Can you tell me how to stop weapons from rotating? I need it to point straight forward, but I don't know what the numbers are to insert for axis value.
Okay, I know there is a tutorial...I read it but don't get it yet.

Thanks Sodrak

Oh - one area i defenitately aint strong in - the orienations of weapons in the CMP files!! However, i cheat terribly here most of the time. In fact - i have only three times made mounts from scratch......i just usually steal values - like, for lack of rotation, i take say a torps values instead, as they have bloody awful rotation (ie - shoot forwards) - but after looking, i found they have the same values as weapon slots, - so its back to the old fashioned way!!
okay - here is what i know about it!!

The Axis is for which rotation plane it will rotate in - so its like the rest of FL, based upon an x, y, z axis system. It always has the same value from what i see though - so keep it as that i say!
That is:
0.000000
1.000000
0.000000

Now this supposedly moves in the horizontal plane - but we all know it moves up and down as well - sooooo, does it move through two planes? ie, fixed in the third plane, moves in the other two!? Not sure personally - i don't spend much time doing CMP editing, i usually use other mounts and make em take what i want!

Next - its the max and min rotation values: Now - this is where my naff diagram comes in to it.


180
--------------+-----------------
180

Crap or what eh? - okay - this is a straight line, there are 180 degrees between one line and the other okay? Total = 360 degrees. Now it is to do with radians that it is then split into Pie (as in 3.14) - if you remember school maths, 2Pie in radians is 360 degrees. So then - each 180 is Pie, and pie is 3.14 yeah? so for the gun to move through 180 degrees, the game works in radians, that equals 3.14 (so 1 degree of movement is about 0.001 here). Now then, if you want your gun to move through a 180 degree ark, then you put in the value for pie....if you want your gun to move through a 360 degree ark - you put in two pie (its radains remember!!). so that would be 6.28 or so..........

if you want to LIMIT your guns movements, then you have to work out the angle - ie 3.14/180 = the value for 1 degree, now multiply by the amount of degrees you want to move through - and enter that value!........- now i also don't know what the second value does. However, i am baffled by the min value - what is that? Is that moves one way or the other (vertical ark for min?) i am not sure, but it seems to be negative instead.........just use the same small value here.
Basically - to get pathetic movement, enter a value about 0.52 to get 30 degrees of rotation. that aint too bad, make it 0.26 to get 15 degrees, now that is more like it!

orientation is the way it faces, i cannot explain that very well - i steal values from other guns, and position - well, I just move it somewhere (guess), then go mount a gun and keep on checking till its where i want it(using turret cam). Its a long process here, but unless you are good at maths it will take you a LONG time to sort this one out. Basically - keep max and min values very small for crap rotation - and make sure your orientation has it facing the right way (duplicate forward facing guns.....)
Chips

p.s - yep, my maths sucks. Anyone who can explain this better - go for it. I know what i am doing (reasonably well) when editing CMP files, but i don't know how to tell others to do it

"I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!"

Ok a simple question. How do you open/view .mat files? I would like to use the in-game textures for some ships i have designed so that they would fit in better.

Guessing something like UTF or photoshop 7 pro whatever (stabbing in the dark here) - but i don't have a clue! Why? Cause my modeling skills are in the same league as a pregnant elephant!. Try to find a thread with recent posts by the following people for help:
Wanderer
Victor
Imagine
Hawklord
Caid
These are the people that i know of who actively model ships etc. There is also a tutorial on ships modeling and so on in the tutorials forum - can check it out there if you like........thats the best i can do i am affraid!!


Edited by - chips on 03-10-2003 19:46:52

Grab the FreelancerSDK here.

Its convenient for mod makers and contains fixes to annoying problems like the mbases.ini error mentioned in this thread and much more. Enjoy

Primary Developer of the =EOA= Players Consortium

I've made a post
here asking if anyone knows how to fix a problem of a texture effecitvely being 'shrunk' down by FL (looks like to about a 32x32 texture or 64x64 one), and then restretched over the ship, rather than FL using the orginal larger one (256x256, 512x512, 1024x1024)?

Just trying to give it more visibility here, and hope that someone else reading, may have experienced such happenings, and knows the solution?

Edit: link doesn't work, url should be: http://www.lancersreactor.com/t/forum/t ... c_id=22614

Edited by - Twex on 03-10-2003 19:36:33

yes i have some modding exp tho i want to change as much server side that i can includig ships to buy n weapons there is away i just have to find it alittle out to date with programs for this so if you no any good ones let me no due most of my editing for the game group here if they want something changed in a game they tell me the. programs i down loaded here to edit suck used to use a program called satan seed to due my stuff but kids crashed comp on me n lost everything once i get going ill let you no of what chages work n dont i will test them all to be sure that they work proper n if you need help let me no also want to add systems to it just have to figure out how server does its files from area to area then be no prob when i do but have to go hack some files to change some stuff to try but ill talk later see u or if you want email me n ill tell you what i plan to do but will change the hole game i might make a mod to add system from server side later done it in other game so ill see if i can on this.

Can be done server side: - Change things to do with NPC's and access to current systems (eg locked jumpholes). Ie - loadouts, encounters, behaviour
- ie - battleships for NPC's are already in game - so you can make them appear where you want to and have everyone see them. This is because the clients run off of your files for encounters. why? Cause otherwise it would have the biggest nightmare trying to communicate with up to 40 connections as to what they see, and what others see. Much easier to tell the forty comps what they should see, not what each one sees(if that is made clear enough)


Can't be done server side: New items etc. Cannot plonk new system in and people see it, cannot change non flyable ships to fly and customers get them, cannot include new weapons, ships etc etc. All the people who log on server will need the changes you make for these. Anything NEW needs them to mod. Anything that includes stuff not in game before - needs them to mod (ie new commodities, transforming ships - couldn't fly them before, can't now unless they mod too)

"I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!"

if not then ill build mod that will add them thats not a prob might need some practice doing it sence its been along time since modding or changing stuff or i can take existing mod n mold them to get the same out come if i have to n give created where its do but ill see what i can do if you no off any modder that is puting most of the ships to make more of a selecting out there let me no but will see
what i want is lots have you every played earth above n beyond?
they had a lot i liked like a vault to store stuff and a hell of alot more systems
n lots of more stuff to buy engine up grade n shields n weapons ,faster missles n torps there is alot of potensaly for this game but to get the modders to geather is the hard part to do if you want to revamp it evrey base should sell different stuff in the new systems old ill leave alone but thanks for the impote but have to go ill let you no what ive done n works see you .

email me directly so i can explain it better dont want all my ideas used before i can get some off them out.
[email protected] or [email protected]

Okay...here's one that just stumps me.

I had issues with news and rumors. They would no longer appear for me. Anywhere. Information and reputation and missions were appearing but no rumors or news. So, due to other oops stuff I reinstalled the game. I saved the games I had played before, tho.

Now, I checked back and found that the missions from about 10 forward had no runmors or news in them. So, I replayed the game from Mission 9 fowrad to the end of the game. When I found myself back on Manhattan at the end of the game, in true freelance mode...poof! no rumors or news.

Okay, so I gather that the bug is in the saved games? I would need to completely uninstall everything and restart from scratch or is there a point file I could go to to fix this?

erm - i think its actually like programmed into the files or something. You don't get rumours etc etc. Not sure - will take a peek, but am busy (kinda) right now, so it will eb tomorrow sometime

Got a little thingy to post right now

How to get big ships into tradelanes, out of docking rings etc - a new discovery!

Well - this isn't new at all -i have known about it for about 3 months now, but it didn't come from me either! Thanks to someone called Triggerfinger for this litlte gem. I only thought about it as i had trouble docking my battleship!

What is causing the problem? Tradelanes? Open up that solararch ini file and scroll down until you find the tradelane object.
Now then - this little line means it is now insubstantial - kinda...
Add the following line:

phantom_physics = true

Now this means you can fly through the rings themselves (can do the same for teh docking ring object statement too) IN fact you can do this for anything - i used to have it on my ship, so in the shiparch.ini - every entry for the ship and collision boxes i had that line underneath it. this meant i could fly through stations, through asteroids, through tradelane rings, docking rings, other ships, everything. Best yet - you still take damage when shot -unlike the removal of sur

files! You can also add this line under guns and stuff - so that nothing on that dock ring or tradelane ring can catch you - even lights as well!
Its a great little trick for sorting out things - but althourgh it sounds good to make a ship that can fly through anything - it also removes the fun of navigation as well as the problem that is basically keeping this fairly real! If you made a mod where the ship has this statement - it might be cool - but it would not make for good playing. This is very useful however, for problems like tradelanes iwht capships, docking rings and mooring points with capships too! Means you can get closer to the moor point as you will actually travel through the moor point instead. (just add to solararch object of the mooring point!) Enjoy
Chips
ps - as with all my mods here - you can use it for whatever you like - include it in your mods - no permissions necessary or wanted! However, you may NOT claim this as your work, or make anyone else refer to you as the originator of the work
Chips

p.p.s - Best one liner in modding eh? that little line can solve so many problems

Edited by - chips on 06-10-2003 01:33:36

chip added the nanos for shields n hull they dont use them??? n when you scan them they have the shield ones only (2) want to increase nomades tryed so stuff didnt work n increase there spawning time so there faster to come out
(3)heard you might no how to add nomads in other sector if you no can you let me(4)is battel ship inconters tryed crashes after an hr if you no any one or you have a stable one can u let me no n would like to make them wonder try system to system if theres a way trying some other stuff i let you no if they work at all server side ones that is k see u

You need to effect the NPC behaviour in actions firstly - so you have to go back to page 1 and start off earlier. You need to edit the pilots_population.ini in the missions folder - otherwise the guys don't know that they are holding the nano bots and bats to use. Its all on page 1