Question 'bout Jump Effects and Tunnels

Well, with my mod being a Halo-based Modification, I’m looking for a good way to simulate… well, Slipspace translations.

First off, I was looking around on 88 Flak, and found a few differences between the Vanilla JumpGateEffect and the 88 Flak edition: Here’s theirs:

[JumpShipEffect]
jump_out_effect = jump_out_effect
jump_in_effect = jump_in_effect

[JumpGateEffect]
nickname = jump_effect_bretonia
glow_ring_effect = jumpgate_rings, jumpgate_rings, jumpgate_rings, jumpgate_tunnel, jumpgate_end
glow_ring_hp = HpFX2, HpFX3, HpFX4, HpFX2, HpFX5
glow_create_time = 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3
jump_out_time = 3
jump_out_tunnel_time = 7
jump_in_tunnel_time = 4
jump_in_time = 6
kill_time_before_done = 4
jump_tunnel_effect = jump_tunnel_interior_player
jump_tunnel = gate_tunnel_bretonia
jump_ambient = 128, 128, 255
jump_background_color = 255, 255, 255

[JumpGateEffect]
nickname = jump_effect_hole
glow_ring_effect = jumpgate_rings, jumpgate_rings, jumpgate_rings, wormholeactivation, jumpgate_end
glow_ring_hp = HpRingFX01, HpRingFX02, HpRingFX03, HpFX1, HpFX1
glow_create_time = 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3
jump_out_time = 3
jump_out_tunnel_time = 7
jump_in_tunnel_time = 4
jump_in_time = 6
kill_time_before_done = 4
jump_tunnel_effect = jump_tunnel_interior_player
jump_tunnel = gate_tunnel_bretonia
jump_ambient = 128, 128, 255
jump_background_color = 255, 255, 255

The first thing that makes sense to me is that it takes longer to drop out of a Jump Gate on their mod. I figure this is the “kill_time_before_done” variable, which is 4 here and 0.65555 or so in Vanilla. Does extending that make it take longer to drop out of a Jump? And if so, what does a jump into system look like for another player? Will they see glowing effects around the ship (especially the moving rings like how the Osiris cloaks in and out in the SP Campaign)? If that was in fact one of the effects of having a longer kill time, I think I’ve found exactly how to make what I want.

Any help and/or corrections in this matter are most appreciated!

feels smart OOOOKay! After much trial and tribulation, I have discovered what each thing does. I’ll explain it line by line.

nickname = jump_effect_bretonia

Those of you who have done system coding know that this is the name a jump gate will be referenced to.

glow_ring_effect = jumpgate_rings, jumpgate_rings, jumpgate_rings, jumpgate_tunnel, jumpgate_end

These are the effects that will be applied to the jump gate before entering. As in, this is how it will look while it’s activating.

glow_ring_hp = HpFX2, hpFX3, HpFX4, HpFX2, HpFX5

These are the hardpoints, coded into the Jump Gate .cmp, where the effects will be attached. Each one will attach the effect to that hardpoint, in order that they appear, and there MUST be one for every gate_ring_effect. (I.e., jumpgate_rings is attached, to HpFX2, jumpgate_tunnel is attached to HpFX2, jumpgate_end is attached to HpFX5) If you want to know where each hardpoint is in the model, download HardCMP and view it there.

glow_create_time = 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3

This is how long it takes for the aforementioned effects to appear. Just like the hardpoints above, they correspond to each effect in order, and there must be one for every effect. Having them staggered like this gives an appearance for a jumpgate charging.

jump_out_time = 3

This is how long your ship will take to get into the tunnel from the moment it goes into “cinematic mode”. In other terms, it’s how long your ship will take to get from the very tip of the jumpgate to the very back of the jumpgate. Once the ship reaches the back, you enter the jump tunnel.

jump_out_tunnel_time = 7

This is the time spent in the tunnel after entering it before you got to the white loading screen.

jump_in_tunnel_time = 4

Inversely, this is the time spent in the tunnel after the white loading screen, and before you exit the tunnel.

jump_in_time = 6

This is how long it takes for you to regain control of your ship after you exit the jump tunnel.

kill_time_before_done = 4

Admittedly, I’ve no idea what this does. I’ve halved it and doubled it, and seen no difference, at all.

jump_tunnel_effect = jump_tunnel_interior_player

This refers to an effect in the effects.ini file. You can tweak that to change it how you’d like.

jump_tunnel = gate_tunnel_bretonia

This is a call to gate_tunnel.ini. You can tweak things there to make the inside of your tunnel look how you’d like.

There, that should just about do it! Hope that’ll help some other people in the near future.

An idea, that’s for sure, it’d just be something I’d have to test with… other people, really. laughs I’ll give that a shot in my pre-alpha