Hard Light Productions Forums
Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The Modding Workshop => Topic started by: tnathan475 on March 31, 2008, 10:44:10 am
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Possible or no?
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Like, curved beams? No.
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The scale is too big for them, when you play RTS etc, it doesn't matter, but when you play in first person, you can see that a curve is really just a lot of straight lines :)
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Perhaps thathan475 meant beams that track their target while firing, rather than staying fixed and falling of the end of the target if the firing ship/target moves too far while the beam is firing.
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Baxslash and I have had a possible theory on how to do this, but it depends on when he's able to
work on it.
It first has to get one turn completed, then we could work from there.
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Perhaps thathan475 meant beams that track their target while firing, rather than staying fixed and falling of the end of the target if the firing ship/target moves too far while the beam is firing.
exactly what i meant beams that track their targets as they move
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Making an invisible missile with a beam trail and sound ? Then making it move around until it homes onto a target ?
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Gunbuster wants curved beams!!! :nod:
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Shivan super laser anyone?
Just create a missile with a very long trail and proper textures/models.
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Shivan super laser anyone?
Just create a missile with a very long trail and proper textures/models.
Won't that make curved beams?
The thing he isn't asking for?
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Slash beams are the closest I can think of. You can get the illusion that it is homing if it slashes at the right angle :lol:
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I know I've seen a shivan beam follow it's target... But which one...? :nervous:
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I know I've seen a shivan beam follow it's target... But which one...? :nervous:
:wtf: Are you sure you weren't hallucinating? Because beams shouldn't follow their targets.
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I think it was the Sath beams, I remember them moving (you tend to notice when you're right next to them) ... Maybe that was when I still had retail...?
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I think it was the Sath beams, I remember them moving (you tend to notice when you're right next to them) ... Maybe that was when I still had retail...?
That could be caused by their firing ship moving. Beams always maintain their vector relative to the ship that is firing them. Except slash beams.
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Seriously, with as powerful as the FreeSpace beams are, you don't really need to track a cruiser. With as strong as the beams hit, they probably affect the object's forward momentum. (And they punch right through, Lucy cutscene anyone?)
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Yes... but imagine mods or TCs with beams that AREN'T that powerful and yet still look cool.
Actually, they do affect the momentum, but not forward -- it kind of goes 'sideways' like a baseball bat. Only noticeable on small ships though. However I tested a change that made forward momentum work... and with negative numbers, a tractor beam :D Working on this ;7
All that said... I do think a 'hybrid' beam, probably a new type, could be created, that behaves somewhat like a slash beam and does 'track' the target.
And Getter -- granted I've only seen Gunbuster scenes on Youtube... but the curved beam bit, isn't it being affected by the moon's gravity because of such a huge (light-minutes) distance/scale?
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In that scene its indeed the gravity of the moon/planet that takes effect. Still I think there was a situation where the Gunbuster itself fired beams that where tracking the enemy kinda like a missile would.
I think createing an invisible missiles with a beamlike trail would currently the best way to simulate this effect.
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I don't think that's a good idea. What velocity would you give that missile?
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A spead that matches that of a normal beam?
Also one shouldn't make the missile to manuverable.
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If you made a curved beam like that it might be hard to create a glow effect though I thought of something that might work. Create a beam with a range of 0 and mount it on a capital ship, then in the event editor chain a turret-change-weapon action to a fire-beam action with the delay equal to the amount of time it take for the range 0 beam to fully charge, if you use the turret-change-weapon to set the turrets weapon to your invisable missial then it should look just like a regualar beam.
Note: I have not actually tried this but I seem like it should work or at least provide a place to start.
Hope this helps.
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If you give the missile too high speed game wont even register it and wont provide any graphics for it either. Effectively making the weapon firing FPS dependent. Also too slow speed and you get the toothpaste beams of FS1.
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So... The missile hits the target (almost) immediately after it is fired... And the trail will stay in the same place. It doesn't move anymore, does it? So it doesn't follow the target. Then what's the difference with a normal beam? :confused:
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So... The missile hits the target (almost) immediately after it is fired... And the trail will stay in the same place. It doesn't move anymore, does it? So it doesn't follow the target. Then what's the difference with a normal beam? :confused:
The missile must have a (very) high rate of fire then it might work that way i think
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So... The missile hits the target (almost) immediately after it is fired... And the trail will stay in the same place. It doesn't move anymore, does it? So it doesn't follow the target. Then what's the difference with a normal beam? :confused:
The missile must have a (very) high rate of fire then it might work that way i think
/me slaps himself for not having thought of that himself
Sounds like a good idea, if the engine can handle it.
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Nope... That is not what i meant. If the missile or standard weapon is too fast (ie. too short lifetime) then it wont appear in the game at all. No effects, no damage, nothing.
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I know. But i'm talking about rate of fire (or reload-time or what-ever you want to call it) and not lifetime :)
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what he said is that to get the missile fast enough to look like a beam, it would be too fast for the game to render it.
Right wanderer? or did I misunderstand?
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I see... can't this be done via trail animation?
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what he said is that to get the missile fast enough to look like a beam, it would be too fast for the game to render it.
Right wanderer? or did I misunderstand?
Yeah.. though if you try enough you might something that you could use.
And IIRC you cant animate trail textures.
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Wait... did you mean Lifetime or Velocity?
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and once again you wandered to the curved beams instead to the beams following the target that is moving...
[insert capship]
// \\
// \\ <--- beam being fired homming the ship
// \\
o=\\- o=\\- <--- victim ship moving around.
Something like this, right?
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Wonder if this could be accomplished with a very fast swarm effect.
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Homing beams? I got that effect by mounting a custom beam in a multipart turret. The turret tracked the target and kept the beam on target. This is especially lethal against fighters since the turrets would barely loose track and rip them apart.
$BeamInfo:
+Type: 4 ;; 0 - 4 are valid #'s
$Subsystem: gunturret-0, 8.875, 12.0
$Default PBanks: ( "HSFPositron" )
$animation:triggered
$type:initial
+relative_angle: 90,0,0
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did you only get it working with a type 4 beam?