you can also change other hard point to turrets -


hp_type = hp_gun_special_1, HpWeapon01, HpWeapon02, ; change this to -

hp_type = hp_type = hp_turret_special_10, Hpweapon01, HpWeapon02 ;and get turrets instread. Its telling a hard point, to accept a differnt weapon type. And you don't need HarpCMP to do it.

I have done this before, even in the reverse, turning the turrets into Torpedo weps.

Edited by - Finalday on 8/20/2005 10:45:45 AM

Its better to add it in Hardcmp though, as normal HpWeapon type hardpoints tend to face forward and allow a 45 degree angle either side. Wheras if you add a HpTurret hardpoint, it could be told to allow a 360 degree angle instead. It takes a little while to learn Hardcmp properly, but once you have its easy to do and you can get what you want in no time.

Thanks for the tips. So shiparch.ini, the ship model.cmp, and infocards.dll (optional) are the only files I'll need to edit, right?

Edited by - Denier-of-Soup on 8/20/2005 3:57:31 PM

Yup, thats all. Its best not to take models into Milkshape unless you have to. If you do then you lose all of the hardpoints and things that get blown off the ship would not work. That, and Milkshape is a pain to use at the best of times.

So, just get Hardcmp, install it and double click the cmp (it becomes associated to Hardcmp when you install it). Choose New>Revolute>HpTurret and allow the numbering system. Pop it in and have a look. Modify the position. If you want it underneath, choose orientation x180 as this will rotate the turret to mount on to the bottom. Then just save it and it will be ready for use.

I'm already having trouble with the destructable parts. I've edited the shiparch to make the Eagle use the BD Dragon hull. Fixing this through the shiparch should be fairly easy since the BD Dragon has only 3 destructable parts.

edit: Done. All 3 parts blow off like they should. Now I've got another problem though. It might be using Kusari Dragon damaged parts instead of BD Dragon ones. When a part blows off, the texture of the damaged area doesn't quite match with the rest of the ship.

Edited by - Denier-of-Soup on 8/21/2005 5:24:43 AM

@Denier: if I recall correctly, this difference in textures you'e noticing is because there really aren't any Dragon blow-off parts... just the Kusari ones. This is a situation that actually recurs with a couple of other ships (the Corsair stuff, in particular), where if you look really closely, you'll see that the parts being blown off aren't precisely to scale... but quite frankly, nobody notices unless they're already being really, really picky.

I checked for the BD Dragon damaged parts before posting. Here's the tail section of both ships after that curvy thing at the back is blown off.



How do I tell it to use them instead of the Kusari ones?

Edited by - Denier-of-Soup on 8/21/2005 6:39:51 AM

its in {CollisionGroup} entries, dmg_obj = needs to be changed to the one you want,dmg objects are defined in the {Simple} entries

Edited by - Cold_Void on 8/21/2005 11:58:19 AM

Since the Eagle doesn't have the {Simple} entries, I tried adding them myself, but it still uses the Kusari damaged parts. What am I doing wrong?

[CollisionGroup
obj = port_wing_lod1
separable = parent_impulse = 120.000000
child_impulse = 60.000000
debris_type = debris_small_ship
separation_explosion = explosion_small_ship_breakoff
mass = 5.000000
type = Port_Wing
dmg_hp = DpPort_Wing
dmg_obj = ku_dragon_dmg_port_wing_cap
hit_pts = 1
root_health_proxy = true

[CollisionGroup
obj = starboard_wing_lod1
separable = parent_impulse = 120.000000
child_impulse = 60.000000
debris_type = debris_small_ship
separation_explosion = explosion_small_ship_breakoff
mass = 5.000000
type = Starboard_Wing
dmg_hp = DpStarboard_Wing
dmg_obj = ku_dragon_dmg_starboard_wing_cap
hit_pts = 1
root_health_proxy = true

[CollisionGroup
obj = tail_lod1
separable = parent_impulse = 120.000000
child_impulse = 60.000000
debris_type = debris_small_ship
separation_explosion = explosion_small_ship_breakoff
mass = 5.000000
type = Tail
dmg_hp = DpTail
dmg_obj = ku_dragon_dmg_port_tail_cap
hit_pts = 1
root_health_proxy = true

[Simple
nickname = ku_dragon_dmg_port_wing_cap
DA_archetype = ships\kusari\ku_blood_dragon\ku_dragon_dmg_port_wing.3db
material_library = ships\kusari\ku_blood_dragon.mat
mass = 5.000000
LODranges = 0, 100, 1000

[Simple
nickname = ku_dragon_dmg_starboard_wing_cap
DA_archetype = ships\kusari\ku_blood_dragon\ku_dragon_dmg_star_wing.3db
material_library = ships\kusari\ku_blood_dragon.mat
mass = 5.000000
LODranges = 0, 100, 1000

[Simple
nickname = ku_dragon_dmg_port_tail_cap
DA_archetype = ships\kusari\ku_blood_dragon\ku_dragon_dmg_tail.3db
material_library = ships\kusari\ku_blood_dragon.mat
mass = 5.000000
LODranges = 0, 100, 1000

ku_dragon_dmg_port_tail_cap <-if you don't want a ku_dragon dmg obj then use another i assume you want the red one?well, look for the simple containing it's filepath


{Simple}
nickname = ku_dragon_dmg_starboard_wing_cap<-rename,correct references in {collisiongroup}
DA_archetype = ships\kusari\ku_blood_dragon\ku_dragon_dmg_star_wing.3db<-replace w/ correct part path
material_library = ships\kusari\ku_blood_dragon.mat
mass = 5.000000
LODranges = 0, 100, 1000

Now I'm confused. Isn't "ships\kusari\ku_blood_dragon\ku_dragon_dmg_star_wing.3db" the correct path? And what's wrong with "ku_dragon_dmg_starboard_wing_cap"? I thought it was the correct reference (see 2nd collision group). =/

edit: By the way, both the Kusari Dragon and BD Dragon are called "ku_dragon", and have the same file names (except for the folder they are in). What if I make copies of the BD Dragon parts, rename them, and then fix the collision group references and simple entries paths?

Edited by - denier-of-soup on 8/21/2005 9:03:46 PM

yes,so am i. not quite sure what you're trying to do - anyways,the point is that the {Simple} entries must be unique as well as the ship name - you cannot have two ships both named ku_dragon or the engine will get confused and ignore the first one,and the {collisiongroup}s have to point to the {simple} references for the files you want(eagle damage parts),not the normal dragon parts - you could probably get away with just using the eagle's {simple} names for your dmg_obj's but i'm not sure about that, it would be better to just copy & rename them

Edited by - Cold_Void on 8/21/2005 10:02:08 PM

I should note, for the record, that in the XML Toolkit Mod I found it necessary to re-name the Blood Dragon and register a new name string in order to have everything work properly. I have no idea, honestly, whether it even supports different Simple entries- as I've said before, it's not something you really notice during combat against those fighters, and the Simple entries refer to MAT references, etc., which may or may not even exist for that particular "variant".

Juni's Defender, which I've used as the "Liberty VHF" for the Toolkit, also had to have some fancy name-changing performed in order to get it working properly as a flyable ship... and generally speaking, any of the large vessels in the Toolkit are actually "clones" that refer to the same old CMP/MAT but are otherwise totally rebuilt, INI-wise. Freelancer gets very badly confused if things aren't named uniquely, and giving the player-flyable versions of the "heavies" like the Destroyers, Cruisers, etc. the same stats as the FL versions didn't make any sense, for various reasons.

I'll try and figure out a way to fix it. By the way, does "ku_dragon_dmg_starboard_wing_cap" point to "ku_dragon_dmg_starboard_wing.3db"? Or does it not point to any file at all?