Foliage idea for making a player better blend into the terrain

[decoman 45]

It is my understanding that foliage doesn't really work as expected, in that the foliage only really work at the players own side and for close combat where an opponent is close by, but not for hiding away from spying eyes at a far distance.

Instead of increasing viewing distance or adding foliage out to the maximum viewing distance (like trees), how about having some way of adding a stenciled geometry layer with greenery texture?

This way, foliage could work at a close and perhaps medium distance, but as this effect is cut off, a new type of foliage start to FADE IN. A partly transparent geometry layer indicative of being 40-50 cm off the ground, in which players can prone and lie beneath.

The only place to hide, with regard to foliage and trees trunks, seem to be at the bottom beneath the low hanging branches on a spruce stree, or perhaps hiding behind a very large tree trunk.

Did I perhaps overlook something about the effect of foilage in the game?

Summary:

• The adding of a stenciled geometry layer (masked) that fades in with distance, to act as cover for people lying down in prone position.

Edit: I have also been thinking about having people simply go partly transparent, to blend in with any barren landscape. Areas with heavy foliage could greatly increase the degree of transparency, while a desert area with no foliage would infer much less or simply no transparent. It would imo be important to try have such ideas work without having to trust the client, where one cannot cheat by tampering with the local files on his computer. Perhaps procedural texturing could work with regard to avoiding local files on a computer being tampered with.

Edit2: Another simple way to use transparency, could be to having degrees of transparency only apply to static players, or players having been static for a certain amount of time, like 30 or 60 seconds. However, this would not really improve any idea about foliage, but simply offer a possibility of cover similar to the use of hiding oneself in or behind foliage.

I guess it is all too obvious, that if transparency is used, then one might imagine a glitch could make players invisible close up, which would be bad. :)

Btw, with the use of such a stenciled overlaying geometry (as I imagine it anyway) smaller rocks and other objects in the terrain could be mistaken for players lying down in prone position.

Concerns:

Smaller animals and other small things (like player bodies) would also be partly covered beneath this layer, but I guess that would be ok and very much so realistic.

Edited August 7, 2012 by Treehugger

[hiush 3]

liked that idea is a pain in the ass trying to hide from people at the distance as foliage simple disapear.

[fluxley 2228]

Cant believe this didnt get more responses, definitely worth considering.

By the powers of necro! i revive thee!

[Very Ape 748]

Yes please!

[Hetstaine 10852]

Cant believe this didnt get more responses, definitely worth considering.

By the powers of necro! i revive thee!

The forums topics were coming thick and fast back then so it probably got bumped of page one by one of the many moar weapons noaw! suggestions ;)

[enforcer1975 1111]

The game already has a layer that covers you when you are far away even without grass on.

[THE_BURNDOWN 27]

I had literally the same exact idea in my mind yesterday!

This sounds great!

[Sutinen 635]

Do you have any samples or pictures you have edited? I'm not really sure if I understood that, but it sounds good.