[Freelancer Mod News]Carrier ships
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.:LEGAL BS:. (Skip if you have the urge to)
This mod, is for demonstration only, which should help other modders to implement Carrier ships into their mods.
Written by Stormblast
!!!README STARTS HERE!!!
Well, to start simply, as I asure you the whole tutorial is, the basic idea of a
carrier ship is to have a capital ship (I used the luxury liner) in role of a jump gate. Basically
you dock to the ship and it carries you to another place.
Tools needed:
-HardCMP, for adding extra hardpoints to your carrier
-Notepad, or something else you use for editing .ini files
-a little free time and a fingertip of good will
1. Adding custom hardpoints to the ship you choosed
After you have chosen a ship which you think is good for the purpose find it’s model file (.cmp) and backup it.
Open the ship in Hardcmp and make sure that it has these hardpoints, if not create them.
-HpDockMountA
-HpDockPointA01
-HpDockPointA02
You also need one more hardpoint but you can choose it’s name (I used Hpxx01).
When placing the hardpoints or editing them, make sure that you place them in front of the hangar of
the ship in this order:
///SHIPHULL///////////////////////
////////////////H A N ////////////
////////////////G A R ////////////
Hpxx01 (or the one you use)-it should be placed just in front of the hangar or in it
HpDockMountA (around 100 units under the ship)
HpDockPointA01 (around 150 units under the ship)
HpDockPointA02 (around 180 or more units under the ship)
When you’re happy with your hardpoints save the model.
2. Editing DATA\SOLAR\Solararch.ini
Make an entry like this somewhere in the end of the file
[Solar]
nickname = carrier \here put the name of your ship
type = JUMP_GATE
DA_archetype = ships\utility\luxury_liner\luxury_liner.cmp \path to your ship’s model
material_library = ships\utility\utility_liner.mat \path to your ship’s material library
material_library = fx\envmapbasic.mat
envmap_material = envmapbasic
LODranges = 0, 500, 1000, 1500, 1800, 2500, 3000, 15000
mass = 100000.000000 \leave this alone
open_anim = Sc_open bay \this is the dock opening animation script, if your ship has it it should be defined in it’s .cmp, open it with UTF editor to see, if not leave blank
open_sound = gate_open_sound
close_sound = gate_close_sound
jump_out_hp = Hpxx01 \here put the hardpoint you defined in step 1.
docking_sphere = berth, HpDockMountA, 15, Sc_open bay
docking_sphere = moor_medium, HpDockMountB, 5.000000 \not sure about this if having problems with big ships, use the jump command or delete the line
docking_sphere = moor_large, HpDockMountC, 5.000000 \ -||-
solar_radius = 600
shape_name = NAV_jumpgate
hit_pts = 999999961690316250000000000000000000.000000
O.K. done here, save the file and proceed.
3. Editing DATA\FX\jumpeffect.ini
Add this to the end of the file:
[JumpGateEffect]
nickname = jump_effect_custom
glow_ring_effect =
glow_ring_hp =
glow_create_time =
jump_out_time = 1
jump_out_tunnel_time = 0
jump_in_tunnel_time = 0
jump_in_time = 1
kill_time_before_done = 0.650000
jump_tunnel_effect = jump_tunnel_interior_player
jump_tunnel = gate_tunnel_bretonia
jump_ambient = 25, 100, 25
jump_background_color = 255, 255, 255
Good. It amazes me how quick you use that Copy-Paste technique.
4. Adding a carrier ship to a system (DATA\UNIVERSE\SYSTEMS\xxxxxx)
[Object]
nickname = [something]to[something_else]
ids_name = 458756
pos = X, Y, Z
rotate = around x, around y, around z
archetype = carrier \here put the name you have defined in Solararch.ini
msg_id_prefix = gcs_refer_system_[system you place this]
jump_effect = jump_effect_custom \you will have to use the custom effect
ids_info = 66145
reputation = co_rs_grp \you can change this if you wish
behavior = NOTHING
difficulty_level = 7
pilot = pilot_solar_easiest
goto = [something_else], [something]to[something_else], gate_tunnel_custom \again custom!!
[zone]
nickname = Zone_[something]to[something_else]
pos = X, Y, Z
shape = SPHERE
size = 1000
property_flags = 131072
visit = 128
sort = 0
You will have to make this sort of entry in both systems you wish to connect with a carrier ship.
You could also have done this with Freelancer Explorer as it parses the solararch.ini and sees your
custom jump gate, but if you use FLE you still have to mannualy change the gate_tunnel_bretonia in system
.inis into gate_tunnel_custom.
SB
Hope you’ll enjoy it!
