[LAW ENFORCER]

I was wondering (and I havent heard this anywhere esle yet) (and if you did happen to have a disscusion about it and come in here and accusingly tell me that its already been done, I will say "yeah, whatever!")
err... lost track a bit there... emm..
I was wondering about barrels, and if they could be set to recoil from shots? you could set up some cool AAA style guns or just cool ones!!;7

so who wants to tell me how terribly hard this would be and complete it the next day?

[IceFire]

A doesn't have barrels.

A turret does however.  And probably not without overhauling the entire system.  The only animations on FS ships are the rotations...no other model animations as far as I know.

[Stryke 9]

Well, judging from the pathing plasma and missile launches use out of turrets, you could do something with the turret axis there possibly, but I'll defer to IceFire on whether that's too much work to be worth it or not...

[Anaz]

Doesn't seem like it would be too hard, because the rotated turret already has its normal pointed in the right direction, it would just be a matter of moving it along that axis.

[IceFire]

Originally posted by Analazon
Doesn't seem like it would be too hard, because the rotated turret already has its normal pointed in the right direction, it would just be a matter of moving it along that axis.

True...its just that I was told that it would be very difficult.  But hey....if its possible, cool

[Mr. Vega]

I smell newtonian physics.

[Sesquipedalian]

This sounds like an awful lot of work for a teeny tiny little effect.

[Petrarch of the VBB]

It might be small, but will look good. Think of the turrets in HomeWorld.

[TrashMan]

Hell, yeah!
Beam cannons? - nice
Gimme turrets!

[Petrarch of the VBB]

Beams woldn't have recoil.

[Nico]

Originally posted by Analazon
Doesn't seem like it would be too hard, because the rotated turret already has its normal pointed in the right direction, it would just be a matter of moving it along that axis.

one would think that it's the "moving it along that axis" part which might be difficult, no?

[KARMA]

stupid thing: imagine the xwing sfoils
the movement can be described as part of a rotation, with the center point of the rotation at the base of the wings.
wouldn't be possible to set two parameters,
1 to limit the rotation angle from a starting point
2 to make it continuous or by keypress/sexp ?

[LAW ENFORCER]

Originally posted by Sesquipedalian
This sounds like an awful lot of work for a teeny tiny little effect.

So was your name!


It is seriuosly cool when you see huge guns firing - its a bit of an improment instead of a slow green thingy just apperaring....

[Anaz]

Originally posted by venom2506

one would think that it's the "moving it along that axis" part which might be difficult, no?

erm...alright..I'll try to explain it a bit more...

The turret is on a line which is formed by the two points (The axis of the turret, which is in this case the center of the turret for barreled turrets, and the turret's fireing point). All that you need to do is make something that updates the position of the turret based on how much time the effect takes, much like how keyframes work. I.E. you know that the turret needs to be at point "a" at time 100. At time 5, it is 5% along that transition, so you can move the position of the turret 5% down the line.


(hmm...now that I think about it, it seems to me that this might cause funny rotation if the axis is moved...because the axis is non-centered on the actual polymodel for the turret arm...I am by no means an expert on the source tho, and that might not be the way it is done)

[Kazan]

it's not really a lot of work - you just specify a recoil magnitude (m) - the recoil barrel speed will be something like 1/2 or 1/4 the projects velocity - you then take the barrels current normal (n)- invert the vector (n') (so n(1,1,1) would become n'(-1,-1,-1))

then figure out  [RC =] OC + (n' * m) and translate the barrel down by correct fractions of RC-OC to produce the velocity
(OC = Object Center)
(RC = Recoiled Object Center)

and then there would be a "return velocity"

while it's translating the turrets rotation would probably have to be locked for simplicities sake

================

or for  complexities sake -- this one makes it so you dont have to lock the position - you just have to perofmr a quick recalculation of your offset each frame [execution cost: 1 comparison, maximum of 3 mulitplications and 2 additions]

take
{ Scalar} Recoil Magnitude (m)
{ Scalar} Recoil Velocity (Vr)
{ Scalar} Return Velocity (Vc) [speed to return to normal from recoil position]
{vector} Current Normal (n) (may change) [and it's inverse n']
{ Scalar} Time since recoil event start (T)
{vector} Object Center (OC)

{ Scalar} Calculate Recoil Time (Rt = m/Vr)

{vector} Based upon T calculate Current Object Position (Position)

Code: [Select]


if (T < Rt)
       Position = OC + n' * T
else
      Position = (OC + n' * m) + n * (Vc * T-Rt);



=======
edit - the adititional translation can be performed by the internal T&L engine

[Kazan]

Originally posted by Analazon

(hmm...now that I think about it, it seems to me that this might cause funny rotation if the axis is moved...because the axis is non-centered on the actual polymodel for the turret arm...I am by no means an expert on the source tho, and that might not be the way it is done)

fortunately rotating parts don't work correctly if the axis is in the wrong spot - because it rotates along the axis

[Thorn]

That was one of the things that got me with Homeworld...
When that heavy cruiser fires its guns, you can tell theyre big..
They kick and make a loud nose..
Converted to freespace, it looks pretty weak... sounds fine.. but its just not the same without the kick....

[Kazan]

you could specify

{ Scalar} Recoil Magnitude (m)
{ Scalar} Recoil Velocity (Vr)
{ Scalar} Return Velocity (Vc)

in the subojbect properties

Code: [Select]


$recoil_mag=10
$recoil_velocity=200
$recoil_return=50


recoil mag being in game units (meters)
the other two being in game units per second (meters/sec)

[diamondgeezer]

Originally posted by LAW ENFORCER
I was wondering about barrels

[J.F.K.]

The only thing I think it would really be useful for is in-engine cutscenes. Presumably a capship would only be firing turrets in combat, and in combat, who stays still long enough to notice turrets recoiling? Nice idea, but I don't think it's appropriate for ordinary gameplay.