Warzone 2100 Forums

Ok. Currently, the laser firing looks like this. the beam is moving like a projectile.

Don't you think it will be better if the laser beam appear instantly altogether rather than move that way when it is fired?

I with you agree. Light can't slowly move. That that is represented on a screenshot - looks as a plasma bunch.
Hi-Energy Laser (blue or violet) should look approximately here so: Also.
In an ideal should be so:
The first laser - red color.
The second (the first upgrade) - green color.
The third (an upgrade...) - blue.
And last (most powerful) short wave - violet.

I think we all agree. The problem is finding someone who has time to do it.

I WANT IT PURR-PLE!
Don't know how to do it. I'd like to help

Does there absolutely have to be a visible beam at all?

JakeGrey wrote:Does there absolutely have to be a visible beam at all?

There never has to be but it would not look right just seeing tanks blow up and lose health. There should be some visible projectile/blast IMO.

Rays will be always visible. Because a battle-field not sterile. (In air soar a dust/smoke/fog and other)

Full support from my side!

I suspect the reason lasers in WZ look the way they do is because the game largely deals with projectiles. And not just for show, things like trajectories, terrain, etc. matter. It's understandable from a developer's point of view that, when you've made 30 types of projectiles (from miniguns to ripples) and start designing a laser weapon, you add another projectile and try to make it look roughly laser-like instead of coding a new weapon type from scratch.

If you ask me, lasers should look like what DRAAK suggested. Firstly, because this is what you think when you hear "laser". Secondly, make lasers invisible and brace for waves of "bug reports" and complaints saying "my units lose health all of a sudden WHY?!?!"

Mind you, I'm perfectly fine with how they look now. I'd rather not distract our precious dev team from dealing with more substantial problems.

For now the laser beam will be like projectiles...like in SW!

Of course laser beams are visible when in the earth's atmosphere.

It's not very realistic that you can see the beam from a flashlight, and it's even less realistic that a flashlight can destroy a huge tank. (Have you ever tried shining a flashlight at a tank? Trust me, it doesn't usually help, and might just get the driver's attention.)

A laser capable of actually cutting through something ought to be visible, though...

http://www.gadgettastic.com/2008/01/11/ ... ing-laser/

(Note the reflection of the beam on the table, suggesting the picture is real. I saw a real laser beam, they said not to stick your finger in, that it would be very hard to clean the smoke off the mirrors. The whole room looked as if it was lit up in some kind of weird holographic spotty green interference pattern.)

LZ compromised wrote:If you ask me, lasers should look like what DRAAK suggested. Firstly, because this is what you think when you hear "laser". Secondly, make lasers invisible and brace for waves of "bug reports" and complaints saying "my units lose health all of a sudden WHY?!?!"

What about some kind of glow-effect from the laser weapon itself, like the barrel was getting hot?

JakeGrey, What? Simply beams look very beautifully!



Also.

DRAAK I would like to compliment you to say that you are a VERY good graphics design artist, at least with photoshopping things That is the best animated gif i've seen as far as quality goes.... if i did not know I would think it was APNG.

Well as far as colors go, realism can and should be sacrificed in favor of visual clarity. When you see a laser in a fight, you want to be able to tell what unit it's coming from without a moment's thought.

So, red for commanders (as suggested by cinematics after Alpha 5), blue for flashlights, green for pulse lasers and, um, purple (?) for heavy lasers.