Destructable Objects Ideas

The next project in programming class is to make physX destructible objects. I have two ideas at the moment. One would be a destructible smokestack, similar to this video.


I'm thinking that the falling smoke stacks could make for a good final spectacle in the racing map. The other idea would be corn stalks that cars could run into as they are driving through the map. The best reference I could find is in this tractor video.


I'm still not sure which idea I'd rather go with. I'm thinking it will mostly depend on which idea is most feasible and will best enhance the eco friendly pinball theme of the race track that I'm making.

Rain Barrel

Here's a video of my exploding rain barrel in UDK.

While setting up the kismet for the barrel, I learned, after a lot of trial and error, that remote events can mess up prefabs. The issue I was having was that my prefabs were going through the same kismet events simultaneously because they were triggered by remote events that weren't renamed for each prefab instance. Getting rid of the remote events solved the problem. With that issue resolved I think I've finally got the barrel working and the next step will be to replace the default UDK particles that I'm using with my own water effects.

Race Intro Sequence

Here is a race intro sequence from Trackmania 2: Canyon that I like.



What I like most about this sequence is that the camera is always oriented in a way that hides the next major landmark of the level until the moment the car arrives at it. The loop de loop is obviously the central landmark in this level. In the beginning of the sequence, the camera follows the car, looking in the opposite direction of the loop de loop. It is revealed only when the car reaches its base. The final reveal of the loop de loop is made more surprising and spectacular through a low point of view shot.  Towards the end of the sequence, the camera looks at the front of the car. From this point of view, you have no indication of the final jump off the road until the very end, which makes it surprising. I really like this idea of concealing unique parts of the track for some time to make for a more memorable reveal, and I would like to incorporate this concept into the intro sequence for the race track that I'm working on.

Barrel Idea

We're going to make explosive barrels in programming class. My idea is to make an exploding rain barrel. Here is a concept sketch.

The rain barrel leaks when its partially damaged and creates a big water splash when it explodes. Here's some reference that I found of rain barrels.