SpaceSimCentral

potsmoke66 wrote:
but i don't know if i should review all models using this, or hope that next alpha it will return to "normal".
I asked around briefly this afternoon and nobody had an obvious idea of what changed. If you post the alpha 8 version I can find out what happened to make it change. After that I can tell you if someone broke something in alpha 9 or if you were inadvertently doing something that was never meant to work

i guess it's the least.like the "tricked" light i use i'm aware that it wasn't ment to be that way, somekind of "bug" which i used as advantage.the same goes to the use of a material setting of a previousely loaded model, i'm not shure if that was ment to be that way but it has worked well of course i can change to a material selection in the main model, like i did now for the rapier, or rewrite the squadcolor sub-model as a plain function instead of a model, so it's still easy to use.anyway i'm still looking for a possibility to use such selections as far as possible static.the use of the reg no. didn't allows that, but i need something that will be seeded allways the same way, so os.clock and such won't work.anyway i will link up here both variations of the rapier, so you can check the difference.it's simply the use of the squadcolor sub-model that makes the difference.why i use a sub-model at all instead to select the material each time?simply to keep the squad-color the same as on the squad-signs and helmets and not have to set them each time new.no big thing i can change it to a function and it will be the same as before.but check the model anyway it includes also the "lightswitch" (using billboard function), which allowed me to brighten up the cockpit when the UC is lowered (i guess it adds a glow to the transparent material, but it looks like it's getting brighter inside). i hope that "bug" will stay, because it's a cool alternative to a local lighting, especially for fighter cockpits further i'm not shure if i can achieve the same using simply a glow on the transparent material.if, then it won't matter how i do that (i will check that possibility soon).there is another "helper" sub-model called "blank", i made this null material using tri only to prevent thrusters getting turned off by a previous use of the billboard function (has turned even the sound off). i'm not shure if it's still needed since the thruster depth issues are fixed in alpha8 (have to check that first, sometimes it blanks the thrusters only in certain angles to the lightsource).rapier_alpha8.ziprapier_alpha9.zipboth models are complete with sub-models.i checked the glow on transparent material and like i expected it's far not the same like a use of the billboard function previous to a transparent material.

Awesome pictures...I want play this game!!!

Robn, I'm talking about the ship equipment screen in the shipyard. Actually, looking at it again, I see that it's supposed to read "ECM system" and below that "Scanner".[attachment=605:ECM system Scanner.jpg]

I started a new game from Earth and was entering a medium orbit around Mercury when Pioneer crashed with the message "Error: Space station model mushroom_station does not specify valid ship_dock_anim positions."

Quote:
"Error: Space station model mushroom_station does not specify valid ship_dock_anim positions."
well, i had this one allready often in alpha8, especially when the game "rests" (no input) for a while.---all the new stuff is fine, i love the identikit faces, makes me laugh.the outsourcing of the system specs is a hammer and allows everybody to create it's own galaxy to reflect whatever story/environment.the quest for the hidden system isn't very far away now...something that has to made proof,i picked up a few deliveries, when i enter the system i get called like usual by the "interceptors", but the ships arn't to find anywhere (except for the "traffic").

is a problem with the source files,I can not compile the program under MSVC2010.the problem is with the file CustomSystem.cpp.I can compile version 8 without any problem.

looks bad...[attachment=606:2011-03-20_214511.jpg]i guess the little glitch until alpha8 was to ignore compared to that, here the thrusters cut the whole model out.btw, can't the mip-mapping be made a little less acute? it nearly kills the textures and i could use a quarter of the size and get still the same result. you can see that well on the above pic, lod ist still highest but the texture of the back looks like a 128x128 one instead of 512x512.this goes that far, so you will never see the "full" texture on bigger ships, because the radius is to big.---edit:sorry, both my fault thrusters are fine, i used them in wrong place.texture issue was grfx card setting, but i'm pretty shure texturefiltering had no effect previous to alpha8.anyway a good thing to know and a possibility to choose a bit between quality and speed.for those who read that and wonder which setting exactly,for NVIDIA cards it's the anisotropic texture filtering, 4x is ok, application controlled (default setting) is like off and results in lowest quality.further triple buffer and vertical sync should be enabled since alpha8.antialiasing should be off, it results in moiré effects as i remember.---good to know to, the billboard function no longer effects on the thrusters, so the blank **** can be desintegrated

[attachment=608:2011-03-21_013450.jpg]coincidence or mystic relation?

Marcel wrote:
As for the identikit faces, what's with the green plaid shirt on the guy from Shanghai? I have a similar shirt way back there in the 21st century. I'm sure we could make him look more... today. Also, it's cool that there's a consistent face for each station, but there should be a consistent face for each area of the station as well. It doesn't seem right that the traffic controller should be the same person as the police officer and shipyard manager, etc.
The plan for the future is to have every npc generate a face of their own. This will include ship yards, police and even everyone with messages on the bulletin board. S20dan has done a great job with the code so far and will hopefully be able to eventually implement this along with genders and races.As for the clothes.. I've been going for a kind of retro/80's feel but they are by no means a finished product. They'll get better with time, trust me

Subzeroplainzero wrote:
As for the clothes.. I've been going for a kind of retro/80's feel but they are by no means a finished product. They'll get better with time, trust me
Well, mission accomplished. They do all look like extras from some Dirty Harry movie.

GizmoR wrote:
is a problem with the source files,I can not compile the program under MSVC2010.the problem is with the file CustomSystem.cpp.I can compile version 8 without any problem.
None of the current developers use MSVC2010 so it's not maintained. The MSVC2008 project should work with 2010 though.

its making progress which is good

shenle wrote:
Well, mission accomplished. They do all look like extras from some Dirty Harry movie.
Go ahead and fix it yourself, buddy. Don't replace them with rubbish Star Trek uniforms though because that would be equally balls.

shenle wrote:
They do all look like extras from some Dirty Harry movie.

I like the idea of an 80's look and fashion of clothes, it is indeed a nice tribute to the original Elite that started all of this and who knows what will be the fashion several hundred years in the future?

I dunno, I think its safe to assume that 1000 years from now, only the strangest people are going to still be dressing like we do.... * S20dan removes his suit of armour, and puts on his cotton clothing, dyed and pressed with wooden blocks... it itches...* ...oops, my secrets out...

s2odan wrote:
oops, my secrets out...
Victoria's Secrets?

a wide variety of uniforms tshirts more formal stuff is a good idea

I think that in lieu of Star Trek, Babylon 5 might serve as a source of inspiration. Subzeroplainzero, I want to say again how much your work is appreciated. This is a major contribution, even though we snipe at your sartorial choices.