Race/Ship set designers, can someone do this? (Invisible Shipset Finished!)

[Ruatha]

I'm looking for a cloaking race, an idea coming from someone else.

All pictures should be black, ships, flag, race, troops, platforms etc should be completely black.
Thereby blending into the background in SE IV.
The ai should have as a priority to research stealth armour and later cloaking devices.
I think it would be nice too if it was a psychic race, making drones that are cloaked with alligience subverters and solar panels (if possible, I don't know how to mod an ai, haven't made many drones myself either)

[ January 15, 2003, 21:32: Message edited by: Ruatha ]

[dogscoff]

The graphics could be made in MSPaint by just about anyone in around 10 minutes. (30 seconds to create the black pictures, 9.5 minutes to copy/ rename them all). Some people might get upset if you tried to use them in PBW, though.

As for the AI, try copying the Drakol AI (TDM modpack). They're pretty sneaky...

[Ruatha]

Originally posted by dogscoff:
The graphics could be made in MSPaint by just about anyone in around 10 minutes. (30 seconds to create the black pictures, 9.5 minutes to copy/ rename them all). Some people might get upset if you tried to use them in PBW, though.

As for the AI, try copying the Drakol AI (TDM modpack). They're pretty sneaky...

Yes, I'd be pretty upset if someone used them.

So for information:
Using this shipset in a MP/PBW game without the hosts informed consent is cheating! (Something for the ethics thread)

I might try to make it myself then, as my first race/shipset (seems like hard work though

What was the size of the pictures? (I can load some of the old ones and check when I get home)

[ January 15, 2003, 15:48: Message edited by: Ruatha ]

[Slick]

This is frowned upon in other games like FPS where people make custom skins which are all black to make them difficult to see in dark areas. This just gives one player an advantage over the others.

I would have no trouble with a cloaking race so long as their shipsets were somewhat easy to see. You could still make them mostly black, but if they have a defined border of a different color. [Can you make a clear .bmp?] Having it any other way would just lead to abuse.

The game already handles cloaking and sight based on cloak, storms, sensors, etc. In the interest of fairness this should not be allowed. Think of what would happen if everyone started going around with invisible shipsets.

Slick.

[dogscoff]

Slick, Ruatha, I understand your concerns but there is no harm in making such a set for single player purposes.

If anyone tried to play PBW like this, other players would either object before the game began (since they'd have to download shipset.) or just substitute the black set for a conventional one, renaming all the files so that the game thought it was the "real" one.

Images should be in .bmp format, 128x128 for portraits, 36x36 minis and 20x20 for the pop_mini. Not sure about shields and things.

I'd be interested to see how small this shipset zipped down to - I reckon you could get well over 95% compression on plain black images

[ January 15, 2003, 16:09: Message edited by: dogscoff ]

[mlmbd]

It wouldn't be that tough to do! Just make 1-Black 128x128 for the portraits. Take any shipset (that already exist) and copy the name for that bmp and paste it in to the line off Save As. Then load that File you just save and repeat it until all the portraits are done. Then do the same for the 'minis'. Starting with a black 36x36 bmp.

Shipset complete. For you own personal use it might me fun. But not even you could see your ships while you were playing.

mlmbd

[Ruatha]

It was originally spawned as a kind of secret Rangers organisation. Unknown but taking a secretive hand in the play.
Mostly for single player but could be used for RP PBW also as a benevolent secret force.

And about not seeing them, for the AI that wouldn't pose any problem.
And a human player can go through the "ship" screen and access them from there.
The only problem would be stacks, as the number would show, ie fighters etc.

[ January 15, 2003, 16:36: Message edited by: Ruatha ]

[Ed Kolis]

You could always create a racial tech that gives hulls with level 6 cloaking...

[mlmbd]

Ruatha, if you make the bmp's invisable, then 'no one' can see them. Not even you. You could scroll the the ships one at a time (or fleets) it would take you to the sector where your ship(s)/fleet(s) are, but you would not be able to see them. They are "invisable". You couldn't even click on one of the ships. Invisable is invisable, not cloaked!

mlmbd

[Ruatha]

Yes, but when I click on a ship in the "ship" screen it jumps to the relevant sector, marks the location of the ship and makes it active. So I'll know where they are and will be able to order them around.