[headdie]

If this has been posted before I'm sorry but I was wondering if it would be possible to have a system, possibly based on the thruster point code so that when a missile fires you get a back flare.

What I am thinking is if you could place several points like with thruster points to the model and attach them to individual missile banks like with thrusters and engines. these points then activate briefly when a missile is fired from the corresponding bank, perhaps firing off in sequence if there are more than one attached to a bank ideally the direction of the flare would be definable with the point's normal.

Is all of this feasible?

[MatthTheGeek]

Can't this be done via Muzzleflashes ?

[headdie]

What I am thinking is you have a ship with internal missile bays and you model or texture vents for the bay somewhere on the ship away from the firing point.

[esarai]

iirc muzzleflashes don't work on missiles, so yeah, this'd be a nice system to have.  You already have the firepoints set if you want to use those.  Not sure about how much work it'd take to add data to the pof file format.  Perhaps it can be integrated with the glowpoints.

[ShadowGorrath]

I think they do. At least I remember them working on DFS, though can't remember ( nor check ).

[lostllama]

If this has been posted before I'm sorry but I was wondering if it would be possible to have a system, possibly based on the thruster point code so that when a missile fires you get a back flare.

What I am thinking is if you could place several points like with thruster points to the model and attach them to individual missile banks like with thrusters and engines. these points then activate briefly when a missile is fired from the corresponding bank, perhaps firing off in sequence if there are more than one attached to a bank ideally the direction of the flare would be definable with the point's normal.

Do you mean something like a flare appearing from the rear of a missile launcher? Like this: http://www.murdoconline.net/archives/3614.html (see pic at the bottom of the article).

[Dragon]

It's called "backblast" and indeed it would be nice to have.
Muzzleflashes work on missiles, but while it's possible to make backblast using them (negative offset), it'd only work on external launchers (think Steve-O's missile pods), since their coordinates would have to be defined per missile and would have to appear on the same axis as the missile.
I think that glowpoint system would be better for this than thrusters, because it's more flexible.

My proposal for the system:
On the model: glowpoints (type 3, for example, as it's unused) set as backblast points, with a weapon bank (primary or secondary) being defined in "proporties" field. Radius would be a multipiler of backblast radius and normal would define it's direction.

On the weapon:
"$Backblast:" field, with the name of backblast defined (set using mflash.tbl).

[Droid803]

IMO, it should be table only.
"$Backblast:" in weapons.tbl to specify the effect (like a muzzle flash)
"$Backblast Coordinates:" in Ships.tbl under Subsystem (or the main ship for its secondary banks), where you define the coordinates of the backblast per bank, something like how maneuvering thrusters are defined.

[Dragon]

Actually, glowpoints have a lot of unexplored potential (they should have been used for manouveing thrusters and even contrails, if the latter were not a retail feature).
Glowpoints can be placed on a model very precisely, much easier than manouvering thrusters. Numerous types allow for wide range of options, while "proporties" field allows for defeining everything that can't be done using radius and normal. Table defined coordinates make creating a "helper" in PCS2 and moving it around the model to get the exact coordinates nessesary, which isn't very comfortable.
Also, since it's now possible to rescale models in PCS2, adapting table defined stuff such as manouvering thrusters and trails for a rescaled model either requires you to recalculate them in an external program or use a "helper" to place them at the correct locations. PCS2 moves glowpoints automatically while rescaling the mesh, saving a lot of time and effort.
I think that some day, manouvering thrusters and trails should get an alternate method of defining them which would allow them to use glowpoints of yet another type instead of just table entries.

[FUBAR-BDHR]

Well I was smart enough to use actual thrusters to place my maneuvering thrusters and then save those pofs.  So if I ever need to rescale I have all the info that can be scaled. 

I think you will start to see a transition where all new features are in tables and not pofs.  You can already see this with things like turret base fov and elevation which are table only options instead of pof ones like the old FOV. 

[Dragon]

Yes, I see that SCP doesn't seem to like messing with POF.
IMHO, it should be done in a way that would allow all things not requiring coordinates to be defined in table (though POF-based MOI is usefull, because it can be autogenerated) and everything that needs coordinates to be defined in POF, preferably using glowpoint data (it's really flexible).
I think that for a modder, this would be the most comfortable solution (I hate using helpers for setting up manouvering thrusters and trails).

[Wanderer]

You could - at least for test purposes - create a script that would generate particles behind the missile for the first few moments of the missiles flight - shouldn't even be a difficult job

[Dragon]

But it won't work if you want backblast to be vented from some remote exhaust and not from the back of the pod (this can be done with a muzzle flash).
Not to mention I'd have to be ship specific.