**Tutorial** - Capital Ship Encounters

Yah, exclusion zones only exclude the nebulae and asteroid fields that explicitly state they can exclude them. P/-/3@R D@ D@//G F00lZ <A href=´http://www.starfyrestudios.com´ Target=_Blank> <img src=´http://www.planetirg.net/spawn/bob2.jpg ´></a>

quick question, how do I make random missions from bars include battleship targets?

hello , great tutorial , i have learned allot of it and now can spawn different types of fleets. but i only have one problem, i managed to spawn 2 different (lawful) fleets and change they´re interfaction relationships ,whatever i seem to do they just don´t attack each other and when i start attacking the liberty fleet the rheinland fleet gets hostile towards me and helps the liberty fleet while they should kill each other and provide me with some fireworks

never mind , tried it again and it worked , also i have made complete new AI for the capships , it is actually nice to see them maneuvering now (they now actually engage and make evasive maneuvers)

This tutorial is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY better than FL Explorer

Gerrtings Nephilium, i have a few well major questions to ask of you if you can PLEASE help me i am soo very frustrated.... i did everything to the letter in your tutorial....i am making some additional systems in a mod i am creating....i was tryingto add the cap ships for a little more depth to the random missions and encounters ya know teh usual reasons to blast the piss out of a cruiser <img src=smilies/icon_smile_tongue.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> now my problems are these 1.) I add all the files as stated in the afore mentioned turtorial...wit the only differance being i am not adding the encounters to the system you stated but my own labled KU08. in my folder i am using for my mod i have the following files... datamissionsmbases.ini formations.ini faction_prop.ini shipclasses.ini npcships.ini datashipsloadouts_special datamissionsencounters...all the capship ini files that were stated to create. now the issue is when i have dais folders in my data folder, i can launch teh FLServer and then FL. Once in the game i access my lan game and when it loads if i am in space it will crash my server. If i am i na base it will crash the server when i leave the base....i am at a complete loss for a reason why because i have gone over the ini´s with a fine toothed comb and can see no errors in the file whatsoever....is there a conflict with my server or is it not possible to play it at all in a custom mod??? or do i have to load the capship encounters thing as a seperate mod ( i cannot see a reason i cannot have it in my created systems mod) please help me i am at my witrs end here about to throw my computer into a jumpgate myself <img src=smilies/icon_smile_tongue.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> i hope to get a reply soon thanks

thank you for the help.... i am ever so sorry to overload you with all the INI info and i hate to tell you it was just a grammer error...just a few typeo´s and i forgot to close a few brackets i think but i RE-vamped the ini´s from scratch and you guessed it it worked with out a hitch i am going to try to give the Xeno´s the Bretonian battlships next but thanks for all the great work you doo and for the outstanding tutorial,,,,,<img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle><img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle><img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle>

Hey i have a question for you...can ya give me the exact specifics of what you would care to hve your credits say when i do my credits thing for my mod.. I am almost done with a decent mod and i am just trying to get everyones infor so i may credit them properly <img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> without your tutorial, my mod would be so mundane. So again i thnak you and wish to be able to credit you properly so if you could tell me what you wish for my credits to say please tell me thanks...

I used your tutorial word for word and it is working perfectly! My only question is: Can there be more than the 1 Battleship, 2 cruisers, and 3 gunboats in each formation. I have tried adding more and they DO appear however, if you are looking at the back of the fleet the top right position in the formation has 2 ships in it. One inside the other. As you add more ships it will double load other slots as well. I assume that this is in the _wall files but I have just started editing and not sure what/how to change it yet. What I would like to be able to do is....looking at the squad either coming or going.....where B=battleship, C=cruiser, and G=gunboat C G C G B G C G C I don´t know that I want to spawn that many at a time but I would like to have the option anyway.

HELP! I used this tutorial almost exactly but whenever I fly off of manhattan the game crashes. I have the modified files in the freelancer mod manager where they would go (DATA MISSIONS SHIPS ENCOUNTERS...) but when I activate the mod it wont work without crashing before I´m in space. the only I things changed from this tutorial are instead of putting my encounters under where you said to in the tutorial I put them under [zone nickname = zone_Lio1_017_Station_Li01_09 and so on... it looks like this at the bottom (stuff above) faction = _co_os_grp, 1.000000 encounter = capitalships_Liberty, 19, 0.010000 faction = li_n_grp, 1.000000 encounter = capitalships_Escorts, 19, 0.010000 faction = li_n_grp, 1.000000 [EncounterParameters nickname = capitalships_Liberty filename = missionsencounterscapitalships_Liberty.ini [EncounterParameters nickname = capitalships_Escorts filename = missionsencounterscapitalships_Escorts.ini The only other thing changed is that I didn´t add the Nomad ships stuff anywhere from this tutorial. Everything else is the same! What´s wrong??? Please help!

please?

Hey Nephilim, Not sure if your still around or not, being it´s been a long time. Just wanted to post to you an update. After a drastic hard drive crash, costing me my entire mod, I had to go back and rewrite everything over again. The mod is 98% complete, and will be complete if I can figure out 2 small things. First, the ships don´t appear right off the bat. You actually have to cruse to the destination and fly around it for a good 10 seconds before the first squadron of fighters show up, then the battleship formations start spawning around 10-20 seconds after that. Can´t figure out why they arn´t spawning prior to a player being in the location. Secondly, there is a problem with the formations. How do you get the crusiers and battleships to break formation? Currently the entire formation rotates to attack it´s target, the only problem being that the center of the formation is the battleship. The destroiers can not get the proper angle, being in formation, to use their forward &quot;cannons&quot; and the only solution is for them to be able to break formation. I noticed that fighters are able to do this, break formation and attack, but how to get the battleships to do it???? That´s the only thing keeping the mod from being released. Oh, and I expanded it to engulf the whole friggin galaxy. I brought in not only Liberty and Rheinland, but the Brets and the Ku are involved as well... Some battlesfields have 3 different factions hammering on eachother. Just need to figure out how to get the formations to break and immediate spawning.

First, thank you for such a well written tutorial. I do have one small (hopefully) question. <img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> Everything (ships) appears as they should, however, the larger ships hold too close to each other in formation... CLUNK, BANG, CLUNK, &quot;Hey, watch it you nugget, where´d ya learn to fly?!&quot; It just looks bad when a military formation can´t keep from ramming into each other when making a turn in formation, I mean, these guys are supposed to be elite! So, how do I edit formation properties in formations.ini to spread them out a wee bit so they can get through the day without playing bumper ships? So you know, I made an extra set of encounters.ini files for the Hispanian government ships in my mod, they are using different ships than the original houses of course. I am assuming that because of the proximity being too close in formation that this is also why when I get VERY close to the cao ships(gunboats here), the ships disappear (yeah, I know, a second question, sorry). Any insights would be greatly appreciated and noted in the thanks section of the mod. (it´s an ever growing list) Nemo me impune lacessit. EDIT: It should be noted that the gunboats fly very well in formation with fighters, just not with each other when in formation. Edited by - artemas13 on 8/26/2005 12:03:48 PM

From an example in the battleship encounters as covered here in this tutorial, battleship_wall [Formation nickname = battleship_wall pos = 0, 0, 0 pos = 400, 0, 0 pos = -400, 0, 0 pos = 0, 200, 0 pos = 400, 200, 0 pos = -400, 200, 0 pos = 400, 0, 0 pos = 400, 200, 0 pos = 0, -200, 0 pos = 400, -200, 0 pos = -400, -200, 0 pos = 400, -200, 0 pl_pos = 0, 0, 500 pl_pos is the position a player would take up in a single player encounter and does not count in a multiplayer environment. In a formation ships are set out in the sysytem of pos = x, y, z Looking at the front of the formation x = left-right, y = up-down, z = front-back, if you can see it, battleship_wall is a big flat upright square, there are no ships either to the front or back, they are arranged around a center position of pos = 0,0,0 If you do have gunboats or cruisers the size of Liberty dreadnoughts then these are probably the sizes you are look for, they are a bit spread out but are less likely to collide. In the end its all down to experimentation. I prefer delta/diamond formations myself, where the fighters are kept out of the way either fore n´ aft and out on the wing Positions are set in order of level, therfore the gunboats would take the first two positions, fighters the rest.. The 2nd problem could be down to your .cmp for your gunboats not being centralised. Use <A href=´http://www.lancersreactor.org/t/download/download.asp?id=1462´ Target=_Blank>this tool</a> to center it. Just import the cmp and then resave it with the button provided, backup first <img src=smilies/icon_smile_wink.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> simple as that, good luck dude Edited by - Thaddeus on 8/26/2005 2:40:02 PM

Thaddeus, I used the tool you had suggested. the values for center were (roughly): -0.8 -0.9 -0.8 I changed them all to 0.000000 Before I tell you what happened, let me explain in better detail the original problem: Using the Talarca by Asmotech, I have it assigned as shiptype &quot;CRUISER&quot; When I added all the entries as suggested by this post, I will get two different formations appearing in game. I will describe their ship types and positions as seen from following behind the formation. Formation 1: fighter * fighter * talarca cruiser * fighter Formation 2: talarca cruiser * talarca cruiser * fighter * talarca cruiser Now, in formation one, prior to changing the center orientation on the talarca, noone hit each other, but when turning, the fighter next to the cruiser on the outside edge of the turn flies a bit wonky, though does not hit anything. I can live with that. In formation two, before changing centers, the two cruisers to the left are too close together and the large x-wing style tail fins overlap. When they turn in any direction they bump hulls. The fighter is centered between the flanking cruisers just fine, and the rightmost cruiser is fine. **After** changing the center, the leftmost cruisers still hit each other, and now the fighter hits the cruiser to its right as well during turns. So... I replaced the modified .CMP with the original. In the capitalships_Hispania.ini I used the liberty template so as not to use gunboats. I left the capitalships_escorts.ini file as it was provided here. I suppose the Talarca is just such a wide cruiser, especially with those tail fins, that I might need to increase the formation values for cruisers , cruiser_wall, and battleship_wall. I did try that once and it did not change anything, I may have been tweaking the wrong formation´s values. The only thing I can (and just now did) think of is that I need to enter the talarca for the encounters formation like the other cap ships were as directed here, instead of just going with the entries as is. Suggestions? EDIT: Tried that, didn´t work. I also tried changing the Talarca to be read by the game and used as a battleship, that also did not work. Nemo me impune lacessit. I think I just figured something out though... I think the game is assigning talarcas as escorts, then trying to make them fit into the fighter formation. Which would be why they ride so close to each other but give the lonely single fighter a wide berth.... the game is getting it backwards! The odd part is, why on earth the game would think they are fighters? EDIT/UPDATE: I solved the problem by making a custom fighter formation for the Hispanians to use. No more bumping! [Formation nickname = fighter_wall_hip pos = 0, 0, 0 pos = 150, 0, 0 pos = -150, 0, 0 pos = 0, 150, 0 pos = 150, 150, 0 pos = -150, 150, 0 pos = 250, 0, 0 pos = 250, 150, 0 pos = 0, -150, 0 pos = 150, -150, 0 pos = -150, -150, 0 pos = 250, -150, 0 pl_pos = 0, 0, 200 This gave ample space for the Talarcas to manuever in, and was not so hugely spaced to be unrealistic. It just took the second pot of coffee to remember that out of the box is where I live, and I can think there too! Edited by - artemas13 on 8/29/2005 12:07:24 PM Edited by - artemas13 on 8/29/2005 10:37:04 PM