This video has a pretty crappy framrate...sorry 'bout that. I'm just tryin' to get some feedback [grin]. The screenshots don't really do this type of thing justice.
Video preview:
Video download.
http://www.radioactive-software.com/gangwar/water/water_early.avi
It's basicly a grid deformed in real time, with two EBMs for the ripples, also an indexed Fresnel map for the surface color of the water. I wish I had the time to take in all this stuff and REALLY know it....but right now getting it in-game was my main priority.
The environmental bump mapping uses a static cube map so the hilights/reflections don't really match up. I'm going to eventually just generate a cube map of the environment every few frames....and use it for the vehicle reflections, and now for the water as well. It all should look a lot better once I get around to that.
I'll do it sooner than later if it's too obvious, check out these screenshots and let me know what you think...I could probably get better results with the reflctions if I keep tweaking the cube map as well...I'll get on that tommorow.
I don't know...right now it seems like it's "too good" for the game lol. I dunno, let me know if you think it stands out. I think one issue is the mismatched reflections, also the water doesn't receive shadows right now...nor is it affected by the fog of war...I think that might be another reason it looks out of place.
On to the screenshots.....
//I swear if anyone makes a joke about a hurricane....
//I was planning on adding beaches to the game, instead I think I'll just stick with a river.
//A un-textured prototype of a bridge that could be in the game...
//Screenshot of the ragdolls, and droppable 'items'
//Early sunset accross the river.
Ah..I'm tired as hell now though. I'll have another update soon, with more progress. Let me know what you guys think of this water!
- Dan
also everytime I was looking through your journal I worried a bit of how natural/realistic you could make the city, so that you've really got the feeling of being in a living city with all the action going around and stuff. somehow the video showed that you did a great job, I think especially the helicopters give a feeling of being in a real city.