Hi I have what I think may be a nice base line to develop the desert mirage effect.
A while back I made an SDK using [func_smokevolume] for the purpose of making efficient rolling animated 3d ground fog. (Side note, It makes great clouds too, add a mover and they roll and flow across the sky much like real clouds.) It is an extremely versatile, resource efficient entity. I am adding a link to the source since [func_smokevolume] can be very tricky and frustrating to get looking nice. The water in the SDK eats resources, best not to use it with the smoke entity. The only reason its there is this fog was developed for a swamp map. It also displays how the smoke entity relates visually to a reflective surface. Once you see this you can see how its not a far stretch to make it look like a heat wave. You can download the ground fog SDK at; http://www.wf2dev.org/public/source_sdk/SDK_groundfog.zip Do with or redistribute as you see fit. I have added animated screen shots and the build log file so you dont have to go to any trouble to check it out quick. Some advice toward a refractive texture to apply to the material input would be nice. If there isnt already something suitable Ill look into making a refractive particle texture. Im not exactly sure what will be best till I can test my theories. Also with this entity it should be possible to tweak the setting so that it is only visible at a distance without the need to code for the distance rendering. Also, the movement is directional to get more a heat wave effect I suggest sending the movement strait up. I think the restricted view ground texture should be bump mapped, wet looked and reflective, and limited to a farther rendering distance then the smokevolume entity. Should only need to be 1 unit thick and raised 1 unit from the near view ground texture. I also think this approach to mirage may be better then some other options due to the fact it will affect everything dynamically (including players and models running through It.) adding to the realism. And it is 3D and adjustable. Important to note if you rescale it you will have to tweak the settings or it is likely to become invisible or look like a patchwork of clouds. Once I get the refraction down Ill post an updated SDK. If someone has a break through id like the info too. Hope this helps. TheMegolith _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlcoders
