Explosion effects (AKA we need Michael Bay)

[Ckeeze]

So I mean we need explosion graphics (there is nothing to do here with "effect" blocks)
My main reason: Space combat is incredibly ugly, there are only blocks dissapiering and numbers popping up, wich is NOT OKAY in a space game, everyone expects "Pews" and "Booms" when it comes to space combat.
What is my suggestions:
There is no need for high-end graphical effects I think a symple "flash" or yellowish "Boom" is more than enough.
-The explosion needs to scale with it's damage
-it needs to be bright (like a mini star) so it's observable from great distances
-There needs to be a bigger explosion for core overheats
-There should be bigger muzzle flash for cannons
-The cannon shots themselves could use some rework (maybe make them slightly more brighter)
-The new effects should not couse any major FPS loss (wich is why they need to be basic, but in my opinion they need to EXIST even in a basic form)

This will greatly increase immersion while fighting, seeing some basic but visible "Bangs" while I'm punishing an enemy battlecruiser would be really great!

P.E.: I did not check if there are similar suggestions, I'm sorry if this kinda seems like a repost. I also did not look in depth to the weapons update so if this is already in motion, again i'm sorry for time wasting, but this needs to happen soon. I understand this is an early acces game but the biggest "well that's lame" moments i had was not caused by any bug, any inconvinience, nor any glitch. It was coused by the lack of explosions when i blew up stuff for the first time.

 

[MacThule]

It would be pretty cool if the point of impact had a brief flare effect or something simple like that.

 

[Equilibrium21]

Weapon effects look much better in the dev build, but I agree that there needs to be some kind of effect at the point of impact.

 

[Captain Fortius]

This proposed impact effect could inherit the color of whatever projectile triggered it.

Red missile? Red boom. Blue shell? Blue splash. Green laser? Green flash.

And since we're talking effects, engine trails anyone?

Edit:

Op, try an older build too! The current live version muzzle flashes are actually improvements over the classic ones!
I used to cover up my output blocks just to hide them!

 

[NTIMESc]

For me, there are explosions for the pistol, cannons, and missiles. But they are very tiny, and appear in the center of the block they hit, which obscures most of the effect. Also, they seem to fade out pretty quick, so if you're not point blank they aren't even noticeable.
Fiddling with the explosion vertex shader I got them out of the block center, so they can be easily seen.

 

[Ckeeze]

For me, there are explosions for the pistol, cannons, and missiles. But they are very tiny, and appear in the center of the block they hit, which obscures most of the effect. Also, they seem to fade out pretty quick, so if you're not point blank they aren't even noticeable.
Fiddling with the explosion vertex shader I got them out of the block center, so they can be easily seen.

So there WERE explosions all this time? They just made them small and invisible? WHY!? What's the point?

 

[PromisedPossum]

Fiddling with the explosion vertex shader I got them out of the block center, so they can be easily seen.

Ok, how can I reproduce this? Just by adjusting menu options? Seriously!?!

 

[Ckeeze]

Is there a way to adjust their size?
hmn... actually does anyone knows of a mod for these type of things?

 

[NTIMESc]

Ok, how can I reproduce this? Just by adjusting menu options? Seriously!?!

Sorry, no menu options for this. You have to edit a shader file (text file with C-style code).
I think this explosion shader was added pretty recently so it's might be a waste of time to mess with as it's probably being worked on.

Spoiler: If you just want to fiddle around with it and probably break something...

The explosion shader files are in StarMade/data/shader/explosion.
In explosion.glsl.frag I changed line 77 to this:
float exp_depth = texture2D(depthTex, gl_FragCoord.xy/viewport).z*1.05;
In explosion.glsl.vert I changed line 45 to this:
viewPos = (gl_ModelViewMatrix * vec4(gl_Vertex.xyz, 1.0))+vec4(0.0, 0.0, 1.5, 0.0);
The part in green is all I added.

 

[Ckeeze]

Sorry, no menu options for this. You have to edit a shader file (text file with C-style code).
I think this explosion shader was added pretty recently so it's might be a waste of time to mess with as it's probably being worked on.

Spoiler: If you just want to fiddle around with it and probably break something...

The explosion shader files are in StarMade/data/shader/explosion.
In explosion.glsl.frag I changed line 77 to this:
float exp_depth = texture2D(depthTex, gl_FragCoord.xy/viewport).z*1.05;
In explosion.glsl.vert I changed line 45 to this:
viewPos = (gl_ModelViewMatrix * vec4(gl_Vertex.xyz, 1.0))+vec4(0.0, 0.0, 1.5, 0.0);
The part in green is all I added.

Thank you!

 

[NTIMESc]

Sorry, but I just realized that the OP probably was referring to the current release. I think I saw "dev build" in the third post and assumed that for the OP too.
The fiddling I was doing was in the current dev builds. Many of the updated shaders are not in the current release, including the newer explosion one, which I think showed up in 0.201.017.

 

[Ckeeze]

I saw this on a 5 months old inactive dead thread, but I think they had a solid idea aswell! what do you think?

The new effect for thruster plumes, muzzle flashes and beacons is perfect for explosions.

(*no acutal ingame footage)
Once a block get's destroyed it emits a small glow, additionaly to the already present debris parts.
Due to the nature of this effect the glows add up to big explosions like when a missile takes out a big chunk of armor.

The mechanics for this are already there and it would add another portion of good spice to the visual gameplay


Ingame test using beacons:

Spoiler

 

[MacThule]

I saw this on a 5 months old inactive dead thread, but I think they had a solid idea aswell! what do you think?

That's exactly what I meant by flares. We use them for stars, for beacons, thrust plumes and more. I think that sprite explosions are cool, but they should be accompanied by or replaced with flaring that will show at distance. So when a ship eats a missile broadside, hard, it will be lit up like Christmas tree for a couple of seconds and all who witness it will cringe. XD