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iPhone Rocket App [Was: Starting a new iPhone game, doc...]

Discussion in 'Made With Unity' started by tinrocket, Nov 6, 2009.

  1. tinrocket

    tinrocket

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2009
    Posts:
    63
    Anyone mind if I document the development of my new game in this thread? I've learned much after shipping my first game this past August and, after a short break, have planned a different tack this time around, with the main changes being:

    1) A shorter development cycle
    2) A game that requires less performance tuning and gameplay balancing than my last game.
    3) A game that looks like it's FULL OF AWESOME -- maybe an 'instant buy' if seen in the App Store. Rockets seemed like a safe choice.

    I'll post more on the gameplay later, but for now, these are the first screenshots. The rocket model is stock model and just a placeholder. The main focus so far has been getting realistic particle effects for the rocket exhaust, which I think I've got. The recent Ares launch has provide a lot of inspiration and a ton of reference imagery.

    November 5th:


    November 6th:


     
  2. Poita_

    Poita_

    Joined:
    Dec 18, 2008
    Posts:
    146
    Should probably go in the announcements or showcase forums.

    That particle effect is pretty damn nice though :)
     
  3. tinrocket

    tinrocket

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2009
    Posts:
    63
    I have completed a first test of the launch animation. The rocket goes from launch to orbit in around a minute.

    YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7b_OEfoRgE



    (I had to write a program to make the above contact sheet from quicktime movies.)
     
  4. Der Dude

    Der Dude

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2006
    Posts:
    213
    Wow! That particle effect just blows my mind!

    I'd love to see it in Full-Screen!
     
  5. Ony

    Ony

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2009
    Posts:
    1,977
    Awesome work on the particles. I love it.
     
  6. tinrocket

    tinrocket

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2009
    Posts:
    63
    Second test animation showing launch to orbit. (Time-compressed to 1 minute). The focus of this round of changes was to add more light atmosphere effects.

    The sequence begins with bright daylight and then proceeds through haze, and then finally ends in a zero atmosphere environment. I wrote a shader with special blend modes to achieve these effects.

    Everything runs smoothly on my 3GS device; have not tested other devices yet. Animation is captured from the Unity iPhone IDE:

    http://vimeo.com/7511513
    [UPDATE: Much higher quality Vimeo version]

    The next bit of work is for multi-stage rocket sequences: Lower rocket stages burnout, drop off and then upper stages start their burn. Trying to squeeze in as much work as I can before the weekend is up... :)

     
  7. Marv

    Marv

    Joined:
    May 26, 2009
    Posts:
    85
    Looks amazing, especially since it's running on the iPhone.

    I'd love to see a high detailed version for PC. Kind of an interactive take-off viewer for real launches.
     
  8. tinrocket

    tinrocket

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2009
    Posts:
    63
    Third test animation, from launch to "launch anomaly". (The launch vehicle is unmanned.)

    Framerate is super-smooth on the iPhone 3GS, but on the 1G it's about 1 frame every 4 seconds. :twisted: I don't think I'm going to spend too much time trying to support this device, though.

    The explosion animation is still a work-in-progress. The launch pad environment is just a photo that's been matched to the 3d scene.

    http://www.vimeo.com/7769719

     
  9. tinrocket

    tinrocket

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2009
    Posts:
    63
    This is the new (probably final) rocket model:



    This is an editor screenshot of the particles, post-explosion (atmospheric). It's two particle system's working together: a system of one-shot, falling particles, that have a prefab smoke generator system attached to each particle.

     
  10. projektlounge

    projektlounge

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2009
    Posts:
    9
    Hey thats very amazing quality.

    I need this kind of effect for a missile animation in a "birdview" perspective, not so advanced and perfect.

    Could give a hint on the Settings of the Particle Engine?
    I tried alot of settings but none gave me a good result.

    My main problem ist the speed and the spread ...
     
  11. tinrocket

    tinrocket

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2009
    Posts:
    63
    Thanks. It's really a matter of spending mind-numbing hours tweaking the parameters, and also watching lots of YouTube videos of rockets. :eek:

    Parameter's effect one another in different ways: Param A could be 1.0 and Param B could be 0.0 and it looks great. Flip some values around: Param A = 0.0 and Param B = 1.0 and it looks great in a different way. Continue to flip values around: Param A = 0.0 and Param B = .9 -- a small change, and it looks terrible. :oops:

    It's really a matter of eye-balling it.

    John