Let's have a (virtual) fireworks competition!

Trent Gamblin

Member #261

April 2000

OpenGL and Direct3D are typically about the same... but in some cases D3D can be slower (rarely) and so can OpenGL (more often) on Windows depending on the system.

Vanneto

Member #8,643

May 2007

I just noticed OpenGL is a bit faster at rendering using the primitivesa addon. Looks like OpenGL doesn't like a lot of textures but loves vertices, just a hunch. Anyway, works a lot better now even with 5000 particles, thank Trent.

In capitalist America bank robs you.

Jonatan Hedborg

Member #4,886

July 2004

Latest version uploaded! Should not crash, regardless of particle count... Added some statistics (fps and active particles), and of course the motion blur

I'm pretty pleased at how I ended up solving the particle handling... It should be very fast and still pretty flexible.

Do you guys get any slowdowns?

blargmob

Member #8,356

February 2007

Jonatan, that was beautiful!

---
"No amount of prayer would have produced the computers you use to spread your nonsense." Arthur Kalliokoski

Vanneto

Member #8,643

May 2007

Here is my current version. The colors/speed/size are all customizable, currently it uses a white explosion. If something doesn't work (dll missing) please tell.

Also, how does it work with a lot of particles? (click very fast to produce them)

In capitalist America bank robs you.

Jonatan Hedborg

Member #4,886

July 2004

liballegro_image-4.9.15.dll is missing (at least).

ixilom

Member #7,167

April 2006

Jonatan, that is pretty slick

I think I'll have to re-code my "blur" effect, I'm pumping out too much particles just to create that effect. Although I am doing 14160 of them without any noticeable slowdown ... hmm.

I even built a small editor for the launch sequence with all the needed parameters
{"name":"600139","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/8\/6\/86f80cebcb48c490e74f81d60d257062.png","w":968,"h":413,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/8\/6\/86f80cebcb48c490e74f81d60d257062"}

___________________________________________
Democracy in Sweden? Not since 2008-Jun-18.
<someone> The lesbians next door bought me a rolex for my birthday.
<someone> I think they misunderstood when I said I wanna watch...

Vanneto

Member #8,643

May 2007

I don't even link with allegro_image, so don't know why it complains about that. How about now?

In capitalist America bank robs you.

ixilom

Member #7,167

April 2006

Works fine here Vanetto
I don't have anything Allegro related installed, so it is safe to assume all the needed DLL files are now included

Runs smoothly until I frantically press the mousebuttons to get 25K particles, it then drops down to ~30 FPS (~60 FPS with 14K)

I have for now "composed" about 30 seconds fireworks-frenzy-show with my editor (and cheating with notepad), another 30 to go

Archon

Member #4,195

January 2004

Could you upload some screenshots for each of your updates for those that don't want to download every release or if they don't have OpenLayer?

Jonatan Hedborg

Member #4,886

July 2004

Some screenshots!

{"name":"600144","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/f\/3\/f333ff3f5761cf8c14a318526d37a08a.jpg","w":795,"h":595,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/f\/3\/f333ff3f5761cf8c14a318526d37a08a"}
{"name":"600145","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/3\/9\/39f5b2cef77f9449ba79c7cdc5c22aa6.jpg","w":792,"h":595,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/3\/9\/39f5b2cef77f9449ba79c7cdc5c22aa6"}
{"name":"600146","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/b\/c\/bcd513012e90348d5bad15be5dda152a.jpg","w":798,"h":597,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/b\/c\/bcd513012e90348d5bad15be5dda152a"}

LennyLen

Member #5,313

December 2004

I improved mine a little bit. It has regulated timing now, and continues on indefinitely until you press ESC. I'm quite happy with how it fast it runs, since it's my first attempt at particles, and it's not using any hardware acceleration.

The source and a Windows binary are attached. I've also made another video, though it's at a very low framerate, so doesn't look that great.

FMC

Member #4,431

March 2004

Lenny, i think it would look nicer if you slowed it down a bit, it's too fast right now (for my eyes at least!).

(i'll soon upload my entry)

[FMC Studios] - [Caries Field] - [Ctris] - [Pman] - [Chess for allegroites]
Written laws are like spiders' webs, and will, like them, only entangle and hold the poor and weak, while the rich and powerful will easily break through them. -Anacharsis
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. -Mark Twain

Thomas Fjellstrom

Member #476

June 2000

Its also far too uniform and ring shaped.

--
Thomas Fjellstrom - [website] - [email] - [Allegro Wiki] - [Allegro TODO]
"If you can't think of a better solution, don't try to make a better solution." -- weapon_S
"The less evidence we have for what we believe is certain, the more violently we defend beliefs against those who don't agree" -- https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/592870205409353730

ixilom

Member #7,167

April 2006

[Edit]
Eh, wasn't funny... I quoted wrong person thinking it was someone else.

FMC

Member #4,431

March 2004

It is done!

Here it is: http://www.allegro.cc/files/attachment/600153 (source + binary + dll + data)

It's scripted and you WILL KNOW when it ends, please don't loose the GRAN FINALE
There are a few pauses during the act, but they are just that, pauses.

A few things:
-Nine different (more or less) fireworks in display for a minute or so with much randomness and scripted launching sequence.
-The source is a huge hack, avoid it if possible!
-The program will use your desktop resolution, scaling itself, but best results will appear at 1680x1050.

-If the program isn't smooth i reccomend lowering these two:

#define MINE_PARTS 350
#define ROCKET_PARTS 400

-Screenshot of near-Finale:

{"name":"600154","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/c\/f\/cff179deb16a8270bb941fd05ea246da.jpg","w":840,"h":525,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/c\/f\/cff179deb16a8270bb941fd05ea246da"}

Please let me know if it runs!

ixilom

Member #7,167

April 2006

FMC said:

Please let me know if it runs!

Runs fine on 1440x900 ... and looking good

LennyLen

Member #5,313

December 2004

FMC said:

Lenny, i think it would look nicer if you slowed it down a bit, it's too fast right now (for my eyes at least!).

I just checked the YouTube video, and it seems to be running slightly fast. It also seems to have dropped a few more frames than the version I uploaded.

Thomas Fjellstrom said:

Its also far too uniform and ring shaped.

I've attached a version with more randomness in the particle's velocities, so it makes it less evenly distributed.

edit:

FMC said:

Please let me know if it runs!

It ran very nicely here at 1680x1050.

FMC

Member #4,431

March 2004

ixilom said:

Runs fine on 1440x900 ... and looking good

Great news... waiting for your entry, video looked nice.

LennyLen said:

It ran very nicely here at 1680x1050.

Good!
Your entry is still a little too fast for me, but maybe it's just me.

Cookies to Jonatan who came up with an idea that gave me an excuse to code something (it had been ages!)

blargmob: your program crashes on start for me

ixilom

Member #7,167

April 2006

Finito

I'm finally done. YAY!

Jibberish

It was fun to make, even if I over engineered it (like I always do )
Seems everyone else has been able to cram everything in a neat and tight package (like main.c), whilst I went apeshit and made a shitload of files

The files

Source
Binary

Getting it to work

The source was built with Visual Studio, .NET 3.5 and XNA 3.1, so you gonna need those.
The binary most likely needs some parts of XNA 3.1.

Youtube

If no one for some reason is able to run/build my contribution, there is always youtube

Thanks

Thank you Allegro.cc and members, not just for this thread, but all the help and stupid flamewars we had this year. Lets not stop next year

Final words

I'm of to bed, wont be online later today (it is 3am now) as I'm going over to my sisters place to "celebrate" the new year when I wake up.

I wish you all a happy 2010!

Vote for me, or else!

bamccaig

Member #7,536

July 2006

I'm a little drunk. Anyway, I've been too exhausted to attempt to build any entries, and I generally avoid binaries. From the YouTube submissions I've seen, ixilom's entry seems very well assembled. I am drunk so I don't really remember previous posts as well as I'd like to, but it does strike me as the most detailed^[1].

References

Though honorable mentions go to LennyLen for his brilliant fake, which I thought was sooooo awesome until I realized it was a fake.

--
I mean the best with what I say. It doesn't always sound that way.

ImLeftFooted

Member #3,935

October 2003

I vote for mine.

How is my posting?

Jonatan Hedborg

Member #4,886

July 2004

This is probably the final version, no more time to work on it. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with it! Could use a bit more fireworks (about 38 seconds now), and a few more different types... And better polish obviously.

Great work everyone, I'm glad this idea took off

{"name":"600163","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/c\/4\/c478ec4453ba6c3b48bc4b8752e98a62.jpg","w":794,"h":592,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/c\/4\/c478ec4453ba6c3b48bc4b8752e98a62"}

{"name":"600165","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/e\/c\/ec5088d2eedcac009df82c1f07c8e315.jpg","w":797,"h":601,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/e\/c\/ec5088d2eedcac009df82c1f07c8e315"}

EDIT: I do have a strange problem; I'm using an STL vector for my storage, but the program crashes whenever it grows in size (so I have to reserve(some larger number) in order for it to run)... I cant figure out why. The relevant code should be in ParticleHandler.cpp if anyone wants to have a look at it.

ImLeftFooted

Member #3,935

October 2003

void ParticleHandler::removeParticle(int index) {

    particleArray[index] = particleArray[particleArray.size()-1];

    particleArray.pop_back();

}

Should be

void ParticleHandler::removeParticle(int index) {

    if(index != particleArray.size() - 1)
        particleArray[index] = particleArray[particleArray.size()-1];

    particleArray.pop_back();

}

How is my posting?

Jonatan Hedborg

Member #4,886

July 2004

Hmm. While that's correct (thanks for catching it!), it didn't actually solve the problem :/

I've been experimenting with adding a bit of bloom to it btw... Just drawing the particle buffer to 5 different bloom buffers (that are 1/4 of screen size), each with a 0.5 pixel offset (and one at 0,0) and then drawing those to the screen at full size.

It looks pretty good, but I think i might need to tweek a few color values around (things get a bit too white otherwise).

EDIT; also, 27k particles doesent even touch the FPS on my computer Pretty sweet if I may say so myself.

Happy new years everyone!