new WC game?

[mkruer]

On the note of QT, The last time I checked we were trying to avoid using it for other issues. I think the idea was to allow the game itself to handle the lunching aspect of it, but also have a backup just in case.

[hellcatv]

alright then, but there has to be done something about the sound.
really, thats been bothering me for a long while now and I have no clue as to what the problem is. (and tehre are no stderr.txt and stdout.txt logs either :s )

you may have posted about this before, but I don't recall...on all my systems the sound works... I'd be happy to debug it with you.... we may eventually make the sound easier to setup.... but I want sound to work for everyone--remind me of the problem

Also the setup tool, perhaps I could make a Qt interface for the vslauncher, I have better xp with Qt and like it more than GTK+
because X keeps hanging on that.(when I click on the setup button)

that's bizzare--never heard of it. We plan on moving the launcher in-game...so that would fix your problem. A stopgap solution is to run the setup tool separately.

and in the setup options we could include options to enable/disable that cockpit that doesnt move equally with the HUD.

already done:
<var name="head_lag" value="3"/>
lower that

but to do that I need a link or something to all the information/docs about the source.

http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/phpwi ... itMissions
http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/phpwi ... toEditNews
http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/phpwi ... rikeHowtos

something that would be usefull too is a map. (thats not easy but perhaps just a picture for a map will do until we can make a dynamic starmap or something)

shift-M does this... click around (in cvs it's easier)

weapon fire could be brighter, glowing. when I fire the hephaustus mini I notice the blue fire but its not solid enough, glow-less.

you'd be making your own WC art anyway

tractor beam should be easier, when in range, press a different key for tractor beam and the targeted object should be tractored in.

try installing autotrack on your tractor: it's just like Privateer then
making a different key do this is easily possible at some point... low priority though

Are there going to be some improvements on the graphics? The engine afterburner fire could be a bit larger depending on the models (more glowing too) .

Art problem: HEDay made our art glow--you can change it as you see fit

Damage: when hitting a ship, the damage you see on the shields is fine but I dont see anything when hitting the hull.

The hull glows just like the shields--we're considering adding other effects...at one point sparks came out... clearly a damage map also fades in as you deal damage to the hull--but no ships have damage maps due to artist laziness.

And I see some people are working on the WC/priv cockpits to integrate them, is all of the dynamic stuff (shields, energy etc) possible to adapt? because as I said, in the centurion model from RFBurns, the laser energy bar didnt change, jump fuel wasnt visible and mission info wasnt there either.

it's not *my* cockpit...not official VS art... clearly it's easy to make those energy bars work--why don't you fix his stuff then
it also could be that the ship had far too much energy and it was recharging too fast.

For the WC specific things, is there any way we could somehow integrate the confed vs Kilrathi in there?

this is so easy it's laughable
edit factions.xml add kilrathi and confed
you probably want to change the dynamic universe to generate ships for them
that's done via editing modules/faction_ships.py
then you probably want to change who owns the systems by editing universe/milky_way.xml (replace with the data3.x milky_way.xml...that's the wing commander one... replace rlaan with border_worlds replace aera with kilrathi)

but this WC part, would this be an integrated part of VS?

clearly Vega Strike will continue to be its own engine--but you can setup a website with the WC mod...in fact there already is one: a central repository to store WC stuff (check this forum for the post about that). you can put all your modifications in that central area and I can give you permission to do so. I will always allow WC abilities to be put into Vega STrike through config options, etc

sorry if this should be more in the features post but I just had to say it

well VS did a good job fulfilling most of them...i think you'll be impressed--but I hope I wasn't wasting my time

let me know what you think.

I think all your suggestions are reasonable and most of them have already been done

[incubator]

you guys really thought of everything

even those HUD's are scripted.

iwhen my exams are over I will delve deeper into this.
However there is still one thing that might prevent the insertion of a potential story; you say the universe is dynamically loaded, but to integrate some kind of story one would need fixed system names for some of those missions (well, maybe not but thats a bit over my head atm)

so all I have to do is insert the WC models, modify some cockpit stuff and thats about it.

[hellcatv]

we thought of the fixed names for systems stuff too

currently VS loads the dynamic universe...but it must not be so
there's the first 2 missions of WC1 already scripted into vega strike! (I think it requires the old map)

basically the user flies a mission then lands on the carrier...and the carrier has the option of jumping at that point to another system...

that would be the totlaly scripted option for the game...

also there are campaigns for a privateer style fixer system.... those were taken out for 4.x because we were lazy--and didn't want to change the system names--these work with the dynamic universe but do rely on fixed system names

the python code to do fixer missions and normal compaigns probably needs a bit of polishing--but it's not a clean slate it has some work on it--and we're happy to help you understand it

[mkruer]

I have the universe map, its just i need to figure out how to export it into a flat file. Right now its a Linked Database.

[incubator]

great

all these things for WC that are already done, is this for the WasteLand Incident or is this for a more solid WC mod?

[mkruer]

WCU is dynamic project, like VS, but placed in the WC universe, hence WCU. Wasteland is a scripted game, 100% story driven. Both use the same engine, and the same models, but other then that they are separate.

I could probably finish in about 3 months providing I had 3 full time people, (2 scriptors, one animator/textures developer). With the exception of the ships that I am, making everything else is more or less there now. The VS engine is easily able to handle what I am throwing at it for Wasteland.

[incubator]

I see. Then, in other words, if you complete in 3 months, there is no need for me to start making another mod that would revive WC/priv

[hellcatv]

he meant that the scripted wasteland thing would take 3 months.

the wing commander universe needs all the help it can get! and it should be an ongoing project

making a dynamic universe, even with most of the game engine in tact, is a challenging task--and even the main trunk of VS needs a lot more scripting to make it reasonable
--Daniel

[mkruer]

Correct. I have Wasteland full scripted (story) for about oh… 3 yrs now. The blueprints are detailed to the point where I am saving what ships arrive in what wave, and how good they are.

So Really there is two parts. The story (done) and also mission design (done). so I am just looking to place it all into effect.

The hold up has always been with the ship side of the equations. I used to make my own, but I was never a good mapper, so I just left all the ships bare. Also I have a big issue with the “dump it all in one spotâ€

[charlieg]

I see. Then, in other words, if you complete in 3 months, there is no need for me to start making another mod that would revive WC/priv

What would be even better would be for you to help out with either Wasteland or WCU!

[incubator]

thats sort of what I was thinking of.
Though as I am currently not well informaed as what still has to be done, what would be good is if one of you could make a list of what still needs to be done and then instruct me what you want me to do.
note: I suck at graphics :p

[charlieg]

mkruer is the man to ask.

[hellcatv]

you could do some mission scripting....
the place to start there is to try stuff out and look at the documents I pointed you to on the wiki (click FAQ Wiki and click howto)

[incubator]

alright then.
but first, exams of OO Analyses and Design and the likes ....

[scheherazade]

incubator << just try hacking up some existing missions. that'll be the easiest thing to do to learn with. it won't be hard at all to change. fiddling with stuff can make some funny results too (ok, remembering things and getting side tracked... aah... memories... anyways, um, blah).
in general VS has more fatures than are in use. pretty much everything you mention is available or was done and is broken because no one has kept the art and scripts up to date.

and i also think that the info on editing VS is TOO tekky... its simple when read by a tekkie person, but if a plain artist reads it he'll be like WTF is this crap, no.
a) few stated rules and conditions (means you donno where to start)
b) no samples
c) no detailed, pictorial walk through for the entire process.
it just means that a really simple process looks really hard because of all the ambiguity associated with it.


ok, as for the WCU map

I HAVE IT IN XML... remember,... i made the image reader to read loaf's map... and it has an xml WC universe in it.

so i have a backbone if anyone wants to edit it...
i think it's still up on my site http://mason.gmu.edu/~mbanach

i haven't worked on the reader at all any more, but in any case, the last XML output is there. and it works... in game.

matthew << if you organized the DB differently it'd be easier.
have links as atoms, and places as atoms, and have them point to their links. that way, you don't need to search all places from every place to see if it links somewhere. you could just look at the pointed-to link properties.

but in any case, you should be able to write a script for it... i assume there is a text-out option in access. but i dono. i would have done it in excel prolly if at all using office. made a table-db.

anyways, blah, whatever.

-scheherazade

[mkruer]

Funny that you mention that, I just sent it (the map) to Hellcatv, in csv form.

you can find the lattest version here http://svn.dsource.org/svn/projects/rylix/wcuniverse/

I am just wondering if i sould go and directy add the system level to the DB

[incubator]

hmm, if csv file gives trouble you could try mdbtools to read the mdb. Never tested teh lib but if what htey say is true, this offers a lightweight DB access.

[mkruer]

I don’t think its the format, I think its more of the "I don’t see a reason to do it" problem. Besides if we were to implement a db, it would most likely be SQLite. And the great thing is Access (the dev too I am using) exports directly to SQL.