Missile Frigate

ozyran · Post by **ozyran** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 3:17 am

Hey guys,
Well, I got to thinking about the Paradigm, and I asked myself, "Self, this ship turns like a pig! Why give it fixed forward mounted guns?"

So, I decided to attempt my first real mod to a ship in Privateer Remake. Basically, I want to replace all of the fixed guns with missile launchers; I also figured that there is no reason a ship of this size should not be able to carry at least 100 missiles per launcher. I'm also looking at shaving off the cargo hold capacity to support having such a high missile capacity. 8 launchers with 100 missiles each - by my calculations that'd make about 800 missiles

. Maybe 40 or 50 missiles per launcher would be more reasonable, eh? That's still somewhere between 320 - 400 missiles total. Like I said, I want to do her up as a missile frigate.

However, before I go off on my merry hacking way, I was wondering if someone could help me decipher this line of code so I can properly edit the total launcher capacity:
{;20;20;Medium-Missile;0.100000;-1.10489e-2;0.424837;;;0.00000e+0;0.00000e+0;0.126592;0.00000e+0;6.32960e-2;0.00000e+0;1;1}

After I get done I'll post what I've created. Thanks in advance for your help!

~oz

Dilloh · Post by **Dilloh** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 12:45 pm

The entries between the ; are related to the following, in the following order:

type = e.g. Dumbfire
ammo = Amounts of shots
volume = Space used
SIZE = e.g. Medium-Missile Special AUTOTRACKING
x = 3D Position at the x-axis (Don't ask me how, just play with it)
y = 3D y
z = 3D z
xyscale = rescale the object with a factor at x and y
zscale = rescale at z
forex = ?
forey = ?
forez = ?
upx = Just a guess, it could mean how far a "shot" can turn up and down
upy = turning capability left and right
upz = below and to the front
maxfunc = 0 or 1, cannot work or can work
func = stock function, 1 means it works
Wiki for the rest

So your line means:
No missiles loaded, 20 maxload, 20cubicm used, Medium missiles, positionings, and it works.

Change the first "20" to 500 and add "Dumbfire" before the first ";" and you should have it.

I'd suggest to create an own paradigm for that, not to overwrite the stock one, so I might be able to add it to canonHUDs if the users like it. Btw, please use units.csv from canonHUDs1.32 as a base, most users have it.

The paradigm can be really powerful when you make usage of the turrets. For a better rebalance, I'd suggest to disable the turrets in favour for a better turning rate so the paradigm can aim at its foes. You can also rescale it to make it smaller to visualize its loss of cargo space. I'd also suggest to keep the ammo value really high: KI paras and kamekhs usually are eventually destroyed when they encouter the player or an equal ship. Before, they encounter a lot of KI talons, dralthis, etc. If they use up all missiles before, they'll be an easy bait for the player.

I'd also appreciate a slightly new texture, maybe new colours, so it can be viewed easierly while dogfighting.

ozyran · Post by **ozyran** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 5:54 pm

Hmmm....curiouser and curiouser said Alice - erm, Donnie in my case.

I was planning on keeping at least some turrets for ship's defense; I may reduce the number to something around 4 on top and 4 on the bottom so that she's got good coverage. I've been playing around with my own Paradigm and using the FF missiles I've managed to rack up some pretty interesting kills.

Now just so I've got this straight, by changing

Medium-Missile Special AUTOTRACKING

to

Large-Missile Special

Would that give me the ability to equip the ship with all types of missiles?

Also, I've noticed that missile payload capacity changes with the missile type (e.g. you could have a load of 10 HS missiles or 6 FF missiles on some of the ships); is that something automatically accounted for by the CSV file for the missiles?

Thanks for all of your help; this'll be cool! I'll finally be able to make a contribution to the game

Dilloh · Post by **Dilloh** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 7:23 pm

I'm not sure... I think the large missile thing is only relevant for VegaStrike or WCU. PR should use a common type of missiles.

Also a guess, I think the missile quantity is defined by its size. The standard paradigm launcher has a "capacity" of 20 cubic meters as mentioned above. If a missile uses 2 cubic meters, you end up with ten missiles. If it has 3, you get 6 of them. Since I'm not sure, go look up the entries for the missiles at the space column.

ozyran · Post by **ozyran** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 9:37 pm

Ok. Looks like the VS wiki is gonna be my best friend. Just out of curiosity, are there any ideas for a paint scheme for the new ship?

I was thinking of naming the new type of ship the Armageddon class. After all, if she's packing that much heat...

Also, does anyone know where the new Paradigm cockpit went to? I searched every thread I could and found nothing for the Paradigm's new bridge.

~oz

Dilloh · Post by **Dilloh** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 12:24 pm

About texturing... I don't know anything about Blender, Mesher or however those progs are named. I retextured a Demon, but this was fairly easy as the top and bottom files were separated. Most ships have really confusing texture patterns.

cmptch · Post by **cmptch** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 7:24 am

there's a really nice Paradigm cockpit in the WCU Development Version.

ozyran · Post by **ozyran** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 11:06 pm

Sorry to do this, but as much as I wanted to I'm not going to be able to finish development on the missile frigate - college has become a priority at the moment

. I'll pick up where I left off whenever I can, but I have no idea when that will be. Have a good one.

Dilloh · Post by **Dilloh** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 8:42 pm

You can also post your progress - maybe someone else wants to go on. Just if you like.