Hard Light Productions Forums

Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The FRED Workshop => Topic started by: Colonol Dekker on September 12, 2006, 10:14:13 am

Title: Dropship style launches
Post by: Colonol Dekker on September 12, 2006, 10:14:13 am
Heres a mission  which has a dropship style launch to it.
Using Cutscenes i could simulate Starlancer stlye takeoffs, But i need a "lock-player-controls" sexp in order for the effect to be complete. Also if there's a way to incorporate inertial/momentum, or a velocity increase theffect would be more "cinematic"

Cheers, :)

The mission itself is Very basic.

(the other one is forCobra so he can see how the Basic Cutscene functions work.

comments n the former please? as in, any tips or tricks i should know to add the velocity effects?


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Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Shade on September 12, 2006, 10:22:45 am
Already exists:

player-use-ai
    player-use-ai
    Causes the player's ship to be controlled by the Freespace AI. Takes 0 arguments.
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Axem on September 12, 2006, 10:26:47 am
Additionally for velocity effects, under coordinate manipulation you'll find

Code: [Select]
set-object-speed-x
Sets the X speed of a ship, wing, or waypoint.Takes 2 or 3 arguments...
1: The name of the object.
2: The speed to set.
3: Whether the speed should be set subjectively; i.e. from the object's point of view (optional; defaults to false).

There's also ones for y and z, so you should be able to do whatever you need.
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Colonol Dekker on September 12, 2006, 10:35:25 am
Uggn, thats what i used, (Y axis i should say) Try the mission, see how wrong it feels and you'll know what i'm trying to convey, Player use AI is a bit iffy for what i want.
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Axem on September 12, 2006, 10:38:47 am
If you want it to accelerate, use a variable for the velocity and use a repeating sexp to increase the variable every second or so.
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: NGTM-1R on September 12, 2006, 10:39:19 am
While we're here, is it possible to get a ship to launch sideways?

SEXPing it is a tad impractical for sixteen ships at once, see...
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Axem on September 12, 2006, 10:52:58 am
You could use arguments. Just list all the ships you want to launch sideways in the any-of, and then just sexp it as if you wanted a ship called <Argument> to launch sideways.
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Colonol Dekker on September 12, 2006, 10:55:40 am
Use the X axis to accellerate the Ship sideways, I tried adding to it every second with an incremental increase all the way up 28'000  over 15 seconds but it was WAAAYyyyy too much.
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: spartan_0214 on September 12, 2006, 10:59:32 am
I have no idea what type of "dropship launch" you're talking about, but I know on two missions of my upcoming campaign, I have Alpha wing launch from an installation. It's quite cool actually. For about five seconds, the computer takes control. First, you're sitting there and one second later you launch, and four seconds after that, you have control over your ship. . .
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: NGTM-1R on September 12, 2006, 03:29:06 pm
You could use arguments. Just list all the ships you want to launch sideways in the any-of, and then just sexp it as if you wanted a ship called <Argument> to launch sideways.

That's really only practical from a stationary object. At this point I'm really thinking along the lines of screwy dock paths or something.

See, I have a modular-design corvette I'm working on. One of the configurations is a pocket-carrier type, but I think it may not be possible to create ingame the way I want it to work. It carries fighters in sixteen single-ship "cell" launch bays, and the modular portion of the ship is too small to really fit them so that they would launch lengthwise. I can cover for the fact that though the cells are open to space when it launches fighters by having it point so the player can't see them before launch, but I can't really cover for the lack of room.
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Mobius on September 12, 2006, 05:53:54 pm
Additionally for velocity effects, under coordinate manipulation you'll find

Code: [Select]
set-object-speed-x
Sets the X speed of a ship, wing, or waypoint.Takes 2 or 3 arguments...
1: The name of the object.
2: The speed to set.
3: Whether the speed should be set subjectively; i.e. from the object's point of view (optional; defaults to false).

There's also ones for y and z, so you should be able to do whatever you need.

You preceeded me!!!
i sue them to simulate gravity.
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Backslash on September 13, 2006, 01:40:42 am
Um, where's the launch mission?  Very cool cutscene mission though, will be very helpful to learn from.

Some cool ideas in here, guys!  Hmm!  Just had a couple inspirations...  Are there SEXPs for changing the $Damp factor, or changing a ship's $Max Velocity (with X, Y, and Z)?

So for the sideways launch, you could set a high X velocity and 0 Z velocity and have the ship actually propel itself out.  Hmm... though, not sure if AI knows how to fly a ship that is incapable of Z movement... will look into.

The Damp SEXP (if it exists) would be how to apply momentum... for a catapult-like launch, give the ship a high Damp, like 2 or higher.  Then SEXP it a fast acceleration for a short amount of time, then stop and it would coast.

ngtm1r, why is the argument idea only practical from a stationary object?  Wouldn't it at least still work if the object had an constant velocity at time of launch?
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Colonol Dekker on September 13, 2006, 03:18:13 am
Right updated original post, Turns out i put it in the wrong thread :rolleyes:
But its here now, Only very basic, Not had a chance to edit it and its only really intended to demonstrate the barest essential premise of what i want.


RE: what type of Dropship, Think ALiens...................
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Mefustae on September 13, 2006, 07:43:20 am
RE: what type of Dropship, Think ALiens...................
We're in the pipe, five by five.
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Colonol Dekker on September 13, 2006, 07:48:13 am
Elevator to hell,................... ;7
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Mefustae on September 13, 2006, 08:00:08 am
Elevator to hell,................... ;7
Going down!!
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Colonol Dekker on September 13, 2006, 08:02:51 am
Someone wake up Hicks ! :mad:


Now whos tried the mission out, I know its crap, thats why  wanna now how to implement a feeling of greater accelleration, > could also be used to do VTOL take-offs now that i think about it........ :nod:
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Backslash on September 14, 2006, 05:36:55 pm
I like it!  Shows great potential.  Heh, clever use of the Hades.

Now that I've dug around some, it looks like there's no such SEXP as as what I suggested, so maybe I'll look into adding those someday.  I think a lot of cool effects could be done with it.

Also noticed a possible bug in player-use-ai which I'll look into.
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: spartan_0214 on September 14, 2006, 05:40:09 pm
Um, where's the launch mission?  Very cool cutscene mission though, will be very helpful to learn from.

umm, sorrry, forgot to edit before I posted. I'm working (sort of) on a campaign that has a mission where you launch from an Arcadia Installation.
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Mobius on September 15, 2006, 03:03:34 am
Surely you won't use set-x/y/z-speed for that.
The Acradia has a normal fighterbay,not like the Hecate.
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Goober5000 on September 16, 2006, 12:16:48 am
Now that I've dug around some, it looks like there's no such SEXP as as what I suggested

What about jettison-cargo-delay?
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Backslash on September 16, 2006, 02:34:57 am
There's an interesting idea!  For the horizontal launch you'd probably need to modify the fighters to have a special docking point on the side, but for the vertical launch... that sounds feasible right away!  Get right on that! :p

Hmm... Does anything determines the jettison speed of the cargo?  Density?
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: NGTM-1R on September 16, 2006, 03:35:13 am
Cargo gets dumped by the ship moving away from the cargo in FS, unfortunately.
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Goober5000 on September 16, 2006, 01:47:22 pm
Get right on that! :p

Hey, you're the one who was asking.  You get on that. :p

Quote
Hmm... Does anything determines the jettison speed of the cargo?  Density?

Mass and distance.  I think it's the same whack as when you have a freighter destroyed and its cargo shoved away.
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Mobius on September 17, 2006, 07:52:16 am
Right,but a jettinson-cargo-delay with an Argo looks quite strange!
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Colonol Dekker on September 19, 2006, 04:10:07 am
That would be quite weird, I'll post ome other crazy missions i'vde done soon enough. thrn you can see how i make use of the new schmancy sexps - avast ye mangy currs........
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Mobius on September 19, 2006, 05:44:37 am
Like that mission with the probe in Epsilon Eridani?
That was cool.
Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Darius on September 20, 2006, 10:50:47 am
I love using the fade-out sexp's in conjunction with a ship explosion. You know that something big just went boom.

I'll illustrate with a quick cutscene mission.

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Title: Re: Dropship style launches
Post by: Mobius on September 20, 2006, 04:44:24 pm
Seems that everyone here has different styles...
Cutscenes with FRED offer many interesting things...