Hard Light Productions Forums
Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The Modding Workshop => Topic started by: Singh on March 30, 2004, 08:39:42 am
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has resulted into....something strange.
Remember the NBeam I had created a while back? I was trying to create something similar, except that it was to be short and used against fighters (something like an area shot-gun). I played around with values ranging from 0.5 to 0.05 to get what I was hoping for, but strangely it doesnt work against fighters.
But when I tested it against an orion......I got this O_o (note that the aeolus was equipped with only Spatzi Space Shotguns in a vain attempt to get it to work against fighters)
(http://anandraj.sphosting.com/spatzi.jpg)
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What beam_type?
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3
ive managed to get it to work...sorta..
*goes off to play with weapons.tbl some more*
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That's a little bit insane. I love it ;)
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Overkill is a good thing when you do it with style. Very interesting, I might have to try and re-create it sometime.
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You want a weapon like that Karajoma? Shouldn't be hard to come up with - still have the original settings with me :D
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Originally posted by Singh
...but strangely it doesnt work against fighters.
Did you remove the 'huge' flag from the weapon, in which case it won't fire on fighters? Or is it simply not hitting them?
'Type 3 beams: same as the original AAA.'hmmm
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I removed the flag, thats why it worked :)
Never knew you had to remove it to work tho :/
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ok. here is the actual weapons entry itself. To modify the beam for cool effects, simply change the firewait value to a smaller (or greater) number. This will either increase or decrease the number of beams a small amount. Increasing the +life (note: NOT lifetime) to 5 seconds will give you an effect as seen in the first screenie :)
$Name: Spatzi Space Shotgun
$Model File: none ; laser1-1.pof
@Laser Bitmap: laserglow01
@Laser Color: 250, 30, 30
@Laser Length: 0.0
@Laser Head Radius: 0.60
@Laser Tail Radius: 0.60
$Mass: 4.0
$Velocity: 7000.0 ;; speed of the weapon (initially) -- may or may not change
$Fire Wait: 0.0025 ;; in seconds
$Damage: 5
$Armor Factor: 1.0
$Shield Factor: 1.0
$Subsystem Factor: 1.0
$Lifetime: 0.250 ;; How long this thing lives
$Energy Consumed: 0.30 ;; Energy used when fired
$Cargo Size: 0.0 ;; Amount of space taken up in weapon cargo
$Homing: NO
$LaunchSnd: 124 ;; The sound it makes when fired
$ImpactSnd: 88 ;; The sound it makes when it hits something
+Weapon Range: 1500 ;; Limit to range at which weapon will actively target object
$Flags: ("Big Ship" "beam")
$Icon: icongun05
$Anim: LoadGun07
$Impact Explosion: ExpMissileHit1
$Impact Explosion Radius: 10.0
$BeamInfo:
+Type: 3 ;; 0 - 4 are valid #'s
+Life: 1.10 ;; how long it lasts once the beam is actually firing
+Warmup: 5000 ;; warmup time in ms
+Warmdown: 10000 ;; warmdown time in ms
+Radius: 10.0 ;; muzzle glow radius in meters
+PCount: 12 ;; particles spewed every interval
+PRadius: 1.2 ;; particle radius
+PAngle: 65.0 ;; angle of the random "cone" where the particles are generated
+PAni: particleexp01 ;; particle ani
;; +Miss Factor: 3.4 3.0 2.5 2.25 2.0 ;; magic # - higher == miss more (only really applicable to type 0 and type 3 beams)
+Miss Factor: 10.0 8.0 6.0 5.0 2.5 ;; magic # - higher == miss more (only really applicable to type 0 and type 3 beams)
+BeamSound: 179 ;; the looping beam-firing sound
+WarmupSound: 182 ;; associated warmup sound
+WarmdownSound: 189 ;; associated warmdown sound
+Muzzleglow: thrusterglow01 ;; muzzle glow bitmap
+Shots: 1 ;; only used for TYPE 3 beams
+ShrinkFactor: 0.0 ;; what
+ShrinkPct: 0.0 ;; what percentage of max width we subtract per second
$Section: ;; one section of the beam (you can have up to 5)
+Width: 6.2 ;; width of the section
+Texture: beam-white ;; texture for this section
+RGBA Inner: 255 255 255 255 ;; rgba values (only for non-textured beam compiles)
+RGBA Outer: 150 150 150 10 ;; rgba values (only for non-textured beam compiles)
+Flicker: 0.1 ;; how much it flickers (0.0 to 1.0)
+Zadd: 2.0 ;; hehe
$Section: ;; one section of the beam
+Width: 6.1 ;; width of the section
+Texture: beam-green2 ;; texture for this section
+RGBA Inner: 160 160 0 255 ;; rgba values (only for non-textured beam compiles)
+RGBA Outer: 60 60 0 10 ;; rgba values (only for non-textured beam compiles)
+Flicker: 0.1 ;; how much it flickers (0.0 to 1.0)
+Zadd: 1.0 ;; hehe
$Section: ;; one section of the beam
+Width: 6.0 ;; width of the section
+Texture: beam-gold1 ;; texture for this section
+RGBA Inner: 255 0 0 255 ;; rgba values (only for non-textured beam compiles)
+RGBA Outer: 60 0 0 10 ;; rgba values (only for non-textured beam compiles)
+Flicker: 0.1 ;; how much it flickers (0.0 to 1.0)
+Zadd: 0.0 ;; hehe
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Another odd occurance when dealing with weapons. When you make a laser heat seaking and have it over 60m long, you get some very strange looking effects when the lasers get close to their target.
Thanx for the table, i'll play with it sometime.
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Lets see some more screenies of it!
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That screenshot was just too cool... I love it!
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...I don't think so. It's A-1 Crappah!
What is supposed to be the purpose of this beam? To fire more than one aaaf beam at a time? Why? If the first shot misses, the next set may hit you. no?
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Originally posted by adwight
Lets see some more screenies of it!
You want more???? :eek2:
Thats odd......
More of what? The fixed beam or the one showed earlier?:eek:
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More of the multiple beams whacking ships. THATS COOL!
And dont hate, Raah...
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Originally posted by Raa Tor'h
...I don't think so. It's A-1 Crappah!
What is supposed to be the purpose of this beam? To fire more than one aaaf beam at a time? Why? If the first shot misses, the next set may hit you. no?
The purpose was to be a space 'shotgun' of sorts. Firing 3 or 4 beams at a target for a VERY short period (exactly like a shotgun), and being spread over an area. Thing is, with a bitmap, the thing will still hit you even though it looks like it missed. Then I remembered the Nbeam and how it managed to create multiple beams at once, so I decided to try again, except I attempted to lower the times enough that 3 beams would appear, but only for a short time.
Unfortunately, the attempt was a failiure, and is in the form of the screenie and the table entry (which is the closest I can possibly get - its somewhat balanced, does little damage and misses half the time - to what I wanted) you see in my posts above.
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why not a "shotgun-flak" gun?
slow firing but instant explosions everywhere around target :)
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Originally posted by Havock
why not a "shotgun-flak" gun?
slow firing but instant explosions everywhere around target :)
Good suggestion - but its still not as cool as a beam shotgun :)
I'll give it a whirl though :D
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Holy ****, that's... hmm... interesting...
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Originally posted by Singh
I removed the flag, thats why it worked :)
Never knew you had to remove it to work tho :/
No problem, glad you got it working.
I think I'll play around with a varient of that table, something more in line with your orginal 'NBeam' (many slashing beams...;7)
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ok. I put these beams in place of AAA and all the other beam cannons on a Hecate and a Hap, and pitted them against each other. The first run, I put in the normal tables I placed above and got a pretty impressive (if somewhat long) beam-battle with only one side firing (the other was standing still, so it was out of the cone of fire). In this standard mode, its quite balanced - the bombers I had sent against the vessel lasted a decent amount of time and managed to get off a decent sized payload before blowing up.
(http://img35.photobucket.com/albums/v107/anandraj/beamfrenzy.jpg)
The second run, I decided to have fun and increase the total number of beams. The result was more eyecandy (but a vastly shorter battle)...Tin Can.....ye asked for it :P
(http://img35.photobucket.com/albums/v107/anandraj/beamfrenzy4.jpg)
(http://img35.photobucket.com/albums/v107/anandraj/beamfrenzy2.jpg)
(http://img35.photobucket.com/albums/v107/anandraj/beamfrenzy3.jpg)
Im actually surprised nobody has found this till now (if anyone has, please do tell me!) as its a rather interesting effect, if nothing else.
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That's so pretty!
Would be even prettier with different coloured beams flying all over the place.
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Originally posted by Ferret
That's so pretty!
Would be even prettier with different coloured beams flying all over the place.
That can be arranged :D
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Certainly is an interesting effect. I should give the tables a go and see how it looks in motion. :)
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Singh read my mind! :wuv:
I had wondered why no such weapon had existed on FS universe, seems much more potent area suppression weapon on long ranges than cluster munitions.
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someone asked for color beams?
(http://img35.photobucket.com/albums/v107/anandraj/beamcolors6.jpg)
(http://img35.photobucket.com/albums/v107/anandraj/beamcolors5.jpg)
(http://img35.photobucket.com/albums/v107/anandraj/beamcolors4.jpg)
(http://img35.photobucket.com/albums/v107/anandraj/beamcolors3.jpg)
(http://img35.photobucket.com/albums/v107/anandraj/beamcolors2.jpg)
(http://img35.photobucket.com/albums/v107/anandraj/beamcolors.jpg)
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Actually, I've been toying with an idea for flak for a while. I gave up on beams long ago. I was sickened by how many people just completely over do it, wether in campaigns or mods. ON the other hand, I see how this could be cool, in moderation.
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In moderation yes, which is why I refer you to the original table entry - ignore the pics, thats just a bit of machoness and ub3rness I put into it :)
Actually, if you look at it - the ones in the pic actually take Longer to kill off a nahema bomber than a regular beam...most of the shots keep on missing, and the ones that do hit do little damage - heck, the things fly in a straight line and STILL dont get hit....
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Ah-ha! Those beams are so sexy!
Is there any noticable speed hit?
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Originally posted by Ferret
Ah-ha! Those beams are so sexy!
Is there any noticable speed hit?
Not really. My FPS remained rock solid. But one must note that this was while in 640x480 as opposed to the high-res stuff, so I cant exactly say :P
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Very purdy :) If colored blue, that would be perfect for the Zent ships in a Macross mod :D
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Really nice effect...
If Inferno will not implement it before i'll give it a try for Rise Of GCA...
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Originally posted by Singh
Good suggestion - but its still not as cool as a beam shotgun :)
I'll give it a whirl though :D
Already done in Inferno :p
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You're outperforming any MOD competition, you know... :p
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Originally posted by SadisticSid
Already done in Inferno :p
what? The beam shotgun?? GIMMEH!!! :P
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:eek:
That fourth picture is now my wallpaper.
BEAUTIFUL!!
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I'm implementing it as new Shivan weapon...
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Its the new Slash Beams ;7
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BTW, they are a real hit to frame rate on older PCs...
But the effect in-game is lovely... Now, joining that with a Pink Floyd soundtrack will bring you to another world*
*additional chemicals might be needed, the author is not responsible for unhealthy consequences :p
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Rebuttal originating from the wisdom of Singh
(http://img35.photobucket.com/albums/v107/anandraj/beamcolors5.jpg)
Nice angle. :D Oh, do these beams slash or are they direct beams?
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Rebuttal originating from the wisdom of Duke Setekh Of Tanghurst
Nice angle. :D Oh, do these beams slash or art they direct beams?
Direct. not to mention AAA as well - you should see them go on and off as they attack another vessel (especially a cap vessel) its much better in game than in those screens ;) :D
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It looks insane as it is, if they were slash... Well then.... It really would be something to see in action.
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Rebuttal originating from the wisdom of Ferret
It looks insane as it is, if they were slash... Well then.... It really would be something to descry in action.
This actually gives me the temptation to go and try it :drevil:
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Take a vid and show us.
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video? how do you do that???
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No way unless you have a really good PC...
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count me out then ;)
incidentally, i have these rather recent pics. Not as good as what was posted before, just some more tests. i have an idea on how to get the beam to appear as I wanted it - will try a bit later.
(http://img35.photobucket.com/albums/v107/anandraj/fs2beam.jpg)
(http://img35.photobucket.com/albums/v107/anandraj/sss3.jpg)
(http://img35.photobucket.com/albums/v107/anandraj/sss2.jpg)
(http://img35.photobucket.com/albums/v107/anandraj/sss.jpg)
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That 2nd one... *Is in love....*
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Lets see one, with red yellow green blue and purple beams if you possibly could. That would be cool.
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They look odd.
I don't really like them :doubt:
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That might be the fact that Singh has tried to cram as many beams on as possible, so they end up looking quite crap when they're that far away.
You have to look at it as if you were close to them.... And them slashing......
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Originally posted by Lightspeed
I don't really like them :doubt:
Me neither. At least not in such abundance. They might be a nice change on occasion though, if there aren't too many of them used, and they're used in the right places. (Sticking one in the mouth of the Sathanas, for example, would look alright.)
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hehe.
As i said, its just an experiment, nothing more. The actual weapon (if I ever release any) will be like in the table entry (as seen in the bottom pic), which is much more sane and reasonable as opposed the other pics and stuff posted here.
(http://img35.photobucket.com/albums/v107/anandraj/beamfrenzy.jpg)
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Yes, when the effect is well mixed it looks great...
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You know you could open up a laser light show with those. just make sure its the jumping kind and not the continuous. Only thing is to make sure there are only three beams coming out one turret. Now what would be really cool is if they revolved in a circular fasion.
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no, what would be realy cool is if they all converge on a single point then seperate (sp) again, especaly cool for an AAA beam. Or is that what a slash beam would do if you gave it more then one beam per port? I'm not realy shure, havent played with the beams much.
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Originally posted by Falcon
You know you could open up a laser light show with those. just make sure its the jumping kind and not the continuous. Only thing is to make sure there are only three beams coming out one turret. Now what would be really cool is if they revolved in a circular fasion.
If you set it as Type 3 (AAA) then yes, it is the jumping kind - hell yeah its jumping!
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:lol: yeah but it would be nice if three beams revolved in a circular fasion like it was cutting a chunk of a ship then see that chunk float out of space. *Meet Dr. Beam he will be operating on you soon don't worry* :drevil:
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im surprised it actually doesn't crash the PC since i believe FS2 (or even FSO) has a limit of 40 beams at a time
edit: its 500 which probably is hogging up a bit of memory people are complaining about. FS2 Retail has 40 beams at a time.
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The .tbl entry mentioned earlier doesnt hog up much memory, just does if you turn it up to the insanity level as seen in some of hte pics before the above one. hell no I dont intend to do that again!
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Yeah but is neat though. I never grow tired of Freespace so much you can do with this game.
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Open source has helped somewhat.....
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Originally posted by Singh
The .tbl entry mentioned earlier doesnt hog up much memory, just does if you turn it up to the insanity level as seen in some of hte pics before the above one. hell no I dont intend to do that again!
that's not what he's talking about. there is a static amount of beam weaponry that is allowed to be used at a time
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ok. so this limit is at ~400 beams, correct?
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Who would want 400 beams goin off at the same time :ick: 1 to 10 are good enough but anything above that would ruin the whole game and make it unbalanced. Plus cause some serious eardrum damage. ;) ;7
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You ever seen Omniscraper's recreation of the "Sacrifice Of Angels" DS9 fleet engagement?
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A last stand weapon, blow out your disrupter banks in one BURST!
nice effect could be tweaked to have a more "usefull" purpose to it... if it is tweaked right... but blowing off 200-to-the-10th power- beams in every direction is like just .... whoa... lol...
I did something like this awhile ago but only as a "3 shot" beam weapon, i applied AAAF atributes to the BGREEN beam and up'd the refire rate so that way it will bang-bang-bang the ship (3 beam bursts rapidly) like an AAAF beam (type 3), and do a good deal more damage than a steady stream of the original. sorta like a mjionoir... the way u made this weapon seem as if it should be on a gatling like weapon. which would be kinda cool... like the one off the orion type 2;s nose...
"one deimos corvette in its last stand activates its deflector array....
Mr. Sulu... FRY!"
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Bumping this thread from the grave, sorry.
I decided to try my hand at photoshop:
(http://img35.photobucket.com/albums/v107/anandraj/beamtest1.jpg)
(http://img35.photobucket.com/albums/v107/anandraj/beamtest2.jpg)
(http://img35.photobucket.com/albums/v107/anandraj/beamtest3.jpg)
And here is the beam texture itself; free for anyone's use (provided credits are given ofc)
http://anandraj.sphosting.com/beam-custom.zip
comments and suggestions for improvement?
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Those actually look pretty good! :yes:
But the beam glows need a bit more definition ;)
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Originally posted by Unknown Target
Those actually look pretty good! :yes:
But the beam glows need a bit more definition ;)
That beam glow is actually the default warpglow ;)
Im working on better beam glows as well.....assuming I can get some better photoshop skills and time ;)