interactiv dynamic background image

Idea: 2 Overlay Background Images blend with a greyscaleimage (Alphamap).

Effect: interactiv dynamic background image
1) interactiv Flashlight lightning.
And Charakter is lit the Kulisse at a range around it. While moving can do, too
2) foodsteps at grass, snow, mud ect.
3) interaktive xray, infra red camera
4) Binoculars, Sniper, Camera - view
5) fire (or other padticle) change background
6) dynamic sound or music or text hint - based at most charakter position or mouse position while play a time at a kulisse
7) user can paint on the map for interactiv mysts.
Draw with a pencil on a paper to see what the paper over it bevore has written.
Mowing the lawn
Paint a good image over exensive art picture. (move the cusor shown the other pic)
Sure other ideas

How does it work:
The Alphamap image for blend the two kulisses is able to draw on it.

- One Effect is when the mouse cusor move a sprite on the map.
- Other Effect is when the mouse Cursor draw a freehand line with the Sprite at the map. Or stamp, one by one.
- other effect again: the position of a character is draw a sprite on the Alphamap at the axis of the char.
- one more effect is by manipulate the map mith lua. Read and write values of the map.
For some effects it will be nice when the change of the Alphamap can ad one bye on. So the map will be lighter and lighter.


2 images are like two layer in photoshop. The Alphamap image is the mask of the upper layer.
Where the Alphamap is black you can see the lower layer.
Where the Alphamap is white you can see the upper layer.
Shading between black and white is the blend value.

1) flashlight: the mouse is move a white point at the Alphamap image. The lower image is the dark Kulisse. The upper layer image is the kulisse with light.
You can have two different effects.
First the upper image is only lighter at all. So a more lightning Kulisse shown at the mouse Cursor.
Second: The charakter use a spot light fit at a fix position.
Then the upper image shown a kulisse what is lightning from this position at the spot.
The cusor blend the special lighten kulisse in.

2) foodsteps: the character can draw a define sprite at the Alphamap when it go around the kulisse.
Maybe define a sprite for each direction of the char, then the foodsteps show rigth.
Maye copy a define numbers of lines from the alphamap of the char to draw on the map. The always show rigth steps. Maybe draw smooth
Extremly nice it will be at step on the grass when charakter press down the grass. Or move litte stones, or the dry dusty floor is change to muddy floor.

3) xray: like flashlight version 2

4) Camera, sniper ect: use a black or much darker lower layer image. The normal light kulisse is upper. The mouse Cursor is move a stamp on the Alphamap. For this effect is possible to show a own defined mouse cusor at the same time.

5) fire, snow: the position of the particle emitter is draw a stamp at the Alphamap . Maybe each particle can do, too? Cursor can move the emitter? He can flame the kulisse, so?
Maybe (only first thoughts) snow can fall and make a landscape white?
A fire burn a hole into the upper layer image.

6) dynamic sound, music or text hint: what the player is interesting for?
For this the Alphamap must change additional by mouse moving or charakter moving.
Lua must can set a variable with a value (hue) of a position (x, y) at the Alphamap at this pixel.
When the developer ask often different points at the map he can see at what the player interest mostly.
Maybe for this the Alphamap should be have a lower resolution.

7) user can paint one image into another with drawing with the mouse
The cusor draw on the Alphamap a freehand line.



This idea can have much more features.
Only one more idea:
When developer can define a treshold value. Lower value is only shown the lower layer image.
The Alphamap is defined with different clear siluettes like the objects in the image.
Now the lower image can show object by object (not pixel near pixel). The player fill a siluette by move charakter, or particle emitter, or cusor click.
The fill feature must work like fill feature in photoshop.
Maybe much effects more possible with low memory needed...

the dynamic sound is easy enough, I've already created a technical demo of dynamically placed sounds (volume plus/minus random value to add dynamics & left/right audio balance) - having said that I'm currently not allowed to share the demo until we have a secure build of VS or something - I forget the exact reason.

As for footsteps ...
I have an idea in mind for making them work in a similar fashion to what I've done for my dynamic sound demo... by creating multiple animations with x frames for each character direction & calling the required frames into x position when characters foot touches the ground. A little hard to explain in a few words ...

as for the rest I'm not sure.