Deformable terrain

Doug97 · Post by **Doug97** » 2005-08-12 18:15

I think it's obvious how cool it would be to destroy buildings, create deep shell craters, leave deep tank tracks etc. I'm pretty sure this would be impossible to implement in a mere mod, but I thought I'd mention it simply because it would be so awesome if it could be done.

For destructible buildings, you wouldn't necessarily have to have realistic physics. A compromise might be to have models for each building in increasing states of disrepair, and link which model was displayed to how many 'hit points' the building has left (a bit like in RTS games, where your base is under attack and it gets progressively more damaged).

It would be great to be in an urban map and see the city getting pounded into rubble all around you as arty rains down and tank shells fly everywhere; the whole map would change as the round progressed.

(BTW I did a search for deformable terrain and there didn't appear to be any threads for the idea ...)

CobraPhantom · Post by **CobraPhantom** » 2005-08-12 18:35

Yup, Id like to speak for everyone when I say it would be awesome to have a fully destructable evironment. It can be done, but the more it is, the more lag/bugs will appear.

DC added a crater for where the SCUD hit, didnt look to real but at least they tried.

Pak · Post by **Pak** » 2005-08-12 18:41

I don't think it could be done. Most games have to have special engines to support changing the mesh. I'm sure it could be possible to do something like fear, where each bullet hole is a big bump mapped decal that looks like a hole in the wall. But that wouldn't change the battlefield at all.

Doug97 · Post by **Doug97** » 2005-08-12 19:15

Pak wrote:I don't think it could be done. Most games have to have special engines to support changing the mesh. I'm sure it could be possible to do something like fear, where each bullet hole is a big bump mapped decal that looks like a hole in the wall. But that wouldn't change the battlefield at all.

Hmm, that's what I thought. Having destructible buildings doesn't require changing the mesh, though.

Pak · Post by **Pak** » 2005-08-12 19:27

It may not, it depends on how dice set up the buildings, as objects, or as part of the same mesh. Since they're most likely seperate objects, you could have 3 or 4 objects at varying levels of disrepair, and have some sort of script to swap them in game when a building is hit by so many explosions. It would be work intensive, and may seem cheesy when a building just suddenly changes in game, but it could probably be done.

CobraPhantom · Post by **CobraPhantom** » 2005-08-12 19:42

It was done in Action Battlefield for BF42, but Im not sure if it can be related in BF2

Doug97 · Post by **Doug97** » 2005-08-12 19:44

CobraPhantom wrote:It was done in Action Battlefield for BF42, but Im not sure if it can be related in BF2

Can you say how it worked? How good did it look?

TerribleOne · Post by **TerribleOne** » 2005-08-12 19:45

The engine for allmost all of them requests is not a major factor. the mapper determines how the map is played and reactis with entitys inside it.
The only reason this is not done in game is for one obvious reason. Lag.
Such a complex sysetm would be too much for any of todays computors to run it in any playable form.

Figisaacnewton · Post by **Figisaacnewton** » 2005-08-12 21:03

It is possible to make more buildings destroyable, you just have to find a non laggy way to do it. If you had a simple map of lots of canyons and non changing things, with a small city in the middle, you might be able to get all the buildings to be destructable..

as far as deformable terrain... no way... i don't think its possible at all.

POE for BFV did have static crater models that would appear after bombs had been dropped though, and they looked pretty good. Maybe we could do that.

CobraPhantom · Post by **CobraPhantom** » 2005-08-12 21:11

Heres a vid I found of Action Battllefield that demonstrates it. Nothing special but still pretty cool

http://battlefield2.filefront.com/file/ ... view;19953

GABBA · Post by **GABBA** » 2005-08-12 21:32

I would like to see something like farcry.....you throw a grenade and then theres a crater where the nade exploded....but instead with walls' and other random ****.

Figisaacnewton · Post by **Figisaacnewton** » 2005-08-12 23:58

only deformable stuff we have seen in 42 is this simple:

static model takes damage: turns into another static model.

FH barbwire, POE doors infront of caves and tunnels, etc

BF2 we actually have the pieces of the thing flying away, so you'd need to break every building apart into desrtuctible pieces, having one entire building explode or implode even close to realistically (like, it could explode differently depending on how it is attacked) would probably crash the server, unless you could really simplify the system...

and deforming terrain is impossible in bf engines, i am 99% sure of it. there is simpley no way to tell the map to change.

the only way to do it would be to make the ground out of numerous 'craterable' models that look like the ground but turn into craters when they take enough damage. i was thinking FH could do something like that for thier new omaha beach map, but it would be wierd having that only work on the beach and not in other places...

and about tank tracks... here is my idea: in bfv, the effects for helis being near ground or water worked like this:

invisible box falls from the tip of the rotor blad mesh, when it hits the ground, it makes an effect like water being blown around, or whatever

perhaps tanks could do something similar with 2d track markings that change depending on what terrain they are on, having the invisible boxes falling out of the tracks or something.

Super6 · Post by **Super6** » 2005-08-13 01:02

that vid was pretty sweet but you could see the crack in the building and that's how we knew where to stand

GruntyThrst · Post by **GruntyThrst** » 2005-08-13 03:36

From what I've heard, BF2 has near fully destructable enviroments, but EA doesn't have them ingame because they didn't want people to be blowing up buildings instead of actually playing. Also, one can imagine the lag it may cause.

I also heard that modders can unlock this feature.

Of course, it may just be gossip.

worst 3 · Post by **worst 3** » 2005-08-14 14:42

it would be cool to do it for every thing but if they could do if for some things i would say trees and stuf i hate geting coaught on a little twig of a tree in a 60 ton tank.

Doug97 · Post by **Doug97** » 2005-08-15 15:56

worst 3 wrote:it would be cool to do it for every thing but if they could do if for some things i would say trees and stuf i hate geting coaught on a little twig of a tree in a 60 ton tank.

Now THAT'S a good idea!