The Sunspire - how were the transparent walls done?

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Xfing
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The Sunspire - how were the transparent walls done?

Post by Xfing »

What it says on the can. I tried opening the level in the editor to see, but I didn't see any custom textures displayed. So how were the see-through dark glass panes done? That's an amazing effect.
Descent 1,5: Level layouts done: 52/54 Secret level layouts done: 1/6
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Re: The Sunspire - how were the transparent walls done?

Post by Alter-Fox »

There's a feature in Descent's engine but unused by Parallax called "cloaked walls" I think. It essentially removes the texture from the wall and makes it partially transparent like a cloaked bot.
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Re: The Sunspire - how were the transparent walls done?

Post by Sirius »

Yeah, that was the one. It's the only way to do partial transparency in standard D2 levels. XL, as we all know, supports alpha, but that wasn't an option for TEW.
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Re: The Sunspire - how were the transparent walls done?

Post by Alter-Fox »

I think it renders the wall the same way it renders a cloaked ship or robot...
but you'd have to look at the code to be sure.
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Re: The Sunspire - how were the transparent walls done?

Post by Xfing »

Pretty damn sweet.
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Re: The Sunspire - how were the transparent walls done?

Post by LightWolf »

I tried using that once, but had to switch to a forcefield bridge when I couldn't tell it was there (even in 80-something percent cloak)
You can do this with a 100% cloak to get a solid black wall, or 0% cloak to get a completely transparent, yet not shoot-through-able, wall.
Whatever I just said, I hope you understood it correctly. Understood what I meant, I mean.
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