Research Pod Questions

posted on October 20th, 2010, 10:30 pm

When a pod is added to a station, how are the pods attached?  Does the "root" hardpoint attach to the station hardpoint specified in the station ODF file?

posted on October 20th, 2010, 11:17 pm

"root" isn't a hardpoint as far as I know, it just makes it appear in the centre. The Hardpoint in the odf is the model hp it uses, similar to the way it tells weapons where to fire from.

posted on October 21st, 2010, 12:36 am

Yeah, they go under the regular node.  the only difference is you need to make sure they face the way you want the pods to face when built onto the station.

posted on October 21st, 2010, 12:43 am

Thanks.

By the way, my trans warp gate for the starbase is ready to be converted to SOD format.  It will need to be hardpointed with the exception of the "root" hardpoint which has already been placed.  Send me a PM and I'll give you the MOD file to be hardpointed and converted to SOD format.  Also, if possible, can someone make a trans warp conduit model for the gate?

posted on October 21st, 2010, 12:55 am

Hmm, well I can't hardpoint and convert anymore since I upgraded to win7, but I could make you transwarp model.  as far as I'm aware, it is some kind of emitter, so you put a hardpoint somewhere, I make a sprite entry with a special texture, and you have a transwarp effect.

Do you have an idea of what it should look like?

[TChapman500]

posted on October 21st, 2010, 12:59 am

Last edited by TChapman500 on October 21st, 2010, 1:00 am, edited 1 time in total.

I would like it to look somewhat like the Borg trans warp conduit from stock armada, but with a redish hue to it.  What do I name the emitter "hardpoint"?  Oh, and I can't convert to SOD either because my milkshape trial ran out and I can't afford to unlock it right now.  I can export to the MOD format using gmax, but that's it.

posted on October 21st, 2010, 1:38 am

well, someone else is sure to be able to help.

the emitter hardpoint name will come from the sprite entry, when i make it.   I"ll see what I can cook up.

posted on October 21st, 2010, 1:54 am

drat. well, it turns out it uses texture animation, and not a sprite.  Sorry, but somebody else will have to do that for you.  If you still need help with the texture itself though, I can do that, but I can't cake it spin. .

posted on October 21st, 2010, 11:43 am

There's an adobe product that does animated images.  I forget what it's called, but I used it in my web design class when learning about placing images on web pages.  Of course, I was just learning HTML code and nothing else.

And, I figured out that I can't have the starbase build and research at the same time, so I'm going to have to make the starbase build a construction bay as well as a trans warp gate.  Which means I have to remodel the entire starbase.  Maybe not the entire starbase, but a great deal of it.  It'll definitely cause a change in the build order as you will have to queue up the units manually.

posted on October 21st, 2010, 4:08 pm

Because the starbase builds a construction yard onto it, I was thinking that maybe I could make it so that a starting yard is built onto the base once you select an avatar.

starbase -> Forces the "starbase_yardS" unit to be built once an avatar is selected.
starbase_yardS -> can build 1 Scout and 2 Constructors for free in about 5 seconds, but must be decommissioned afterwards to build anything else from the starbase.  Cannot be built manually.
starbase_yard_left -> built in place of "starbase_yardS" once that unit has been decommissioned.
starbase_yard_right -> allows the starbase to build more than one unit at a time.  Recommended to be built after the "starbase_yard_left" unit.
starbase_gate -> opens a trans warp conduit.  Starbase must be upgraded to maximum, requires research of trans warp technology and is recommended to be built after the "starbase_yard_right" unit.

Would all of that be possible?  Oh, and I've figured out how those animations work.  I've constructed a template for the trans warp gate sprite using gimp.  Color the layer labeled "Background" to any color that you want.  But do not modify the layer labeled "(DO NOT MODIFY ME)".

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posted on October 21st, 2010, 5:50 pm

its all possible but seems a little too complicated for just a single station.  the way I always got past it was your first station would be modular.  when you start, you could replace a couple ships onto the map, and then, from that station, build a yard expansion, a transwarp expsansion, maybe weapons and other cool things too.

You could do it even better and have the transwarp ring, or whatever, be a pod that is built onto the station, likewise, the yard 'arms' could be a pod which were built onto it also.

It is your mod though, so do what you like best, or what you thing might be easier to acompolish.

posted on October 22nd, 2010, 12:00 am

Let's take the Klingon shipyard as an example, but we'll make it the starbase.

Once the avatar is selected, where the Bird of Prey module would be added, a temporary module is built automatically to construct the starting units.  But must be decommissioned before building what would otherwise be there.  The temporary module cannot be built by the player.  A cap on the number of starting units would be placed to prevent players from getting free scouts and construction ships.  Once the temporary module is gone, it can't be rebuilt.

posted on October 22nd, 2010, 12:04 am

I think the fact that the player would have to decommission something is what makes it too complicated.

posted on October 30th, 2010, 7:32 pm

y dnt u just use pushbuild like how its currently dne so you dont have to decom

posted on October 30th, 2010, 9:56 pm

The pushbuild will build the temporary construction yard onto the starbase.  Which has to be decommissioned before building anything else.  The reason that this is so is because the base will add a transwarp gate onto itself and that means that it cannot build vessels.  So it builds these pods that can build vessels.