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Solved Missing damage effects settings?

Merciless Mark

Merciless Mark

Build mod - Master Gunner
Storm Modder
Mmmm i seem to recall that back in the day when I created the CannonFX and also improved the impact effects that I added an option for more realistic damage effects, I.E just showers of wood splinters instead of barrels, crew and wood chunks flying everywhere.
But I can't seem to find that option anymore in the most recent builds?
 
I think this is what you're looking for from PROGRAM\InternalSettings.h:
Code: 
// ======================================
// LOG, LOOKS & EFFECTS:
// ======================================

#define SHIPHIT_PARTICLES                 3        // INT - The higher the setting the more effects (choose a lower setting if you get performance problems)
                                                // 0: Stock PotC (red-orange explosion on hit) 
                                                // 1: Minimal hit effects (small puffs of gray smoke)
                                                // 2: Recommended hit effects (puffs and splinters)
                                                // 3: Excessive hit debris effects (plumes of planks and barrels, water splashes, flashes and smoke - ship explosions extensive)
#define USE_PARTICLES                    2        // Sets the amount of effects in the Greenford's haunted Abbey and various other particle situations
                                                // 0: Off
                                                // 1: Few effects
                                                // 2: Full effects
It's all set to the highest setting by default already.
 
Bingo! Guess it was not where i remembered it! Cheers Pieter!
It was the realistic "Recommended" I was after. ;)
 
Hmmm someone has been tampering with Setting 2.

It no longer looks anything like I designed it, at all. :(
 
I can't remember anyone touching it, but it has been a long, long time. What's different then?
 
Everything, crew members flying, splinters that look like planks.
Not the subtle hailstorm of small splinters i originally created.
 
Well, when I am done people may not want to play on setting 3 anymore lol.

Decided to actually up the anti, restoring the small and medium splinters but quadroupling the amount and completely reworking the impact smoke puffs to be a bit more of an impressive smoke cloud of wood dust.(The Ambush in the beginning of the Master & Commander movie should give you an idea of what i'm trying for).

Also thinking about going in and beefing up my old CannonFX mod a bit.
I'm satisfied with the smoke, but I always felt the muzzle flashes left a bit to be desired, so we will see how it turns out.

Of course i'm not sure if it would be fit for inclusion in the build mod or best off as a standalone mod, since I am now working on a computer thats more than 10 times more powerful than the one I had back in 05. ;)
 
You're doing some work on this one again? That's GREAT! I sincerely doubt it would NOT be fit for inclusion.
Computers these days are better on average than they used to be and we have been working off of that assumption already.
Minimum system specs are definitely higher for New Horizons than for the unmodded game.
 
Glad to hear it. :)

But yeah, I was inspired.

A shame we can't have dynamic and local lighting in PoTC =/
 
Actually went back and tweaked the smoke a bit after all.

It now lingers twice as long as before! And as you might imagine with a couple of major fleets firing non stop you end up with a bit a battle fog!
I have also added a spin effect to make the cannon smoke a bit less static, so it now actually rolls out accross the battlefield.
And I have tweaked the velocity values to make the smoke puff out with a bit more force and carry a bit with more realistic momentum.

Will try to get some footage soon. :)

Btw, is there a known issue with the game being prone to random crashing when trasitioning into boarding, or when speeding up time? Or Is my particle play destabilising the game? :(
Crashes seem random, as they on occasion happen when i'm just fighting a sloop, while fighting a massive fleet of first, second and third rates seems to work just fine for me.
 
Merciless Mark said:
Btw, is there a known issue with the game being prone to random crashing when trasitioning into boarding, or when speeding up time? Or Is my particle play destabilising the game? :(
Crashes seem random, as they on occasion happen when i'm just fighting a sloop, while fighting a massive fleet of first, second and third rates seems to work just fine for me.
Click to expand...
I hope Hylie gets to see this question; he's been playing the game a lot and should be able to say more on that.
 
These tweaks sound very interesting! I can't wait to see the effects in action. :keith
 
Been gone for a couple of days and just got back late last night. Death and taxes. Death and taxes. This time it's taxes and I'm not finished yet.

This sounds like a good mod and I am looking forward to playing it. I play POTC most every day and have been for over three years. The only thing that bothers me is the extended smoke. Ships like the caravel, carrack, light pinnace and light fluyt with their rapid fire 6 pounders already have to wait until the smoke clears before they can fire the next salvo. Ya can't shoot at what ya can't see. This is not a big problem with the big ships and their slow firing cannons.
This problem is made worse because most battles are fought with wind speeds around 5 knots and the ships moving at 0.6 knots.
Another issue is that the smoke can cause FPS drops of 15-30 fps if the quality settings are too high. I likes em maxxed. Is the smoke too hirez?
 
Well the extended smoke is about reaching for the realism of ancient artillery battles, thats been my ultimate goal ever since i created the original version back around 05/06.

And the smoke buildup from extensive firing, really did cause poor visibility in the age of sail.
There is a reason after all why smokeless gunpowder was invented, though the first formula's did not begin to appear until the later half of the 19th century.

But as for the technical bits, the smoke still has the same low resolution textures as before, around 128x128.
But there is now "more" of it on screen as it now lingers longer.
 
I know the game tends to lag when the camera is close to the particles. Why, I do not know. There isn't MORE of it on screen in that case, but it IS slower.
Have you sailed the cursed Black Pearl recently with her trailing fog? Same effect. I had to reduce the amount of fog when you switch to 1st person camera mode.
 
All it takes is the smoke from your own ship to keep you from firing. Or do you fight in 3rd person? Doing that allows one to see just fine, but in 1st person one has to wait until the smoke clears before firing again. It is not fog, it is a whiteout.

This isn't a very good screenie to illustrate this, but it is all I have now. Do it and I will play it.
smoking.jpg
 
Well the smoke is Grey now, but you do have a Grey out, and again, it has to do with realism.
Gunnery in the age of sail, especially where many guns are concerned, was often about making the best guess and hoping you hit the target.
You can fight in third person if you wish, or you could take a chance with manual aim and fire where you think your target might be, based on the heading and speed you remember.

Btw, you might also want to check your engine.ini to see wether or not your running in 16-bit color mode.

16-bit: D3DFMT_R5G6B5
32-bit: D3DFMT_X8R8G8B8

16-bit mode will cause a serious performance hit with particle effects.
 
I never knew that. In any case, looks like my engine.ini IS 32-bit and so should everybody else's because I've got engine.ini included in the modpack download now.
With that, I still get a massive performance issue when the camera is very close to the particles.
It appears like the amount of particles doesn't cause the trouble, but the proximity to the camera somehow does.
 
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