[asyikarea51]

I... kind-of... tend to assume the inertia thing has something to do with the way some types of fighters are knocked around by shots. But I really do not know.

There was once I mucked around with a Dragon, and a single Harpoon hit or moderate gunfire was enough to knock me around (like as if a guy got slapped in some melodramatic TV drama and the face goes sideways, only repeatedly back and forth), but the same hit while in a Loki or a Hercules I, at least the latter two could "shrug off" the hit somewhat.

Does it have anything to do with inertia or am I just totally mistaken and could use a quick clarification or two?

[Spoon]

You are right about that asyikarea51
The inertia that you can change in PCS2 affects knockback on weapon fire.

[Nuke]

its a physics thing, its analogous to mass, accept that it concerns the mass's distance from center. its used when applying torque, but freespace really doesnt care about it unless you get beamwhacked. its useful for implementing angular newtonian physics.

[asyikarea51]

Oh cool. Thanks on that.

I just found it odd that there weren't a lot of settings related to mass in the tables, yet certain fighters behaved very differently despite being hit from the same kind of attack. And then there's the word "inertia"... the assumption kinda hit me eventually.

[IronBeer]

Hey, almost forgot about this thread. Got a couple new questions to ask now.

12. Karajoma, I apologize if you're the first person to read this, but is there any way that I can get FRED to show backgrounds as they will actually appear in-game? Example image: http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/File:FRED_small.jpg
Is there a flag or something I need to add, because whenever I set up backgrounds, it displays the retail images in the editor, but uses the hi-res nebulae in-game.

13. Personas. How does FS2 handle personas? If, say I wanted to merge all the personas from FS1, ST:R and FS2, how would I go about that? And, (kinda the same question, but eh) how could I go about adding my own custom personas to FS2?

If this counts as a necro, I apologize. Just seemed better than starting a new thread.

[The E]

It's not a necro, as it is on-topic, and actually brings the topic forward.

Now, questions:

12. Karajoma, I apologize if you're the first person to read this, but is there any way that I can get FRED to show backgrounds as they will actually appear in-game? Example image: http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/File:FRED_small.jpg
Is there a flag or something I need to add, because whenever I set up backgrounds, it displays the retail images in the editor, but uses the hi-res nebulae in-game.

You need to make a shortcut to FRED, and add -mod mediavps in the target field (Create a shortcut to FRED, right-click on it, select properties, add -mod mediavps to the target field. DO NOT ERASE WHAT WAS IN IT BEFORE, just add to it.).

13. Personas. How does FS2 handle personas? If, say I wanted to merge all the personas from FS1, ST:R and FS2, how would I go about that? And, (kinda the same question, but eh) how could I go about adding my own custom personas to FS2?

New personae are created using Messages.tbl.

[Scooby_Doo]

The thing with shield meshes is a.) they have to be low poly (it's not a matter of gpu processing rather that of hit detection)  b.) low poly on big ships not that ideal

[IronBeer]

It's the topic that comes back, again and again! 

14.  How exactly can one determine the base recharge rate on a ship's shielding system (before any modifications due to Energy Transfer are applied)? I understand that the Shields entry in the ships.tbl is divided evenly among the 4 quadrants, and there is a "Power output" entry as well...  Hm...

Would the recharge rate then be (Power Output)/(Energy allocated to Shields) applied evenly to any damaged quadrants? Further, is the "Power output" in Units/second, as in the same Units used for weapon power costs and shield hitpoints?

I remember reading at some point that simple shield hitpoints has an effect on the recharge rate, but I'd really like to know some mathematical specifics...

[Spoon]

$Power Output: does nothing
 $Shield Regeneration Rate:
FS2 Open 3.6.10:

    * Repair rates for shields at percent per second
    * Syntax: Float, multiplier of total shield hitpoints recharged each second. (NOT A PERCENTAGE, 0.02 equals 2% recharged per second)
          o Default: 0.02

So shields at default recharge at 2% second. No idea how extra energy to shield affects the recharge rate though

[IronBeer]

Ok, thanks for the info, but how is shield regen rate determined for ships lacking the $Shield Regeneration Rate entry?

[Spoon]

Ok, thanks for the info, but how is shield regen rate determined for ships lacking the $Shield Regeneration Rate entry?

Default rate, so 2%
$Shield Regeneration Rate is there so you can actually alter the default rate after all

[IronBeer]

Back again....

15. Are there any Shivan super-capital ships (Juggernaut-ish size) floating around anywhere that aren't documented on the Wiki? The wiki, though fairly good regarding user-made ships, is not exactly complete, in my experience. Yes, I can use the search function, I'm just asking if anybody happens to know of some other ships.

16. Not another question about shield mechanics- Given that a shield quadrant will fully absorb a (non-piercing) weapon impact at the simple cost of hitpoints, how exactly does FS2 determine when incoming fire gets to penetrate that quadrant?
Suppose a quadrant is at 25 points, and an incoming shot would cause 50 points of damage (let's ignore any factors for shields/armor/or subsystems)- I would presume the first 25 points gets blocked by the shields, then the next 25 would be applied to armor, before factors. That sounds right to me, but is that actually correct?

[Droid803]

15. Are there any Shivan super-capital ships (Juggernaut-ish size) floating around anywhere that aren't documented on the Wiki? The wiki, though fairly good regarding user-made ships, is not exactly complete, in my experience. Yes, I can use the search function, I'm just asking if anybody happens to know of some other ships.

Not that I know of. Several mods have some locked up though.

Oh, there's a mesh of a stretched Sathanas in INF outtakes but that's...frankly, terrible.

[IronBeer]

17. Did you know that making the player invulnerable will allow him to survive a supernova?

[The E]

Did you know that the supernova sexps are not really useful outside the retail campaign?

[Droid803]

Unless, of course, there's a star going supernova somewhere nearby.

[IronBeer]

Did you know that the supernova sexps are not really useful outside the retail campaign?

Yeah.  Noticed that. Just gives me a reason to "idiot-proof" any mission scripting that may feature a supernova for whatever reason.

[The E]

Actually, I was wrong about it not being really usable outside of the retail campaign.

However, I find it strange that you could survive it; It's supposed to either kill the active campaign via end-campaign or pop up the "You're dead" screen.

[EAD_Agamemnon]

That or....(JAD3's) psychopathic FRED2 decides to be generous if not benevolent for a change and save you...and allow you to continue on your merry way through madness

EDIT: And since this is an appropriate thread for it...what program is it for UV mapping? I know I had it on the other computer prior to this one but that one went on the fritz long ago and so I never transferred it. I'm going to try my hand again at building a modeling again...for days now have had ideas milling around upstairs...but will have have to start minor at first and I'll be using stock FSO media textures to start...but I'd like to try and get as many of the tools as I'll need ... gathered up again. (I'm sure I have most of what's needed but never know.)

[IronBeer]

That or....(JAD3's) psychopathic FRED2 decides to be generous if not benevolent for a change and save you...and allow you to continue on your merry way through madness

I think it was the first DEM...