Dunno how many of you remember, but a couple years ago I was tinkering around with ways of making 'grass' (similar to UT2k3) in Half-Life. The way I came up with was to use a bunch of fixed-axis sprites. While I did make a couple demo maps, due to HL1's entity limitations and trouble finding textures I never got it working to satisfaction.

Enter Half-Life 2. Have you looked at the grass when you walk through it? Most of it is clearly just a bunch of fixed-axis sprites!

I'm not really saying Gabe stole my idea. I'm just saying I'm gosh-darned brilliant. That's all!

my luck, steam would have some way of knowing and i'd lose my account..

somehow losing it over a grass sprite would be just to expensive

? quoting KungFuSquirrel

? quoting Spartan 34

They are also doing the grass thing in Unreal 3. Go to the Unreal 3 engine website and look at the pic of the outdoor area with all the grass. You can see that it is a bunch of sprites. Clever idea Jinx.

That, and most unreal foliage, isn't actually a sprite, but double-sided polys on a model. I imagine the HL2 stuff is actually a model as well rather than icky sprites. And people have been doing the flat polys on models for grass/trees/foliage/shrubberies about as long as we've had alpha channels available in textures.

Did you invent that Jinx, eh? EH? EH??????

Sorry, just had to rain on your parade. Except... ooh, sorry, that's not rain. bwuahahaha...

Jez you knwo so much! double sided plys? Alpha channels!!!?

from what i made of some stuff i read, the grass is some sort of prop mesh that you can tie to a texture, with properties for how much of it will be generated, how randomly, what size etc. i think there are other meshes that work the same for rocks, and other types of terrain.

? quoting Leperous

Yeah, well, I suggested they make OP4 into a free DM mod. Look how well that worked

i'll tell'ya what, if another mod comes along thats as good as OP4 is, i am doing everything i can to not let it fizzle out.

i loved OP4, but couldn't get anyone to frag it, or map for it either