MINES IN SINS (100% COMPLETE!!! TEASER PICS INCLUDED VIDEO UPLOADED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)!

from Sins Forums

MINES ARE NOW FULLY FONCTIONAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

 

 

 http://files.filefront.com/Video+3avi/;12542573;/f

 

Well this is a nice topic..MINES! Entrenchements masterpiece..well I've been toying around files and wondered if we didn't already have all the tools to create such devices!

OK they will not be invisible..but in RL when are mines EVER INVISIBLE! To the contrary, their fat-ass pieces of metal cramped together in the hopes that a ship cant outmanouevre them..their not there to kill but more to dissuade and lose time going around (even though they do a pretty good job at killing ;)!

So the idea..well ideas as I have 2:

1) Create a new ship with a simple mesh in the form of a ball with spikes (which I already have) and call it a mine. Secondly create a minelayer ship with the ability to spawn that mine! (like Ive done with so many ships..just a matter of changing the frigate spawned!

Now the thing is to give your mines no lifetime (ie.last forever) and give them a modified version of timed explosives which you can only cast on friendlies! that way, you set the mine and activate the timed explosives ability (which is currently on your minelayer) to simulate the activation time of the mine.

 + about this method) Looks like a real mine, massive explosion for massive AoE (Area of Effect) damage.

- about this method) Mines only last as long as the times explosion delay.

2) is basically same as one except ability is ON MINE and with no delay period..so you manually detonate it when ships gets close gets close! For those of you sdaying..well the vessel will be smart enough to just counter the mine...think again!!! ADD PHASECLOAK ability to your mine..and vessels will just wonder past!! and thats when you cast Timed explosion! BAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MEGA DAMAGE! Only way to counter is to use a minesweeper (coming soon) with a "disable ability" ability that does AoE spread (which their is one..so thatll work):D  which would disable the mines and allow the enemy fleet to blow them up harmlessly!

+) Perfect damage, you detonate at your time and mines last forever if untouched

-) You have to get away from whatever you were doing to remotely activate the mines when an ewnemy approaches

 

that leads to my question..is their no way to add a triggertype that says when enemy gets in range??? If so..well give that to your timed explosives ability and VOILA!!! MINES ARE IN!!!!!

 

So what does everyone think???????

 TEASER PICTURES!!!!

1) MINE UP AND PERSONAL

2)

MAGINOT LINE SINS STYLE

3)

MINES AWAY!

 

Justin S.

modding
87,840 views 32 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

that leads to my question..is their no way to add a triggertype that says when enemy gets in range??? If so..well give that to your timed explosives ability and VOILA!!! MINES ARE IN!!!!!

Setting the ability's target filter/range and making sure the auto-cast default is on should pretty much guarantee that it goes off on its own as soon as an enemy enters the ability range.

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

Damn wasnt precies enough...

I dont want full range...but like half-range or something cus if I do full itll just blow up and hit first guy and nothing on others ..so you can easily counter by sending tampon ships inside..everything blows up and voila ..minefield gone! 8C

 

If not possible..how about adding a 20 sec delay or something like that..so that vessels trigger the mine but since its in phase cloak, theyll continue past it...and BOOOOOM..you get more!

How does that sound?

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Multiplicity - Control multiple PCs using one keyboard and mouse
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

There is a delay setting but that gets kinda complicated. Let's take a look..

Generally, this is how it looks:

instantAction
 buffInstantActionType "DoDamage"
 instantActionTriggerType "OnDelay"                     <<
 delayTime 0.000000                                          << Delay stuff
 damage
  Level:0 300.000000
  Level:1 550.000000
  Level:2 800.000000

The problem is this: Are the targets calculated when the buff is triggered, or when the instantaction is executed? In the first case, even adding a delay would just affect the ships in range when the mine was triggered. In the second case, it would do what you want.

However, I'm willing to bet it's actually the first case, so here's where it gets complicated. There are two ways around it, in theory:

1) Quick and messy: make the exploding ship also do damage to other nearby ships. So even though it's the only thing getting damaged by the mine, ships around it will also be damaged. This is crude and messy and doesn't make sense since it would be 2 overlapping circles which means a bunch of the ships that get damaged wouldn't necessarily be in range of the mine.

2) Clean and complicated: Nest the buffs. The ability is triggered by 1 ship entering the range, and the buff that's triggered is a "timer" cast on the mine itself. It uses the OnDelay instantaction trigger type to call the "go boom" targetted buff with the same targetFilter as the ability after x number of seconds. Since the targets will be recalculated for the second buff, it should eat the new number of ships in range, rather than just the initial triggering ship.

Make sense?

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

I'm a very happy fellow!

When I come back from work tonight (why the hell did I say yes when they asked me to cover for someone who broke their ankle:( )..I'll get them online and share them with my team (Kiedjor, SpardaSon, Teal, and whoever wants to join) and if they agree..with the rest of the community!

(well with post up..I guess anyone can copy my train of thoughts now :(!!!) Gonna lose the credits! LOOOOooooool:D

That way I'll have my starbases (already online) and mines....sorry entrenchement..beat you to it :D (I swear I'll buy you though!! STARDOCK/IRONCLAD FTW!!!

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

Thank you!! (Bows to modding godliness of Annatar11)

I've been puzzling the same thing myself for awhile. :thumbsup:

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

DARE TAKE MY MINES AWAY!!! THIS IS MYYYYYY METHODD!!! GO FIND YOUR OWN!!!

LOL!!!

No really I'm serious...this is MY mines :D Not to be a drag..but so happy I got that idea..that seems to fit the mine bill so flawlessly! I dont want anyhow taking it away form me and adding his name to it!

sorry!

Justin S.

Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

Sweet idea,  I was wondering if one could do that, but considering that I was already working on some thing else, I decided not to try it myself.  I hope it goes well!  I am interested in seeing the results.

Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top

Well results are kicking! Minelayer is up and operational with ability and Mine is activated (ie. Minimally mouveable(just to rectify a slight miscast..with a speed of 10 you wont go far:D ) with own mesh (primitive yet neat! THANKS KIEDJOR)!

 

Now just need to get the essence of the mine down...the part when it goes boom..and seeing by the amount of minidumps im getting..Im definitely doing something wrong ;)!

Time to get back to it! Should be finished  tonight though! Ill post screens!

 

Justin S.

Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top

Sounds pretty cool!


Can't wait for the screenshots.

Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top

Screenshots are up and running!!!

Still slaving for optimal trigger time...seem to be hitting brick walls each time! (cant be that hard..did like 100 times on other abilities :( )

Justin S.

Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top

Well annatar youre description on how to make that timed explosives is more complex than I thought...played through like 20 mini-dumps and still no sign of success (bloody ship wont even self destruct by himself :(!

So..lets recap..go slow and steady..so that I cna get this to fully work ASAP :D

 

Justin S. In mental overheat! From exhaustion at work, lack of food, lack of sleep...Ie VERY BUSSY LIFESTYLE in which he adds Sins LOLLL!

Reply #12 from Sins Forums Top

OK I've run in a problem..with time explosion giving more thna 20 mini-dumps..Ive decided to use the missile barrage template + timed explosion effects and created a very good mine!

Problem is...the missile barrage does not auto-activate when an enemy is in range even if it is set to TRUE!!! Any ways to fix it...cus its really the only thing left to change...(well gotta add a tiny delay time to let ships the time to go past mines) but overall yeah tested it out..and the fact it doesnt AUTO TRIGGER is the final issue in my feet!! Problem is its almost 1 AM and I gotta go to bank etc tomorrow morning..so if someone could answer during that periode of time..Ill make sure that as soon as I come back Ill make the adjustements and test out the beauty ;)!!!

 

Justin S.

Reply #13 from Sins Forums Top

FINAL ISSUE LADIES AND GENTLEMAN!!!!

 

Instead of using delay,etc and calling numerous buffs...which won't work in the current pattern of things (I'll explain in a sec), I was thinking of simply linking Phase Cloak and timed explosion in one nicely round package!

The reason for this is I currently have to abilities 1) Phase cloak, to allow ships to get close to me 2) timed explosion 12K (will be MAJORLY BUFFED OF COURSE) hull only attack destroying EVERYTHING AROUND IT (PLUS ALL ALLIED SHIPS!!!!!!!! like a real mine..its vs everyone!!). Problem is they both only activate when I get hit!

Imagine the trouble having to gamble if either your phase cloak or missile barrage will activate first (it could add a little spice to the mine in the sense that it could represent a mine malfunction etc...preliminary explosion...etc..)!

So what im trying to do is simply to link phase cloak with timed explosion! Phase will be the trigger and delay while TE (Timed Explosion) will be damage (duhhh..:D )! Sequence is...I get shot, phase cloak activates giving me 10 secs of invulnerability while enemy ships coninue to go forward to their destination...after 10 secs, phase cloak ends and trigers TE..and BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM you got yourself a chain reaction with all other mines in the area (mine only has 4K range..so if you put your mines real close...you can make a firewall!!!). LOL!!!

Annatar or anyone good with abilities could tell me the easiest way to do it..I dont know wher in the file I put link to other buff...maybe provide an example?? Thank you!!

Once that will be done..then ladies and gentleman..I'll have to work on minesweeper to take all that crap out ;) LOOOL!

Justin S. Psyched at finishing his first major project (which actually just hit him in the head TODAY) and couldnt let go...;)

Reply #14 from Sins Forums Top

Nerd.... :) LoL

Reply #15 from Sins Forums Top

So what im trying to do is simply to link phase cloak with timed explosion! Phase will be the trigger and delay while TE (Timed Explosion) will be damage (duhhh.. )! Sequence is...I get shot, phase cloak activates giving me 10 secs of invulnerability while enemy ships coninue to go forward to their destination...after 10 secs, phase cloak ends and trigers TE..and BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM you got yourself a chain reaction with all other mines in the area (mine only has 4K range..so if you put your mines real close...you can make a firewall!!!). LOL!!!

What's to stop them from shooting the mine and, well, not going forward? Letting it blow up all by itself? I mean, I guess the AI wouldn't really be smart enough to do that, but if it uses the mines, you could easily do that.

I don't think that's a good way of implementing the mines :P

And if you're having minidump issues, post the errors, because otherwise I have no idea what might be going wrong :P

Reply #16 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Kiedjor, reply 14
Nerd.... LoL

 

Just happy to get this down! I am in no way I nerd..I have a life!:D   Gaming is only a fraction of it!:D

LOOOOL, Thanks Kiedjor! I'll remember that!

 

Reply #17 from Sins Forums Top

You magnificent bastard you.

Reply #18 from Sins Forums Top

Thank you! (if it was aimed at me)

(if it was at Kiedjor...well we all already know that ;) lol)!!!

 

Now gotta start attack the artillery range and its saturation bombing! :D

@Annatar!

This is basic layout of the mine! It's complete because it works and does the desired effect! Yet it is far from perfect, and I am well aware of that. So to answer your question! What stops the Ai from just shooting and go..answer is PHASE CLOAK! Like we all know this incredible ability turns your vessel ethereal meaning cant move attack,etc...and in AI terms.it means PASS BY AND AWAY!

So how does it help the mine stay alive...well simply because the first shot AN ENEMY (you can manually set the mine by accident it WILL NOT TRIGGER) that fires at mine causes it to trigger a variant of Phase Cloak which gives the mine 9.999 secs of invulnerability (during that time it becomes uninteresting to AI who just moves by to wherever he was going). At 10 sec precisely, phase claok dies and the buff condition is triggered meaning Timed Explosion takes the lead!

Instantaneous 12K damage Hull only shared in a 6K radius(all to be nerfed). So thats approximately how it all works! Like you probably saw, the video shows it pretty well (it looked awesome on my pc but the upload apparently scratched it :( ) yet I still have a little issue about mines not exploding (phase cloak was active when other mine died) Easily seen in last minutes of video (reason I was hanging aroud there was wondering why they hadnt trigered)!

Any feedback or help to improve would be incredibly appreciated!

Thanks!

Justin S.

 

Justin S.

Reply #19 from Sins Forums Top

Nice...

 

You wanted to know my method for mines...   My mines do not require enemy attacks, but detect proximity, so they explode in a much smaller radius of 450-850 distance units, which fits just inside the visual explosion designed for planet modules...

 

   Your work is nice though, but I'll be holding onto my code until I get 1.1 running with my mod for mines...

 

boom-da-yada

Here's how I like mine...

 

Still, you deserve the Boom-Da-Yada Award for your devotion to mines...

Reply #20 from Sins Forums Top

Boom-Da_Yada!!!

Boom-Da-Yada!!!

Reply #21 from Sins Forums Top

Oh...  Up at top you mention "manual detonation", Did I read the thread wrong because I thought you said they were auto-detonating... ...more specifically, you said they were triggered my enemy fire...

Okay, I reread the whole thread, and found out you just started all this today (It took me 10 completely separate coding tries to get the 11-herbs and spices into my mines in the summer, and the wait was because I needed 1.1 and not 1.05 for the final timing issues from the old explosion system...

Of course, if you can't wait (or want all the credit), then you certainly don't have to wait for me...

   Another update...  My minefield generators are done, with a nice symmetrical pattern of randomly scattered mines around the main unit, so the only thing I'm waiting for is to get on my Dad's computer to install Impulse (my gaming computer has no internet, and my dad lives in another state, and his computer was down on thanksgiving)...

Reply #22 from Sins Forums Top

Credit...I dont give a damn! I'm just happy I succedeed through the crap that coding these bastards (and ships that go with 'em too) took! :D  Now I'm onto other important businesses...(finishing all codding to get to modding ;) )! BTW my mine is temporary. My big ass mine was unready as I have a file problem with XSI! so the model was a backup..5 sec to go one!(thanks a LOT KIEDJOR)!

 

But I would LOVE to work with you on mines! I like your idea of inradius detonation (tried it too) but just felt that I dint have the feel for a classic detonation :)!

Cheers,

Justin S.

 

Reply #23 from Sins Forums Top

so do either of you two have working mines? videos of said mines? i like what you both are doing here, let's see some bang.

Reply #24 from Sins Forums Top

why not have the minelayer use both kinds of mines if your going to work to gether???

Reply #25 from Sins Forums Top

justin you are SOOO giving me the code for that to use in Exiles Wrath!