Get a working Docking Bay on a model

TGHC · Post by **TGHC** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 10:07 am

CaptKev wrote:
But unfortunately while doing more testing I found that only the last docking subentity works!

What a bummer! any ideas why?

CaptKev · Post by **CaptKev** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 11:05 am

Not sure, probably something in the .exe

But for now there's a Cobra Mk. III parked in the right-hand docking bay.

TGHC · Post by **TGHC** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 11:30 am

Looks great, particularly the detailed walls inside, WD matey.

Killer Wolf · Post by **Killer Wolf** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 1:40 pm

heh - ditch the cobra and model some traffic cones to put in there instead

CaptKev · Post by **CaptKev** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 2:55 pm

With a couple of workmen in spacesuits standing around drinking tea!

Killer Wolf · Post by **Killer Wolf** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 9:19 pm

Well i can't mine to work

done a simple test model : big letterbox (so to speak) as one model, and the dockbox as another, correctly positioned. the letterbox hole is removed, the dockbox is open ended.

originlly it was all one model. i tried to fly in, just to test the structure, crashed : it was like a wall was there, my lasers seemed to hit where there was no face. so i separated them.

tried again, crashed, same thing. bit more fiddling, now i've got the box as a "station docktest" role ("docktest" simply so i can conjure it in a script), i got the dockbox as "docking-slit", and both have StationAI. now, when i hit the front of the box i go through the docking sequence immediately : why not when i reach the back of the box, as per the Coriolis etc? :-/ i deliberately made the dock longer to make sure i could fly into it, but it's not letting me

i positioned my dockbox sub ent as "0 0 0 1 0 0 0" as per Griff's notes in the 49ers thread as my models were lined up on the Z axis.

apart from that all my (rough) textures look ok, everything seems positioned fine, no obvious blebs or overlaps. ooh, except - the dock has a name of "Revised Dock" but i can't target on it, i only register the outer model's name no matter how i try and target it.)

so....help!

TIA

Commander McLane · Post by **Commander McLane** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 8:35 am

Two things:

- The dockbox-subentity has to have nullAI (see all the other stations). I think that's the reason why the docking sequence starts too early.

- And names of subentities are never displayed, only those of their "mothers".

Killer Wolf · Post by **Killer Wolf** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 8:40 am

I changed it to null after trawling through the Coriolis shipdata, no difference.

also, i've noticed the "bounding box" or whatever the proper name is, seems wildly outta whack - i did a flyby and crashed into nothing. the targetting brackets seem to cover a fair bit of empty space too - say, 20% of the model size to one side of the structure.

guess i'll just have to fiddle a bit more, see what i can come up w/ :-\

CaptKev · Post by **CaptKev** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 9:14 am

@KW, Sorry to hear your having similar problems to me, I did have the docking port subentity positioned at 0, 0, 0 myself, but it seemed to work better if the docking port model was centred on the X and Y with the mouth of the docking port (Z) at zero.

Wolfwood · Post by **Wolfwood** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 9:47 am

CaptKev wrote:
Not sure, probably something in the .exe

But for now there's a Cobra Mk. III parked in the right-hand docking bay.

Yup, only one docking slit is allowed per ship. I guess, if you want to have two, you have to cheat a bit and make it into a separate ship with a docking slit and have it keep position with the main ship... Not sure if it is possible, but I think some people around here have been fiddling with something similar.

Killer Wolf · Post by **Killer Wolf** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 2:09 pm

Crikey, this is annoying. i'm follwing all the advice and stuff, and it's still not working right. moved the rear of the dock box to 0-0-0 and w/ nullAIs all around, managed to fly all the way in and out. putting stationAI just triggers immediately tho.
in a desperately silly bid, i now have an outer box, a long docking slit w/ null ai, and at the end of that a box w/ the staionAI, station role etc etc. i can fly in...and drift happily out the back wall >:-(

in a word, bugger.

Killer Wolf · Post by **Killer Wolf** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 9:25 pm

Well. All i can say is, cheers Murgh

after coming to a dead stop, i was racking my brain and got thinking about the HOopy casinos, so i checked out how that implemented the docking slit. noticed that it didn't create one, it used the one from the coriolis etc. so i swiped that idea, and lo and behold i have a tunnel w/ a docking port at teh ed \o/

sweetness, i'm off to watch the lunar eclipse

Oolite Bulletins

Get a working Docking Bay on a model

>:-\