Suggestions on how to implement these weapons
posted on February 28th, 2012, 3:43 pm
Hello there all,
Facing a bit of a quandry regarding weaponry in my mod. Trying to implement the QCB and GHRC from Klingon Academy. The way they are supposed to function are as tractor beam based weapons, the QCB being a shield breaker but not damaging the hull, with the GHRC ignoring the shields and shaking the hull to pieces.
I tried using tractor beam type weapons (shield disabler etc) but they are just over powered. I can't assign actual damage to those sort of weapons either. I had this problem with the Plasmatic Pulsar used by the Concordium, but I managed to "fake" a pulsar using an animated phaser set as a special weapon.
I could do the same with these, but, there is the problem of damage types. The GHRC should be easier, since the "ignoreshields = 1" code should make it impact the hull directly. However, getting the QCB to *only* damage shields is proving troublesome. I believe FleetOps has code that can do this, but I am having trouble getting KA2 working as a FleetOps mod. (does the same thing as the early versions of the Armada II Classic mod did; loading but then crashing when a mission or instant action was loaded). The patch project doesn't seem to support the code I need, the borg shield removing torpedo only works as a torpedo, so I am sort of stuck trying to get stock Armada II code to do what I want it to do. Always a challenge right?
Any ideas would be good.
Facing a bit of a quandry regarding weaponry in my mod. Trying to implement the QCB and GHRC from Klingon Academy. The way they are supposed to function are as tractor beam based weapons, the QCB being a shield breaker but not damaging the hull, with the GHRC ignoring the shields and shaking the hull to pieces.
I tried using tractor beam type weapons (shield disabler etc) but they are just over powered. I can't assign actual damage to those sort of weapons either. I had this problem with the Plasmatic Pulsar used by the Concordium, but I managed to "fake" a pulsar using an animated phaser set as a special weapon.
I could do the same with these, but, there is the problem of damage types. The GHRC should be easier, since the "ignoreshields = 1" code should make it impact the hull directly. However, getting the QCB to *only* damage shields is proving troublesome. I believe FleetOps has code that can do this, but I am having trouble getting KA2 working as a FleetOps mod. (does the same thing as the early versions of the Armada II Classic mod did; loading but then crashing when a mission or instant action was loaded). The patch project doesn't seem to support the code I need, the borg shield removing torpedo only works as a torpedo, so I am sort of stuck trying to get stock Armada II code to do what I want it to do. Always a challenge right?
Any ideas would be good.
posted on February 28th, 2012, 4:29 pm
I'm not quite sure what you mean by "tractor beam based weapons" . Are you looking to have a a tractor beam with an additional damage component, or just a visual that looks like a tractor beam? (as the ShieldDisruptor obviously cannot tractor).
You can fake a shield draining effect by using an UtritiumBeam as your "visual layer tractor beam", disabling the engines of the nearest target with an invisible UtritiumBall and firing an invisible ShieldRemovingTorpedo at the nearest target.
Yes, the UniBeam in Fleet Operations is capable of damaging either shields or hull only if you so choose. If you post the crashlogs here that may help. Using your KA2 mod as a mod of the Classic A2 mod would be the wisest choice as well, as it is likely that some sprites or other references are missing .
. Are you looking to have a a tractor beam with an additional damage component, or just a visual that looks like a tractor beam? (as the ShieldDisruptor obviously cannot tractor).You can fake a shield draining effect by using an UtritiumBeam as your "visual layer tractor beam", disabling the engines of the nearest target with an invisible UtritiumBall and firing an invisible ShieldRemovingTorpedo at the nearest target.
Yes, the UniBeam in Fleet Operations is capable of damaging either shields or hull only if you so choose. If you post the crashlogs here that may help. Using your KA2 mod as a mod of the Classic A2 mod would be the wisest choice as well, as it is likely that some sprites or other references are missing
.posted on February 28th, 2012, 4:53 pm
Thanks for the tips
The in-universe lore makes them out to be tractor beam based, but for gameplay purposes they just need to look the part. I've considered using a Shield Inversion Beam with a modified tractor beam SOD file, but I have no way to stop the beam from charging the users shields. Basically here are the requirements (ideally) for the two weapons
- Look like a tractor beam (I've personally been using the holding beam SOD for the GHRC and the Omega tractor beam for the QCB, give a bit of visual difference)
- QCB must only damage shields, GHRC must only damage hulls.
Doesn't need to disable engines etc, as even in KA they don't do that. In lore, they use the tractor beam array to project the weapon as opposed to using it's effects.
As for issues with KA2 as a Fleet Ops mod.
- If I run it as a standalone, crashes at splash screen
- If I run it as a mod of A2 Classic, thats when it crashes at the map loading screen.
I've used ExamDiff (program for comparing files) to examine the files and folders of the A2 Classic Mod compared to that of my unmodified A2 folder. There are some important differences in the sprite files, so that might be some of the problem. Oddly there are some seemingly unimportant changes too (adding "USS Endeavour" to the Akira Class cruisers possible names...) so it's difficult to determine what might be causing the problem.
I'll see if I can make the same sort of changes to my KA2 mod, and see if that fixes the crash issue. If I can't, i'll post up the crash logs and see if they shed some light on the matter.
Will give that Ultritium Beam idea a go too. Thanks again
The in-universe lore makes them out to be tractor beam based, but for gameplay purposes they just need to look the part. I've considered using a Shield Inversion Beam with a modified tractor beam SOD file, but I have no way to stop the beam from charging the users shields. Basically here are the requirements (ideally) for the two weapons
- Look like a tractor beam (I've personally been using the holding beam SOD for the GHRC and the Omega tractor beam for the QCB, give a bit of visual difference)
- QCB must only damage shields, GHRC must only damage hulls.
Doesn't need to disable engines etc, as even in KA they don't do that. In lore, they use the tractor beam array to project the weapon as opposed to using it's effects.
As for issues with KA2 as a Fleet Ops mod.
- If I run it as a standalone, crashes at splash screen
- If I run it as a mod of A2 Classic, thats when it crashes at the map loading screen.
I've used ExamDiff (program for comparing files) to examine the files and folders of the A2 Classic Mod compared to that of my unmodified A2 folder. There are some important differences in the sprite files, so that might be some of the problem. Oddly there are some seemingly unimportant changes too (adding "USS Endeavour" to the Akira Class cruisers possible names...) so it's difficult to determine what might be causing the problem.
I'll see if I can make the same sort of changes to my KA2 mod, and see if that fixes the crash issue. If I can't, i'll post up the crash logs and see if they shed some light on the matter.
Will give that Ultritium Beam idea a go too. Thanks again
posted on February 28th, 2012, 5:03 pm
At what point (rough percentage) does it crash when at the loading screen?
posted on February 28th, 2012, 5:36 pm
I'd say about 20 or 30%, not far.
Having a little trouble with the ultritium beam idea. The first bit fires, albeit only at a location not a ship, but the second part does not. So all it does right now is make a pretty purple phaser fire into empty space
I'll see if I can download a weapon that works on a similar principle and fiddle around with it.
Having a little trouble with the ultritium beam idea. The first bit fires, albeit only at a location not a ship, but the second part does not. So all it does right now is make a pretty purple phaser fire into empty space
I'll see if I can download a weapon that works on a similar principle and fiddle around with it.
posted on February 28th, 2012, 7:12 pm
Hm, I don't know what causes a crash at 20-30% I''m afraid.
Ah yes, I forgot about the utritium location bit... for the next version of Fleet Ops it's been allowed to fire at ships, rather than just a location, so I should have recalled that...
Ah yes, I forgot about the utritium location bit... for the next version of Fleet Ops it's been allowed to fire at ships, rather than just a location, so I should have recalled that...
posted on February 28th, 2012, 7:40 pm
Not a problem
I've got a new and even stranger problem with it now. I can get it to fire, and then fire the second weapon, in this case I just used the FMPA Cannon I already have in the mod (a modified shield removing torp). You can hear the FMPA fire, but you can't see it, and it doesn't seem to hit the target. I've even tried making a new version of it that has a 100% hitchance, but still doesn't seem to actual hit and damage the targets shields.
So, i've had a thunk, and come up with some possible solutions. I can remake them both as phaser based weapons, simply doing significant damage to both hull and shields. (probably the only way of making the GHRC, as i've read on the FleetOps guide that the ignoreShields command only applies to visuals, not actual shield piercing effects)
I could also try either a shield inversion beam, or a shield recharger beam (with it's damage set to a negative, so instead of healing shields it would damage them steadily)
I've got a new and even stranger problem with it now. I can get it to fire, and then fire the second weapon, in this case I just used the FMPA Cannon I already have in the mod (a modified shield removing torp). You can hear the FMPA fire, but you can't see it, and it doesn't seem to hit the target. I've even tried making a new version of it that has a 100% hitchance, but still doesn't seem to actual hit and damage the targets shields.
So, i've had a thunk, and come up with some possible solutions. I can remake them both as phaser based weapons, simply doing significant damage to both hull and shields. (probably the only way of making the GHRC, as i've read on the FleetOps guide that the ignoreShields command only applies to visuals, not actual shield piercing effects)
I could also try either a shield inversion beam, or a shield recharger beam (with it's damage set to a negative, so instead of healing shields it would damage them steadily)
posted on February 28th, 2012, 8:01 pm
I'd have to see the ODFs to know what the problem is there .
DamageMode (uniBeam/uniTorpedo command) is used to determine whether the damage is dealt to hull or shield etc.
Yes, you could use a negative specialValue for the EnergyShieldConverter, but do note that the weapon will not toggle off once shields go below zero, or once energy goes above its maxcapacity
.DamageMode (uniBeam/uniTorpedo command) is used to determine whether the damage is dealt to hull or shield etc
.Yes, you could use a negative specialValue for the EnergyShieldConverter, but do note that the weapon will not toggle off once shields go below zero, or once energy goes above its maxcapacity
posted on February 28th, 2012, 8:53 pm
For now, i've gone with the shield inversion beam, due to the problems you mentioned (i.e it will actually charge the special energy of the firer! hmm)
Got the GHRC working nicely as a beam, and i've even got around to adding a defensive mode for the GDDS (Graviton Density Distortion Sphere, kind of like a extra shield layer that blankets against sharp impacts) So all in all a successful day.
(i.e it will actually charge the special energy of the firer! hmm)Got the GHRC working nicely as a beam, and i've even got around to adding a defensive mode for the GDDS (Graviton Density Distortion Sphere, kind of like a extra shield layer that blankets against sharp impacts) So all in all a successful day.
posted on November 2nd, 2012, 12:23 pm
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