Question regarding dockables

[imipak]

Hi,

I'm feeling particularly sick, twisted and evil today, so am looking at designing a dockable where the pilot has to navigate a maze inside the ship to reach the part where they can actually do the docking.

(I've not figured out WHY anyone would want such a dockable, but I've a feeling an Indiana Jones-style quest would be interesting.)

Because this ship would need to be very very big and complex, I'm not certain how to approach something this difficult. (So why start with it? See: "feeling particularly sick, twisted and evil" for more details.)

Does anyone have any recommendations, beyond therapy?

[Thargoid]

Something big, with a significantly smaller port_radius than it's radius, and a pipeway down into the structure to get within that port_radius.

And I thought I was supposed to be the evil one round here?

[imipak]

Something big, with a significantly smaller port_radius than it's radius, and a pipeway down into the structure to get within that port_radius.

And I thought I was supposed to be the evil one round here?

Two b*tards are eviller than one - want to help me on designing this?

[Thargoid]

Nah, I'm in enough trouble as it is with my other OXPs

[JazHaz]

Sounds like the sequence from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi where the rebels have to fly inside the Death Star to destroy the main energy plant.

Could be a good idea to make a mission around it, where this was the final objective?

[snork]

As the only other games I am playing are Tomb Raider usermades, I'd be one of them wackos probably installing such OXP.

(I've not figured out WHY anyone would want such a dockable, but I've a feeling an Lara Croft-style quest would be interesting.)

fixed

[imipak]

As the only other games I am playing are Tomb Raider usermades, I'd be one of them wackos probably installing such OXP.

(I've not figured out WHY anyone would want such a dockable, but I've a feeling an Lara Croft-style quest would be interesting.)

fixed

Heh! Thanks!

The challenge is to make the ship big enough for the maze to be a challenge, but not so big that it'd kill the game engine - especially with those pesky fighters in pursuit!

(Dead ends will have an added meaning, if you can't turn round fast enough.)

One way to solve the size problem is to use the trick used in the Lave training missions - have portals that take the ship from point A to point B. Depending on what needs to be in memory and/or churned over at any given time, I should be able to avoid an explosion in complexity.

But, oh, yes... Tomb Raiding is precisely what I'm aiming for with this! It might give some of the very small ships something to do, too, as maneuverability at speed will score over heavy armor - especially on the tight corners.

[Lestradae]

Perhaps an enormous alien artifact that has to be explored, raided or even destroyed could be a backdrop for such a mission or mission series?

[imipak]

Perhaps an enormous alien artifact that has to be explored, raided or even destroyed could be a backdrop for such a mission or mission series?

Oooooh! Good one! That could lead to all kinds of things! *drools at the thought of a Dyson Sphere*

[Switeck]

Sounds more like a Descent level...

[DaddyHoggy]

Sounds more like a Descent level...

Ah, now you're talking...

[Killer Wolf]

check out Cmdr McLane's Hacker Outposts, they're huge asteroids w/ an access tunnel that leads to a hollowed-out chamber w/a dock slot at the back. what you propose is easy enough but remember to make the corners large enough to actually turn in, and ~ someone else (McL?) can probably clarify/confirm this ~ be aware that you might get NPCs trying to dock w/ the slot, and if so i'm pretty sure they calculate a straight line to it and will therefore never make any turns - this needless suiciding might spoil the effect a bit.

[imipak]

Perhaps an enormous alien artifact that has to be explored, raided or even destroyed could be a backdrop for such a mission or mission series?

Ok, how's this sound? Legend has it that an ancient alien sect, of a civilization now lost, built gigantic monolithic structures. Nobody had ever seen one, so the idea was dismissed. Cloaking device on one has now failed, leaving it visible.

Threat value: unknown.
Contents: unknown.
Fate of those who have gone inside: unknown.

The mission is to go in, explore and salvage what you can.

Inside, it is a maze of twisty passages, dead-ends, and the maze's guardians (basically drones, the AI will need to be souped-up to handle the peculiarities of a maze, but an initial version should do fine with almost any drone AI).

Once you near the center, you will see the universal symbol for plague warning. In the central chamber is a cargo canister. In a side chamber is a wormhole leading to.....?

[imipak]

Sounds like the sequence from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi where the rebels have to fly inside the Death Star to destroy the main energy plant.

Could be a good idea to make a mission around it, where this was the final objective?

I considered making this the final objective, but then I realized something. Most of my deranged imagination is the fault of Level 9 Adventures, JRRT's novels, Colossal Cave. Even Star Wars.

The maze is always in the middle of the story. In Star Wars, it was the prison block, for example. In LOTR, it was Moria.

This, ideally, should be part 2 of a 3 part mission, where part 3 is The Great Battle and part 1 should involve some sort of escape (LOTR from Ringwraiths, Star Wars from stormtroopers).

This is a big part of why I need help. This is a BIG project! Part 1 would be a spy mission, perhaps, part 3 will look like Star Wars' Deathstar scene, but this is not a toy mission.

[imipak]

check out Cmdr McLane's Hacker Outposts, they're huge asteroids w/ an access tunnel that leads to a hollowed-out chamber w/a dock slot at the back. what you propose is easy enough but remember to make the corners large enough to actually turn in, and ~ someone else (McL?) can probably clarify/confirm this ~ be aware that you might get NPCs trying to dock w/ the slot, and if so i'm pretty sure they calculate a straight line to it and will therefore never make any turns - this needless suiciding might spoil the effect a bit.

Since the slot will be at the dead centre of the maze, the NPCs outside of the scenario will suicide against the outside of the maze-ship. Might be kind of cool-looking. Is there a maximum distance over which they will not attempt to dock? If so, I simply set the radius of the maze-ship greater than that, so the NPCs never see the docking port.

It depends on how different-sized ships are handled. I'd like a Worm or other mini-ship to handle any corner, a very lightweight racing ship could handle =most= corners, and a path exists for a Cobra Mk III to reach the center, but it is neither the quickest or the easiest. Larger ships should explode somewhere.

I want this to be absolutely hairy, which means that I don't want ships that can muscle their way through. I want sweat. I want tears. I want to hear the screams of anguished players as they take a corner too fast.