Nexus Skirmisher
Nexus Modding => Mod Development / Released Mods => Topic started by: Arparso on January 14, 2010, 11:21:15
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I suppose I'm not the only fan of the sadly discontinued Freespace games around here, am I? So why are there no Freespace mods for Nexus? :P
(http://arparso.de/nexus/fs2nexus.jpg)
This is what I came up with after a few hours trying to convert a Freespace 2 ship to Nexus. It still needs polish and proper turret/device/engine placement as well as Freespace-style weapon and engine effects, etc ... but still - it COULD be done.
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and if it is done then you'll be officially my hero :P
Freespace is up to date one of the best space fighter sim games.
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So true.
Oh, and giant green beam cannons bundled with the freespace 2 firing sound rock ;) ... although they constantly keep shooting through my own ship's hull. Those tiny Freespace turrets and the GTC Fenris' hull with all of its protruding parts aren't really "compatible" with Nexus' idea of aiming. Guess I'll need to use bigger turrets and choose their positions more carefully - although I'd like to stick to the original freespace design as close as possible.
(http://arparso.de/bilder/fs2nexus2.jpg)
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Looks terrible awesome.... This is gonna be just great. If I could only get a battle between the collosus and asathanas... it would all be worth it :P
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as I recall, this mod was never being made 'cos it is impossible to add shields to fighters...
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Seems plausible, but Nexus isn't really about fighters anyway. Compromises need to be made, anyway. For example the capital ships in Freespace move way too slow to grant an enjoyable gameplay experience in Nexus... in Freespace that is a non-issue, since it focuses much more on fighter combat. But Nexus is all about the capital ships and you won't want to spend all day looking at an Orion crawling through space with merely 15m/s.
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You have a point. Then I want to suggest another game - Starlancer, maybe anyone will remember this one :)
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Yeah, I remember. It's not THAT old... ;)
However, same problem as Freespace: strong focus on fighter or small ship combat, which Nexus doesn't handle that well. Homeworld 2 may be a better target platform for both a Freespace or a Starlancer mod, because it gives you much more control over your fighters. But this ain't no Homeworld forum, so scrap that idea 8)
Anyways, progress from the Freespace front:
(http://arparso.de/nexus/fs2nexus_aeolus.jpg)
(http://arparso.de/nexus/fs2nexus_orion.jpg)
These two aren't quite as far as the Fenris. The Orion's turret textures aren't set up properly right now and both ships still need their hardpoints added or else I can't put some working engines and weapons on them.
Visually they're holding up quite nice in Nexus, I think.
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My god, that last model is beautiful. They all are, actually, but that last one in particular really seems to fit with the style of space craft design that I love but can never seem to put into words.
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Nexus explosions: 'sploding stuff since 2004 ;)
(http://arparso.de/nexus/fs2nexus_fenris_explosion.jpg)
Btw, I actually think, Freespace has got to have some of the most inconsistent ship designs I've ever seen. The Orion destroyer, for example, looks nothing like a Fenris cruiser... could have been built by an entirely different race and no one would notice. Also the Hecate-class destroyer or the Deimos corvette... there are only very few design elements the Terran ships have in common. You can also see that in Nexus, of course... look at the support ship, for example - totally different textures than the rest of the Human Navy.
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Out of curiosity, how do these ships look next to the standard Nexus models? Any chance of a screenshot that shows one of each?
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Sure:
(http://arparso.de/nexus/fs2nexus_size1.jpg)
(http://arparso.de/nexus/fs2nexus_size2.jpg)
(http://arparso.de/nexus/fs2nexus_size3.jpg)
The Fenris and Aeolus cruisers blend in rather well and are both about the size of a human destroyer in Nexus. However, the Orion class destroyer doesn't really look like anything else in Nexus, but easily outclasses both the human battleship and support ship in size.
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I can't wait to see how the vasudan ships look ingame... those are among the best designs for spaceships I've ever seen.
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This looks really gorgeous, nice work. I hope, we will see some public beta soon.
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Has anyone succeeded in making a "weapon is chargin up" effect? Would be handy for those beam cannons. In fact, I actually did create such an effect, but with one big drawback: the damage is applied instantly, when the weapon's effect is just starting to play the charging animation. Not only the damage is applied too early - the game also displays the hit EFX and sound of the damaged ship much too early, which ruins the illusion somewhat.
Of course I could make it an instant beam, but seeing those beam cannons powering up was just such an epic moment in Freespace - I'd like to recreate that in Nexus as well. So any ideas?
My EFX code so far:
EFX 50 // big green beam cannon
PARTICLE "Beam Emitter" 1
FLARE
Type 1
Size 600
Color 1 1 1
ColorB 0.1 0.9 0.1
Attack 2
Sustain 4
Decay .5
PulseFactor 0.9
ShakeFactor .5
FLARE
SOUND
Index 202 0
Level .9
SOUND
EFX
EFX 51
STRIP
Texture 12
Radius 20
Color 1 1 1
ColorB 0.1 0.9 0.1
Additive
Sustain 2.7
Decay .3
PulseFactor .7
Delay 2.9
STRIP
EFX
EFX 52
FLARE
Type 1
Size 1200
Color 1 1 1
ColorB 0.8 0.4 0.1
Sustain 2.7
Decay .7
PulseFactor .3
ShakeFactor 1
Delay 2.9
FLARE
EFX
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well...it could come in handy to have the code of the particle "Beam Emitter" :P
and what are they, end, start, travel effects......?
I have an idea... but I hardly think it's gonna work... perhaps a playefx command at the point of the gun when the device is turned on? however, I think that those things aren't dynamic and there's also the problem of locating those coordenates
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well...it could come in handy to have the code of the particle "Beam Emitter" :P
and what are they, end, start, travel effects......?
Nah, the particle isn't really important for the effect itself and yeah, those are the start, travel and end effects of the beam weapon. As you can see, the start effect uses "Attack" to grow in size at first, while the travel and end effect are being delayed for 2.9 seconds. So for the first few seconds only the start effect is being played back while the actual firing effect is being delayed... but Nexus ignores that setting for the impact effect of the ship and displays that instantly.
I thought about just removing the ship's impact efx and emulate it with each weapon's end efx... you couldn't have ship specific impact efx anymore, but at least the timing would be right. However, the damage is still being applied instantly - a ship suddenly exploding while the beam is still powering on looks a bit funny...
Right now it looks like this: Beam cannon test (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTPzDNSmPB8&fmt=22)
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A question: Can you get the coordinates of a ship's weapon using commands?
EDIT: Nope, you can't
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I don't think so. At least I didn't see any useful command or variable related to that. Ships have a position variable, but weapons do not.
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Is there any way to force the animation to start when the weapon starts charging?
Or perhaps treat the end of the beam as a projectile, and just have a tail long enough to connect it back to the firing ship regardless of range? That should theoretically delay the damage until the projectile hits. The downside is that, if the firing ship launches the projectile while moving, the "tail" would no longer connect to the weapon.
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You'd still have the problem of "delaying" the actual shot. The start and travel EFX get played back immediately when the weapon is activated, while the end EFX and the ship's impact EFX will get played back when the projectile hits. So every laser and even every super-fast projectile trying to look like a laser would hit the ship the moment it is activated without waiting for the Start EFX to finish - and thus they immediately trigger the end and impact EFX and apply their damage to the target. Usually that's not a problem, unless you want a "charge EFX".
Would be actually great to have that sort of capability... not only Start, Travel and End, but also a ChargeEfx setting.
Anyway, I've applied a little laser magic to the Aeolus cruiser - you absolutely DON'T want to cross those beams:
(http://arparso.de/nexus/fs2nexus_aeolus_laser.jpg)
... and I hate turret placement in Lightwave ... took me ages to prevent those things firing through the hull using CannonMaxFireAng ...
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I've come up with a solution, of sorts. Basically, this is my idea:
Have the "start" effect as a weapon, so that when it fires, we add, via the installdevice command, the beam weapon itself. This weapon should take as less time to charge as possible, I'd recommend something close to 0.5 or 1 second. Well, with a good sync, the fire of that weapon would be in the exact moment as it was in freespace. Once it fired, we disable the weapon and wait till the effect is off and then we delete it, waiting for the cicle to start all over again. The cool thing is that once we add the weapon with the installdevice command it won't show on the manual panel, but I don't know about the panel of enemy ships firing at you, haven't tried that yet.
There's only one problem with this method, but I think that it can be easily corrected with a bit of good harpointing: as the "charge" and "attack" effects are two different weapons, they will initiate in two different harpoints. Well, to counter that, when adding a hardpoint layout to your ship you should put two hardpoints in one location, where the beam cannon will be located, and then work arround with the sets to make sure that everything goes as planned (dunno what would happen with ships that have multiple beam emplacements... that could get a little messy...)
Anyhow, it's a start. So, here's the machine that would handle the weapons. Have in mind that I coded assuming that the beam weapon (the one responsible with the travel and end effect) took about 1 second to charge, and that the "start" one took more than 6 seconds, but that can be changed in the code) :
Machine "Beam"
State Fire
Rule event in
:action
SelectEx(s.this:Devtype=#beam_start,
RequestFiredEvent(s.this,1);
);
:end
END
Rule event Fired
condition IsValid(E.location)&E.location:devtype=#beam_start
:action
Debug("Fired1. The ship is:", e.location:owner, "and the target:", e.location:target);
ownr:=e.location:owner;
targ:=e.location:target;
Timer(Open_Fire, 1.9, e.target:=targ;e.ownr:=ownr);
:end
END
Rule event Open_Fire
condition IsValid(e.target)&IsValid(e.ownr)
:action
Debug("the ship is:", e.ownr, "and the target:", e.target);
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #magma_beam_travel);
SelectDevices(1, e.ownr, s.this:devtype=#beam_travel);
ExecList(1,
RequestFiredEvent(s.this,1);
TargetWeapon(s.this, e.target);
);
:end
END
Rule event Fired
Condition IsValid(E.location)&E.location:devtype=#beam_travel
:action
EnableDevice(e.location,0);
weap:=e.location;
Debug("Fired2. The ship is:", e.location:owner, "and the target:", e.location:target);
Timer(DeleteDevice, 3, e.wep:=weap);
:end
END
Rule event DeleteDevice
:action
DeleteDevice(e.wep);
:end
END
END
END
FYI: I've named in this code the start effect as "beam_start" and the main one as "beam_travel"
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Cool idea, works like a charm. I can imagine quite a few problems with that, however.
1. You'd essentially block one of the already few weapon slots Nexus gives us, since one slot has to be available for the hidden beam weapon all the time... even more, if you've got multiple beams on the ship.
2. There's the chance of the hidden beam not firing at all, because the target could have gotten out of reach during the starting weapon's charge. The beam charge takes up to 2.9 seconds right now, which is more than enough time to maneuver out of range / out of the firing arc... would look odd having the charge EFX and sound, but no actual beam.
3. You'd have to create the ship mesh with that in mind, which would greatly restrict possible weapon loadouts. You could only install charging beam weapons, where the actual model allows that (and you can't really "enable" more than two or three slots to use that kind of weapon because of 1.)
4. Just my personal taste, but I see mission-level scripts as kind of a last resort for such elementary mechanics like functioning weapons. Sure, in some cases you can't avoid it, because you really need/want a certain effect, that can't be done otherwise. Still, I'd like the mission scripts to be relatively clean and focus on actual mission behaviour... that would make it easier for other mission scripters as well, since they don't need to include any of my scripts in their missions to not break the game.
The real deal breaker for me is the first argument, I fear. I can't see how to get around that right now. :(
Thanks for the effort though. It's appreciated :)
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Another short video, this time the GTC Aeolus with beam cannons, turrets and flak guns and a glorious Nexus-style explosion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66wdFAUQTgM&fmt=22
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yeah... 1) would be the real problem... 2) could be worked out, though. Just add a number in the fourth entry of the BASEHITCHANCE table, making it "artillery". But yeah, perhaps we can find a way to work it arround. It would be worthy it... A working charging effect for Nexus.
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Hey Arpaso, would it be possible for you to let me take a look into the code effect behind those slow moving beams? I think they could be used in our mod
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Well, you already have the efx code, but I just sent you an email including everything else regarding that beam weapon. ;)
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yes, thanks I got it. But I didn't mean those beams, just the smaller, slow-moving energy weapons. The ones used as anti-fighter weaponry in freespace. But I was thinking to use the freespace effect as a magna beam in the mod... :P
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I'm not sure, which weapon you actually mean, I fear. Currently I have only 2 different beam weapons: the big green ones at the front of the Aeolus and the smaller blue beam, which is used as anti-fighter beam in Freespace 2 - both use more or less the same effect right now, the blue beam is just thinner.
Then there's the green "blob" turret you see in the video and the flak guns.
So.. which one do you want to look at?
Btw, now on moddb: Freespace: Evolution (http://www.moddb.com/mods/freespace-evolution) ;)
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the blob one
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Ah ok, here are the start, travel and end efx:
EFX 60 // Terran Huge Turret
NoModColor
FLARE
Type 11
Size 300
Color 1 1 1
ColorB 0.1 0.9 0.1
Decay .5
ShakeFactor .5
FLARE
STRIP
Texture 12
Length 10
Radius 8
Color 1 1 1
ColorB 0.1 0.9 0.1
Additive
Decay .5
STRIP
SOUND
Index 200 0
Level .92
SOUND
EFX
EFX 61
NoModColor
FLARE
Type 10
Size 160
Color 1 1 1
ColorB 0.1 0.9 0.1
FLARE
SNAKE
Texture 13
TexScale 20
SRadius 8
Color 1 1 1
ColorB 0.1 0.9 0.1
NodeDec .2
SNAKE
EFX
EFX 62
NoModColor
Particle "Ship Impact" 1
SOUND
Index 4 7
Level 1
SOUND
EFX
Nothing special, really. The weapon seen in the video used that with a travel speed of 175.
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yes, these will come along nicely for the traveler ship main gun... a question, though: how did you reduce the length of the Snake trail? I always use Strip so I'm not too familiar with it's coding.
oh, and please add the GVC Sobek as soon as you can... I found it to be the best Freespace 2 ship EVER
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NodeDec .2 is responsible for the snake's length in this case: the higher the value, the longer it takes for the snake trail to disappear and so the longer it gets.
Btw, is there a way to implement non-homing weapons in Nexus? It's especially obvious with those slow-moving blobs, that they actually don't fly in a straight line, but instead follow the target, if it's moving. That's a pretty strange behaviour for a plasma blob to act like a heat-seeking missile...
And yeah, the Sobek will be done soon enough, don't worry ;)
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The Snake effect seems to require something like a Flare to attach itself to. So far, I haven't been able to determine any difference between attaching a Strip and attaching a Snake to a Flare. It's a little off topic, and could I trouble you for a little clarification there? >_>
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SNAKE and STRIP behave differently in a few aspects:
A STRIP always is of fixed length and goes in a straight line starting from the actual projectile's position in the opposite direction of the projectile's movement... or in other words: it shoots out of the back of the projectile in a straight, fixed-length line. A STRIP will always be straight out the back, even though your projectile might fly a sharp turn (because of a fast-moving target perhaps).
A SNAKE is of variable length and gets longer the faster the projectile flies. It'll not always go straight - if the projectile does a sharp turn, the SNAKE effect will bend and form a curve. It basically mimicks exhaust gases slowly fading away with the NodeDec property saying how fast it fades.
Look at engines and their (SNAKE) trail ... if those would be STRIPs, the trail wouldn't bend itself and always go straight out of the engines in case of the ship changing course.
Another difference is that STRIPs are there immediately after firing the projectile. SNAKES only appear after a short distance - after all, the exhaust gases first need to be emitted for the trail to become visible.
Btw, you don't need a FLARE to attach to... it'll just look strange, if there's no visible projectile the SNAKE or STRIP is attached to.
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Actually, all my experimenting has shown that if you don't have a Flare or similar effect to attach to, the Snake effect trails from the weapon's firing point. If the ship was moving, then it sort of shows behind the firing point, and if the ship was stock still, it slowly built up into a horizontal line that stretched across the entire screen (perpendicular to the path from the weapon to the target). I couldn't get it to fire forward in any way.
That said, thanks to you sharing your use of it I now know how to make use of it myself, and how to make the Flare vanish quickly so that all you see is the Snake as it travels. I haven't put it to use against fast moving targets yet, and against slower ones, it looks like a brilliant 'short laser' effect.
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Thanks for the info about the FLARE... I only assumed you wouldn't need it, but didn't actually test it. Oh well, guess we can call that a bug then ;) (since it doesn't seem to make any sense)
About your effect - got any pics of it in action?
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There's still a bit of a tapered appearance, and that's a result of the blast actually fading as it reaches the tail. (http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y100/suunok/lasers.png)
The Flare that leads the effect has a both a Sustain and Decay of 0.1, so it vanishes pretty much immediately. The Snake is essentially the same as the one you used for your effect, Arparso, with a couple changes - I added an ERadius of 8, thinking that might get rid of the tapering, and changed the colour.
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New images, yay! :)
Aeolus and fighters heading into battle:
(http://media.moddb.com/cache/images/mods/1/15/14572/thumb_620x2000/fs2nexus_battle01.jpg)
Two Aeolus cruisers approaching each other firing blobs, flak and aaa beams:
(http://media.moddb.com/cache/images/mods/1/15/14572/thumb_620x2000/fs2nexus_battle02.jpg)
Lovely beam cannons...
(http://media.moddb.com/cache/images/mods/1/15/14572/thumb_620x2000/fs2nexus_battle03.jpg)
The new fighter warp-in effect:
(http://media.moddb.com/cache/images/mods/1/15/14572/thumb_620x2000/fs2nexus_battle04.jpg)
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That fighter warp in solution is both visually awesome and brilliantly inventive, I think. Bravo, and I look forward to being able to maybe one day play this mod.
Out of curiosity, how do you capture video, Arparso?
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I'm using Fraps (http://www.fraps.com) for that task. Quite handy, displays the framerate, allows making screenshots and captures high-quality video and sound.
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I was afraid that's what you'd say. Fraps and I aren't on the best of terms, and I'll pick it up again nevertheless. Thanks for the info and the link!
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I've heard good things about Xfire's (http://www.xfire.com) video recording features as well, if you don't want to use Fraps for that. ;)
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Finally some gameplay (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otx-IMVTuAs&fmt=37) ... hope you like it ;)
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That's more than a little badass. I can't wait to get my greedy little mitts on it. :P
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Remember my former idea, Arparso? about the charging effect for beam weapons?
I found a way to enhance my original coding to make room for effictibly having as many beam weapons as the engine limitations would let you, using the same principle that the previous code.
In this 2.0 version, I saw no need of deleting the weapon, so I disable it instead. That way, it would be like having the weapon at all time, so assigning a place for it shouoldn't be a problem. Lets assume that the ship x has 4 beam weapons, beam_1, 2, 3 and 4. in slots labeled as 32, heavy weapons. then, the ship should have an other 4 "special" (34) slots for this weapons, whereas the 1° 34 slot is in the same place that the first 32 and so on. So when one of the weapons fires, I check which number is it and act accordingly. If the weapon ends with _3 then I install first the 1°, then the 2° and finally the 3°, but those weapons are different, they would be "travel_1", 2 and 3. So if the 4° weapon fires I just add the 4° travel one. Then every "start" weapon has it's own "travel" one already installed and ready to be used.
So the only real issue left is the fact that each beam weapons counts for 2 in placing the hardpoints for the ship...
Anyhow, here's the code, perhaps you can put good use to it, or use your coding magic with it. The code can support multiple of different beams, for example, I made the code with a terrant and vasudan beam in mind, but it can easily be expanded into more than that.
Machine "beam"
State Fire
Rule event in
:action
SelectEx(s.device&InSet(s.this, 32), //I'm wonna work here under the assumption that all the "start" laser weapons have been labeled as "heavy" and that the "travel" terran_beam weapons as "special", in the set category
RequestFiredEvent(s.this,1);
);
:end
END
Rule event Fired
condition IsValid(E.location)&InSet(e.location,32)
:action
Debug("Fired1. The ship is:", e.location:owner, "and the weapon:", e.location);
e.ownr:=e.location:owner;
e.targ:=e.location:target;
ChooseFirst(
e.location:devtype = #terran_beam_start_1,
Timer(Open_Fire_1, 1.9, e.target:=p.targ;e.ownr:=p.ownr;e.Numterran_beams:=p.Numterran_beams;e.race:=1); //1 is for terrans, 2 for vasudans
, e.location:devtype = #vasudan_beam_start_1,
Timer(Open_Fire_1, 1.9, e.target:=p.targ;e.ownr:=p.ownr;e.Numterran_beams:=p.Numterran_beams;e.race:=2);
, e.location:devtype = #terran_beam_start_2,
Timer(Open_Fire_2, 1.9, e.target:=p.targ;e.ownr:=p.ownr;e.Numterran_beams:=p.Numterran_beams;e.race:=1);
, e.location:devtype = #vasudan_beam_start_2,
Timer(Open_Fire_2, 1.9, e.target:=p.targ;e.ownr:=p.ownr;e.Numterran_beams:=p.Numterran_beams;e.race:=2);
, e.location:devtype = #terran_beam_start_3,
Timer(Open_Fire_3, 1.9, e.target:=p.targ;e.ownr:=p.ownr;e.Numterran_beams:=p.Numterran_beams;e.race:=1);
, e.location:devtype = #vasudan_beam_start_3,
Timer(Open_Fire_3, 1.9, e.target:=p.targ;e.ownr:=p.ownr;e.Numterran_beams:=p.Numterran_beams;e.race:=2);
, e.location:devtype = #terran_beam_start_4,
Timer(Open_Fire_4, 1.9, e.target:=p.targ;e.ownr:=p.ownr;e.Numterran_beams:=p.Numterran_beams;e.race:=1);
, e.location:devtype = #vasudan_beam_start_4,
Timer(Open_Fire_4, 1.9, e.target:=p.targ;e.ownr:=p.ownr;e.Numterran_beams:=p.Numterran_beams;e.race:=2);
); //we check with "start" weapon was fired, the 1°, 2°,3° or 4°
:end
END
Rule event Open_Fire_1
condition IsValid(e.target)&IsValid(e.ownr)
:action
Debug("the ship is:", e.ownr, "and the target:", e.target);
If(AllNumOf(1) = 0,
if(e.race = 1,
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #terran_beam_travel_1); //if the ship doesn't have a "travel" weapon, we install one.
SelectDevices(1, e.ownr, s.this:devtype=#terran_beam_travel_1);
,
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #vasudan_beam_travel_1);
SelectDevices(1, e.ownr, s.this:devtype=#vasudan_beam_travel_1);
);
);
ExecList(1,
EnableDevice(s.this,1);
RequestFiredEvent(s.this,1);
TargetWeapon(s.this, e.target);
);
:end
END
Rule event Open_Fire_2
condition IsValid(e.target)&IsValid(e.ownr)
:action
SelectDevices(1, e.ownr, InSet(s.this, 34));
if(e.race = 1,
ChooseFirst(
AllNumOf(1) = 0, //if there weren't any other weapon in the previous slots, I fill the places nontheless, so that when I finall install the corresponding weapon, it'll be on the right spot.
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #terran_beam_travel_1);
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #terran_beam_travel_2);
, AllNumOf(1) = 1,
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #terran_beam_travel_2);
);
SelectDevices(1, e.ownr, s.this:DevType=#terran_beam_travel_2);
,
ChooseFirst(
AllNumOf(1) = 0,
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #vasudan_beam_travel_1);
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #vasudan_beam_travel_2);
, AllNumOf(1) = 1,
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #vasudan_beam_travel_2);
);
SelectDevices(1, e.ownr, s.this:DevType=#vasudan_beam_travel_2);
);
ExecList(1,
EnableDevice(s.this,1); //we enable it, in case it was disabled
RequestFiredEvent(s.this,1);
TargetWeapon(s.this, e.target);
);
:end
END
Rule event Open_Fire_3
condition IsValid(e.target)&IsValid(e.ownr)
:action
SelectDevices(1, e.ownr, InSet(s.this, 34));
if(e.race = 1,
ChooseFirst(
AllNumOf(1) = 0, //if there weren't any other weapon in the previous slots, I fill the places nontheless, so that when I finall install the corresponding weapon, it'll be on the right spot.
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #terran_beam_travel_1);
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #terran_beam_travel_2);
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #terran_beam_travel_3);
, AllNumOf(1) = 1,
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #terran_beam_travel_2);
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #terran_beam_travel_3);
, AllNumOf(1) = 2,
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #terran_beam_travel_3);
);
SelectDevices(1, e.ownr, s.this:DevType=#terran_beam_travel_3);
,
ChooseFirst(
AllNumOf(1) = 0,
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #vasudan_beam_travel_1);
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #vasudan_beam_travel_2);
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #vasudan_beam_travel_3);
, AllNumOf(1) = 1,
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #vasudan_beam_travel_2);
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #vasudan_beam_travel_3);
, AllNumOf(1) = 2,
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #vasudan_beam_travel_3);
);
SelectDevices(1, e.ownr, s.this:DevType=#vasudan_beam_travel_3);
);
ExecList(1,
EnableDevice(s.this,1); //we enable it, in case it was disabled
RequestFiredEvent(s.this,1);
TargetWeapon(s.this, e.target);
);
:end
END
Rule event Open_Fire_4
condition IsValid(e.target)&IsValid(e.ownr)
:action
SelectDevices(1, e.ownr, InSet(s.this, 34));
if(e.race = 1,
ChooseFirst(
AllNumOf(1) = 0, //if there weren't any other weapon in the previous slots, I fill the places nontheless, so that when I finall install the corresponding weapon, it'll be on the right spot.
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #terran_beam_travel_1);
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #terran_beam_travel_2);
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #terran_beam_travel_3);
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #terran_beam_travel_4);
, AllNumOf(1) = 1,
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #terran_beam_travel_2);
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #terran_beam_travel_3);
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #terran_beam_travel_4);
, AllNumOf(1) = 2,
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #terran_beam_travel_3);
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #terran_beam_travel_4);
, AllNumOf(1) = 3,
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #terran_beam_travel_4);
);
SelectDevices(1, e.ownr, s.this:DevType=#terran_beam_travel_4);
,
ChooseFirst(
AllNumOf(1) = 0,
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #vasudan_beam_travel_1);
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #vasudan_beam_travel_2);
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #vasudan_beam_travel_3);
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #vasudan_beam_travel_4);
, AllNumOf(1) = 1,
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #vasudan_beam_travel_2);
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #vasudan_beam_travel_3);
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #vasudan_beam_travel_4);
, AllNumOf(1) = 2,
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #vasudan_beam_travel_3);
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #vasudan_beam_travel_4);
, AllNumOf(1) = 3,
InstallDevice(e.ownr, #vasudan_beam_travel_4);
);
SelectDevices(1, e.ownr, s.this:DevType=#vasudan_beam_travel_4);
);
ExecList(1,
EnableDevice(s.this,1); //we enable it, in case it was disabled
RequestFiredEvent(s.this,1);
TargetWeapon(s.this, e.target);
);
:end
END
Rule event Fired
Condition IsValid(E.location)&InSet(e.location,34)
:action
Debug("The ship that fires is:", e.location:owner, "and the weapon is:", e.location);
EnableDevice(e.location,0);
e.weap:=e.location;
Debug("Fired2. The ship is:", e.location:owner, "and the target:", e.location:target);
Timer(DisableDevice, 3, e.weap:=p.weap);
:end
END
Rule event DisableDevice
:action
EnableDevice(e.weap,0);
:end
END
END
END
-
I'm a tad short on time lately, but I'll have a look at it. ;)
So the only real issue left is the fact that each beam weapons counts for 2 in placing the hardpoints for the ship...
Still sounds somewhat like a dealbreaker... I'm already running into some severe problems regarding the limited weapon hardpoints on the bigger ships, so I really don't have any to spare. :(
-
What I'm currently working on:
(the ships, not the icons - those are obviously done already ;) )
(http://arparso.de/bilder/vasudan_boats.png)
(http://arparso.de/bilder/vasudan_capitals.png)
-
uhm... I don't remember the last two capital ships... did they appear on fs2?
-
The fourth is a Typhon-class destroyer (http://'http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/GVD_Typhon'), which already appeared in the first game, and the last icon is a Hatshepsut-class destroyer (http://'http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/GVD_Hatshepsut') making its first appearance in the first mission of FS2, right after the tutorial missions.
-
oh.. ok, I probably wasn't paying attention :P and I also must admit that I never played the first one... but I'm curious, did you ever manage to see the Lucifer's shields flashing? how was that effect?
EDIT: Oh I remember now, the Psamtik was a Hatshepsut class ship, right?
-
Yes, the Psamtik was a Hatshepsut-class destroyer and I'm not even sure, if the Lucifer even had a visual shield effect... don't know, it's been a loooong time since my last playthrough of FS1. ;)
/edit:
Btw, here's the rest of the icons:
Terran:
(http://arparso.de/bilder/terran_boats.png)
(http://arparso.de/bilder/terran_capitals.png)
Shivan:
(http://arparso.de/bilder/shivan_boats.png)
(http://arparso.de/bilder/shivan_capitals.png)
/edit2:
Added missing Shivan and Terran vessels (Hades, Colossus, SB Nahema, Demon, Ravana, Sathanas)
-
they're incredibly awesome!
but... I'm seeing a distinct lack of the Collosus there... and I think that the shivans don't have their Ravanna yet.... (which one is it on the far right of the shivans? the Lucifer?)
-
Yeah, the Shivans are missing a bomber, two destroyers (Demon and Ravana) and a Juggernaut (Sathanas), while the Terrans lack their Colosssus and the Hades-class destroyer... right now I don't have those ingame, so I didn't make an icon yet.
... and there's no non-combat vessel like freighters and stuff at the moment.
-
Are you still working on this? please tell me you are Q.Q
-
I am. I've just been slowed down by other stuff. Trying to get something playable out the door before Christmas, though ;)
-
Sweet! Got any eyecandy for us? :D
-
Only what's on the moddb page:
Freespace: Evolution (http://www.moddb.com/mods/freespace-evolution)
... which reminds me of updating that thing ... ahh, the work :P ;)
-
Yea I know about that.
I was asking if you had new stuff to post there :(
-
How is it going with the release, Arparso? Is there anything we can help you with to finish it in time?
-
Not really... Christmas is pretty much out of reach, but I'm optimistic about a 2010 release, at least ;)
Gotta debug some annoying bugs in the Skirmisher as well.
-
So much for optimism... another bunch of nagging issues (damn you, Shivans!), another delay. Aiming for January 2011 now :(
Anyway, took a few minutes to produce a small trailer for your enjoyment, so I could at least release SOMETHING before the end of the year:
Freespace: Evolution mod trailer 2010 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVa_M6-iZws#ws)
-
Looking really fantastic there, Arparso. The progress you've been making is insane.
-
With a "slight" delay now comes the first public release of "Freespace: Evolution". Spin up your warp drives and get ready to roast some Shivan scum!
Finally it's here, version 1.0. What you'll get in this first playable release:
- 11 small to medium sized capital ships from the Freespace universe
- 21 fighters and 13 bombers
- 4 rather simple missions to get in touch with the mod
- authentic Freespace music, sounds and graphics effects
It's also perfectly compatible to the Nexus Skirmisher (http://arparso.de/nexus), so you can create your own skirmish battles for it (but don't forget to set "freespace" as mission type!).
Download Freespace: Evolution 1.0 (http://www.moddb.com/mods/freespace-evolution/downloads/freespace-evolution-10)
(installer, ca. 190MB compressed, 545MB extracted)
(http://media.moddb.com/cache/images/mods/1/15/14572/thumb_620x2000/fs2nexus_nebula_01.jpg)
(http://media.moddb.com/cache/images/mods/1/15/14572/thumb_620x2000/fs2nexus_nebula_02.jpg)
Please keep in mind, that this is still very much a work-in-progress. Especially balancing and fighter or bomber handling need to be worked on more. There is also a whole lot of iconic Freespace ships missing, like the big destroyers obviously, but also civilian transports and such still need to be added to open the doors for some interesting mission design in the later stages.
In the meantime, Freespace: Evolution is now on Twitter. To receive all the latest updates, make sure to follow the tweet! The site on moddb will also be regularly updated, of course, although that'll be reserved for bigger news worthy of their own article.
Follow Freespace Evolution on (http://twitter-badges.s3.amazonaws.com/twitter-a.png) (http://www.twitter.com/FreespaceEvo)
Have fun :)
-
Hi
here is my feedback to your first 4 Missions and of cause, i know that you dont create those for complex strategy or storyline, just to show the gameplay.
In Mission 1 i got some Audio-Problems until the bigger Ships arrive, after that everything works fine.
The first time, i played it like Nexus Style (Fighters defensive, only attacked the Bombers) but that wasnt a good idea, the Cain-Class blows my Ship to hell. ;)
After that Experience i played as i played it in Freespace (Offensive Fighter Tactic) Was a good Feeling. 8)
Ahh, btw. only for Mission Scripting in the Future, if you loose your Ship in Mission 1, you get a bigger one but i cant catch up the Cain with this big Ship, it was to slow. (Tryed it of cause 15 Min)
Mission 2: This isnt on of my favorites. Allways loose my Capital Ship, but can Destroy also the Enemy with the rest of the Fighter and Bomber Squadrons.
Mission 3: I noticed that in 8 of 10 Tests one of my Ships looses its Engine and i cant do something against it, Maybe they got more Engine Slots or a secondary Engine ? (Dont know how it was in Freespace, should play it again when i have the time for that ;) )
All Missions :
- - I think the Fight-Distance of the bigger Ships should be increased, i had allways the Problem that they are moving around each other. (But i think that is a Nexus Hardcode Problem or?)
- The Fighters doing a good job.
- Bombers could be stronger against the Equipment of the Ships, i didnt notice any effect by selecting single Weapon- or Engine Equipments.
- Is there Any Effect by increasing the Energy for Weapons ? I didnt notice any Changes.
Closing this Feedback for now, you did a great Job. Mission One comes with the Original Freespace atmosphere.
Maybe less Text and More Audio-Comments by the Pilots, i mean the sector-analyses and so one, the infight Audio is perfect. (I think you will find some help for this, including me .... if you need ;) )
Dont know how deep the game is changeable by Modding, a whole Story would be cool.... oh ok, i should realy end up now. ::)
Madycrazy
Sorry for my horrible English.
Der Domain nach könnte man das hier auch auf Deutsch verfassen, aber ich wollte den von dir eingeschlagenen universellen (Englishen) Umgangston nicht ändern. :)
-
Whew, thanks for all the feedback!
(and yeah: this is a German domain, I'm a German citizen and we could perfectly talk German all day... but this wouldn't really be polite to everybody else around here who happens to not speak German all that well... ;) )
In Mission 1 i got some Audio-Problems until the bigger Ships arrive, after that everything works fine.
What kind of audio problems, if I may ask?
Ahh, btw. only for Mission Scripting in the Future, if you loose your Ship in Mission 1, you get a bigger one but i cant catch up the Cain with this big Ship, it was to slow. (Tryed it of cause 15 Min)
Yeah, that's an oversight in the mission script. Will be fixed in the next release.
I think the Fight-Distance of the bigger Ships should be increased, i had allways the Problem that they are moving around each other. (But i think that is a Nexus Hardcode Problem or?)
Not necessarily - weapon ranges could be increased at least somewhat. This wouldn't work with the current setup, though... all these incredibly slow-moving "blobs" already look pretty stupid when being fired from distances of 4 to 5km, because it just creates these long lines of blobs. Increasing the weapon range would look even worse and would also be more stressful to the hardware:
longer firing range
= more blobs simultaneously flying around
= more particles
= worse performance and possibly even visual glitches
I'd need to adjust the speed of the projectiles and their firing rate, which would move their appearance further away from the Freespace 2 originals. I'd also need to reduce the damage on every weapon or else the fight would be over way before both ships could get closer to each other.
Bombers could be stronger against the Equipment of the Ships, i didnt notice any effect by selecting single Weapon- or Engine Equipments.
Bombers were added late to the mod, so don't yet work all that well. Their bombs are actually quite devastating - both to the ships hull and the devices onboard. They can be shot down by flaks and aaaf beams, though... and because not very well optimized firing mechanics and visual appearance they're even pretty hard to see. You might spot a few blue shockwaves, though, when some bombs actually manage to hit their target.
Is there Any Effect by increasing the Energy for Weapons ? I didnt notice any Changes.
No, there is not. Every shipclass produces enough energy to keep all weapons firing at their maximum firing rate... weapon energy consumption has so far only been tweaked to produce (sort of) the same firing rates as you'd see in Freespace. This'll be worked on for future versions.
Because of this, you could stick beam cannons in every turret on a Fenris and still not run into any energy shortages.
Sorry for my horrible English.
What are you talking about? Your English is good. :)
-
Played this mod now. Marvelous work there, Arparso. 8)
Since I'm a newcomer to Freespace ships, I haven't figured out yet what the best thing to do is with bombers (use the primary or secondary weapon) or even their best use in general.
Btw, is it intended that small craft can be transfered to the capital ships, so that they so to speak 'dock' with this warp effect? I too think a slower rate of fire for some weapons combined with faster travel times would benefit the mod on the visual side. The beams look okay to me.
Oh, and that's quite a dramatic background you made for the duel mission. The atmospheric effect around the asteroid is simply brilliant. And where did you find the background for that fiery grab around Earth? ;D
-
Dang aparso that rocks!
I could really use a modified version of that Orion destroyer for a new race im thinking of making. But with reddish coloring instead of that mysterious purple coloring. that model would be perfect for my race's battleship
-
I will finally begin with this mod. It is the combination of the two greatest Space games ever.
(Homeworld is also one of my favorites).
Arparso ,Thank you in Advance for making this Mod. ;)