Your browser does not seem to support JavaScript. As a result, your viewing experience will be diminished, and you have been placed in read-only mode.
Please download a browser that supports JavaScript, or enable it if it's disabled (i.e. NoScript).
Ingredients:
- characteristics as described in the spöb resource - PICT resources - planet's image, single sprite and mask - landscape, 333 x 271 pixels - a s˙st resource in which to place the planet - a gövt for planet's affiliation - a snd resource for the sound heard when the player lands - a düde resource for defence fleet
Uses:
Planet are the center of activity in Escape Velocity. It is where players exchange commodities, accept missions, buy ships, fuel, and additions, and perhaps gamble or gather some news. You can create an atmosphere on your planet with the landscape or the sound that is played. These are important features since this is what the player will remember the most.
Several of the ingredients listed above are optional. It will be up to you whether or not a planet has a sound or a government. It will all depend on the size requirements you are working under, and what you have planned for the planet's atmosphere.
Construction:
There are two ways of customizing your own planet. You can simply alter an existing planet, which only requires some basic editing, or you could make a brand new one.
First, altering a planet:
In ResEdit, copy the spöb resource to your plug-in file and edit the proper fields. If you want to change the graphic or sound, this can be done from within the spöb resource or in the planet's spďn resource.
Creating a new planet:
1. This requires a bit more work. Your planet must have a number of features. First, and most importantly, it must be inside a system (the spöb resource needs to list the s˙st resource ID in the System field, and the s˙st resource must have the spöb ID number in one of the NavDef fields); right away, this requires you to edit or create a s˙st resource.
2. A graphic is necessary for the one you see when flying in a system. This is similar to a sprite because the graphic will need a mask. Also, a spďn resource needs to be created for the planet. The spďn resources reserved for the spöb graphics are stored in the ID range 300 - 363. You can have up to 1500 spöb resources, but only 64 graphics can be used. In the spöb's Type resource, enter the number (spďnID - 300).
3. The other graphic that is used is the 333 x 271 pixel image seen when the player lands on the planet. This can be any image, but make it unique, since this image can help the player identify the planet from the others. These images can be stored in the PICT ID 10000 and above and are stored in the spöb's CustPicID field.
4. Sounds can also be added, and are played when the player lands on the planet. These sounds also repeat over the time the player is on the planet. A sound can also be used to help the player identify the planet. Keep in mind that sounds need to be saved as 11kHz mono with no compression. Also, EV's memory allocation will need to be raised about the same amount as the size of the sound that is added. This allows for more memory space for the sound. EV will not load if there is not enough memory.
5. Other resources can be linked to a spöb, such as gövt resource for the spöb's affiliation, and a düde resource for the defense fleet. It is a good idea to be familiar with these resources before using them.