Original Post
I'm trying to create rocket trails like seen in the original Half Life 1 or the Homeworld series. Instead of using particles, these trails are made by building a series of quads along the path the rocket has travelled. One method to do that would be to simply create an 'X' like trail of two crossed quads, so the trail would look fairly equal from all sides except when viewed directly from behind or from the front. Another method I can think of would be to use a semi-billboard approach. The quads in the trails would become billboards that always try to face the camera, but are restricted to rotating on the axis in which the trail extends. This is the method I'd prefer, however, I cannot get my head around the maths used to orient the quads in the trail. Does anyone know of an article or some example code for this technique? Thanks ahead, -Markus-
