Tutorial - Understanding The Arccaster

[SleepKiller]

Today folks I am going to take you step by step through the arccaster's lightning effect. (Note I do not fully understand it myself. But I will do my best.)

LightningBolt("arccaster_lightning")
{
   Texture("arccaster_lightning");
   Width(0.5);
   FadeTime(0.6);
   BreakDistance(1.0);
   SpreadFactor(0.8);
   InterpolationSpeed(5.0);
   MaxBranches(3);
   NumChildren(3);
   BranchFactor(0.15);
   ChildWidth(0.4);
   ChildTextureSize(2.0);
   ChildSpreadFactor(1.0);
   TextureSize(3.5);
   Color(130,170,255,250);
   ChildColor(140,180,255,100);
}

LightningBolt("arccaster_lightning")
This line defines the name of the effect that you will call in the ODF.

Texture("arccaster_lightning");
This line defines the name of the texture(.tga file) that will be used when rendering the lightning in-game.

Width(0.5);
The width of the main lightning bolt(s).

FadeTime(0.6);
The time it takes for the lightning to fade. In seconds.

BreakDistance(1.0);
The distance at which the lightning splits apart. Set to a high value like 300 to get a single main bolt.

SpreadFactor(0.8);
The spread factor of the lightning.

InterpolationSpeed(5.0);
Heh, there are several meanings for the word Interpolation. I am not entirely sure which one it refers to, and since I have never needed mess with this setting I would just advise leaving it be.

MaxBranches(3);
The highest number of branches(bolts) the lightning can have.

NumChildren(3);
The highest number of children the lighting can have? It seems to do nothing when messed with.
BranchFactor(0.15);
The branch factor of the lighting.

ChildWidth(0.4);
The width of the children, I do beleive these are the tiny ones that flicker really quickly.

ChildTextureSize(2.0);
How much to scale the texture by for the small bolts when rendering.

ChildSpreadFactor(1.0);
The spread factor of the children.

TextureSize(3.5);
The scale amount for the texture of the lightning.

Color(130,170,255,250);
Colour of the lightning in RGBA use 255 on each value to just use the textures colours.

ChildColor(140,180,255,100);
Same as above only for the smaller bolts.

[Sereja]

Interesting! Maybe, you also know, how to decrease damage of arccaster? For example, I can't decrease it to much more low, then this parameters, or it just stop to make damage at all:

Code Select Expand

Damage = "80"
MaxDamage = "110"