View source for DPS905 Kaitlyn ParticleEffects

 **************************************************************************************************
 **   Particles                                                                                   *
 **************************************************************************************************
 *    April 2011
 *    By Kaitlyn Callow ( KaitlynCallow.com | dacallow@learn.senecac.on.ca )
 *    For DPS905, Professor Chris Szalwinski
 **************************************************************************************************

[[Image:Kaitlyn_particles_April2011_v01.jpg]]


Contents:
* [[#installation|[A] INSTALLATION]]
* [[#using|[B] HOW TO USE]]


<div id="installation"></div>

==[A] - INSTALLATION==


1) Add the following files to your project:

* [http://matrix.senecac.on.ca/~dacallow/DPS905/Particle.cpp Particle.cpp]
* [http://matrix.senecac.on.ca/~dacallow/DPS905/Particle.h Particle.h]
* [http://matrix.senecac.on.ca/~dacallow/DPS905/ParticleGenerator.cpp ParticleGenerator.cpp]
* [http://matrix.senecac.on.ca/~dacallow/DPS905/ParticleGenerator.h ParticleGenerator.h]
* [http://matrix.senecac.on.ca/~dacallow/DPS905/ParticleVertexList.cpp ParticleVertexList.cpp]
* [http://matrix.senecac.on.ca/~dacallow/DPS905/ParticleVertexList.h ParticleVertexList.h]
* Optionally, you can get a simple texture for you to try making particle effects with here: [http://matrix.senecac.on.ca/~dacallow/DPS905/bubble.tga bubble.tga]



2) Append onto the bottom of your existing Effects.fx file the contents of the following file:

* [http://matrix.senecac.on.ca/~dacallow/DPS905/effects.fx Effects.fx]



3) Modify iObject.h:

* Add to Class iObject...

  //added for particle effects / animations
  virtual void update(int now) = 0;

* At the bottom of the file iObject.h add...

 extern "C"
 iObject* CreateParticleGenerator(float _generatorlifespan, float _particlelifespan, float _particlespawnrate, float _spawnpositiondispersion,
 float _theta, float _startingspeed, Colour _startcolour, Colour _endcolour, float _frequencycolour, float _startsize,
 float _endsize, float _frequencysize, Vector _startgravity, Vector _endgravity, float _frequencygravityvertical,
 float _frequencygravityhorizontal, float _startalpha, float _endalpha, float _frequencyalpha, Colour* c, float* p);



4) Modify Object.h

* Add to Class Object...

 void update(int now) { /* do nothing, added for particle effects & animations */ }



5) Modify Display.cpp

* Add an include at the top..

 #include "ParticleVertexList.h" // for access to ParticleVertexList::connectDevice()


* Then add inside of the method: bool Display::setup(void* hwnd)

near line 360 (beneath the comment "// setup successful") add...
 ParticleVertex::device = d3dd;
 ParticleVertexList::connectDevice(d3dd);



6) Modify Configuration.h

* Adding into the existing typedef enum Category (line 375) a new type of:

 PARTICLES



7) Modify Object.cpp

* Updating the Object::Object(category, colour, iGraphic*, int, int) method..

Change from..
 // store reflectivity, shininess, and texture pointers
 material = new Colour[nSubsets];
 shine    = new float[nSubsets];
 texture  = new iTexture**[nSubsets];
 for (int i = 0; i < nSubsets; i++) {
   material[i] = c[i];
   if (p && p[i])
     shine[i] = p[i];
   else
     shine[i] = DEFAULT_SHININESS;
   if (material[i].a != 1.0f)
     category = TRANSLUCENT_OBJECT;
   texture[i] = new iTexture*[nStages];
   for (int j = 0; j < nStages; j++)
     texture[i][j] = NULL;
 }

And change it to..:
 // store reflectivity, shininess, and texture pointers
 material = new Colour[nSubsets];
 shine    = new float[nSubsets];
 texture  = new iTexture**[nSubsets];
 for (int i = 0; i < nSubsets; i++) {
   material[i] = c[i];
   if (p && p[i])
     shine[i] = p[i];
   else
     shine[i] = DEFAULT_SHININESS;
   if (material[i].a != 1.0f '''&& category != PARTICLES''')
     category = TRANSLUCENT_OBJECT;
   texture[i] = new iTexture*[nStages];
   for (int j = 0; j < nStages; j++)
     texture[i][j] = NULL;
 }



8) Modify DeviceTexture.cpp

* Inside the method ( void DeviceTexture::create(iScene* scene, const Matrix& view, const Matrix& projection, const Vector& viewpoint) )
Near line 190...

Change from:
 d3dd->BeginScene();
 scene->draw(SKYBOX);
 scene->draw(OPAQUE_OBJECT);   
 scene->draw(TRANSLUCENT_OBJECT);
 d3dd->EndScene();

And change it to..:
 d3dd->BeginScene();
 scene->draw(SKYBOX);
 scene->draw(OPAQUE_OBJECT);   
 scene->draw(TRANSLUCENT_OBJECT);
 '''scene->draw(PARTICLES);'''
 d3dd->EndScene();



9) Modify Design.cpp

* Modify void Design::draw()

Changing from:
 scene->draw(MIRROR);
 scene->draw(SKYBOX);
 scene->draw(OPAQUE_OBJECT);
 scene->draw(TRANSLUCENT_OBJECT);
 hud->draw(HUD_ALPHA);

Changing to:
 scene->draw(MIRROR);
 scene->draw(SKYBOX);
 scene->draw(OPAQUE_OBJECT);
 scene->draw(TRANSLUCENT_OBJECT);
 '''scene->draw(PARTICLES);'''
 hud->draw(HUD_ALPHA);



10) Modify iVertexList.h

* Add to Class iVertexList

 virtual void clear() = 0;

* Add to the bottom of the file iVertexList.h

 extern "C"
 iVertexList* CreateParticleVertexList(PrimitiveType t, int np, bool flip = false);



11) Modify VertexList.h

* Add to Class VertexList

 void clear() {nVertices = 0;} /* added for particle effects */

* At the bottom of VertexList.h add to the Class StockMesh

 void clear() {}



<div id="using"></div>

== [B] - HOW TO USE ==

To create a particle:

1) Include in ParticleGenerator.h

2) Use the following suggested code (maybe in Design.cpp inside Design::initialize(int now)):

    //VARIABLES
    float generatorlifespan        = 0.0f;                          // how long for the generator to run for (0.0f is forever) in seconds
    float particlelifespan         = 3.0f;                          // how long particles live for
    float particlespawnrate        = 180.0f;                        // how many particles can spawn, per second, up to the MAX_PARTICLES limit
    float spawndispersion          = 6.0f;                          // how varied are the spawn positions (0.0f means spawn on the same exact positon initially)
    float theta                    = 80.0f;                         // how varied is the initial velocities, 180.0f is a full sphere, 90.0f is a hemisphere, 40.0f is a cone, etc
    float startingspeed            = 110.0f;                        // initial speed applied to the velocities
    Colour startcolour             = Colour(2.0f,0.0f,0.0f);
    Colour endcolour               = Colour(0.0f,0.0f,1.0f);
    float frequencycolour          = 0.0f;   
    float startsize                = 5.0f;
    float endsize                  = 0.0f;
    float frequencysize            = 0.0f;
    Vector startgravity            = Vector(0.0f, -29.8f, 0.0f);
    Vector endgravity              = Vector(0.0f, -199.8f, 0.0f);
    float frequencygravityvertical   = 0.0f;
    float frequencygravityhorizontal = 0.0f;
    float startalpha               = 1.0f;
    float endalpha                 = 0.0f;
    float frequencyalpha           = 0.0f;
    Colour c                       = Colour(1.0f,0.0f,0.0f);        //for object (material type)... not actually used
    float p                        = 0.5f;                          //for object (reflectivity)... not actually used
 
 
    iObject* particleEffect1 = CreateParticleGenerator(generatorlifespan, particlelifespan, particlespawnrate, spawndispersion, theta,
      startingspeed, startcolour, endcolour, frequencycolour, startsize, endsize, frequencysize, startgravity, endgravity, frequencygravityvertical,
      frequencygravityhorizontal, startalpha, endalpha, frequencyalpha, &c, &p);
 
    //Add your desired texture on
    iTexture* particle_texture = CreateTexture(L"bubble.tga");
    particleEffect1->attach(particle_texture,0);
 
    //Position your particle generator
    particleEffect1->translate(250,70,250);
 
    //Optionally particles may be set to attract to other objects or positions in the world
    //((ParticleGenerator*)particleEffect1)->AttractTo(someObject,250.0f);
    //((ParticleGenerator*)particleEffect1)->AttractTo(&Vector(50,50,50),250.0f);


3) Add inside Design.cpp in the Design::Update(int now) method your particle generator's update method.

 particleEffect1->update(now);


'''PLEASE NOTE:''' The following is not working / implemented at this time: frequency, alpha transparency