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It's funny; I've read through countless Bryce tutorials and 3D online workshops and yet, the best methods I've used are still the ones I've discovered accidentally by myself. I tried to find recommendations for how to make a good explosion animation in Bryce and had a ton of people talking about how to make ridiculous death-star explosions with shockwave rings and strange plasma colors mixed in, but all I want to create is a good explosion with maybe a bit of residual smoke. I created a sphere, gave it a black cloud texture, created another sphere inside it which was textured to look like cloudy fire, which I then set to full ambience so that it glows from within without over-lighting the smoke. I made them both expand with the smoke overtaking the blast, and it looks like a perfect detonation with a hideous black plume following it, much like the Hellhound missile from EVN.
I'll also be taking a page from AnubisTTP's book by putting debris inside the larger ship explosions and causing it to randomize outward during the animation. It looks really good, like the ship completely comes apart at the seams.
Oh, that sounds slick. I can't wait to see that.
Awesome screenshots. They look kickass in game I bet.
I'm pretty jealous I have never gotten this far with my projects.
QUOTE (Delphi @ Aug 29 2010, 11:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Please make a video of this. I've always wondered why the Hellhound explosion was never as epic as its rlëD file, but to know that will be a standard explosion for your ships makes me quite excited.
QUOTE (king_of_manticores @ Aug 30 2010, 08:47 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I've always wondered why the Hellhound explosion was never as epic as its rlëD file...
That's because the few AI ships that fire Hellhounds fire several at a time. When they explode, the resulting explosions are too intensive on the computer's graphics card. As a result, the engine might display one Hellhound explosion, but most of the explosions you see are from the 'surrounded by explosions' flag, more accurately known as the 'Type-128 sparks' flag.
QUOTE (DarthKev @ Aug 30 2010, 11:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
No wonder most ships have really peppery explosions. I've never really recalled seeing a Hellhound explosion before outside of MissionComputer.
Really? I use them all of the time. Despite the limited ammo, they're the best.
You may use them, Jai, but do you use them while close enough to see the explosion?
This is a little embarrassing, but yes. Sometimes. And when others use them. On me. Not fun.
But do you actually see the Hellhound explosion seen in MC, or just a few random puffs of fire?
I've never looked at it in MissionComputer.
This will be a strange sort of question, but it's ultimately still an important one because it changes the way that the game plays out. For larger ships, should I put the impetus on escape pods, or on escape vehicles? I remember that when I played Uncle Twitchy's Starfleet Adventures, every Federation starship had at least one shuttle on board, and I actually had a lot more fun flying away from destructive encounters than just drifting in an escape pod and getting dropped off at some nearby world. In either situation, the loss of your ship and jettisoning in an escape pod would mean that after the little message pops up you'd be gifted with a shuttle, so if all capital ships come equipped with a shuttle bay, why not let the player fly that to safety, or even finish the battle if their escape ship is slightly well-armed?
It's just something I considered.
Also, before I go digging through mission computer, I might as well ask the forum: is there any way to create a missile weapon that doesn't require a launcher? I just figured for modern air vehicles like jet fighters, the mounting struts are just an integral part of the frame; it's not like some aftermarket missile rack has been added, so if it can be done, I'd love to have the game's smaller missiles capable of mounting without a firing chamber.
QUOTE (Delphi @ Aug 31 2010, 12:58 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Could you start certain ships off with an invisible missile rack and have that allow the player to buy certain missiles and fire them? I don't remember how the multiple ammo thingy worked but maybe that could work here?
QUOTE (Delphi @ Aug 30 2010, 03:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I think I remember reading that you can't have a weapon gift you another weapon, but can you have a launcher gift you ammo? I.e.: Make the missile pylon have a capacity of 1 ammo, then give the weapon the "give player x" flag and have it give the player 1 of the missile outfit. I don't think you can make the missile fire itself with no additional stuff though, I think the engine gets upset if you own ammo and not the launcher.
QUOTE (Spartan Jai @ Aug 30 2010, 03:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
You should. It truly is gratuitous.
I'd prefer being able to escape in an escape ship instead of an escape pod. That way I can immediately back out to the main menu, reload my pilot, and continue from my last save point rather than having to wait for my pod to be picked up or wait for my ship to blow up. However, be aware that if you give all ships an escape ship standard (rather than having players buy them as aftermarket additions) the escape ship will not be on the ship if the player is given the ship by a mission or started in the ship by a chär resource. It's some weird little bug that's hard to work around.
QUOTE (Sp3cies @ Aug 30 2010, 04:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Could you start certain ships off with an invisible missile rack and have that allow the player to buy certain missiles and fire them?
The method Sp3cies suggests will work fine to allow it to look like a ship is firing missiles without any discernible launching mechanism. Let me elaborate a bit, though.
You will still need to make and outfit for the launcher and an outfit for the missile, the weapon itself goes without saying. Equip ships with the ammo as you usually would, but don't list how many launchers the ship has in the weapons section. Doing so would list the launcher in the ship info dialog box. Instead, have the entry for the weapon only list how many missiles the ship comes with. Then list the outfit for the launcher in the list of included outfits. The ship will still come with the launcher but will not be visible in the ship info dialog box. Make the outfit for the launcher invisible and you'll have yourself in integral missile launcher on whatever ship you want.
Example: we have a wëap ID #128 Ion Missile. The outfits are oütf ID #128 ;Ion Missile Launcher (the semicolon makes sure the name doesn't appear in-game) and oütf ID #129 Ion Missile. On shïp ID #128 Missileboat we list as one of its weapons wëap ID #128 with a Count value of 0 and an Ammo value of 10. In the outfits list for the Missileboat we list oütf ID #128 with a Count value of 2. The Missileboat will now come with 2 launchers and 10 missiles, but getting info in-game for the ship will only show the missiles. If you don't have a ship info image, though, the info will state the ship has 10 Ion Missiles and 0 Ion Missile Launchers. With a ship info image, the launchers won't show up at all and it will simply state it has 10 Ion Missiles.
Meaker's method does technically work, but it requires players sell the launcher and then buy it again to get more ammo, assuming I understood what he described correctly.
I might as well pitch this idea while I'm here as well:
The storyline to the Delphi universe is absolutely massive. So massive, in fact, that it takes place over a span of nearly 250 years. This isn't even including the ~800 year backstory after the impeller engine is invented in 2097. From approximately 2800 AD onward, the events of the game galaxy unfold. This is obviously far longer than any player has the time to play, so I had a bit of brainstorm that should help with development and also make the game a far richer experience.
I'm going to divide the game into stories. I mentioned before releasing content in episodic format, but this takes it to a whole new level. Basically, as soon as I'm done crafting the working Delphi universe, I'll release it to the public. This will be the default stand-alone galaxy with basic working missions, factions, ships, and worlds. Side missions will be written and included in a small update, but for the most part, the default game world will be an unchanging place where you're free to do whatever you want. Even if you play for 250 years, the Enclave will still be fighting the NDC, the Pariah Combine will still be abducting victims from independent worlds, and the Centaurus Arm of the galaxy and all its horrors remains undiscovered. This is basically what Starfleet Adventures accomplished with its alpha release, except that there were no faction missions written into the game. I'm hoping to write a few non-universe-shattering minor faction missions that you can partake in, even to the point of full-on aligning with a particular group. However, your choices ultimately won't change how the universe functions, unless you decide to dominate every planet on the map.
Once each story is released, it will be added to the game by the use of the chär resource, which will let you choose a different timeline and background for each new pilot. You won't lose any functionality by playing without one of these stories selected, but each one will re-craft the universe to allow the story to happen.
Here, this is basically what I mean. This is the first draft for the different character profiles and why they require different pilot files entirely, as opposed to one pilot living 250 years and doing everything.
Default - No Storyline • You start the game as a trader, simply running missions and making money and a name for yourself. • The Enclave-NDC war is at a fairly stable stalemate, with neither side gaining or losing any appreciable ground. • Side missions may include minor story arcs in which you defend independent worlds from the Pariah Combine, or participate in expeditionary missions for the NDC or Enclave, but these don't ultimately make any universal changes.
Chapter I - "Phoenix" (2852 AD) • You play the role of an NDC officer stranded in an escape pod for months, revived over the course of a year and brought back to health because they think you may have information on the mysterious force that crippled your ship during a routine assault on Enclave battle lines. • The Enclave-NDC war is at a critical boiling point, where each side stands ready to deliver painful crippling blows to one another, and its a sure thing that entire worlds will be ravaged if either front moves forward. • A full mission/story structure exists in which you will unravel the hidden secrets buried both in enemy lines and inside your own mind, and the answers to your questions will ultimately force you to reconsider your allegiances. • Side missions are modified to reflect the volatile game world, and many exist with a particularly high degree of difficulty, such as flying through battle zones to deliver medical goods to blockaded worlds. • A major story arc exists on the side in which the Pariah Combine has amassed enough power to actually become a threat to both the NDC and the Enclave Colonies, and you receive the chance to strike at the heart of the cult and end their dominion of terror over voidspace once and for all. • The results of your actions in this story will ultimately change the entire face of the galaxy.
Chapter II - "Delphi" • You play the same character you did during Chapter I, but the events take place approximately twenty years after those of the first story. You have completed an illustrious military career following the end of the Enclave-NDC war, keeping the peace and assisting in a massive military push to restore order to the generally lawless region between star clusters known as "voidspace". • The NDC/Enclave Alliance is fronting a massive interstellar colonial venture into the nearby Centaurus Arm of the Milky Way, after centuries-old telemetry reports from probes sent before the war confirm the existence of almost identical star formations as in the Orion Arm, offering a good hope for the discovery of either habitable worlds or even alien life. • You assist in the assembly and launching of the "Delphi" colony mission - named after the religious sanctuary in ancient Greece where philosophers and kings sought counsel and wisdom - sent toward the Centaurus Arm to answer some of humanity's questions about the nature of the galaxy and the existence of life other than our own. • The NDC and the Enclave are no longer at war; rather, they are tentatively allied and slowly undergoing a process of cultural inter-assimilation. • Though this story arc begins slowly and peacefully with many logistic missions, things turn sour when a new faction rises up to try and stop the colony mission from going forward.
Chapter III - "The Black Void" • You play an entirely different character unrelated to the first and second stories, as Chapter 3 occurs roughly 40 years after the launch of the Delphi mission. • Contact with the Delphi has been lost, and you play a junior expeditionary lieutenant given your first command and ordered into intra-galactic voidspace to determine the whereabouts of the massive vessel. • You make contact with the Shen'or, a hostile alien race that appears to overrun any planet or vessel they come across. • You activate the Delphi's Interstellar Bridging Module to create a gravitational mooring point for impeller jumps. • The NDC uses its military might to send an expeditionary force into the edge of the Centaurus Arm via the Delphi to combat the Shen'or in their own space. • Through unknown means, the Shen'or find a method to cross into Orion Arm space, and a full offensive begins against the worlds of humanity. • The 72 kilometer NDC super ship, Chrenari, is hastily crafted and assembled with the intent of eradicating all life on the Shen'or homeworld in the heart of a dying nebula. The nebula is absolutely massive, and particularly difficult to navigate due to intense gravimetric interference. • A battle takes place over Shen'or Prime, the Chrenari becomes lost in the nebula, and a sudden change in the region's electron density makes it almost completely impossible to enter or scan. The Shen'or virtually disappear from the face of existence.
Chapter IV - "Decay" • Many years after Chapter 3, around 3050 AD, the Chrenari's transponder beacon mysteriously reactivates and begins broadcasting a distress signal. • You play a future NDC commander sent to investigate. The Centaurus Arm has become a vastly different place, where massive spontaneous star burnout has ravaged much of the region, and the entire starscape appears to be dying at an accelerated rate. • The nebula around Shen'or Prime and the other stars it encircles has stabilized, and travel is once again possible through it. You must go in and find out what happened to humanity's greatest investment, and discover what is killing the region before it spreads to the Orion Arm. • The finale of this story culminates in the end of the entire Delphi/NDC universe storyline, for better or for worse.
I know this is going to be a massive amount of work, but presumable once the universe is up and running in a working format with its usual standard missions, I can write whatever little changes are necessary for each storyline as I go. Basically, I'll turn the Delphi TC into a standard universe which will then have its own mods applied to it to create the circumstances of each chapter, rather then creating five completely independent TCs.
Delphi, your name shall need mention as one of the innovators of Nova should you ever pull this off. You had better pull this off--now you got me all excited with what great plans you have in mind.
I had a momentary brainstorm about the target pictures, and though this is only a preliminary proof-of-concept, I found a way to make them look really cool.
I'm going to attempt to make the ship images appear to be projected in a 3D holographic targeting window, by combining the static image of the sidebar with matching target pictures that align with the holographic "walls" of the display.
I probably won't be keeping this graphic because it looks just a little too simple and harsh, but the idea works well, and looks like it will ultimately become a very cool thing. I'll probably re-do the ships with perspective turned on, so they look like a 3D object viewed from the side, floating in the target box.
Very interesting format for the story, Delphi. I like it a lot. However, you said that Chapter IV would be the end of the Delphi/NDC storyline. Does this mean you're planning more chapters for players that side with the Enclave in Chapter II, or do I misunderstand?
Not to keep going back to the hellhound thing, but you're right, Darthkev. It does look a lot better in MissionComputer.