RFC: Fancy classics

Diziet Sma · Post by **Diziet Sma** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 11:04 am

Disembodied wrote:
For triangulation purposes, and maybe to stop the wings looking so much like wings, it might be better to shorten them a bit and add on a third, so they become a bit like the feathers on an arrow.

I like this idea.. a suggestion, since there's no air resistance in space, why not make the three wings into simple rods, spaced at 120° around the missile body, with small red-glowing 'sensors' at the tips. Angle them at maybe 30° forward, and perhaps have housing slots in the body (forward of the rods), from which the sensor rods would deploy when the missile is launched.

Simon B · Post by **Simon B** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:42 pm

Diziet Sma: cool idea - the model I have looks more like a drone (hello griff - you solved the drones problems yet?) a la

It works better (as a drone) with much narrower wings.

I can do a basic tube with booms which can be deployed on launch. So the detached missile model (the one that would normally appear in the game, and in the previews) would be different from the attached missile model.

This is doable.

Meantime - I said that skin was wasted on that model?
How a bout a reskin of the mamba?

Post by **Cmdr James** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:43 pm

Simon B wrote:
That is, if I can work out a script to replace the ship with a ship+missile combo when the npc fires.

It should be possible to just have a missile as a subentity and remove the subentity at launch, no?

Wiki pages · Post by **Thargoid** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:48 pm

Visually yes, but I don't think there's any script way to detect a missile launch. You can trigger one in an AI (fireMissile), but there's always the chance that the AI decides to do one anyway under performAttack.

Screet · Post by **Screet** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:54 pm

Cmdr James wrote:
Simon B wrote:
That is, if I can work out a script to replace the ship with a ship+missile combo when the npc fires.
It should be possible to just have a missile as a subentity and remove the subentity at launch, no?

IIRC there's currently only a missile launch position...and not missile mount positions for multiple missiles and other pylon mounted stuff?!? Even if so...it would probably be difficult to handle different equipment with different sizes...and some ships are just more tiny than the missiles they would carry

Screet

Simon B · Post by **Simon B** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 3:52 am

Cmdr James wrote:
It should be possible to just have a missile as a subentity and remove the subentity at launch, no?

Not for player ships, no. NPCs are more flexible. There is a discussion about this way waay back.

However, some sort of functionality like that may be added - having the model ready may spur the process.

It would seem useful and interesting to have some way to have the presence or absence of a feature optionally linked to wether a particular subentity gets rendered. (There must be a mechanism which tracks the presence of a subentity - eg. if it is destroyed. don't know if that works for player ships either.)

I've also been musing on how one might handle player multi-lasers. I figured that there could be two firing modes - pressing "a" fires each weapon in a facing in sequence while "A" (shift + a) fires a volley. If a weopon is overheated, it doesn't fire (and sequential fire moves over it - the HUD laser-temp shows the status of the currently active laser in the sequence.) Purchasing lasers uses positions according to what in in the plist.

But that's much more complex than external-mounted, removable, components.

Simon B · Post by **Simon B** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 5:37 am

Smooth Dodo

... considering that the dodo station is very angular, I wondered if I could keep the essential dodecadedral feel while moving to more of a sphere.

The above pic is a mockup only - to give the idea - the dodecahedron is projected onto a sphere. If you wanted a minimum-poly edition, it would be natural to make the classic dodo.

That model is actually over 1000 triangles so I'd have to cut it. However, I can lower the poly count easily enough.

A high detail model can be created by using a different model for each "pentagon".

Yodeebe · Post by **Yodeebe** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 7:39 am

"over 'ere son, on me 'ed"

sorry, couldn't resist!

Love your neo's.

absolutely fantastic.

there is one though, a small ship with extra large & un connected extra wings. presumeably a mistake. I'll geta picture in a bit.

cheers.

Simon B · Post by **Simon B** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 7:59 am

I had hoped to avoid soccer-ball jokes - after all, this is just pentagons while soccer ball's a mix of pentagons and hexagons innit? Awright?

Still - "soccer station" is not such a bad monnicker...

(Tell me the name of that ship - I'll check it out.)

Here's some screenshots. Click on the thumb for a larger image.

-- Chameleon cruisin' - taken from the port window of a Cougar.

-- Moniter with sexy escorts: a Mamba and a Sidewinder X.

-- Python Class Cruiser - going flat out.

ovvldc · Post by **ovvldc** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 1:59 pm

Simon B wrote:
I had hoped to avoid soccer-ball jokes - after all, this is just pentagons while soccer ball's a mix of pentagons and hexagons innit? Awright?

Sorry, too late. It really does look like a football rather than a space station..

Best wishes,
Oz

Website · Post by **DaddyHoggy** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:35 pm

Simon B wrote:
Smooth Dodo

... considering that the dodo station is very angular, I wondered if I could keep the essential dodecadedral feel while moving to more of a sphere.

The above pic is a mockup only - to give the idea - the dodecahedron is projected onto a sphere. If you wanted a minimum-poly edition, it would be natural to make the classic dodo.

That model is actually over 1000 triangles so I'd have to cut it. However, I can lower the poly count easily enough.

A high detail model can be created by using a different model for each "pentagon".

Problem with making it spherical - is why keep the dodo patternation? Either Spherical OR dodo - but not this half-way house...

Simon B · Post by **Simon B** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 12:15 am

DaddyHoggy wrote:
Problem with making it spherical - is why keep the dodo patternation? Either Spherical OR dodo - but not this half-way house...

I saw something like this on the cover of (IIRC) Analog - it depicted an ET spacecraft, spherical, constructed from curved hexagons.

Maybe the station was bubble-formed, using a dodo frame to limit the expansion? Maybe the company just decided to ship hexagonal sections for the some reason the cargopods are hexagonal?

However, that's quite a strong reaction - so the design is shelved.

Wiki pages · Post by **Thargoid** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 7:07 am

Shades of SpaceShip Earth from EPCOT to this alien

Website · Post by **DaddyHoggy** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 7:36 pm

Simon B wrote:
DaddyHoggy wrote:
Problem with making it spherical - is why keep the dodo patternation? Either Spherical OR dodo - but not this half-way house...
I saw something like this on the cover of (IIRC) Analog - it depicted an ET spacecraft, spherical, constructed from curved hexagons.

Maybe the station was bubble-formed, using a dodo frame to limit the expansion? Maybe the company just decided to ship hexagonal sections for the some reason the cargopods are hexagonal?

However, that's quite a strong reaction - so the design is shelved.

Apologies, if I "sounded" heavy-handed. I was trying to rationalise it and failed - from a material usage point of view Spherical give you the most for the least - but from a construction point of view...

However, I'm liking the new ships very much - the reskinned Mamba is cool.

ovvldc · Post by **ovvldc** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 10:55 pm

Same here: no problems with a round station, just don't call it a dodo

.

Then again, dodos are on their way out anyway..

Best wishes,
Oscar