integer
'DIM Size AS SINGLE
Do
_Limit 60
Cls
If _KeyDown(32) And RapidFire = 0 Then
SHOOT_LASER Origin, Degree, Speed, Colour
Degree = FIX_DEGREE(Degree + 2)
RapidFire = 10
Else
If RapidFire Then RapidFire = RapidFire - 1
End If
UPDATE_LASER
_Display
Loop Until _KeyDown(27)
Sub SHOOT_LASER (Origin As TYPE_VECTOR, Degree As Integer, Speed As Single, Colour As Integer)
Shared Laser() As TYPE_LASER
Shared Vec() As TYPE_VECTOR
Dim Index As Integer
Index = -1 ' reset index counter
Do ' begin free index search
Index = Index + 1 ' increment index counter
If Laser(Index).Active = 0 Then Exit Do ' is this index free?
Loop Until Index = UBound(Laser) ' leave when all indexes checked
If Laser(Index).Active Then ' were all indexes checked?
Index = Index + 1 ' yes, no free indexes, increment index
ReDim _Preserve Laser(Index) As TYPE_LASER ' create a new index in array
End If
Degree = FIX_DEGREE(Degree)
Laser(Index).Active = -1
Laser(Index).Origin = Origin
Laser(Index).Vector = Vec(Degree)
Laser(Index).Degree = Degree
Line (Laser(Index).Tail.Start.x, Laser(Index).Tail.Start.y)-(Laser(Index).Tail.Finish.x, Laser(Index).Tail.Finish.y), Laser(Index).LaserColor
Line -(Laser(Index).Head.Finish.x, Laser(Index).Head.Finish.y), Laser(Index).LaserColor
Line -(Laser(Index).Head.Start.x, Laser(Index).Head.Start.y), Laser(Index).LaserColor
Line -(Laser(Index).Tail.Start.x, Laser(Index).Tail.Start.y), Laser(Index).LaserColor
Line (Laser(Index).Tail.Start.x, Laser(Index).Tail.Start.y)-(Laser(Index).Tail.Finish.x, Laser(Index).Tail.Finish.y), Laser(Index).GlowColor
Line -(Laser(Index).Head.Finish.x, Laser(Index).Head.Finish.y), Laser(Index).GlowColor
Line -(Laser(Index).Head.Start.x, Laser(Index).Head.Start.y), Laser(Index).GlowColor
Line -(Laser(Index).Tail.Start.x, Laser(Index).Tail.Start.y), Laser(Index).GlowColor
'====================================================
Dim u As Integer, xx As Integer, yy As Integer
Dim p1 As Long, p2 As Long, p3 As Long, p4 As Long, p5 As Long, p6 As Long, p7 As Long, p8 As Long, p9 As Long
Dim rr As Long, gg As Long, bb As Long
For u = 1 To 5 'do it 5 times for more glow
For xx = Laser(Index).Tail.Start.x - 5 To Laser(Index).Head.Start.x + 5
For yy = Laser(Index).Tail.Start.y - 5 To Laser(Index).Head.Start.y + 5
p1 = Point(xx, yy)
p2 = Point(xx + 1, yy)
p3 = Point(xx, yy + 1)
p4 = Point(xx + 1, yy + 1)
p5 = Point(xx - 1, yy)
p6 = Point(xx, yy - 1)
p7 = Point(xx - 1, yy - 1)
p8 = Point(xx - 1, yy + 1)
p9 = Point(xx + 1, yy - 1)
rr = _Red32(p1) + _Red32(p2) + _Red32(p3) + _Red32(p4) + _Red32(p5) + _Red32(p6) + _Red32(p7) + _Red32(p8) + _Red32(p9)
gg = _Green32(p1) + _Green32(p2) + _Green32(p3) + _Green32(p4) + _Green32(p5) + _Green32(p6) + _Green32(p7) + _Green32(p8) + _Green32(p9)
bb = _Blue32(p1) + _Blue32(p2) + _Blue32(p3) + _Blue32(p4) + _Blue32(p5) + _Blue32(p6) + _Blue32(p7) + _Blue32(p8) + _Blue32(p9)
PSet (xx, yy), _RGB(rr / 8, gg / 8, bb / 8) 'do /8 instead or /9, makes it glow more
Next
Next
Next
'===========================================
If Laser(Index).Tail.Start.x < 0 Or Laser(Index).Tail.Start.x > SWIDTH Then Laser(Index).Active = 0
If Laser(Index).Tail.Start.y < 0 Or Laser(Index).Tail.Start.y > SHEIGHT Then Laser(Index).Active = 0
End If
Loop Until Index = UBound(Laser)
If NoActive And UBound(Laser) > 0 Then ReDim Laser(0) As TYPE_LASER: Beep
End Sub
Sub Rotate (vec As TYPE_VECTOR, angleDeg As Single, origin As TYPE_VECTOR)
' Rotate a point around an origin using linear transformations.
Dim x As Single
Dim y As Single
Dim __cos As Single
Dim __sin As Single
Dim xPrime As Single
Dim yPrime As Single
x = vec.x - origin.x ' move rotation vector origin to 0
y = vec.y - origin.y
__cos = Cos(_D2R(angleDeg)) ' get cosine and sine of angle
__sin = Sin(_D2R(angleDeg))
xPrime = (x * __cos) - (y * __sin) ' calculate rotated location of vector
yPrime = (x * __sin) + (y * __cos)
xPrime = xPrime + origin.x ' move back to original origin
yPrime = yPrime + origin.y
vec.x = xPrime ' pass back rotated vector
vec.y = yPrime
End Sub
' ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
'/ \
Function FIX_DEGREE (Degree As Integer) ' __FIX_DEGREE |
' __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________|____
'/ \
'| Normalizes degree to between 0 and 359. |
'| |
'| Degree = FIX_DEGREE(-270) |
'\_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________/
Dim Deg As Integer ' degree value passed in
Deg = Degree ' get passed in degree value
If Deg < 0 Or Degree > 359 Then ' degree out of range?
Deg = Deg Mod 360 ' yes, get remainder of modulus 360
If Deg < 0 Then Deg = Deg + 360 ' add 360 if less than 0
End If
FIX_DEGREE = Deg ' return degree
(07-16-2023, 01:42 AM)Dav Wrote: I was just now adding a simple blur to see what it would look like. Not optimized or nothing, just wanted to see if any blur in realtime would work. Kept it all in one area, had to DIM variables there.
EDIT: Came on THIS post on freebasic forum. Has some simple steps on one of the posts.
- Dav
Code: (Select All)
Option _Explicit
Const SWIDTH = 1280
Const SHEIGHT = 720
Type TYPE_VECTOR
x As Single ' x vector/coordinate
y As Single ' y vector/coordinate
End Type
Type TYPE_LINE
Start As TYPE_VECTOR ' start coordinate of laser beam line
Finish As TYPE_VECTOR ' end coordinate of laser beam line
'Center AS TYPE_VECTOR ' center coordinate of laser beam line
End Type
Type TYPE_LASER
Origin As TYPE_VECTOR
Head As TYPE_LINE ' overall rectangle
Tail As TYPE_LINE
Beam As TYPE_LINE ' center beam
HeadSpeed As Single
TailSpeed As Single
MaxSpeed As Single
Vector As TYPE_VECTOR ' vector direction of laser
Degree As Integer ' degree direction of laser
Speed As Single ' speed of laser
LaserColor As _Unsigned Long
GlowColor As _Unsigned Long
Active As Integer ' laser is active (t/f)
End Type
ReDim Laser(0) As TYPE_LASER
Dim Vec(359) As TYPE_VECTOR
'DIM i AS INTEGER
Dim Degree As Integer
Dim Origin As TYPE_VECTOR
Dim Colour As Integer
Dim Speed As Single
Dim RapidFire As Integer
'DIM Size AS SINGLE
Do
_Limit 60
Cls
If _KeyDown(32) And RapidFire = 0 Then
SHOOT_LASER Origin, Degree, Speed, Colour
Degree = FIX_DEGREE(Degree + 2)
RapidFire = 10
Else
If RapidFire Then RapidFire = RapidFire - 1
End If
UPDATE_LASER
_Display
Loop Until _KeyDown(27)
Sub SHOOT_LASER (Origin As TYPE_VECTOR, Degree As Integer, Speed As Single, Colour As Integer)
Shared Laser() As TYPE_LASER
Shared Vec() As TYPE_VECTOR
Dim Index As Integer
Index = -1 ' reset index counter
Do ' begin free index search
Index = Index + 1 ' increment index counter
If Laser(Index).Active = 0 Then Exit Do ' is this index free?
Loop Until Index = UBound(Laser) ' leave when all indexes checked
If Laser(Index).Active Then ' were all indexes checked?
Index = Index + 1 ' yes, no free indexes, increment index
ReDim _Preserve Laser(Index) As TYPE_LASER ' create a new index in array
End If
Degree = FIX_DEGREE(Degree)
Laser(Index).Active = -1
Laser(Index).Origin = Origin
Laser(Index).Vector = Vec(Degree)
Laser(Index).Degree = Degree
Line (Laser(Index).Tail.Start.x, Laser(Index).Tail.Start.y)-(Laser(Index).Tail.Finish.x, Laser(Index).Tail.Finish.y), Laser(Index).LaserColor
Line -(Laser(Index).Head.Finish.x, Laser(Index).Head.Finish.y), Laser(Index).LaserColor
Line -(Laser(Index).Head.Start.x, Laser(Index).Head.Start.y), Laser(Index).LaserColor
Line -(Laser(Index).Tail.Start.x, Laser(Index).Tail.Start.y), Laser(Index).LaserColor
Line (Laser(Index).Tail.Start.x, Laser(Index).Tail.Start.y)-(Laser(Index).Tail.Finish.x, Laser(Index).Tail.Finish.y), Laser(Index).GlowColor
Line -(Laser(Index).Head.Finish.x, Laser(Index).Head.Finish.y), Laser(Index).GlowColor
Line -(Laser(Index).Head.Start.x, Laser(Index).Head.Start.y), Laser(Index).GlowColor
Line -(Laser(Index).Tail.Start.x, Laser(Index).Tail.Start.y), Laser(Index).GlowColor
'====================================================
Dim u As Integer, xx As Integer, yy As Integer
Dim p1 As Long, p2 As Long, p3 As Long, p4 As Long, p5 As Long, p6 As Long, p7 As Long, p8 As Long, p9 As Long
Dim rr As Long, gg As Long, bb As Long
For u = 1 To 5 'do it 5 times for more glow
For xx = Laser(Index).Tail.Start.x - 5 To Laser(Index).Head.Start.x + 5
For yy = Laser(Index).Tail.Start.y - 5 To Laser(Index).Head.Start.y + 5
p1 = Point(xx, yy)
p2 = Point(xx + 1, yy)
p3 = Point(xx, yy + 1)
p4 = Point(xx + 1, yy + 1)
p5 = Point(xx - 1, yy)
p6 = Point(xx, yy - 1)
p7 = Point(xx - 1, yy - 1)
p8 = Point(xx - 1, yy + 1)
p9 = Point(xx + 1, yy - 1)
rr = _Red32(p1) + _Red32(p2) + _Red32(p3) + _Red32(p4) + _Red32(p5) + _Red32(p6) + _Red32(p7) + _Red32(p8) + _Red32(p9)
gg = _Green32(p1) + _Green32(p2) + _Green32(p3) + _Green32(p4) + _Green32(p5) + _Green32(p6) + _Green32(p7) + _Green32(p8) + _Green32(p9)
bb = _Blue32(p1) + _Blue32(p2) + _Blue32(p3) + _Blue32(p4) + _Blue32(p5) + _Blue32(p6) + _Blue32(p7) + _Blue32(p8) + _Blue32(p9)
PSet (xx, yy), _RGB(rr / 8, gg / 8, bb / 8) 'do /8 instead or /9, makes it glow more
Next
Next
Next
'===========================================
If Laser(Index).Tail.Start.x < 0 Or Laser(Index).Tail.Start.x > SWIDTH Then Laser(Index).Active = 0
If Laser(Index).Tail.Start.y < 0 Or Laser(Index).Tail.Start.y > SHEIGHT Then Laser(Index).Active = 0
End If
Loop Until Index = UBound(Laser)
If NoActive And UBound(Laser) > 0 Then ReDim Laser(0) As TYPE_LASER: Beep
End Sub
Sub Rotate (vec As TYPE_VECTOR, angleDeg As Single, origin As TYPE_VECTOR)
' Rotate a point around an origin using linear transformations.
Dim x As Single
Dim y As Single
Dim __cos As Single
Dim __sin As Single
Dim xPrime As Single
Dim yPrime As Single
x = vec.x - origin.x ' move rotation vector origin to 0
y = vec.y - origin.y
__cos = Cos(_D2R(angleDeg)) ' get cosine and sine of angle
__sin = Sin(_D2R(angleDeg))
xPrime = (x * __cos) - (y * __sin) ' calculate rotated location of vector
yPrime = (x * __sin) + (y * __cos)
xPrime = xPrime + origin.x ' move back to original origin
yPrime = yPrime + origin.y
vec.x = xPrime ' pass back rotated vector
vec.y = yPrime
End Sub
' ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
'/ \
Function FIX_DEGREE (Degree As Integer) ' __FIX_DEGREE |
' __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________|____
'/ \
'| Normalizes degree to between 0 and 359. |
'| |
'| Degree = FIX_DEGREE(-270) |
'\_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________/
Dim Deg As Integer ' degree value passed in
Deg = Degree ' get passed in degree value
If Deg < 0 Or Degree > 359 Then ' degree out of range?
Deg = Deg Mod 360 ' yes, get remainder of modulus 360
If Deg < 0 Then Deg = Deg + 360 ' add 360 if less than 0
End If
FIX_DEGREE = Deg ' return degree
End Function
Hey, that looks good!
Software and cathedrals are much the same — first we build them, then we pray. QB64 Tutorial
