Posts by Wasabe

Also, did you know you can do the same thing with the regular engine thrust? Or at least very similar. Just edit this line into your engine entry (or add it if it´s not there already) power_usage = 100 Well of course you change the number to whatever you would like. However, if I remember correctly (It´s been a year since I discovered this) it uses thruster power and not weapon power. But it´s still something to fool around with if you want. Just like the cruise power usage, it scales depending on how fast you go. So for a ship with max speed of 80, it will use very little power at 10kph, but it will use up all the power when you boost your throttle to max speed of 80kph.

Yeah we found out about this a year ago with the Excelcia mod, but we never really came up with a good way to actually use it. But some of your ideas on how to make use of it sounds pretty cool!

Sounds like you need to learn about fuses =) In the Freeworlds mod, here is an entry we made for a destructable base in the shiparch.ini file: [Solar nickname = dreadnaught_destructable type = MISSION_SATELLITE DA_archetype = shipsswshipsdreadnaughtdreadnaught.cmp material_library = shipsswshipsdreadnaughtdreadnaught.mat material_library = fxenvmapbasic.mat envmap_material = envmapbasic LODranges = 0, 15000 mass = 10000.000000 open_sound = depot_open_sound close_sound = depot_close_sound solar_radius = 800 shape_name = NAV_outpost hit_pts = 700000 destructible = true fuse = fuse_dreadnaught_destructable, 0.000000, 1 The important line is the &quot;fuse = fuse_dreadnaught_destructable, 0.000000, 1&quot; line. You´ll need to make a fuse if you want the really cool explosion effects. After you add the fuse line, then go into the DATAFXfuse.ini file, and create your fuse effect. Again for the Freeworlds mod, here is our entry in the fuse.ini file: [fuse name = fuse_dreadnaught_destructable lifetime = 3.000000 death_fuse = true [start_effect effect = gf_piratestationexplode#2 hardpoint = HpEngine020 at_t = 0.150000 [start_effect effect = explosion_sfx_csx_large03 hardpoint = HpWeapon03 at_t = 0.330000 [start_effect effect = gf_piratestationexplode#2 hardpoint = HpWeapon04 at_t = 0.330000 [start_effect effect = gf_piratestationexplode#1 hardpoint = HpWeapon05 at_t = 0.500000 [start_effect effect = explosion_sfx_csx_large04 hardpoint = HpWeapon06 at_t = 0.700000 [start_effect effect = gf_piratestationexplode#3 hardpoint = HpWeapon07 at_t = 0.800000 [start_effect effect = gf_piratestationexplode#3 hardpoint = HpWeapon08 at_t = 0.800000 [start_effect effect = explosion_sfx_csx_large05 hardpoint = HpEngine019 at_t = 0.800000 [destroy_root at_t = 1.000000 You will need to do your own research on the different explosions, some of them are really big =) I would suggest fooling around with the fuses, see what you can learn, then if you have any questions, ask. But I will only answer your questions about fuses <i>after </i> you have at least tried messing with them yourself. After you have looked into the fuse.ini file and tried to create your own fuse, if you have problems or questions, then ask. <img src=smilies/icon_smile_wink.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle>

Welcome =)

The most common mistake people make is with their universe.ini file. Make sure that the base entries are listed <i>above </i> your entry for the system. Also, make sure all the base entries have a &quot;strid_name&quot; (the same ids # as the base).

I don´t want to say it´s impossible, but nobody has found a way to do it yet. No matter what you put into shortest_legal_path and shortest_illegal_path and systems_shortest_path, the game just doesn´t calculate the waypoints to go through jump holes. In the Freeworlds mod, we use only jump holes, not jump gates, and we could never get it to work. If you look in the solararch.ini file, under the entry for &quot;jumphole&quot;, you´ll see a line: type = JUMP_HOLE If you change that to &quot;type = JUMP_GATE&quot; and then the set path will use the jump holes. . . though it will cause crashes if you do that. However, it does show that it´s hardcoded to not use objects with the &quot;JUMP_HOLE&quot; type in doing the waypoint calculations. There is sort of a way around it, but it does cause some major probems as side effects. You can change the hardpoints on the cmp file for the jump hole to be like those in the jumpgate (they are a little bit different, and I don´t want to get into how to do it). Then change the &quot;jump_hole&quot; to &quot;jump_gate&quot;. This will work for the set path, but it makes it weird when you dock with it. It now has to line up your ship in the right direction instead of being able to jump from any angle. There are also some other weird side effects too. I wouldn´t recommend trying it this way. <img src=smilies/icon_smile_wink.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle>

What do you mean by you could not get a &quot;system view&quot; of those systems?

Well the thing is, that wouldn´t really help too much. I mean, most or all modders are using the SDK1.3 or 1.4, and those two things fix ALL the server errors. I think 1.4 even includes the fix for the mission solars (not entirely sure acutally). So, every other error that is displayed in the flserver console is because of modding, and of course every mod is different. If people happen to use existing names of equipment, then it may help, but there is always the existing hash code lists. But if someone creates a piece of equipment called &quot;mycustomequipment&quot;, it will create a unique hashcode for that mod. Just knowing that hashcode does no good at all unless you also know the name of the equipment, and only the maker of that particular mod would know.

hehe, I still remember that fondly, it was my first real contribution to Lancer´s community. =)

Hey nice job finding those korben! By the way, if you found those in common.dll, then there is a possibility that you can use some or all of them in the ini file. In the empathy.ini file, try adding lines like: rep_friend_threshold = 1 rep_friend_maximum = 1 or friend_threshold = 1 friend_maximum = 1 or even threshold = 1 maximum = 1 I would try them both at the very top of the ini file, and also in a particular [RepChangeEffects group. It´s worth a shot. =)

Just a quick answer: it is hardcoded, so you cannot change it with the ini files. It can be changed by hacking one of the files like common.dll or freelancer.exe, but I don´t know where it is stored.

Hi guys, Well unfortunately it has been about 8 months since I did the THN files, and I am afraid that I have forgotten much of it. I do remember that the tutorial was wrong in several spots and completely missing other information. However, I will try to look back at my work to remember what I did, and maybe come up with a simple Q&amp;A type tutorial. I don´t have time for a real tutorial, but I can skip all the basic stuff since I´m sure you already know that (like getting a thn decompressor, using notepad, etc). The biggest problems I encountered were with camera positions and especially orientations. I never did actually figure it all out, BUT I did learn of ways to &quot;cheat&quot; the system and just eliminate all the fancy orientation math calculations, and it seemed to work ok.

I was able to make it so that you could sell your lights if you wanted, and sure enough they would come off your ship and it worked in MP just fine. You would fly around with no lights (and others saw this too). However, I tried hard to make lights sellable at bases, but unfortunately, I never could get that to work correctly. It would have been cool to have players be able to equip their ships with custom lights, but oh well. =( For now, the only real way in MP is to use a save editor, which works fine. In SP you can either use a save editor or else change the goods.ini file and rebuy your ship.

I would guess that the problem is in one of your asteroid or nebula files. It refers to a zone that is not in your system file. At the top of your system ini file, find all the asteroid and nebula refrences. Open the files they reference and look for any mention of zones in those files. Then look back in that system ini file and make sure they are all there.

First off, the line: mission_type = DestroyMission, 0.000000, 0.112387, 100 those numbers 0.000000, 0.112387 have to do with the min and max level of missions that will be offered. It has nothing to do with your reputation. Next, the line: rumor_type2 = mission_01a_loaded, mission_01a_accepted, 1, 393427 The number &quot;1&quot; is how many times you must visit that NPC before he tells you that rumor.

The THN files are very tricky. One little typo and it just comes up as blank black screen. I would especially look for a missing quotationmark &quot; or a missing bracket { or } I always save backups after each change I make, because sometimes it just takes way too long to find a typo. It´s easier to just start from a backup and redo my latest changes. As for the light group, that refers to what lights hit your object. You´ll have to look at your actual lights and see what groups they are. So, if you have 3 light sources, and they are groups 1, 2 and 3, but your object is light group 1, well only the 1st light will shine on that object. When I make custom thn´s, I always make all my lights group 1 and all my objects group 1, it´s just easier that way.

Random missions will only be available where a vignette zone AND an encounter zone coincide. In otherwords, if you have encounters near manhattan but vignette´s near pittsburg, you will never have any missions. The vignette zones need to be at the same place as the encounter zones/paths. An easy way to make missions available across the whole system is to make something like this: [zone nickname = Zone_system_missions pos = 0, 0, 0 shape = ELLIPSOID size = 120000, 15000, 120000 sort = 1 toughness = 20 <b>density = 4 </b> &lt;----- very important line repop_time = 90 max_battle_size = 4 pop_type = Background visit = 128 &lt;----- Be sure to make this 128 so this zone is invisible relief_time = 90 faction_weight = li_n_grp, 5 faction_weight = li_p_grp, 5 faction_weight = li_lsf_grp, 5 faction_weight = fc_j_grp, 5 faction_weight = fc_lr_grp, 5 faction_weight = fc_ou_grp, 5 faction_weight = gd_z_grp, 5 encounter = area_scout, 30, 1.0000 faction = li_n_grp, 0.05 faction = li_p_grp, 0.05 faction = li_lsf_grp, 0.05 faction = fc_j_grp, 0.05 faction = fc_lr_grp, 0.05 faction = fc_ou_grp, 0.05 faction = gd_z_grp, 0.05 This will basically only effect missions, except for the &quot;density&quot; line. Be careful with that one because it will effect the density of the <i>entire </i> system (it will effect other zones). Make sure the line &quot;encounter = area_scout, 30, 1.0000&quot; has a number like 30 in there so that these ships will never actually spawn anywhere except for mission. Include <i><b>all </b> </i> factions you want to have missions for, both &quot;good guys&quot; and &quot;bad guys&quot;. There are a few other things that effect missions, but this is a good start. And especially if you already did all the other stuff like copied the vignette zones and the mbases.ini stuff, it should work. Remember, missions are only offered against factions that are hostile in the initialworlds.ini.

Argh, I think you are looking for something more on the lines of the FX´s than fuses (for making spinning propellers). Take a look at the station &quot;smallstation1&quot; and see how it has a constant animation? If you can figure that out, then you´ll be well on your way to making constant FX´s. <img src=smilies/icon_smile_wink.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle>

Try searching in the mbases.ini file.

Have a look at the mbases.ini file to see how bases are populated. Look in the news.ini file to see how the news items are distributed.