Escort bug?

In EVN Firefly, all my hyper-capable ships will have two different engine glows----one for maneuvering, and one for jumping (full burn).

For the player, it's working fine. The ship "unfolds" (switches glows) when it jumps, and then switches back.

However, when I hire escorts, while I'm still in the first system they maneuver using the hyper glows. After a jump everything is fine, but that first bit is rather jarring.

Any idea what's wrong? Is it just a bug?

Was I unclear on the problem, or is it just that no one knows?

Perhaps more details will be better so we can analyze the problem

I thought I was pretty clear.....

Two sets of base sprites. Each has a different set of engine glows. When you jump, the ship "unfolds" (which in this case simply means switch to the second set of base sprites).

In effect, you have a different glow for jumping than for just flying around.

The problem is that when you hire escorts, they don't start on the right base set. They start using the set which corresponds to the hyper glows.

After a single jump or landing, everything is fine. But in the first system, they don't work correctly.

Maybe something to do with the fact that unfolding is also used for landing/taking off. Otherwise, I don't see how it could be anything other than a bug.

Hmm, after a round of testing with the agrossy, I see no evidence of this behavior. The ship started out open and folded up on the first jump out of the system. It worked as I expected. (In retrospect, i cant remember if it ever folded for landing. I seem to think it unfolds for takeoff, but not landing. That makes sense I suppose, how could it really tell... (unless it used the same code as the hypergates do when they decide to open. That would be a nifty addition. For your ship too.)

So... Id say you probably need to post the file to get any sort of answer from us. It might be a PC specific bug.

I tested it on my Mac. Happens there too.

Just so I'm clear------pre-RLEing, the glows pict has the hyper glows above the maneuvering glows.

Just so I'm clear------pre-RLEing, the glows pict has the hyper glows above the maneuvering glows.

Hmm? If this is a question, engine flares, lights, and weapons glows are added on top of the two lower layers (in this case the hyper/folding above the base sprite.) SO maneuvering would sort of show up on top of the folding, but it wouldnt hide it. Just make it brighter.

Here's what I mean. Yellow is hyper, purple is maneuvering.

I should also make clear that this bug only occured on the hired escorts immediately after I took off from purchasing them. It did not occur on my ship.

If I had to guess, I'd say the bug is that when escorts are hired, they don't go through the standard "take-off" routine (code-wise), but instead are just plopped down next to you in the system.

This post has been edited by Lindley : 07 September 2005 - 07:24 PM

Oh, i get it. I have a solution. Dont use engine glows for the unfolded part, just have the folded set show the hyper glows right on top, with an empty set of engine glows. Im not sure how this looks when the AI lands, though. Maybe some excuse about the hyper being used as a reentry assist thruster? That doesnt make much sense.

Your implementation looks like it should work, though. Its certainly weird that it doesnt. Are your two base sets exact duplicates (just curious, it doesnt have anything to do with anything).

Yes, they're exact duplicates. And yes, it does work---99% of the time.

It's only in this one specific instance when it fails. And I doubt moving the hyper glows onto the base image will solve that, unfortunately.

Have you tried? It seems hired agrossies start folded properly. Perhaps they just accidentally use the wrong engine glows but the right base sprites on the first day.

Have you tried? It seems hired agrossies start folded properly. Perhaps they just accidentally use the wrong engine glows but the right base sprites on the first day.

I suppose it's worth trying. But I'm not looking forward to re-rendering the sprites for 20+ ships.

Uh... you dont have to do that. Pop open photoshop, set blending mode to... uh... overlay I think (whatever the inverse of multiply is), and stick the flares right on top of the ship. If you post your base sprites, i could do it tomorrow at work. It would take me 30 seconds.

perhaps you could rig it to move you to an other system and back or something. (as soon as you leave after hiring an escort.) would that work?

^Needlessly complicated for what is a relatively harmless bug.

I'll try the photoshop thing.