Simple customized jump-pad available (with sources) for who wants

[Gig]

Hi! For my map "udestruction" for OACMP volume 1, I customized the standard OA jumppad texture/shader, simply adding some more details and changing some colors. It's nothing "epic", it's just a small update to the standard OA jumppad.
Akom74 liked it, so I release it here with its .psd multi-layer sources, so anyone can re-use and further customize it. Obviously, it's GPLv2.
If you guys like it, I suppose I may even ask Fromhell to add it somewhere in the SVN, to be part of future OpenArena releases.

Although with a different path/name, this is the version I used in beta version 8 of my "udestruction" map (you can try it if you want to see how it looks like "in action"). My map is not completed yet, so I cannot exclude that I may further modify the jump-pad... so I release to the public this specific version now, with this post.  

I think something better can be done, I'm not a real artist.

I also included the custom accelerator pad I've done for that map, although I'm not very happy with it... maybe it sucks a little... who knows...

Readme included inside the .pk3 (just open it with a zip manager; you may wish to unzip the files).
Note: I renamed actual paths/files just for this release: I hope it works out-of-the-box, but if necessary you can easily fix the paths in the .shader file.

You can download it from here: http://digilander.iol.it/flagraiders/files/textures/boucepad1_by_gig_with_src.pk3

Attached to this post, you can find two .jpg as a preview.

[GrosBedo]

Very fine work you did here Gig! Thank's for sharing!

The Jpg preview are very very nice, I like them a lot.

I tried your udestruction map to see how the jumppads renders in-game.

To me, the horizontal jumpad is the best rendered one, close to perfection. The only thing I would change would be the shader effect, instead of being just vertical, the particules could be oriented a bit towards the direction the jumpad is pointing to, and also be a bit more speedy (since this kind of jumpad does make the player speed a lot faster than the vertical jumppads).

However about the vertical jumpad, I am not so convinced because of the shader. Indeed, in the jpg, there is a savoury silver metal effect, which is completely removed by the blueish and yellowish shader (I am not talking about the particles here but the shader that is glued to the texture to animate it). I think you should really not be afraid of highlighting the metallic texture of the jumpad by using shaders in the same tone, even if the ending animation is subtler, I think graphically it would be for the best.

Finally, keep in mind this is a humble opinion of a developer who has no sense for graphical arts You did a great job.

[Gig]

With "particles" do you mean my "stripes/sparks" effect above the jump-pad, right? (screenshot from old version of the map, showing my sparks over the classic OA jumppad: http://openarena.ws/board/index.php?topic=4679.msg46959#msg46959)

I did not include that effect in this package, as I thought about them as two separate things... However, in my map, may do some try to change their orientation (over the accelerator pad), but I cannot assure the result. Id tech 3 does not love non-axial brushes, and my skills are limited.

About modifying the texture or the shader of the jump-pad to have the "metallic" color actually shown, I don't know exactly what to try. Do you have more clear indications? Or do you want to try it yourself?

[Akom74]

Very good !!
Thank you 

[GrosBedo]

With "particles" do you mean my "stripes/sparks" effect above the jump-pad, right? (screenshot from old version of the map, showing my sparks over the classic OA jumppad: http://openarena.ws/board/index.php?topic=4679.msg46959#msg46959)

Yes indeed I meant this sparks effect

About modifying the texture or the shader of the jump-pad to have the "metallic" color actually shown, I don't know exactly what to try. Do you have more clear indications? Or do you want to try it yourself?

I am not skilled enough in shaders to give it a try But I'm just here thinking about changing the color used for the effect, using silvery/grey and blue colors instead of yellow/blue.

[Akom74]

@Gig. It's possible for you to give us a "blank" version of the bounce ?
I mean a "movable texture" (like a TGA or PNG) to place on every texture we want ?

[Gig]

@Gig. It's possible for you to give us a "blank" version of the bounce ?
I mean a "movable texture" (like a TGA or PNG) to place on every texture we want ?

Just open the .psd file with Photoshop, remove the background layer (replace it with the texture you need) and "save as" tga file (I would suggest with compression enabled). Done!

If you don't have Photoshop, I think that GIMP can open .PSD files. But I fear it does not support all Photoshop blending options, so the result may somehow differ from the original.. however you can give it a try!

[Gig]

@Grosbedo: about the "metallic" grey color that is visible in the .jpg file but is not noticeable in the proper map (UDESTRUCTION BETA V8), I have just done a test, modifying the "q3map_lightimage" parameter of the shader: when you create a shader that emits light, you can use this parameter to specify the filename of the texture the compiler has to use to determine the color of the light the shader will emit (actual color will be the "average" of the texture colors, I think).

Version 8 of the map uses the "blinking" texture for the color, and the result is a green illumination of the area (walls and floor near to the jump-pad).
I've done a test using the "fixed" texture (the metallic one) instead: illumination of the area is somehow "white-ish" (nothing special), but I think the "metallic" color you liked (grey) is more preserved.

Take a look to the screenshots: what do you think?

[GrosBedo]

Sorry for the late reply Gig, I just saw your PM (you're right to PM me when I don't reply soon enough!).

Ah that's clever, thank's for the explanation! Indeed, the first green-ish screenshot is exactly what I saw in Udestruction, and your second screenshot is what I imagined! I feel like it's a lot more cleaner and "pro" looking. I like it a lot!

Maybe your textures and shaders may be included in the next version of OA?

[Gig]

I don't know if there are future plans for integrating OACMP stuff (maps, textures, etc.) into the main game. For the moment, let's finish the package, then we will ask Fromhell... However, I suppose I may post specific files to the svn commit thread.





About Akom's request of a transparent background version, here it is.
You can find a png preview here attached... For the .tga and the source (GPLv2), download the .zip file attached.


Note: my Photoshop did not save "Alpha channel" transparency when exporting to .tga format.
So I had to export to .png first, then open that file in GIMP and export to .tga from there.

Other files necessary to use this one as a shader are here:
http://digilander.iol.it/flagraiders/files/textures/boucepad1_by_gig_with_src.pk3

However, I haven't prepared an apposite .shader file for this one yet, so you will have to make your own version modifying the one you find in that package, specifying the right textures to load. Maybe you may want to add something like "blendfunc blend" to the first stage, and/or the "polygonoffset" parameter, if you want to use it as a decal?

---------------------

PS: I've added some extra effects to jumppad and accelerator pad in udestruction map... you will see them in beta9!  

[Neon_Knight]

I don't know if there are future plans for integrating OACMP stuff (maps, textures, etc.) into the main game. For the moment, let's finish the package, then we will ask Fromhell... However, I suppose I may post specific files to the svn commit thread.

If they want to do that, nothing stops people to post their stuff into the SVNC thread.

[Gig]

After doing some tests creating the shader, I realized the way I was trying had some flaws.

So, forget the file from this morning, and forget the idea about using it as a decal with polygonoffset (e.g. such attempts gave me "flickering player shadow" problems - however the image from this morning is still attached to the previous post, if you want to do your own tests with it). Unlike the file from this morning, only the external part is transparent, and the shader script adds a background.

Here it is the new pk3 file. It does not require the previous files.
http://digilander.iol.it/flagraiders/files/textures/boucepad1_by_gig_v1-2_with_src.pk3

It includes the previous version -with the light changed from green to grey- plus a version where I used the transparent background to easily make your own jumppad shader simply specifying a different background texture in the shader itself.
The result is very similar to my first bouncepad, although the outer part of the circe did not result exactly like the original one.

Attached here, you can find a png preview.... the tga is in the pk3 package.

[Akom74]

About Akom's request of a transparent background version, here it is.
You can find a png preview here attached... For the .tga and the source (GPLv2), download the .zip file attached.

Thank you so much my friend, i've make some try but i'm a totally noob with photoshop 

We all really need some new textures and graphic stuff for OA.

[Gig]

I forgot to mention a side effect of this flexible-background approach is that in the editor you don't see the actual background texture you chose.

We all really need some new textures and graphic stuff for OA.

I don't remember if all the jumppads you used in your OACMP1 maps look like the same or not...
However, if you want to use a jumppad different than the standard OA one in some of your maps, but still available out-of-the-box in OA (without the need to create your own textures/shaders), I think you might just use the jumppad that is used in wrackdm17 and some other stock OA maps (IIRC, it's cosmo_sfx/dm17_jpad); in oa_koth2 map, there is also a nice "floating sparks" effect above it (I think it's cosmo_sfx/pad_lums), that may be worth of being used in more maps.
(OT) Talking about oa_koth2 map, the "hand with floating ball" lights there are quite striking (suggestive?), maybe they may be used also in other maps.

[fromhell]

Maybe a mapmodel creation thread could be organized.  I could probably pull off some of them however it's probably up to me to do the statue ones because of the new style i'm heading for.

By the way i'd do something different about the spark effect, like a cleverly uvmapped MD3 that does a tcmod scroll with alphaGen wave saw to fade it out, or perhaps an entire jump pad modeled as a MD3 or ASE.  An animated modeled jumppad could take less texture usage than even a standard Q3 jumppad since the effects could be uvmapped using the same texture as the pad itself saving some switches. This is something I probably need to experiment with.

[Gig]

Sounds interesting.
I'd like to see a screenshot (or a video, or a demo map) when you will have such thing.