faking transparency map on ships

I´m wondering if it´s possible to combine the alt.image and base transparency options, and make only some areas of a ship transparent.

And if i doesn´t please explain why.

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And then there were silence.................

It won't because base transparency affects the alt.image as well as the base image. Base transparency affects the overall shän and all its components.

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What I have done is give the ship a "pulse" style running light, with the light's minimum and maximum at the same value. The light image will be the transparent portion, obviously.

~ SpacePirate

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thanks

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And then there were silence.................

Bear in mind that lights' transparency is additive, whereas normal transparency is just...partially transparent. For example, a totally black ship set to 50% transparency would make anything beneath it half as bright, whereas if it were in the lights and therefore additive it would appear to have no effect.

Basically, if you use the lights field to make transparent parts to a ship, it will look more like the transparent areas are glowing, not just transparent.

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If you use the 0x0008 flag to make the ship cycle through the extra base sets as an animation will it do the same with the running lights and engine glows?

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Quote

Originally posted by SpacePirate:
What I have done is give the ship a "pulse" style running light, with the light's minimum and maximum at the same value. The light image will be the transparent portion, obviously.

Now if only ATMOS had used this technique with Vell-os ships..... I'm pretty sure those middle sections aren't supposed to be transparent.

Quote

Originally posted by Guy:
If you use the 0x0008 flag to make the ship cycle through the extra base sets as an animation will it do the same with the running lights and engine glows?

I believe this is the case, but I don't remember offhand where I may have seen something to support it.

Quote

Originally posted by NTiOzymandias:
I believe this is the case, but I don't remember offhand where I may have seen something to support it.

Having animated engine glows would allow for some pretty cool ships. Like maybe some part of the engine that rotates as it's working.

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Check the Aurorean cruiser for the rotating running lights: it works! It would be cool if, instead if pulsing, the running lights would blink in sequence for ships in Nova, and it definitely seems possible. You can always try animated engine glows the same way - that would be uber-cool.

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Quote

Originally posted by Zacha Pedro:
**Check the Aurorean cruiser for the rotating running lights: it works! It would be cool if, instead if pulsing, the running lights would blink in sequence for ships in Nova, and it definitely seems possible. You can always try animated engine glows the same way - that would be uber-cool.
**

You mean like one light blinks then the next light blinks, etc? You could make some pretty crazy effects by using blinkmodes as well as animated running lights.

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I've made it! For the StarLiner, three frames, the red and white lights show up, then the white and green, then the red and green. I've no tried combining it with real blinking, though. Problem is, as the Holy Nova Bible clearly tells in the section dealing with the shän resource, there must be the same number of frames for the base ship, the running lights, and the engine glows (and the weapons and shield glows, but there is none for the StarLiner), so I had to triple everything, not just the running lights, but the base ship and the engine glows, making it a bit big (the plug, as it is in my plug folder, is 1.2 Mb in size - for one ship), plus you can't make it for ships that bank (I would have loved to do it for the shuttles). I'll try combining it with blink mode, then do it again for the IDA Frigate and the Pegasus. Stay tuned. However, I'm crap at graphics so I'm just deleting the unused lights for the current frame, nothing more, and furthermore I've no idea how to do interesting looking animated engine glows (though it definitely seems possible, with the same method: multiplying everything).

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(This message has been edited by Zacha Pedro (edited 04-15-2004).)

Hey, just noticed your post. How's it all coming along? If you want to do it for the shuttle or something then just get rid of the banking. It's kinda silly to be banking in space anyway.
Weapon glows, I hadn't thought of that. You could make animated explosions coming out of the barrel of a gun as a shell is fired, rather than just little flashes. At least, someone who's good with graphics could. I wouldn't be able to do anything more than you have.
Well if your plug's finished would you mind sending it to me?

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"The Macintosh may only have 10% of the market, but it is clearly the top 10%." — Douglas Adams