QNP mk 2
 

I was experimenting with SEV a bit today and found a rather useful little item: SEV allows negative values for Standard Movement.

So rather than using Engines Per Move in the vehicle sizes to define their weight and thus how much thrust they need, it can be done directly.

Say you decide that 10kt of weight requires 1 MP of thrust.

So a colony ship with a 200kt colony module, 10kt bridge, 40 kt CS/LS, and 60kt of cargo space would take 31 MP to move. Remove the cargo and it'd drop to 25 MP.

This allows a ship designer to weigh his choices in speed vs equipment more carefully, and gives an incentive not to just cram in anything that fits.

Unfortunately its also a bit bugged. Once a ship's movement drops below 0, the value wraps around and the ship speeds off at 65,000 km/s! Still trying to find a way to work around that one..

Re: QNP mk 2
 

65,000 O_O That must look neat.

For a work-around, wouldn't it work with a requirement for the ships in Vehiclesizes, i.e. Get_Design_Ability_Total("Movement Standard") >= 0 ?

Great find, at any rate. Just wish Aaron would fix the acceleration/turning rates so that we could mod them as well.

Re: QNP mk 2
 

Actually its kind of amusing. They're going so fast they can't slow down in time at the border and they just fly past it!

Get_design_ability would work, except it also happens if the ships take damage in combat. Getting thousands of times faster is NOT the ideal result of engine damage. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Re: QNP mk 2
 

Oooh, right. The abilities stop working when components are damaged. Has to be fixed by Aaron then, I guess. Hmm, does the Get_design_ability_total function work in components.txt?

Re: QNP mk 2
 

It doesn't.

Re: QNP mk 2
 

Workaround: using Movement Bonus prevents the speed from wrapping. Right now this is mostly useful for extra-massive components that should slow a ship down, since it doesn't stack.

Re: QNP mk 2
 

What line are you using to get the ship to calculate its own weight?

Edited: By line I mean the formula? Have you ever tried to use Get_Vehicle_Size_Tonnage() in the components? I couldn't get it to work for calculating the size or cost of a component.

Re: QNP mk 2
 

Next question; what is the difference between:

#1) GETL("X") >= (2 + ([%Lvl%] - 1)
and
#2) GETL("X") >= (1 + ([%Lvl%] - 1)

Which one will make this component appear at X level 2?

Re: QNP mk 2
 

#1) GETL("X") >= (2 + ([%Lvl%] - 1)
is the same as
GETL("X") >= ([%Lvl%] + 1)
GETL("X") - 1 >= ([%Lvl%])
level 2 tech or better gives level 1

#2) GETL("X") >= (1 + ([%Lvl%] - 1)
is the same as
GETL("X") >= [%Lvl%]
Level 1 tech or better gives level 1

Why Aaron used overcomplicated formulae with spurrious "1 - 1" bits I have no idea.

Re: QNP mk 2
 

Good than I don't need to go back and redo everything. I was working away and thought of you and the problem you found ("This game thinks "100 + 5 - 5 - 100 = 0" is False"); stopped, and said "Hay I better ask to make sure before I get to much further along".