RFC: Fancy classics

[Pangloss]

I decided to pimp my Cobra...



I don't know why, but the new paint job attracted the attention of a Griff Cobra III.



Must have been flown by a canine species. Here he is saying hello to me.



I feel... used.

[DaddyHoggy]

That's close! A little too friendly!

Nice respray.

[Simon B]

And this is the sort of thing I'm after - people should be able to modify the skins like this.

I like the Viper livery - perhaps remove the stripes and enlarge the original markings? If I could have a copy of those squares and the star, I could adopt them?

The cobra mk3 was self-consciously designed for people to modify. Lots of big spaces to paint or normalmap or cut apart.

I've been enjoying the HUDs too ... I like the layout above, but the IFF on the random hits pic is great. Which HUDs are you using guys?

[LittleBear]

Thats the Star Trek HUD.

Great Hud. Looks nice without getting in the way. The author posted it and then disappeared from the boads!

But a search of the BB should find it. It was WIP as the position of the fuel scoops indictator wasn't quite right and it didn't work on ships with more than four energy banks. I tweaked the install on my machine thusly to make it work with bigger ships and move the fuel scoop icon:-

Change to this for the scoops:-

Code: Select all

		<dict><!-- fuel scoop status -->
			<key>alpha</key>
			<real>0.60</real>
			<key>selector</key>
			<string>drawScoopStatus:</string>
			<key>x</key>
			<integer>165</integer>
			<key>y</key>
			<integer>-160</integer>

And this to display up to 9 banks without problems :-

Code: Select all

		<dict><!-- energy gauge, can draw a surround 2 units out from the dial size specified -->
			<key>draw_surround</key>
			<false/>
			<key>height</key>
			<integer>10</integer>
			<key>selector</key>
			<string>drawEnergyGauge:</string>
			<key>width</key>
			<integer>35</integer>
			<key>x</key>
			<integer>159</integer>
			<key>y</key>
			<integer>-216</integer>
			<key>labelled</key>
			<true/>
		</dict>

Really great HUD. I'd like to post the slightly tweaked version on the Wikki (when its up again), but it dosen't feel right to do so without the author's permission.

There's a download link on the boards though a a serach for TrekHud should find it.

[Simon B]

Anyway, I figure a hard-as BCC would have turrets covering aft... everyone else uses escorts.

I'm not sure if there should be two versions of such a ship, like one in the current way and another one with turrets...or if it should be possible to BUY the turrets and have them added to the ship as an upgrade (probably switching from neobccnt-player to neobccturret-player or such)...but then, I guess it would be too difficult to do such a thing for that little bit of enhancement to the upgrade experience. Maybe it's enough to say: the cruiser has turrets and the non-cruiser variants don't.

Screet

heh heh heh

The only ship worth turrets in the standard game would be the anaconda - matching the Great War bombers - turrets and escorts. The poor thing cannot turn worth fried trumble droppings so the fixed lasers make absolutely no sense. It's almost better for them to have no lasers.

It's another oxp idea to do a "frontier" edition of trader ships and pirates appearing in low-tech worlds and anarchies ... maybe an "interdiction" mission - where some systems are being blockaded.

Anyhoo - frontier ships will have camoflage and turrets but fewer, if any, escorts. This is also where blockade-runner upgrades will go - radically reduce cargo cap for oversize engines.

I have a tentative plan for an atmospheric station ... a 3-4 rotor aircraft close to the alt limit - with a dock. Replace some stations with these - they are run by the locals, and thus less predictable. But I don't know if it is possible to completely remove a station.

Landing on a moon is something which should be possible, but no idea how to handle it. Well ... some ... need to model a moonbase + dock in a crater or something. It's getting the moon to withstand a closeup. Maybe an icy moon - with the odd canyon: put the base at one end of the canyon?

Right now: more mapping to go.

[Simon B]

BTW: Some observations

I just sat and watched 3 vipers kiss the station. I was in the gecko, checking if npcs could hit me. I shoot at the station and try to pot the vipers as they emerge. I'd hit a viper, then it turns around as if trying to dock ... but it is 50-60m too far to one side: splat! Suspect it is an evasive manouver.

The upsize anaconda cannot dock - watching it, the docking AI (whatever) seems to like to enter at 10-30 degrees to the docks x-z plane. On docking computers (hit C) the ship approaches dead-on, then suddenly rotates to about 45 degrees on for no reason I can see. Then the anaconda tries to catch up with the rotation.

Increasing the roll (from 0.75 to 1.5) allows the anaconda to dock. Checking gameplay as a player, and the improvement is not noticeable. AND you still graze the station on docking computers.

Does anybody use the "get permission first" docking method? It's non standard and alters gameplay, but I like it. I also think that docking computers should incur a fee - particularly if you expect to sleep through it.

Stations seem to be a kind of amnesty zone - fugitives may have trouble docking, but are not arrested the second they touch down. At some stations you are fined - not worked out how this works.

Some variation could be cute - maybe a commie world gives you 10 years forced labour instead? A military dictator may require some military service: disabling your witchdrive until your term is up ... or - the old: complete the mission and your record is cleared (refuse and your record is permanent - heh heh).

[Screet]

The upsize anaconda cannot dock - watching it, the docking AI (whatever) seems to like to enter at 10-30 degrees to the docks x-z plane. On docking computers (hit C) the ship approaches dead-on, then suddenly rotates to about 45 degrees on for no reason I can see. Then the anaconda tries to catch up with the rotation.

Maybe it's different, as you wrote that increasing the stats reduced this effect, but it sounds pretty much like what I experienced when slow-docking with the computer on a Raceedat type station, which apparantly had two docking bays in it, both docking bays at a 90 degrees angle to each other. It appeared to confuse the computer and increase crash likelihood. Do you remember what type of station(s) you experienced that behaviour with?

Screet

[Alex]

Err, hate to disagree with any one, but that hud is the one I use and it says MedusaHud on the oxp I use

[Simon B]

Do you remember what type of station(s) you experienced that behaviour with?

yep - Coriolis ...

Meantime - here's an early take on the atmospheric dock... pure Gernsbach:


The center bit looks good as a light carrier actually. (Maybe the host planet purchased a carrier shell and strapped big rotors to it?) Probably want something which looks more primitive than that though.

The dock is too small for an anaconda - that's a cobra3 in color in there.
If I set "has_npc_traffic" is there any way to restrict which ships are traffic? Or should I just build for anaconda?

[Simon B]

Err, hate to disagree with any one, but that hud is the one I use and it says MedusaHud on the oxp I use

Erm - to which do you respond? LittleBear posted that the HUD in his pic was the Star Trek HUD with a tweak. Don't recognise the Pangloss one.

[Screet]

The center bit looks good as a light carrier actually. (Maybe the host planet purchased a carrier shell and strapped big rotors to it?) Probably want something which looks more primitive than that though.

That looks very nice, really...however, from technological point of view I'm afraid you would have to make at least a slight adjustment, even if you've got practically unlimited power for those rotors:

If you look closely, you notice that a big part of them would create an airflow that directly hits the upper side of that station, thus massively reducing the uplift power! The effect seen here appears to be much bigger than with really big helicopters....I'd expect it to be beneficial to have the rotors set away to the sides a bit further, leaving only a more tiny construction attaching it to the station, thus allowing much higher uplift.

Screet

[Captain Hesperus]

All you'd need to do is inset the rotors into the bodywork or have them completely outboard on very long pylons.

Captain Hesperus

[Wolfwood]

Personally, I think the insetting of the rotors would look better. An example:



Link if the pic doesn't show up.

Mind you, the design should also take into account the possible malfunction of any single one of the rotors... We'd not want the dock to crash down every time some hotshot pilot misses the mark...

Hmmm... The rotors will need to be frangible...

[ovvldc]

Perhaps something like the UNS Valiant?



Best wishes,
Oscar

[Simon B]

Perhaps something like the UNS Valiant?

That's the one!

It's a little smaller than what is needed for oolite. Also that's a classic aircraft-carrier design - flattop. We need a docking slit.

Though - a helo-pad would look good for decoration - put a moray on it, or a shuttle, ready to launch.

Would it be possible to assign a docking volume, invisible: no enclosing model, which can be entered from any direction - ship approaches the landing pad, just at touchdown - poof: docking sequence? (I have done zero research on this.)

Anyway - if I went with the converted space-carrier idea, I'd want to make jerry-rigged booms to hold the engines.

If one engine goes - the other on that side has to work much harder - and gyros keep it level. But it would need to go land.

I was musing about scripting that scenario - so that if it loses a subentity, it will descend out of control and crash... or switch to the homeAI (does that allow things that use it to disappear into atmosphere without blowing up?)

Anyway, back to drawing lines on hulls.