Questions and Ideas

[MasterMindLess]

I've been assembling a list of questions and ideas.

I've probably forgotten about half of them, but here goes:

Questions:
-What is the exact range and blast radius of a Fulcrum?

-So, Fulcrums are the most powerful weapons in the game. And you can mount one in the same location as an Echelon. I'm not saying you should change it, I'm just asking if there's a technical reason for it.

-Why do Renegades have the same capital ships as the rest of Evochron?

-What happened to the Von interceptors and bombers?

Ideas:
-Dumbfire missiles - the ability to shoot regular missiles like they were Fulcrum torps (I can't think of any real application for this except for shooting asteroids, but it would still be awesome).

-Multiple hostile capships - especially close together. That would make a nice challenge.

-Nebula fields with varying visibility (some you can see pretty far, some, barely 1000 meters(?))

-Denser asteroid fields (especially the Sol asteroid belt... It's not very... asteroid-belt-like).

-Permanent capital ships or armed installations guarding important jump gates (destructable would be nice, with them being replaced after a certain period of time).

-Enemy fleets that jump in formation (lol... Von capship and 6 or 7 escorts jumping in right on top of you... )\\

-Capital-vs.-capital fights - maybe contracts to help one side or the other?

-I've heard about the exploding asteroids, so how about in-game minefields, and mines placeable by players (secondary weapon?)? (lol... Fulcrum mines )

-A Fulcrum-type torpedo that works like a giant CM and EMP. Knocks out all missiles and ship systems within it's radius.


Most of these are just things that I randomly thought of off the top of my head. Most have no practical application (or "reason for existing") that I can think of. I have no idea if they are even possible. I just wanted to throw them out there.

[Vice]

Answers for the questions below, comments on the other points.

-What is the exact range and blast radius of a Fulcrum?

Roughly 2500 for substantial damage, within about 1000-1500 sustains major damage.

-So, Fulcrums are the most powerful weapons in the game. And you can mount one in the same location as an Echelon. I'm not saying you should change it, I'm just asking if there's a technical reason for it.

Because they are about the same size, difference is in the warhead.

-Why do Renegades have the same capital ships as the rest of Evochron?

Simply because they are a splinter group from the original Evochron colonies.

-What happened to the Von interceptors and bombers?

They were specific to the Arvoch Conflict only, hence, they only appeared in Arvoch Conflict. Vonari have a much weaker presence in Evochron.

-Dumbfire missiles - the ability to shoot regular missiles like they were Fulcrum torps (I can't think of any real application for this except for shooting asteroids, but it would still be awesome).

Possible, but you're right, practical application would be tricky. In a really simple arcade space shooter, they'd likely be quite useful. But in a realistic zero gravity sim with inertia and open space drifting, they risk being useless... unless dirt cheap and used for asteroid field clearing like you mention.

-Multiple hostile capships - especially close together. That would make a nice challenge.

That can happen, within 5000 or less even. Depends on the system you travel to.

-Nebula fields with varying visibility (some you can see pretty far, some, barely 1000 meters(?))

Possible.

-Denser asteroid fields (especially the Sol asteroid belt... It's not very... asteroid-belt-like).

By what standard of measure? Just because it's a 'belt' doesn't mean you'll have thousands of asteroids all within a few meters of each other. Many of the asteroids in the nearby belt are many miles apart each, they are actually pretty cluttered in the game.

-Permanent capital ships or armed installations guarding important jump gates (destructable would be nice, with them being replaced after a certain period of time).

Also possible, although freedom of travel is one of the benefits of the game's setting and its gameplay. Ships are designed to move, so some kind of installation might be good, even if just for largely visual effect.

-Enemy fleets that jump in formation (lol... Von capship and 6 or 7 escorts jumping in right on top of you... )\\

They often travel in packs, but simultaneous warping can be very tricky to do, try it sometime with fellow human players online.

-Capital-vs.-capital fights - maybe contracts to help one side or the other?

That dips a little more into large scale battles as those in the military conflicts, ie, Arvoch Conflict. Lone wolf mercenary survival and actions is the focus of ER.

-I've heard about the exploding asteroids, so how about in-game minefields, and mines placeable by players (secondary weapon?)? (lol... Fulcrum mines )

Already been mentioned, not sure of its feasibility yet.

-A Fulcrum-type torpedo that works like a giant CM and EMP. Knocks out all missiles and ship systems within it's radius.

That would require a vote, lol Regular Fulcrums seem tough enough.

[MasterMindLess]

Thanks for the extremely quick reply.

By what standard of measure? Just because it's a 'belt' doesn't mean you'll have thousands of asteroids all within a few meters of each other. Many of the asteroids in the nearby belt are many miles apart each, they are actually pretty cluttered in the game.

Yeah, you're right, but they just don't present any type of navigational dilemma, except, slightly, in their very thickest areas, and you can still usually safely jump out of those areas. The way I see it, at least some of them should be very, very difficult to get around in at high speeds.

And, I have a few more questions/ideas:

-Would rotational inertia be possible? There would be absolutely no point to it, but I have to ask....

-What is the collision size of a Leviathan?

-What is the radius of a jump gate?

Many thanks in advance.

Also, I'm trying to do a bit of math here. I'm traveling 3000 away from a cap. At approx. 2200 distance from cap, I launch a Fulcrum at it. It seems to me that, by the time the Fulcrum detonates, I would be out of range, but my shields are usually severely damaged. I suppose I should take a look at the speed at which a Fulcrum travels and add that to my "calculations."

[Vice]

-Would rotational inertia be possible? There would be absolutely no point to it, but I have to ask....

The system has rotational inertia, it's simply auto-reversed when you release the control(s). To leave it persistent would probably not have useful purpose, you can already leave rotational inertia active by simply holding the control, keeping the counter-thrusters from firing.

-What is the collision size of a Leviathan?

Roughly 30 meters spherical via shields.

-What is the radius of a jump gate?

It's not really a static sphere, unless you're talking about the warp core itself. The collision distance varies by the shape of the energy towers surrounding the gate.

Also, I'm trying to do a bit of math here. I'm traveling 3000 away from a cap. At approx. 2200 distance from cap, I launch a Fulcrum at it. It seems to me that, by the time the Fulcrum detonates, I would be out of range, but my shields are usually severely damaged. I suppose I should take a look at the speed at which a Fulcrum travels and add that to my "calculations."

You'll need to take your speed into consideration, the speed of the cap ship (250), and the fact that the center of the ship is farther than the edge of the hull, which can be much closer to your position. The Fulcrum will detonate as soon as it hits the hull of the ship.

[MasterMindLess]

It's not really a static sphere, unless you're talking about the warp core itself. The collision distance varies by the shape of the energy towers surrounding the gate.

I'm talking about the actual circle, without the energy towers.

A couple more questions:

Do all of the frames have the same collision size?

I'm wanting to put a few scenery objects in game, but I'm not sure what these mean:
SceneryObjectShap=
SceneryObjectTran= Transparency?
SceneryObjectRefl= Reflection?
SceneryObjectText=

Please correct me if I'm wrong, and please fill in my blanks.

Is there a limit for the amount of scenery objects allowed in a sector?

On a non-spherical object, is the collision a sphere anyway? (Let's say it's a line. Does collision extend a certain distance from the center, or does it extend from all points of the object?)

Many thanks.

I'm hoping I can get my idea to work and show it to you. (By the way, my first post is completely irrelevant to the rest of this. )

[Vice]

I'm talking about the actual circle, without the energy towers.

Ok, probably around 30-40 then.

Do all of the frames have the same collision size?

It isn't the frames that are a factor, it's the shield arrays, which are all pretty much the same.

I'm wanting to put a few scenery objects in game, but I'm not sure what these mean:
SceneryObjectShap=
SceneryObjectTran= Transparency?
SceneryObjectRefl= Reflection?
SceneryObjectText=

From the customizing kit:

SceneryObjectShap=1.4 = Sets the collision detection shape, 1.0 for spherical, 1.0 for elliptical
SceneryObjectTran=0 = Sets transparency, 0 = solid, 1 = transparent
SceneryObjectRefl=1 = Sets reflection/shine shader level, 0 for none, 1 = high shine, 2 = sharper shine, 3 = low shine, 4 = sharper low shine
SceneryObjectText=799 = Sets texture, 799 is default, set to 10000 to use texture applied to model object

Shape defines whether you want a perfectly spherical collision evasion or more elliptical (depending on what kind of shape your scenery object is). Transparency lets the object appear transparent (50% alpha blend). Reflect applies the specular shader level. Texture applies a standard built-in texture, 799 is a metallic panel texture. Enter 10000 if your model already has a texture applied.

Is there a limit for the amount of scenery objects allowed in a sector?

10.

On a non-spherical object, is the collision a sphere anyway? (Let's say it's a line. Does collision extend a certain distance from the center, or does it extend from all points of the object?)

It's how you define it with the shape parameter. You specify the distance, the use the shape offset to adjust the shape of the collision detection. A value of around 1.5 would apply a detection that is taller than it is wide, 0.5 would be wider than it is tall.

[Poodle]

-Dumbfire missiles - the ability to shoot regular missiles like they were Fulcrum torps (I can't think of any real application for this except for shooting asteroids, but it would still be awesome).

Possible, but you're right, practical application would be tricky. In a really simple arcade space shooter, they'd likely be quite useful. But in a realistic zero gravity sim with inertia and open space drifting, they risk being useless... unless dirt cheap and used for asteroid field clearing like you mention.

Is the fuel or the warhead/materials more expensive? If the fuel is, then you could remove the fuel tanks and conserve a considerable amount of space, possibly allowing each hardpoint to fit a whole pack of missiles (3 or 4), and conserve money too, because the fuel is no longer a factor in the cost. Even if the fuel used isn't expensive, it would still be cheaper and probably more practical for mass-production. Because they would come in packs, it would be simple enough to fire them off in quick succession, easily clearing out static objects or slow objects (like capital ships!)
-Edit: Oops, didn't notice the age of the thread I was posting in. Apologies for the bump.

[Edited on 6-27-2008 by Poodle]