🔥 Dynamic Fire System – Dev Showcase | The Old War 🔥

[dynamiclink href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa07dJ1NgR8"] Dev Update: Fire System in The Old War

Hey everyone! Just wanted to share a behind-the-scenes look at one of the new features we’ve been working on - a fully dynamic fire simulation system that brings more chaos, strategy, and atmosphere to The Old War.

So what does it do? Our fire system isn't just for show. Here's what makes it unique:

• Fires grow, spread, and consume fuel realistically over time. A small spark can turn into a devastating inferno, or fizzle out if it runs out of fuel.

• Fire size, heat, and spread radius dynamically increase and shrink based on available fuel and surrounding conditions.

• Visual effects scale with the fire's intensity, so you’ll see small flickers turn into raging blazes.

• Weather, wind, and snow can influence the spread rate and visual behavior.

• Thousands of fire instances can exist on-screen simultaneously, thanks to an efficient ECS-based architecture (DOTS) + GPU-driven VFX Graph integration.

• Buildings char and darken over time as they burn, with a visual charring system that reflects how much fuel remains.

Why it matters: Fires in The Old War aren’t just eye candy - they’re tactical. You might burn down an enemy’s key structure… but what if the fire spreads to a neutral city? Or worse, your own base? Fire is now a strategic weapon, but it comes with risks.

🛠️ Tech side for the curious:

• We're using Unity's Entity Component System (ECS) and VFX Graph to manage massive numbers of fires without tanking performance.

• Fires are data-driven, so they can interact with other systems like weather, capture mechanics, and faction AI.

• We're also experimenting with a visual effect pooling system and tight AABB bounds to ensure only visible VFX are simulated.

Here's a sneak peek of what it looks like in action:

Wishlist The Old War on Steam: [dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1248750/The_Old_War/"]

Join the Community on Discord: https://discord.gg/Dw2u7gQ8UV

Learn more: http://warcheststudios.com/

💬 Let us know what you think! Would you ever risk setting a blaze near your own walls? Want us to add fire-based traps or firefighting units? We’d love your feedback as we refine the system.

Stay warm out there, —Dan Warchest Studios