[Kinman]

Hi, I'm new here. After playing FS2 several times, I decided to create my own campaign (FSO).
So far I haven't got many troubles with FRED but now I want create a visual effect and I've absolutely no idea how to create it. Maybe it's just impossible.

The mission plays at the same time as Capella get supernova but in a different system. I want to make a effect like a short flash to visualize the progress. Because animated backgrounds are not supported I tried it with the supernova-start sexp. So far so good, but of course I do not want to destroy all ships or even change the camera. And that's my problem. I don't know how...

Does anyone of you know a solution?

Thank you!
Greetings Kinman

I hope this post isn't full of writing mistakes, but I haven't wrote English texts for quite a while...

[Snail]

Well if you were in a different system you wouldn't see a flash at all for at least a few years...



You could use explosion-effect in the background and just make it huge.

[Kinman]

Thank you for your answer.

Of course the flash would spread over several years until reaching an other system.
But if it's possible, the flash would just be a cool visiual effect.

I also tried it with explosiont, but it looks bad.

I'm happy if only the whole screen fade to white and then back to normal.

Greetings Kinman

EDIT: Huh.. just discovered the fade sexp. Maybe this is what i want...

[General Battuta]

But...but...the wavefront propagates at lightspeed! Like Snail said, it'd take years to get there. I worry that it'd ruin the player's suspension of disbelief.

[Kinman]

Theres also a fictional answer: The flash was emitted through subspace 

[Mobius]

Welcome to the HLPBB!!!

If you're using FSO you might rely on a few interesting features, like the SEXP add-sun-bitmap. You may add stars/ambient pales at regular intervals of time(and of various dimensions). You may also remove the small ones via remove-sun-bitmap when the effects get bigger and bigger.

[Kinman]

That sounds perfect.
With the fade effects I got the flash working and with the background sexp I can add a second (minor) eye catcher...

Thank you all very much
Greetings

[General Battuta]

Theres also a fictional answer: The flash was emitted through subspace 

Like Praxis exploding?

It's technobabble, but it almost makes sense, given that it was a massive subspace field that triggered the supernova in the first place...

[Mobius]

Thank you all very much
Greetings

No problem, feel free to ask for help whenever you want...

[james777]

Theres also a fictional answer: The flash was emitted through subspace 

lol

[ssmit132]

Of course the flash would spread over several years until reaching an other system.
But if it's possible, the flash would just be a cool visiual effect.

Technically, I think, the way you see the supernova in-mission is wrong too. Since the star's explosion probably wouldn't travel at light speed, you wouldn't see anything until the explosion got significantly close to your position in-system. However, seeing as it was a countdown of about a minute, it must have been going pretty fast, or you were very close to Capella. If the latter is false it must have been going at light speed or faster to get to you in that length of time. (And Capella's bigger than Sol.)

For example if someone sent Sol supernova (which has already been done: here) you wouldn't see the flash until a few minutes after the start of the nova, since light takes eight minutes to get from the Sun to Earth. (I'm assuming the explosion/shockwave goes near light speed.)

[karajorma]

You've forgotten that the GTVA obviously has FTL comms. So they could be aware of the supernova well before the light actually reaches the position the player is at.

[Trivial Psychic]

I also tried it with explosiont, but it looks bad.

You could try to create an explosion effect that matches the visual flash you want, and using it instead of the default explosion effect... not sure if you can specify explosion effects in that sexp though.

[FUBAR-BDHR]

I have a routine that will probably do exactly what you want but I need to ask Vid's permission before I give it to you.  Problem is he's away for 2 weeks. 

[Retsof]

Here's another one on the same subject.  Is it possible to have only one star in a binary system have the nova effect?

[ssmit132]

You've forgotten that the GTVA obviously has FTL comms. So they could be aware of the supernova well before the light actually reaches the position the player is at.

Didn't think about that. But even so, when the timer starts, and Command announces that they're detecting 'a massive shockwave' (I doubt they would have delayed sending that transmission), the star bitmap starts expanding as well. That's the point I'm making. IMO it wouldn't look like that in real life - you wouldn't see gradual expansion like that. (And I hope we don't find out!)

[Colonol Dekker]

Here's another one on the same subject.  Is it possible to have only one star in a binary system have the nova effect?

Hmmm...................would it default to a single star, or set them all off? because if it's the latter........i'm outta here

[FUBAR-BDHR]

In the real universe there are several known binary stars that feed off their companion star and go nova.  The companion star is still there and the star that went Nova begins feeding off of it again.  The cycle repeats. 

In FS2 I don't even know if the effect can be done if there is more then one star in the mission. 

[Kinman]

I have a routine that will probably do exactly what you want but I need to ask Vid's permission before I give it to you.  Problem is he's away for 2 weeks. 

That would be great! Thank you

Greetings,
Kinman