FuhQuake

fuh · Almighty King Joined: 07 Sep 2002 Posts: 2086

FuhQuake v0.27 contains awesome new particle effects driven by the QMB particle engine. The new particle effects are visually stunning without having a significant impact on FPS when running on modern hardware. What's more is that these new particle effects are 100% customisable and even optional so that the FPS-concerned player can still use the classical particle system.

Version 0.27 is not yet released, but you can take a glimpse at what is to come by looking at the particle engine screenshots at the screenshots page. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge.

FuhQuake v0.27 should be released within 72 hours. The screenshots should keep you satisfied until then!

Pace · Joined: 07 Sep 2002 Posts: 51 Location: Australia

Luke · Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Posts: 408

Is there a shader like scripting language for changing how things look, or does it require changes to the engine code?

Quake really needed a new particle system, and I think that any graphical improvements that can be made without a significant FPS hit should find their way into Quake.

Decals would also add to the detail of the game, and they are easy to make customisble. Decals are needed blood effects (see Half-Life's directional blood splattering), and for making the weapons look more deadly.

6 months ago, I was playing mqwcl with everything turned off. Now I have a new computer, and I run FuhQuake with all of the detail eye candy settings cranked to the max.

My concerns with the new particle system are:

1. shotgun: It is important to be able to tell which pellets missed and which pellets hit.

2. grenade/rocket: The explosion for both the grenade and the rocket looks kind of weak.

3. blood: The blood should be affected by gravity correctly, it currently looks too much like red smoke. See Half-Life and Quake3 for good blood effects.

4. lightning: It needs a new effect, but serious players will only use it if the new effect keeps the directionality of the original effect. It has to look like lightning, but it still needs to be straight enough to aim with.

twisted · Joined: 08 Sep 2002 Posts: 96 Location: china

1. Shotgun now accurately reflects the radius of the pellets.

2. They do not look weak.

3. Blood has been tweaked since fuh released that beta and it now falls faster and more random, you can't see that in the screenshots.

4. ok!

Guest · Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2003 3:14 am Post subject:

regarding lightning: I like the effect of the link gun in ut2k3. Wouldn't change much but would look really neat

def · Joined: 01 Nov 2002 Posts: 70

It should be noted that the particle engine of version 0.27 is a heavilly modified version of the QMB particle engine, so do not rush to judgement until you see it with your own eyes when it comes out very soon.

Luke · Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Posts: 408

Don't get me wrong, I think these new particle system is "the right thing" with regards to improving Quake's graphics engine, just as the Quakeworld protocol was the right thing with regards to improving Quake's network code. Of course, Quakeworld also tweaked the gameplay gradually over a 2 year process... and I agree with those improvements too, but thats another story.

I can't wait to see the official release of the particle system, and I hope that all serious Quake players comment on ways to improve and tweak the effects, simply because: if it is as easy to tweak as everyone says, then it should be tweaked to perfection.

From what I could tell from the unofficial release and the screenshots above, I will be using the new particle system when I play, the second it is officially released.

Luke · Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Posts: 408

Another question, is it possible to have an expanding translucent hemisphere effect expand quickly from the center of a grenade or rocket explosion? I like the explosions in the screenshots, but I think it would look cool if a small shockwave effect spread outwards from the center of the explosion to the extent of the splash damage radius.

Another question, since I can't wait to see the official release is, is the lightning burned blood effect distinguishable from the blood effect?

It is important to be able to tell when your opponent is getting hit by your lightning gun, and not by another player's shotgun, for example. The dark burned blood or whatever it was originally supposed to look like was very helpful. After playing the unofficial release, it was hard to tell the difference between the blood effect and the burned blood effect.

fuh · Almighty King Joined: 07 Sep 2002 Posts: 2086

lightning blood is easy to distinguish from other blood in 0.27.