Gunboats and Components Questions

[Blackadder]

I was wondering is anyone would be willing to answer a few questions about modifying SE4.
Currently trying ot design a few shipsets and would like to add or change a few things in SE4.

1. Is there a finite limit to components that can be used in a game ? I refer the the componnets bit map file that contains round 288 images (ish).
Can you add more ??

2. Gunboats
Any good ideas on how to add them ?
The way I assum GBs work is they are larger than fighters (usually warp capable, just short ranged), don't require a carrier maybe a tender vessels. Sort of a gap between starships and Fighters.

So far I'd figure them to be in SE4 as mini starships?
Problem is if they carry starship sized components they'd probably not be carrying much.
(unless I could a add whole new range of GB only parts)

3. To Warp or not to warp...
Is it possible to make it in SE4 that a unit cannot travel warp ?
Short of giving the ship no engines.
But then again this'd make the ship almost a monitor or insystem defence ship? Maybe vessels that cannot warp could recieve some sort of cost bonus.

I admit I am new to the SE4 world, so any help or ideas would be appreciated.

Thankyou.


The Lair

[ 29 December 2001: Message edited by: Blackadder ]

[geoschmo]

Good question about the bitmap image. Not sure about that. According to Malfador the limit of components in the comp.txst file is 64,000. But that assumes you are reusing images for many components I think.

Your idea for gunboats sounds very much like drones that are being added with SEIV Gold. You could also just make them as very large fighters I suppose. You can add new hulls to the vehiclesize.txt file, but you have to stay within the limits of what the executable willo recognize.

Geoschmo

[Blackadder]

64,000 thats a lot, thats very handy to know.

As the bitmap file, perhaps I could try an experiment to see if the no. of images can be extended. From what I can see its, 12x24 288 images, though a couple are blank and 1 of them is the destroyed component image.

Is there a known limit to what the executable can recognize in regard to min/max hull size ??

Drones are something I am yet to look at.

Thanks


The Lair Sci Fi Art Gallery

[Suicide Junkie]

1) To add more images, just increase the height of the image, and continue counting up component numbers. Don't change the width.

2) Try making a fighter hull, copy some of the more useful and smaller ship components, and allow them on fighters.
Players might try to use some of the ship components on their small fighters, but the size should discourage them.

As for engines, I'd reccommend upping the engines per move on the GB, and setting the 10kT engines to provide lots of standard movement.
That way the small fighter engines are useless on GBs. It might be funny to see a 10KT engine stuffed into a 15KT fighter, and it would be amazingly fast!


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I believe the limit on hull size is also 64K.

[ 29 December 2001: Message edited by: suicide_junkie ]