[hlcoders] Undeterministic Behaviour for Third-Person Muzzle Flashes

[Ben Everett]

Working on third-person muzzle flashes, I have encountered an issue. I am
unable to _RELIABLY_ get the third-person (world) muzzle flashes to shoot
from the proper origin or angles. The interesting portion of this is that
the muzzle flashes will work reliably for a brief period of time, after
which the origin and angles get way off base. Once the muzzle flash stops
working it won't work again until a new server is created.

Anyone have any possible idea as to what would be causing this? I've tried
several different methods concerning this. Below is some code:

Sever-Side:
        int nMuzzleAttachment = LookupAttachment("muzzle");

        muzzleFlash.m_nEntIndex = entindex();
        muzzleFlash.m_fFlags = GetWeaponID();
        muzzleFlash.m_nAttachmentIndex = nMuzzleAttachment;

        DispatchEffect("MuzzleFlash", muzzleFlash);



Client-Side Rendering Code:
void CForsakenTempEnts::MuzzleFlash(const Vector &rvecPosition, const QAngle
&rAngles, int nType,
        int nEntIndex, bool bFirstPerson)
/*
        A quick sample for testing third-person muzzle flashes.
        Pre: Muzzle flash information received correctly, !bFirstPerson.
        Post: A sample muzzle flash should appear for third-person only.

        *NOTE* This function is only reached when the MuzzleFlash effect is
dispatched.
*/
{
        VPROF_BUDGET("MuzzleFlash_ThirdPerson_Sample",
VPROF_BUDGETGROUP_PARTICLE_RENDERING);

        CSmartPtr<CSimpleEmitter> pMuzzleFlash =
CSimpleEmitter::Create("MuzzleFlash_ThirdPerson_Sample ");
        float fScale = random->RandomFloat(1.25f, 1.5f);
        SimpleParticle *pParticle = NULL;
        Vector vecForward, vecOffset;

        // Fetch the forward.
        AngleVectors(rAngles, &vecForward);

        for (int i = 1; i < 6; i++)
        {
                // Calculate the muzzle flash offset.
                vecOffset = (vecForward * (i * 8.0f * fScale)) +
rvecPosition;

                // Create the particle.
                pParticle =
(SimpleParticle*)pMuzzleFlash->AddParticle(sizeof(SimpleParticle),
                        pMuzzleFlash->GetPMaterial("effects/muzzleflash1"),
                        vecOffset);

                // Not able to create any more particles.
                if (!pParticle)
                        return;

                // Set the life time, death time, and velocity.
                pParticle->m_flLifetime = 0.0f;
                pParticle->m_flDieTime = 0.025f;
                pParticle->m_vecVelocity.Init();

                // Set the color.
                pParticle->m_uchColor[0] = 255;
                pParticle->m_uchColor[1] = 255;
                pParticle->m_uchColor[2] = 255;

                // Start and end alpha.
                pParticle->m_uchEndAlpha = 255;
                pParticle->m_uchStartAlpha = 255;

                // Set the start and end size (10% of original size).
                pParticle->m_uchStartSize = 7;
                pParticle->m_uchEndSize = (unsigned
char)(pParticle->m_uchStartSize * 0.90);

                // Set the particle roll.
                pParticle->m_flRoll = random->RandomInt(0, 360);
                pParticle->m_flRollDelta = 0.0;
        }
}


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