@ nunix

1/ What can't be done yet with ships is .sur files - these are the collision detection files. however there are work arounds... the usual is to use a .sur file from the nearest size/shape ship in the game. Elsewhere i read of basically attatching small asteroids to the ship but i don't know how well that would work

2/ 3DSmax would be lovely. There is an .ms3d (milkshape) exporter available to add hardpoints and convert to .cmp in milkshape. Try this fine tutorial for everything else you need to know - tutorial

3/ nope, cruising speed is constant for all ships

4/ yes, more thrusters = more speed. add more hardpoints. From the downloads page of this site, search for UTF edit; this can be used to add hardpoints to existing ships. the the tutorial from answer 2/ to wire them into the game.

5/ look at chips new thread -> here <-

Okay, so about these .sur files..

Are we just talking a bounding box-type thing? If you get damaged in the right places, pieces of your ship can break apart; is that what the .sur governs? I'm curious as to just how much the file handles..

@ nunix

the .sur file seems just to define the shape of collisions (rename one and fly right through that object). some bounding box information does exist in the .cmp files, but as FL was rushed out of the door i think what we're seeing is halfway between two versions of the game (dumbed down version from original screenshots). I'm not a moddler but people have made ships with destructable parts (search in the download section).

+++ out of cheese error - redo from start +++

The .sur files do define the basic collision area for a ship, but as yet there's no way to create/modify them. Not for lack of trying of course, there's an entire thread dedicated to the buggers here

You can create destructible parts, by having a separate sur file and model for the destructible bit, and you can define them as destructible in shiparch.ini. It's a lot of work though

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Edited by - AccuShot on 4/7/2004 7:46:59 AM

Character files - forgot what i was talking about - i couldn't even see it in my posts - what was i referencing them too


If it was to do with crashes, it can be cause they have a ship that now doesn't exist (like after deactivating a mod with a TIE fighter in etc), and many other problems. These files also cause trouble for your own servers, as opening all teh gates with old files means that the entries for the locked gates gets copied across to the new files instead. You have to do a full player wipe to ensure it works for all (or it works for none basically!).

About loadouts -make sure they have the line equip = whatever it is
instead of addon = whatever it is.

Erm, forgot other things. I would like to add that i obviously don't come here is often as i used to, but would like to add that the tools are nearly all here now. There is a thread to help you find things, which is stickied around these - which is by me. Its just got links witha summary for all pages in the threas (well, apart from later ones). I will keep checking back, as am sure will Accushot - but try and answer each others questions too if you can, cause there is no sense of achievement like when you work out something that has others scratching their heads

I have read Drizzt4.0's tutorial. I have looked throught this and the other newb Q's. And nothing. Can any one help? A few peeps told me you can hard point in any program, you just need to export in ms3d. (No. I dont remember what "peeps" those were. Otherwise I would ask them.)

I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members.
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According to radiometric dating I am a lot older than you think

well read through the tut's again, I think the reason why no one answered was cause it's fairly common sense. lol.

All a hardpoint is is a single triangle with correct naming convention... that's all it is, there is nothing special or spectacular about it, there is no reason why you would have to make a single triangle and name it only in milkshape, any 3d modelling program in exsistance in which you can make a group, and name the group, can do this.

When you export the model, the exporter will read in the names of the groups, and ones starting with the name convention of HP!Fixed! or HP!Revolute! (using a question mark instead of a verticle slash cause of this forums typing rules) will take the triangles centroid as a location of the hardpoint. It won't be a part of the ships mesh, just a tag the exporter reads to signify "ok, this is a hardpoint, and the name is ******* " But all it is, is how you name a group which consists of a single triangle... that's it, if you read how to do it in milkshape, it's no special feature of milkshape to be able to rename a group. If you can't figure out how to make a triangle or rename the groups name in another modeling program, then just do it in milkshape, make box, delete all faces cept a single triangle, rename box01 to HP!fixed!HpEngine01, copy and paste bout 15-30 of those triangles and rename each.

Also, just some heads up on positioning of hardpoints, I've seen some people use freakly huge triangles to signfy their hardpoints... why? it takes the centroid of it for the hardpoints location, the larger it is, the less acctuary you have in placing of the point. Personally I will zoom in as far down as I possibly can go, then make the triangle, zoom back out, and compared to the ships size it looks like a single point rather then a triangle, hence why it gives much greater accuracy in being able to place it.

The thread entitled "Please Read" has got links to all topics in these threads. Keep on posting in them, its just that they don't really need to be stickied to be honest

*mwhap* (sound of pulling a pin out)

Hey Chips is there a list somewhere on the site that will identify which ships are which in shipsarchs becasue im going by either cargo hold or shield bats.....not very effective.

Never, ever, take a laxative pill and a sleeping pill in the same night.

Yep, at the top of this forum is a thread containing TONS of things - heck, nearly everything you will need is in that thread. Look in the part for Utilities etc (2nd post i think) and look for Subxeros Miscillaneous database (excel spreadsheet) - its ALL in there!

But when I select a face in 3ds, and copy it, rename it. And go and select it.... The whol ship is selected! All it ever does is creat a copy of the entire ship! No matter what I select/do it does the same thing. So... I will ask agian. How do I hardpoint in 3ds max 6?

I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members.
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According to radiometric dating I am a lot older than you think

Umm... Hello? Ever since this was un-stickied... Say... Why was it un-stickied anyway?! Well, is there a tutorial, or at least a post or somthing about making new weapons? I cant seem to find one......

I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members.
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According to radiometric dating I am a lot older than you think

Best place to go is here. You can also go here or here.

It was unstickied because everthing in this thread is covered completely and formatted in another thread above.