[RELEASE] Iron Raven

[DaddyHoggy]

It's a lovely looking design considering it's the original shape - shows you what a classic the Asp II is. Well done for breathing life back in to the old classic.

[Ramirez]

Another milestone reached: I've finished all the heavy duty script work on the main section of the mission. There were some particularly tricky bits that I was avoiding but after a bit of application I've got them working more or less as I wanted. I've also incorporated Smiv's Asps so they pop up at the right moment - while I need to do more testing I've already had quite a fun fight with them.

I'm still not worrying too much about the visuals on the basis that I can always add alternative ship models later - I do want to get all the logos I did onto ad boards but that shouldn't take too long. However I've gone back and improved some of the models I was working on - here's the fuel reprocessing facility with all the effects added:



What I'll aim to do now is package up the mission as it stands so far and while that's out there, finish off the final phase.

[Switeck]

If those are solar panels...shouldn't it face the sun?

[Ramirez]

OK, here's the OXP as it stands so far. I'm sure lots of tweaking and fixing is still required but the braver pilots amongst you can start having a look.

Iron Raven v0.1

Good point re the solar panels - technically I can orient the station towards the sun, but I'd have to delve into the murky world of quaternions and vectors for that!

[Cmd. Cheyd]

Try this Ramirez

Code: Select all

this.turnEntity1ToEntity2 = function(entity1,entity2) {
	var targetVector = entity2.position.subtract(entity1.position).direction();
	var angle = entity1.heading.angleTo(targetVector);
	var cross = entity1.heading.cross(targetVector).direction();
	entity1.orientation = entity1.orientation.rotate(cross, -angle);
	return;		
}

[Ramirez]

Just a quick heads up to say that I've applied some bugfixes and updated the WIP to v0.1.1.

In terms of progress, at the moment I'm mainly writing bits of mission text. It's taking quite a while - I start off as if I'm writing a short story but then strip it down to the essentials so it only needs a few mission screens. I'm also sketching out any elements that need to be scripted. In particular, I'm just setting up a space battle and trying to come up some kind of narrative to make it more engaging for the player. With a combination of timers, ship scripts and AI I hope I'll be able to come up with something interesting.

[maik]

I linked to this thread in the new work in progress list in the Wiki. Hope that's ok.

[Ramirez]

Thanks maik, that's fine.

Work continues, albeit rather slowly. I've been doing quite a few bugfixes to my other OXPs recently, and to stop the same happening to this one I really need to do some thorough testing.

I'll continue working on the remainder of the OXP, but could I ask for some volunteers who'd be able to run through the mission as it stands so far and help identify any issues?

[maik]

Thanks maik, that's fine.

Work continues, albeit rather slowly. I've been doing quite a few bugfixes to my other OXPs recently, and to stop the same happening to this one I really need to do some thorough testing.

I'll continue working on the remainder of the OXP, but could I ask for some volunteers who'd be able to run through the mission as it stands so far and help identify any issues?

Sure, I'd love to! You did quite well in piquing my interest in this thread here.

[Ramirez]

I've made some good progress and am now scripting up some of the final stages of the mission. I've got a fairly simple method of creating an in-flight conversation between the NPC and the player (only a pre-scripted one, mind), which makes a nice change from having to explain all the details in the mission text. Along the way I've been doing some simple retexturing as well as bringing some of my old unused models into play.

[Ramirez]

Just giving the defence cannons a bit of a test run and noticed something odd with the damage effects. In this pic, two cannons are shooting at an Imperator (arrows are drawn on, obviously) but the collision box seems far too big - is this an issue with big ships or is there something wrong with my model? Conventional laser fire works OK.

[JensAyton]

As people have occasionally noticed, Oolite’s collision handling is a bit coarse-grained, but it shouldn’t be that bad. The best reason I can think of is that there are stray vertices in your model file.

You can get a better idea of how Oolite sees your model with the following debug console voodoo:

Code: Select all

console.debugFlags = console.DEBUG_BOUNDING_BOXES | console.DEBUG_DRAW_NORMALS | console.DEBUG_OCTREE_DRAW

(Reset with console.debugFlags = 0.)

[Ramirez]

No, your eyes do not deceive you - Iron Raven has finally got to the release stage. All the elements are now included and I've wrapped things up with an epilogue. I'm calling it a beta release for the moment as I'm sure there's room for improvement plus some inevitable bugfixing, but I really wanted to get the completed package out before the end of the year.

Click on the banner below to download, also I've updated my website - see the link in my sig.

[DaddyHoggy]

Nice One Ramirez - and you did indeed make the EOY - with hours to spare!

[XB7]

You're far too generous Ramirez. That makes about 1.2 gigs of installed expansions for me. That's insane!