Missile ammo troubles

I'm having some troubles developing missiles. I can get the outfits ammo and launcher assigned to the weapon, but in the weap panel, I don't get how to assign ammo. It has an ammotype part, but the numbers don't make sense. In the game, for IR missiles, that number is 7, but in the outfits panel, IR missiles and launchers are 134 and 135. What is up? I need help to make these missiles.

@0101181920, on Sep 1 2007, 04:52 PM, said in Missile ammo troubles:

I'm having some troubles developing missiles. I can get the outfits ammo and launcher assigned to the weapon, but in the weap panel, I don't get how to assign ammo. It has an ammotype part, but the numbers don't make sense. In the game, for IR missiles, that number is 7, but in the outfits panel, IR missiles and launchers are 134 and 135. What is up? I need help to make these missiles.

I'd set the ammotype to -1 as you want the missiles to draw ammo from itself (which is set in the outfitter tab). I am pretty sure that that field is used to make, for example, a plasma weapon use the same type of ammo as a machine gun with slightly different attributes. Under the outfit panel, you'll need two outfits. One for the launcher and one for the missile. Set the launcher's type to be weapon with the weapon's ID x where x is your weapon's ID. Make the ammo for it Ammo with ID x.

-1 means it doesn't use ammo. You need to set the AmmoType the weapon's own index (ID-128) if you want it to use its own ammo. Take a look at Zacha Pedro's weap guide if you like. The information quantity may be a bit daunting but it'll tell you everything you ever wanted to know.

If you're having trouble with ammo types, just set the ammo to -999! I swear it will solve all of your problems :evilgrin:

So, what you are saying is that it doesn't matter what it is, just to set it to some un-used number and have fun?

OK, let's try to do a comprehensive explanation here.

There are three different ways that ammo-consuming weapons need to be linked together. There is 1) Linking the weapon's launcher's oütf to the weapon's wëap, 2) Linking the weapon's ammunition's oütf to the weapons wëap, and linking the weapon's wëap to itself. It looks like you've got the first part down fine, so I'll skip to the second.

Open up the weapon's wëap file. This is kind of tricky using NovaTools, because there's a little programming quirk that I'll explain. There are two ways that Resource Editors (like ResEdit and MissionComputer) identify resources: Resource IDs (the little number to the left of each resource, which range from 128 up), and Index #s, which is the same as the Resource ID - 128 (these, therefore, range from 0 on up). The box that defines the weapon's ammunition type requires you to put in the wëap's Index # , not its Resource ID.

Now, this gets tricky if you're using NovaTools (at least this is what my version does). When you put a number into the AmmoType box, it assumes that you put in the Resource ID and not the Index #, so it subtracts 128 from the number you put in. This works fine, but every time you re-open the resource, you get 128 subtracted AGAIN, making the weapon do all sorts of funky things. Now, this may just be my NovaTools, but it's something to keep an eye on.

Anyways, hope you found that helpful.

Oh, and giving something the AmmoType -999 makes the ship explode when it fires.

This post has been edited by Archon : 01 September 2007 - 07:29 PM

Cosmic Nusiance slinks into the shadows, wholly ashamed at his blunder. He looks both ways and sees BluePlanet coming hs way. He melts back into the shadows and waits. He follows a link to Zacha Pedro's weapon guide to not look like a hopeless n00b next time.

BTW, he also hopes you won't mind him writing in the third person.

Thanks, Archon, that makes it much more clear to me. So just take the ammo id, subtract 128, and your are set. Thanks again.

Okay, that makes sense, but I'm still having problems. My Hyper-Missile weap is id 235. My Hyper-Missile launcher outf is id 476. 476-128 is 348, and the maximum number for that field is 255. Do I have to delete a standard game id to get into the acceptable range?

Oh, wait, do you mean the weap id-128? If so, that works.
(PS, sorry about the multiple contradictory posts within about five minutes, I'm just bouncing things off the wall. It helps me sometimes.)

Just wondering, with submunitions, it asks the sub theta. Is that a precise number, as in it will always come out at that angle, or a degree of variation, as in it can come out anywhere between straight and the sub theta?

The latter, although if you set a negative number it will do a precise 'starburst' with that number of degrees spacing between the shots.

@guy, on Sep 3 2007, 10:19 PM, said in Missile ammo troubles:

The latter, although if you set a negative number it will do a precise 'starburst' with that number of degrees spacing between the shots.

Which, by the way, is awesome looking with weapons with a high sub-count.

Darn it, because that means that my rocket that fires straight back won't work. Any ideas?

@0101181920, on Sep 3 2007, 06:43 PM, said in Missile ammo troubles:

Darn it, because that means that my rocket that fires straight back won't work. Any ideas?

A rocket that fires backwards? Kudos for the creative thinking. That'd be awesome if you could get to work.

Can I have it sub-munition into two differant weapons? If so, then I can set sub theta to -180, have one type decay in one frame, and the other go backwards. The only problem might be making sure that they go the correct way.

Nope. It sounds like the submunition part isn't so important here so you could use negative inaccuracy instead, which will make the shots always fire at exactly that angle. The side it chooses depends on position of the exit point - if your exit points are dead center (on the x-axis) it won't work.

Good point, Guy. I should probobly use the gun ports. It should work from their on most ships because they have gun ports off center. Any other really cool weapon ideas?

Good point, Guy. I should probobly use the gun ports. It should work from their on most ships because they have gun ports off center. Any other really cool weapon ideas? I already have gravity bombs, cluster bombs, ion bombs, gatling guns, paint guns, instantaneous rockets, cloak tracking missiles, and anti-missile missiles.

PS Sorry about the two right in a row. I started submitting one, realized had more to say, and canceled. Guess it submitted before then.

This post has been edited by 101181920 : 03 September 2007 - 08:05 PM

Could I make a rocket that is targetable by point defense systems by making it a homing weapon then setting the turn rate to 0?