I’ve decided that I’m gonna have a go at creating a new race… (after Easter as I’m busy during that).
I’ve not settled on a backstory as yet, only simply that they’re called the Yoma, and are slightly reptillian in nature, possibly nocturnal also.
They will use this flag:
so far, I only have three ship designs…
…but after Easter I plan to work on some more… then I’ll perhaps be bugging you all with questions about balancing and other fun fun stuff… (^ ^ ; ) apologies in advance for that
Anyway, if it works out, I hope you’ll all enjoy it, and I’ll keep you posted on progression of work (though I won’t be here from 22nd -> 10th)
It’s a silly thing… I borrowed some code from a federation frigate, and even though it lists 5 turret weapons in the hulls file, the frigate has 6, and the positioning of the 2 out front (where there should be one!?) doesn’t seem to match up exactly with things… I don’t know why there’s an additional turret and why it’s stuck out front… ( T_T) I don’t have access to the code right now so I’ll have another pop at it later (i’m probably missing something obvious and as I’m stubborn I want to work it out ) but if I can’t figure out I’ll post here again and help would be much appreciated!
I area the spikynesese is cool with the turrets is it like a multiple hard point, like one turret goes in both places? Or is it two different hard point slots?
(rolls eyes) Right on schedule. Is there some chemical being covertly put into the water supply that’s making people act like they have a mental age of 8?
You’re so fortunate that I’m a nice guy. That’s really the kindest way i can put it right now. Trolling is, at best, juvenile and weak.
If you can’t solve it, I’ve got a solution lined up for you and ready to go. It’s up to you.
Yes please!!! I haven’t even looked at it tonight…so yes a solution would be most welcome!
I got distracted trying out a new ship design… (^ ^ ; )
[VIDEO]
The only problem with this one, is that the central energy column is made using the tractorbeam effect… and as there seem to be no parameters for changing colours etc I had to change the original file to blue (meaning that the order ships use it too (> < )
I just liked the idea of having a stored capacitor of enermous energy released as a single giant beam…
Also wish I could do more with sounds… it seems that you can’t play the sound BEFORE the beam fires…?!? I originally had a ‘charge-up’ noise, but it didn’t work as it only ever played at the same time as the beam was produced… so I changed it for another one (listen carefully!)
Anyway, I’m not overly pleased with this design so it’ll probably change very soon (-_-;
Here you go, Aradia…loading saved message draft now…
Based on your description of events, you’ve got a multi-hardpoint weapon slot…you know, the ones that have only a single usable weapon slot, but during actual gameplay GSB shows it as one of several identical turrets in that same small area, all pouring fire onto the enemy. That’s a nifty cosmetic effect (gratuitous, indeed ), but a trifle confusing for noobs. Only one of those turrets is real. Only one stream of weapons-fire from them actually does damage.
When you examine a ship hull’s textfile, and you’re reading the Slots section, you may see something like this…I’ll borrow it from the Federation Fox frigate:
Let’s break the code down, starting with slot number 1 (the second line in the code above). Here’s the syntax behind those values:
hull slot number = right/left location coordinate,up/down location coordinate,SLOT TYPE,
Simple and straightforward once you know the syntax. Cliffski uses a 256x256 grid for hull slot coordinates. Therefore, 128,128 would place a slot at the exact center of the hull. Watch your coordinates when moving stuff around, or when adding completely new turrets to a ship. It’s real easy to goof-up the coordinates and have guns stupidly hanging in mid-air next to the ship. Unless you’re using Cliffski’s hull editor app (warning: it is unstable and buggy), you’ll just have to do trial-and-error testing: change the textfile, boot up the game, choose the hull, add a turret, switch from logical view to physical view; if anything’s goofy, quit the game, tweak the slot coordinates a bit, save the textfile, reboot the game, etc. It’s time-consuming and tedious as hell, but it works.
You already know that the only two legal values for the slot type are STANDARD (any non-weapon module) and TURRET (any weapon; or instead, any module [yes, really!] ).
Be sure to avoid accidentally adding any spaces to either side of the commas used to separate the terms in the code.
Now that we’re down with the lingo, let’s break down the first line of code quoted above, for hull slot number zero:
Syntax as follows:
hull slot number = right/left location coordinate,up/down location coordinate,SLOT TYPE,(location of additional fake gratuitous weapon),(location of additional fake gratuitous weapon),
Here’s how that works…you do not get a visible weapon located at the first set of coordinates. The only weapons that you’re going to see will instead be visible only at the hull corrdinates seen in parentheses.
Please observe that the notation changes when writing terms for creating additional fake weapons: parentheses around each set of terms, and a hyphen separates the x and y coordinates…not a comma! That is a very easy mistake and one that I promise will make you a raging maniac if you’re trying to debug it at 1:30AM on a work night. ;_;
Offhand, I don’t remember which set of terms is for placement of the only real weapon among the various fakes. I really wish I did.
If you borrowed code from a Fed frigate for a multi-hardpoint weapon system, and you wish to remove the code that creates the appearance of the fake while retaining the real one…just delete the terms in parentheses. If we did that to the line of code above, we’d end up with this instead:
0 = 128.00,179.00,TURRET,
With that line of code in place of the previous version, both fake weapons vanish and are replaced by a single real weapon at the stated coordinates. Easy as pie.
BTW you can add a maximum of 5 additional fake weapons to a real one, so the ceiling is 6 weapons total for such a system. 7 will crash your game. IIRC the fake-turret effect works only for energy beam-type weapons.
OK, this is really a shed-load of typing for me so I’m out for the moment. (Carpal-tunnel syndrome is maddening.) Aradia, now you’re better-armed for dealing with the so-called mystery turrets. Let me know if this solves your frigate problem.
Nice mammoth there, u used an engine graphic for the “tractor” glow right? lol. Yea if we can use engine glows, y should we use tractor glows? good job.
You should add some lighting effects to the hull around the engine effect thing to make it look like it is emitting light. Basically, just do a selection around the place the engine effect is positioned, enlarge it by about 5-ish pixels (up to you) and feather it by around <150 pixels (the “<” means less than).
If there are any structures that you want to be above (be higher, standing out from the main hull) from everything else, do all that on an a new layer and do a selection of the light that is on said structure (you might want to feather it by around 2.5-5 pixels). Resize it on one axis only towards the actual engine glow, giving the impression that the structure is obstructing the light from shining/reflecting/reaching more distant surfaces. If there is any more light anywhere “behind” said structure, do a sort of a cone-shaped selection and feather it by around 25-50 pixels. Delete the light within that selection and deselect. Do a sharp selection onto the area that you should see leftover light (at the outer-facing away from light source, base of the structure) but make sure not to go into the areas that have the soft light effect (places where you feathered it) and delete it. Repeat this with any other heightened structure on the hull.
If you have any areas that are supposed to be sloping down, or is an indent, just do the opposite of the above. Do a selection of the light covering the area and if there is a sharp edge drop, float it and move it a few pixels (until it looks right- you want to make it look like there is a shadow in the area that the edge is hiding) then stretch the selected region (only in one axis, in the direction facing away from the light) by 10-25%, depending on how much the drop is. Then just anchor it or convert it to a new layer. If there is a soft edge/drop (one that you think should not have a shadow), just stretch it (only in one axis, in the direction facing away from the light) by 20-35%, depending on how much the drop is.
If the drop area is sloping sideways to any extent, just skew the light selection (how to select it is already explained above) in the appropriate direction and amount. Just remember to not overdo any of the above affects. Seeing as your ship is symmetrical, just do one side of it and map it over to the other.
Actually nope, I used the tractor beam graphic… I just changed the colour of the original graphic… the reason being, I wanted a permanent 2-way power flow, and the engine glow effect obviously switches on/off as the ship moves… ( T _T)
Also, unless I’m mistaken, the engine glow effect is only 1-direction (away from the ship), although you can reverse the debris that comes off it and have that flow towards the front, the actual engine flame seems to only go away from the ship [if I’m mistaken please correct me!].
I tweaked the effect a bit… (please watch the vid full-screen to see the particles)
basically what I did here was overlay 2 more additional engine effects on top of the modified tractor effect. One is just a think beam-like graphic I made with no engine debris, and the other is the same graphic again placed differently and with a ‘reverse flow’ engine debris, so the particles flow towards the front.
I quite like the overall effect, it’s like there’s a permanent 2-way energy flow for the weapon, which charges up even more when the engines fire and the ship moves…
@ Randy , thanks for your in-depth lighting explanation ( ^ -^), I had a quick go… and failed… lol. I’m still not too good at lighting effects… (I tend to use plasma/beam graphics and the additive effect on paint.net + altering the hue/brightness/transparency etc). But I’ll keep fiddling and try and figure out how to do what you explained, so thank you
Keep it up.
) but if I can’t figure out I’ll post here again and help would be much appreciated!
with the turrets is it like a multiple hard point, like one turret goes in both places? Or is it two different hard point slots?
That’s really the kindest way i can put it right now. Trolling is, at best, juvenile and weak.
