[Topgun]

I am designing a ship of corvette size that has a hangar in the back. I want to create a docking bay door that, when it's time to end the mission and enter the hangar, will open so you can just fly in.
is it possible?

[lostllama]

I'm sure there was a thread about this very idea posted sometime last year... I think Trashman was interested in implementing it. Have tried searching for the thread but can't seem to find it.

Edit: Found it.  http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,50129.0.html

[Topgun]

ok, now I just need to figure out how to do it.

[Colonol Dekker]

Ask Nuke. His Rumrunner pirate ship has opening doors.

[blowfish]

Note that while rotating doors are at least partially possible at this point, sliding doors are not.

[bobbtmann]

Would it be possible to make a rotating door that has it's axis of rotation really really far away from the model itself, so that it appears to be sliding? Like how the surface of the earth appears flat when we're standing on it only because the curve is so big.

[Nuke]

best bet would be to place a hidden subsystem in the docking bay, then fred the mission to toggle the animation code for the doors, then you can fly in, when youre near the invisible subsystem in the docking bay, end mission.

i thought about a landing simulation script, to give you an ils hud gauge, as well as simulate things like runways and working landing gear, arresting systems, etc. but not enought time to work on it. then a successful landing requires following the ils, keeping withing the designated glideslope, touching down in the right orientation and at the right speed then taxiing to the hanger for a successful landing. ****ing up either results in a wave off or your death.

[Bobboau]

IMHO the best implementation would be to have some realy cool looking rotational mechinism that moves the door in a more or less linear fashion.

[Nuke]

im expirimenting with a garage style door for the carried varient of the ragnarok. essentially its a chain of slats each one child of the previous, with a center at a mutural radius. then just rotate each slat a degree or two, and it would look just like a garage door.

[TrashMan]

Note that while rotating doors are at least partially possible at this point, sliding doors are not.

Any word on getting sliding doors in the future? Would make things easier, requiring less moving parts and less fuss.

[Hellstryker]

Note that while rotating doors are at least partially possible at this point, sliding doors are not.

Any word on getting sliding doors in the future? Would make things easier, requiring less moving parts and less fuss.

Agreed, theres several uses I have for it as well

[blowfish]

I think it would take significant code changes, as while IIRC sliding doors are possible with scripting ATM, it will break collision detection

[Nuke]

ive never seen that happen, i seem to hit the rumrunner's doors when i fly into them. of course while their moving is another matter. but ive never seen collision detection so ridiculously bad caused by rotating things with scripting.

theres a meathod for faking sliding doors, so long as their not ridiculously large. simply put the pivot point of the  door far benind it, then rotate a couple degrees. the door should appear to slide open.

[blowfish]

ive never seen that happen, i seem to hit the rumrunner's doors when i fly into them. of course while their moving is another matter. but ive never seen collision detection so ridiculously bad caused by rotating things with scripting.

I said sliding doors.

[Vasudan Admiral]

Actually there's another barrier to faking sliding animations.

As far as I have been able to determine, having models with a hierarchy depth of 6 or more levels will partially break the rendering engine for some reason. Particle effects (including weapon impacts and spews) will only be rendered from some angles, weapon effects look flat, and a few other glitches. I encountered this on a model where I was trying to get turret recoil happening - it was the most bizzare error I have ever seen, but removing one level (no matter which one) would completely fix it. :\

6 levels is enough to do sliding doors using the invisible folder arm technique, but you're one short of being able to do turret recoil.

[Galemp]

See my sig quote for VA's reaction to that bug.

[TrashMan]

I think it would take significant code changes, as while IIRC sliding doors are possible with scripting ATM, it will break collision detection

Eh? How's that work anyway?

Don't rotating doors also collide/intersect with parts of the hull? How come they don't break it?

At a glance I'd say that collisions aren't calculate for rotating objects but that makes no sense....then again, I never went too deep into programing (beyond a few simple programs).

[Vasudan Admiral]

He means scripted animations that set a subobjects relative position frame by frame. That kind of position setting has been known to cause either the submodel or the entire ship or even in some cases all collisions in the mission to not work correctly. I don't know if this is still the case though.

[TrashMan]

HEh...in essence translation seems simpler, but I know enough about programing that looks can be decieveing.

[NGTM-1R]

Note that while rotating doors are at least partially possible at this point, sliding doors are not.

Not true, technically, but the math involved would make your head hurt, as you could fake up sliding by setting the rotation point reaaaallly far away.