Yay, everything is working except for the tactical icon
Btw.. this would be a good question to alex.. is there a way we can tell the game to get the online saved file? ;)
So... its a bit inefficient to edit them online, save them on the pc, put it in the right folder, edit it again online and so on.. would be easier to edit the file online as long as we have to work on it :)
^^ Thanks!
I don't plan on releasing them until there is a simpler way of adding custom ships into the game, because of the fact that the end-user is going to have to change the .csv files to add them in.
I plan on having a wing of bombers, and then making some frigates this weekend.
Thanks ;D Considering I have some background in top-down ship design (http://forums.devdb.org/index.php?topic=11.0), that helps quite a bit, even though I've never done pixel art till now, and if I'm going to do something, I should at least do it as right as I can...You have incredible talent. If you aren't rich, something is wrong with the world.
"rich" from artistic abilities
Quote"rich" from artistic abilities
I don't know whether to laugh, cry or drink. :-\
Awesome. I'm tempted to make a custom capital ship, but it looks like it would be quite time consuming to do: having to cross reference all the weapon types and slot sizes etc.
as Alex explained it to me, all coordinates are based off of the center coordinates. Its X,Y coords when the ship is facing the right of the screen (0 degrees), but for symmetrical ships, you can simply use the inverse, and go with Y,X coordinates without having any perceptible difference. So if the center coords are set to 50,50, then you have coords of something else listed at X,Y in the file, the actual coordinates on the bitmap are 50+X,50+Y
Center coords are taken from the bottom left of the sprite's image file
Inroducing the new (and improved?) ISS Joyless, Falcon-C-class Attack Cruiser.
(http://i51.tinypic.com/2h4dfn7.png)
(http://i55.tinypic.com/2r5viph.png)
In the above images you can see the new modified cruiser (left) engaging his predecessor.
I didn't make a brand new ship, but I did tweak the original Falcon graphics to give the new model a smoother, more durable appearance.
I think that's a carrier :) But yeah, quite cool. Is it GSB Empire inspired?
Just looking further through some of the existing ships and had a few questions:1) ok, I'm not totally sure about this one - Alex would have to answer that.
1. The SUNDER ship has weapon locations:[] defined. It also however has position:[] defined for each weapon slot. The location refers to the actual position (as far as I can tell) so is there any use for the position? It doesn't seem to occur in many other ship definitions?
2. All the fighters tend to have HIDDEN weapon types. Is it a given that any weapon type designated as HIDDEN is actually a hardpoint? In fact, I'm at work at the minute but can't test it, but are hardpoints and turrets effectively the same (angle of effect defined by arc) but just there as a flag to find the correct graphic? (I have never played about with it beyond altering arcs for turrets - it's only just occured to me ...).
I am thinking I will change the front mounted ballistic hardpoints for my two frigates to be 'hidden' and draw some figurative ballistic thing pointing out the front of them both on the sprite.
3. Also final question, are the Bounds[] just a list of coordinates that trace the outline of the ship in question?
Currently I have been using an empty bounds[] array, and defining it with the collision radius. A lot easier, but overall not ideal for ships that aren't perfectly circular. I just need 10 hours sleep prior to trying to manually work out all the coordinates ;)
Thanks for any answers, appreciate if I do get a response to this, but also appreciate if you have better things to be doing ;)
Am I to understand that the ship hull files should be use as more of a "class" of ship, and any actual ship to be implemented should be in a "variant"?
I'm working on a older-tech style 'torpedo boat' sort of ship, with a single heavy missile hardpoint and a small ballistic turret (for some kind of light defense system) - might add a small missile slot as well.
I have the basic template done, but I still need to smooth out the colors, and then pixelize it. (Trying david's way)
I managed to have an AI controlled Atlas 2 blow itself up with its own atropos launchers during my last testing run. >.<
The sad thing was that the enemy was far out of range anyways, and so they never would have hit.
the "Ancient" style ships are so old, many of them outright lack shielding capabilities, with the ones that do having very tiny shields, and often are restricted to smaller slot sizes (though can tend towards having many smaller slots vs. fewer larger ones), and nearly exclusively use ballistic weapons, with some missile slots, and rarely an energy slot. They also tend to have underwhelming armor & hull HP, but make up for this in extremely low cost (both production & fleet points) and actually pretty good maneuverability.
including a high-yield EMP torpedo
:D I was guessing as much ;Dincluding a high-yield EMP torpedo
Heheh, did you use the other-colored Atropos-like graphic for it? That would be amusing because that's exactly what it's slated for :)
Heck, I might just throw together some generic ship pieces - been meaning to write a tutorial/style guide for making ships, but I've been crunching on my other game ...
Added a minigun weapon: it shreds frigates and fighters, and I disabled the PD function on it because the AI failed to handle it very well due to the chargeup time (it charges (barrel spin-up), then has continuous rapid fire)
My first attempt at adding a custom ship took me around 4 hours from start to playable. (Much was learned in that time) In this session I only used stock weapons for now but maybe when i have finished all my other projects i can dive head first into modding Starfarer :D
Yeah, its also not very good at detecting when it should continue firing in order to avoid the chargeupAdded a minigun weapon: it shreds frigates and fighters, and I disabled the PD function on it because the AI failed to handle it very well due to the chargeup time (it charges (barrel spin-up), then has continuous rapid fire)
hmmm
if i understand you correctly this was because the AI did not take into account the charge up time before fireing
a modification to the AI to take into account charge time might not be bad
convert charge time into travel dist for missiles and tell AI to commence fire at normal + travel dist for such weapon :)
Yeah, its also not very good at detecting when it should continue firing in order to avoid the chargeupAdded a minigun weapon: it shreds frigates and fighters, and I disabled the PD function on it because the AI failed to handle it very well due to the chargeup time (it charges (barrel spin-up), then has continuous rapid fire)
hmmm
if i understand you correctly this was because the AI did not take into account the charge up time before fireing
a modification to the AI to take into account charge time might not be bad
convert charge time into travel dist for missiles and tell AI to commence fire at normal + travel dist for such weapon :)
As you might have guessed, there is a ship editor (which is the reason I don't have to remember this anymore). It's not quite ready for prime time, but at some point we'll polish it up and release it.
Im burning inside to make some ships, but setting the ship boundaries by hand sounds like a pain in the ... specially on very irregular ships >_<
they look like christmas trees :pAnd thats how you turn badass ship into something silly and funny.
Also, 80000 hull? My god man :)It's called a Supreme Deity for a reason. :P
Yeah, the structure at a glimpse doesn't seem to be that hardy against damage.Gods do not fabricate their vessels from the same materials as those of mere mortals. How dare you scoff the might of the machine lords.
Wanna see a real chrismas tree ship?
http://xelerus.de/index.php?s=mod&id=615 :D
So I'm working on some new ships and weapons once again, but I'm currently going fairly slowly at the moment because I'm using a laggy laptop that doesn't want to work with my tablet without lagging like crazy, so I'm doing them with a mouse, currently the outlines, pixel by pixel.Sounds 'therapeutic'!
Question to you guys doing ship mods and / or the devs - do you start off at like a larger image size than the final ship size then downsize it in the end, or do you just work 1:1 ratio right from the start? I'm thinking about making some ships, and I'm curious as to other people's process, having never done sprite work before.
Thanks!
I killed the hasselnought ...
Mounted in the heavy turret is the heavy blaster, a large energy weapon designed specifically for capship-capship combat, though it can do a number on a destroyer or frigate that strays too close. It fires relatively slowly, but is much more front-loaded (single projectile, heavy damage, low ROF) than most of the other large energy weapons, and has decent range too, better than a number of other weapons in its tier (though it sacrifices a bit of DPS for the slight range advantage)
Hi, someone can explain me the difference between hardpoint slot and turret slot?A hardpoint picks the 'hardpoint' graphic, and turns a lot slower than a turret (which picks the turret graphic).
Thanx
Ok, the weapon mount points are all wacky still, and the loadout is quick copy-paste but i just *had* to show you guys :)
(http://i.imgur.com/eSvAK.jpg)
but the firefly has no weapons!Ok, the weapon mount points are all wacky still, and the loadout is quick copy-paste but i just *had* to show you guys :)
(http://i.imgur.com/eSvAK.jpg)
I was looking through this thread.. and... and... DO WANT. Like actually, I have my Jayne Hat here and waiting.
Ok, a couple new ships before I leave today and can't make any more for the weekend (conveniently anyways; all my computer where I shall be will have smaller, single monitors >.<)
Manta - Designed to be the converse of the Odyssey, while also a relatively fast exploration vehicle with a flight deck, it focuses primarily on defense with armor rivaling that of the Paragon and good shields [By concentrating the shield bubble just over the 'head' of the ship, they can be raised much faster than if they tried to encompass the whole ship, however, they are not as efficient as the Odysseys, due to having only 2/3rds the size of a max flux pool; then again, given its armament is meant to be primarily PD, that gives the shield a bit of breathing room], a large number of small energy turrets, 6 medium energy turrets, 4 small missile hardpoints (rear-facing, meant to take out small ships which think they can attack your unshielded engines like they can an onslaught), and 2 medium universal turrets, and an OP cap similar to the Odyssey's. While, yes, theoretically you could toss on 8 heavy blasters [a medium slot weapon], but a single volley will eat up a large portion of your flux reserves, forcing you to vent, which will take some time; the ship deals much better with point defense systems installed, though it can handle a pair of heavy blasters decently.
(http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee216/C_Lupus/mantaonslaught.png)
Rhino - The origin of this ship is something of an enigma, theorized to have been an early prototype blueprint created shortly before the collapse of the gate network; while the gadgetry employed in this ship is technologically astounding, putting it up with the likes of the Hyperion - hence the theorized date of design, the Rhino exhibits few of the contemporary design philosophies. From aesthetics to tactics, the rhino sticks out among its contemporaries like a sore thumb. While it has impressive flux reserves and efficient shields providing decent omni coverage and can support a good number of high-power weapons, its also abnormally heavily armored, and is one of the slowest destroyer class ships known, almost landing in the domain of cruisers were it not for its lower slot count and smaller profile. The speed issue seems to be a result of the combination of heavy armor and the designer using the widely available engine design from the standard Buffalo freighters, likely to save on time so they could test other components of the ship, or perhaps to save a little extra power so it could support more powerful weapons. Currently, the only known copy of the blueprints is held by the Green Sun pirates, though a number of trickled out to other users primarily through the rare sale or gift to allied pirate clans, or the occasional captured ship by mercenaries or military forces.
(http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee216/C_Lupus/rhinomedusa.png)
Not so sure about the hangar area
Ok, I've been trying to add my horribly drawn test ship to the game, but got following error: JSONObject "id" not found
It's obviously something trivial, can anyone help me on that?
I'm pretty sure problem is in csv file, although It's just copy/paste from another mod for testing purposes.
the sad bit to all this is I'm already plotting on how to cut it up for kitbashing. lol
i really want to see more of these. sprites made from scratch and still look and feel absolutely awsome.Seconded, haha. I am determined to keep trying until I can master this though. :D
i wish i could do these things :/
Do you want to make the ship-ship, or just the sprites?
Don't worry, you'll get better.I too am trying my hand at pixel-arting, haha. I'm terrible, but getting better. Patience and persistence. :p
And another ship!May one ask how you went and did these ships? Did you just frankensprite them or? And have tou ever used the battleships forever ship creator? If so, how does one recolor them?
Lance-class Missile Ship
(http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee216/C_Lupus/lance_deploying.png)(http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee216/C_Lupus/lance_pilums.png)(http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee216/C_Lupus/lance_thankyouandhaveaniceday.png)
The Lance is basically the ultimate missile platform. Supporting up to 6 heavy missile hardpoints (plus a universal heavy hardpoint in the center), and 10 medium missile hardpoints (in addition to a pair of small missile hardpoings, 8 small energy turrets, and 2 medium energy turrets), the lance can lob obscene quantities of ordinance at its target (and from two directions, hence the broadside-esq configuration), allowing it to essentially overwhelm any point defenses it comes up against through the sheer quantity of missiles it can launch. Despite the impressive firepower it packs on paper (7 large slots, and 350 OP to spend - that's as much as a paragon, and more large slots to boot), its actual combat profile is pretty much limited entirely to a support role (either close or fire support, fire-support is quite a bit safer for it). Missiles make for a poor assault weapon, and in general, the lance needs other ships to take out the shields on its targets (unless some missile space is used for sabots), though having things like the needler or gauss cannon in the large universal hardpoint can certainly help, especially in allowing a bit more control in when the enemy will be forced to lower their shields or overload. The lance has abysmal flux storage for a capship (on par with the manta, which makes up for this handicap with a high flux vent rate), and rather anemic flux venting (and its gets even lower once the shields go up - its so low in fact, that the only capships with lower flux vent rates are... the atlas I and atlas II, a civilian superfreighter and a jury-rigged carrier of the former respectively); afterall, its small compliment of non-missile weaponry was intended to be taken up entirely by PD and support weapons. Trying to stick a plasma cannon in the large slot is just asking for trouble. And don't even think about using heavy blasters in the medium slots. The hull and armor is about on par with the odyssey. Which is to say that they are fairly mediocre. It'll stand up to hvel rounds, needlers, flak cannons, and maybe some gauss shots, but don't expect it to protect you against a bomber run or any of the assault guns. That's what the rest of your fleet is for (and your shields. Which unlike just about every other ship, aren't really being taxed by weapon systems, despite the lacking flux stats). On the plus side, its cheap for a capship - both to purchase and to deploy. Don't expect to use it as a standard capship though. In a sense, its a capital-ship sized buffalo II - a great support ship in a fleet, but an abysmal fighter on its own.
Oh and Avan where can I get your mod O3OI'm pretty sure this is the mod with all his ships. (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=977.0) Also, it's on the first page. Just saying.
YAY! I just finished making a sprite for a ship I'm going to call the Longsword Attack Cruiser. Turned out a little fatter then I wanted, but oh well ;Dtook a look at yours. came up with a couple.
Oh and Avan where can I get your mod O3O
Here it is!
EDIT: I did frankensprite most of it, except for the seams between the pieces. Turned out quite well, I might add ;D
Pretty sure it's frankensprite considering the style of the ships.
edit a ship as in the stats? or the ship as in what weapons it can carry, it's shield and etc?
with open office your only supposed to use it for ship_data.csv
when it opens, it'll give you some options before you click ok, make sure you set the seperator options to only accept commas
for making ships details and others, I highly, Highly recommend trylobot's ship editor Here - http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=375.0 (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=375.0)
Don't be afraid to ask for help :)
Tip: if you don't specify bounds (or specify empty bounds, I forget which), the game will use a circular collision area based on the collisionRadius.
As to the coordinate system, I forget exactly what it is :) It's x,y w/ the ship facing to the right (i.e. towards 0 degrees). The origin might be at the middle of the sprite, or at the rotation center of the ship.
As you might have guessed, there is a ship editor (which is the reason I don't have to remember this anymore). It's not quite ready for prime time, but at some point we'll polish it up and release it.
<makes mental note to clean up the graphics folder> ;DPsst....you still haven't done this Alex!
package data.scripts.world.corvus;
import java.util.List;
import com.fs.starfarer.api.Global;
import com.fs.starfarer.api.Script;
import com.fs.starfarer.api.campaign.CampaignFleetAPI;
import com.fs.starfarer.api.campaign.CargoAPI;
import com.fs.starfarer.api.campaign.FleetAssignment;
import com.fs.starfarer.api.campaign.LocationAPI;
import com.fs.starfarer.api.campaign.SectorAPI;
import com.fs.starfarer.api.campaign.SectorEntityToken;
import com.fs.starfarer.api.fleet.FleetMemberType;
import data.scripts.world.BaseSpawnPoint;
import data.scripts.world.HegemonyConvoySpawnPoint;
@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
//public class HegemonyConvoySpawnPoint extends BaseSpawnPoint
public class HegemonyConvoySpawnPointShipPack extends HegemonyConvoySpawnPoint
{
private static String [] ships =
{
"sentinel_Hull",
"buffalob_Hull",
"manta_Hull",
"crow_Hull",
"cobra_Hull",
"lance_Hull",
};
}
I could be wrong, but aren't there already several ship editors? Or are you talking more of a all-in-one modding tool?
Either one would be nice.
I think it would be an actual in-game editor. All official and everything.Oh man, that would be pretty cool.
I think it would be an actual in-game editor. All official and everything.Oh man, that would be pretty cool.
I am currently working on a fighter wing, but I realized that I have no idea how to get weapons on them because fighters can't be refitted and other fighters come with weapons on them so how can I add weapons to my fighters?Have you tried using Trylobot's Editor? If you have, it's the same process with fighters as any other ship, just that you skip out on the .cvs editing (I find it easier to do that y hand, without the editor for fighters).
I am currently working on a fighter wing, but I realized that I have no idea how to get weapons on them because fighters can't be refitted and other fighters come with weapons on them so how can I add weapons to my fighters?Have you tried using Trylobot's Editor? If you have, it's the same process with fighters as any other ship, just that you skip out on the .cvs editing (I find it easier to do that y hand, without the editor for fighters).
But with any other ship I can just add them to the game and give them weapons in game I can not do that with fighters due to the face that they can not be refitted.Well...what do you want to do? change the existing weapons on a stock fighter?
No make a completely new fighter from scratch.Well, do the same thing with any other ship, press 2 to add weapons in Trylobot's editor. Edit the ship_data.cvs and the wing_data.cvs. Easy as that....I don't understand what's so hard.
Well now I can't figure out how to add it to the game. :(Which part? The wing_data part or the ship_data part? If you're having trouble, just PM me or take a look at the stock .cvs to see what needs to be done.
I'm messing around with a new style of making ships (non-kitbashed); its much faster than my old method, makes for not-greyscale ships XP, and I think it gives a relatively visually consistent look.
Hey! I was just wondering the other day where you had got to :)I concour! Amazing ships there my friend!
Your ships are really beautiful, keep it up!
... which I have no idea what purpose it should be for. Don't want to add just another generic attack frigate.