Fri Nov 17, 2006 10:12 am by Rankor
In a rather bizzare concept on docking with movable ships....
(making a player ship dockable)
I've come up with an idea.
It's more a matter of going into FORMATION with the ship in question.
The trick is getting past its shield, hitbox and sur file.
If you put a player ship in without a sur file, the problem becomes elementary.
Okay...say, we want fighters to "dock" in another players "carrier"...
1st, we're gonna have to change something within the formations..something that would have to relate specifically to that "dockable" player carrier.
(Perhaps, set the formation parameters at close tolerances) So, when a fighter clicks on "join formation", it's gonna get so close to the carrier that it dissappears within the hull. (players within the hull of the carrier will see though the hull of the carrier since that's the backside of the mat file) HOWEVER...the carrier is gonna have to drop it's shield long enough for the fighter to form up (quasi-dock). In a timed move, the "carrier" ejects a piece of cargo...the shield comes down and the fighter can "dock". (In actuality, its really in formation as the "carrier" flys around)
EXCEPTION: Unless you just don't use a shield on the carrier, but have VERY BIG HULL points. But ships inside the carrier will not be protected by the carrier shield.
The weapon hard points will make up a quasi envelope as the ship passes through areas of interest. Formed fighters will go along for the ride while in formation with the carrier. (REMEMBER: in MP, the formations look skewed until you get into cruise). As the carrier goes into cruise, so will the fighters. Just looks funny. But, you'll get your player carrier formation with the capability to launch player fighters.
To launch...
the carrier has to drop its shield again, then the fighters click on "Freeflight" to launch. They'll most likely scatter in all 6 directions though the carrier hull...but, hey....you got fighter launch.
WARNING: Fighters in formation (dock) with the carrier:
When that carrier shield goes down from hostile fire, those fighters are vulnerable to hits. SO, beware the Sunslayer torpedo!
So, there you have it. It's a radical idea...but I think it might work.