Unused Engine Features

Just thought I'd provide some inspiration, and list a few engine features that no one has really used to much extent yet...

1. Gender - I think there should be some element of sexism, just for fun. Like if you play as a woman, you shouldn't be able to do the Auroran string or something.
2. All manner of shield glows
3. All manner of submunitions
4. Movies in missions and on planets
5. Different intf resources for different governments

I know I'm forgetting at least one, but that's all I can think of for now.

I think it would be really neat if someone came put with an "EVN Enhancer" plug that wouldn't change anything significant, but would just make the game utilize the extra features, such as making hellhounds release submunitions or something. If someone with a digital camera and lots of time made movies for the Fed string, that would be even better. And extra intf's aren't too hard.

------------------
All your password are
belong to us

Aren't all plug-ins "EVN Enhancers?"

Yeah, it might be cool, but if you want a plug-in made, you're going to have to make it.

------------------

Quote

Originally posted by Diordna2:
**

1. Gender - I think there should be some element of sexism, just for fun. Like if you play as a woman, you shouldn't be able to do the Auroran string or something.
2. All manner of shield glows
3. All manner of submunitions
4. Movies in missions and on planets
5. Different intf resources for different governments

**

I think gender should be used more, not as extreme as locking people out of storylines, but having certain offshoots that can only happen if you play as a female etc.

Shield glows were used in Polycon, but not in the standard nova scenario. Good-Looking shield glows are really easy to make if you have photoshop.

Im pretty sure they used different intf resources for different governments in Nova.

Movies should be used more, but they usually take up quite alot of memory, so some people decide against using them.

------------------
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain.

Quote

Originally posted by TheRedeemer:
**Movies should be used more, but they usually take up quite alot of memory, so some people decide against using them.

**

The QuickTime standard is remarkably flexible, which creates opportunities to reduce file size (and maybe memory usage) if you're creative and can find the right tools. For instance, I've got a mission that ends with a .mov that simply plays a song snippet while showing a single unmoving image; it wouldn't be hard to do a very-low-framerate movie that was effectively a slideshow (imagine this as a shipyard movie, with each ship having a theme or an audio description). It is also possible to lower file size by changing the bit rate of the sound track.

I tried embedding a URL in a .mov, but the link unfortunately wouldn't fire up and switch to my browser from within EVN. I wonder if EVN supports QT VR panoramas? Also, I think I read somewhere that QuickTime movies also can include Flash animations....

------------------
(url="http://"http://home.comcast.net/~drtrowel/")Dr. Trowel's E.S.W.P.(/url) -- Featuring Cold Fusion Graphics for EVN Override, and an EVN/O outfit bug fix.
Very Good Stuff: (url="http://"http://ev-nova.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2832&sid;=43627ead61761e7f19060b00c14c739c")Big Nova FAQ(/url) (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/ubb/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&number;=31&SUBMIT;=Go")Bomb's Plug-in Guide(/url) (url="http://"http://www.evula.com/escape_velocity/")EVula's Lair(/url) (url="http://"http://w00tware.ev-nova.net/")NovaTools(/url)
Interests: The Good, The Bad, and The Loopy.

Quote

Originally posted by Dr. Trowel:
**It wouldn't be hard to do a very-low-framerate movie that was effectively a slideshow (imagine this as a shipyard movie, with each ship having a theme or an audio description). It is also possible to lower file size by changing the bit rate of the sound track.

**

That's a nice Idea, having a slideshow sort-of thing. It's good for people who don't want to go to all the effort of making a proper ship animation, and then rendering it. Various different images of different angles of a ship would be nice, it would add a bit of flavour.

------------------
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain.

Quote

Originally posted by TheRedeemer:
**Im pretty sure they used different intf resources for different governments in Nova.
**

I completely comfirm the interface is different for the Polaris, for instance.
As for movies, I would like to found an association , of which I would be the director, that would be named: Modem Users Association Against the Use of Movies in Downloadable Software (MUAAUMDS). Get my point?

------------------
The (url="http://"https://secure.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/store/hazel.cgi?action=serve&item;=breakdown.html&BREAKDOWN;_SKUID=1480")Ambrosia Mac CD(/url) with other registrations - 5$. Paying for (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/evn/")EV Nova(/url) as it's such a great game - 30$.
The (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/evn/tshirts.html")1337 EV Nova T-shirt(/url) - 22$. The (url="http://"http://w00tware.ev-nova.net/")NovaTools(/url) by wOOtWare to tinker with your Nova - FREE!
The feeling you're a Nova geek - priceless.
There are things you can't buy or that are free, for everything else, there's indeed Eurocard Mastercard.

Quote

Originally posted by Zacha Pedro:
**
As for movies, I would like to found an association , of which I would be the director, that would be named: Modem Users Association Against the Use of Movies in Downloadable Software (MUAAUMDS). Get my point?

**

Yes, because I'm still stuck on a 56k :frown: . If the movies were just shipyard movies for instance, and not-storyline related, it would be a good Idea to release them as a seperate file from the rest of the plug-in, so they can be downloaded at the players discretion.

------------------
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain.

Another un unused feature: planet-type ships, which can only be hit by planet-type weapons (also unused).

I'm actually using most of the features you mentioned in a TC I'm working on, which will probably be done sometime between now and 2020.

------------------
"Nothing is impossible with crons and submunitions."
-me

Thanks for that tidbit about the Polaris. I've never played the string, so I guess I wouldn't know.

I really wish someone would use submunitions in a cool way, but no one has. And I wasn't requesting a plug, I was throwing out ideas for people who are making plugs.

------------------
All your password are
belong to us

Quote

Originally posted by Diordna2:
**Thanks for that tidbit about the Polaris. I've never played the string, so I guess I wouldn't know.

I really wish someone would use submunitions in a cool way, but no one has. And I wasn't requesting a plug, I was throwing out ideas for people who are making plugs.

**

Submunitions HAVE been used in cool ways:
Polycon has a torpedo that devides into submunitions.
Eugene Chin discovered a strange and very useful bug in recursive submunitioning and Uncle Twitchy exploits this to simulate the cloak-seeking torpedo in an episode of startrek for the SFA TC.
The STOCK SCENARIO has a submunitioning torpedo (Polaris Multitorp), and Krypt pod nanites also use submunitioning (there are two nanite weapons with identical graphics. The one the Krypts fire is unguided and has in inaccuracy of 180, so it looks like it comes from a random side of the Krypt pod. Then after traveling a short distance it submunitions into a guided nanite. Use a cheat to give you a bunch of these to get the full effect.
I used recursive submunitioning to make a weapon that does a random amount of damage for a mrxak Challenge, and so did Masamune.
-Az

------------------
It is here. EVNEW Public Beta (url="http://"http://www.aznt.com/EVN/EVNEW")www.aznt.com/EVN/EVNEW(/url)

I'll give Azratax a metoo.

SS also has a cool new weapon that uses the constant deflection-value feature and recursive submunitions to make it move in a strange zig-zag pattern and kind of hunt enemies. It's odd. I also have a missile that is launched from a massdriver to get it away from your ship. It then subs into a guided missile and takes off, leaving a smoke trail for good effect. They are even launched in clusters much like Nanites. In fact, now that I look at nanites, its exactly the same but different. Hehe, oh well.

------------------
~Charlie
Sephil Saga Homepage: (url="http://"http://www.cwssoftware.com")www.cwssoftware.com(/url)

Have none of you talking about the ïntf resources ever looked at Nova Graphics 3? Hello, there's seven different ïntfs!

That, and the submunitions never used in cool ways is not true, see Az's post.

Please get your facts straight before posting.

------------------
The programmer's code of entomology: there's always another bug.
Windows users: stop asking for plugins. (url="http://"http://www.aznt.com/EVN/EVNEW/")Make one yourself.(/url)
(url="http://"http://www.cwssoftware.com")Sephil Saga Website(/url)

Quote

Originally posted by Masamune:
**I'll give Azratax a metoo.

SS also has a cool new weapon that uses the constant deflection-value feature and recursive submunitions to make it move in a strange zig-zag pattern and kind of hunt enemies. It's odd. I also have a missile that is launched from a massdriver to get it away from your ship. It then subs into a guided missile and takes off, leaving a smoke trail for good effect. They are even launched in clusters much like Nanites. In fact, now that I look at nanites, its exactly the same but different. Hehe, oh well.

**

Cool. I did a similar thing to the zigzaging weapon. Havnt released it yet though, because I cannot do so in a format that everybody can use due to the lack of a way to convert it.
-Az

------------------
It is here. EVNEW Public Beta (url="http://"http://www.aznt.com/EVN/EVNEW")www.aznt.com/EVN/EVNEW(/url)

Send it to me, I'll take a crack at it.

diordna@silvernetwork.ent

------------------
All your password are
belong to us