[MeekGeek]

Questions first

I have been playing around with damage a bit, using some old ideas I have made work in other games to simulate damage.

I need to use alpha textures, and wondered how this was implemented best in the SCP builds. What format works best etc. Do alpha textures put a greater drain on framerates?

Also, when it comes to sub-objects, what sort of limits am I tied to? Also, when a subobject is destroyed, can I replace the model with a damaged version. I think you can do this with sub-systems...is that the same thing?

Finally....if a subobject has a turret on it ( can you do that??? ) what happens to the turret when the subobject is destroyed?

Basically, the plan is this :

Build the base model as a 'frame'. Just a central spine with ribs and some basic boxes to simulate bays and such like. Not too complex, since this is not going to get seen very much. Then, make the outer hull up in sections, each as a sub-model. When a hull section is hit and destroyed, you will see a hole left! IF I can swap in a damaged version, I can make a nice burned through effect. Naturally... this is only relevant for capships...small fighters can just go boom into lots of little pieces

Oh...and the request

Is it possible, in some future build, to make afterburner fuel a resource that gets used up ? Leave the ordinary engines as they are, but when you burners fire, they should have a limited life until you re-supply. I know this has AI implications ( since they wouldn't use the fuel sensibly....but it could well add to the immersion factor!

[SadisticSid]

You can already do that, just set the +Aburn Rec Rate to 0 in your ships.tbl.

[MeekGeek]

Neat I always envisaged afterburners in the 'jet engine' kind of way, and no matter how advanced your basic propulsion systems, this was a short term 'rocket' effect. Pump fuel into a hot exhaust tube and hang on

For what I am planning, I intend to ramp up the effect of the burners but limit their duration. This will work just fine! Thanks

Now, all I need to do, is understand the damage thing

[Trivial Psychic]

Perhaps a mission flag could be added to allow support ships to replenish your afterburner reserve, the way it was made possible to have support ships repair your hull.

[Lynx]

Yeah, you can set the afterburner fuel as replenishable fuel, but the problem is that the FS AI is too ****in stupid to use it properly...in a battle they will fly on afterburners 99,99% of the time making it almost impossible to shoot them.

[Grimloq]

aplogies for reviving, but i have to point out:

in missions when you have to race to a point (ie, the last mission) having limited AB reserves will make it impossible to beat unless you plan ahead. in addition to that, this will topple play balance totally.

again, sry for reviving...

[Nuke]

uhm not really, you need to think like a modder, no freespace ship has their afterburners  set to not recharge. and when you rearm you have to stop anyway, allowing your burners time to fully recharge. you could make the support ship recharge the burners and it wouldnt affect play balence at all.

the ultimate key to play balence:
every time you make a kickass doomsday weapon, make one for the enemy too

[MeekGeek]

Also....as far as the Afterburners go... changing the balance is EXACTLY what I wanted to do!

Personally, I see no point in modding if you restrict yourself to a rigid 'Freespace 2 Universe' approach. Thats not what interests me. I want to work beyond that.

I have rough plans for my own 'universe', my own 'races' and an idea how I want their ships to look. The afterburners thing in my 'Universe Laws' are achieved by injecting combustable fuel into the already hot exhaust tubes of the cruise motors to create a 'ramjet' effect and massively increase the thrust. The fuel would not be replaced in combat and would be a finite resource. ( Think Battlestar Galactica Viper ) and should be conserved by the pilot for best effect.

It would be good if a support ship CAN replace the fuel ( but I have no idea how that would happen ) and fit well with what I want.

Ultimately, I couldn't think of a good reason to have afterburners re-charge that couldn't be solved by bigger engines....

[Nuke]

i kida like the subspace grappledrive i put on my ainchents fighter. it has a fixed burner supply but its max afterburner velocity is set as close to the speed of light that freespace can get. you get about a minute of ab thrust and the acceleration is set low so you constantly accelerate. unfortunately the freespace battle area is too small for it to be any fun.

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by MeekGeek

Also, when it comes to sub-objects, what sort of limits am I tied to? Also, when a subobject is destroyed, can I replace the model with a damaged version. I think you can do this with sub-systems...is that the same thing?

Finally....if a subobject has a turret on it ( can you do that??? ) what happens to the turret when the subobject is destroyed?

I don't know the sub-object limit.  Retail was about 80-100, I think; I'd expect this to have been considerably increased for fsopen (albeit bear in mind you'd need subobjects for LOD1 too...)

Subobjects set as subsystems can be destroyed.  Somewhat excellently, I think Bobs just added / is adding non-targetable subsystems; i.e. so you can blow up subobjects but not target them on the model.

There are 2 models regarding subsystem destruction;
(For example, if you have a subobject turret01)

The subobject called turret01-destroyed is drawn in place of turret01 when it is destroyed; this is the debris leftover on the hull.

The subobject/s called turret01-debrisxx (xx is a number, i.e. debris00, debris01, etc) are the debris which is 'cast away'  when the turret is destroyed; these subobjects have (IIRC) rotation and speed settings that dictate the direction, etc, in which they fly away.

I actually made a model a while back that uses both debris and destroyed models (there's not all that many mods that use this; I've only done it twice myself, largely due to laziness); you might find that useful as a reference.

See the PTCa Baranec here; http://www.3dactionplanet.com/hlp/hosted/casofwar/reci_website/mods_standalone.html

(Bottom of page; I don't have the original cob, unfortunately)

Also the Setekh and charybdis should have good examples of live debris, etc.

[Nuke]

how many polies is the ship you are trying to convert? fsopen's insanely jacked limits might be able to crank it.

[Grimloq]

Originally posted by MeekGeek
Also....as far as the Afterburners go... changing the balance is EXACTLY what I wanted to do!

Personally, I see no point in modding if you restrict yourself to a rigid 'Freespace 2 Universe' approach. Thats not what interests me. I want to work beyond that.

I have rough plans for my own 'universe', my own 'races' and an idea how I want their ships to look. The afterburners thing in my 'Universe Laws' are achieved by injecting combustable fuel into the already hot exhaust tubes of the cruise motors to create a 'ramjet' effect and massively increase the thrust. The fuel would not be replaced in combat and would be a finite resource. ( Think Battlestar Galactica Viper ) and should be conserved by the pilot for best effect.

It would be good if a support ship CAN replace the fuel ( but I have no idea how that would happen ) and fit well with what I want.

Ultimately, I couldn't think of a good reason to have afterburners re-charge that couldn't be solved by bigger engines....

#1: uh, ok...
#2: right on! just dont change original FS2s balance/universe TOO much
#3: oh, i see! if you wanna make your own universe, an alternate freespace, good on ya! just leave the way vanilla works alone. good luck on this 'universe'...
#4: dont think it would be difficult, but im no coder
#5: *snicker*