O_O LASERS

Sorry then, got you wrong. Is something like this okay for you? Thats just a long beam.

Yes

Read this, might help.

FriendlyFire wrote:
Those aren’t beam weapons, they’re just elongated single shots. In beam_effects.ini, make some code like this:

[BeamSpear]
nickname = put_your_name_here
tip_length = ; Put a large number there
tail_length = ; Put a large number there
head_width = ; Play with this, makes the beam wider
core_width = ; Play with this, makes the beam wider
tip_color = ; RGB color
core_color = ; RGB color
outter_color = ; RGB color
tail_color = ; RGB color
head_brightness = ; Play with this, makes the head stuff more apparent
trail_brightness = ; Likewise, makes the trail more apparent
head_texture = ; Can be star or ball
trail_texture = ; Can be thin or wide
flash_size = ; Increase to make a big flash when you fire the weapon

Then, you make a new effect in effects.ini, like this:

[Effect]
nickname = put_your_name_here
effect_type = EFT_WEAPON_PROJ
vis_beam = put_your_name_here

And you reference your effect in your gun’s munition definition. Make sure to put a relatively long refire delay between shots.

Of course, that’s just one way of doing it. I did mining lasers using ALEs, but that’s of course slightly more complicated

p.s - if you just type “beam weapon” into the search box then click on show more results in the forum results you will see it has been discussed many times before, I think that’s what people are encouraging you to do more often.

Also, don’t demean yourself by referring to yourself as a stupid annoying faggot, show some pride man.

Oh come on now, don’t blame someone because you’re being lazy. It’s definitely not being stupid. It’s being a lazy bum who knows that others already know and would rather not spend the effort to do it again.

And guess what? We’ve all been through that at one point, and we often go through it again. Thing is, you can’t learn if you’re always fed by someone else. “Give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he’ll eat for a lifetime.” This quote couldn’t be more appropriate here.

You can either ask for someone to entirely do it for you, or you can delve into it and learn how it’s done. I’m afraid ALEs were confusing to EVERYONE when they first begun; the difference between those whom people see as skilled and those who are not is that the former persevered and the latter did not, for whatever reason. It may be that they already had enough on their plate, it may be that they just didn’t care enough. Whatever the case, the point I’m making is that everyone can do anything with some effort, especially ALEs, which by now aren’t as difficult as they once were. I’d argue that making models is far more selective than making ALEs, because the former requires true talent while the latter only requires blood and sweat - trial and error.

Now that I’ve made my rant, I’ll just finish by saying that while you can do beams with simple INI coding, ALE-based beams can be powerful too. I have already dabbled with them and can tell that they, when used properly, can look fantastic. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to circumvent certain issues that greatly limit their scope and possibilities.

What I worry now is that giving out the source for this ALE would help nothing, as most would just rip it entirely and maybe change the color, but be unable - no, not unable, unwilling - to understand how it works. What do you guys think? I don’t want to give you a fish, I’d rather push you into learning how to fish…

First, calm down. Panicking and running around arms flailing won’t do a bit of good to your comprehension.

You don’t understand because you aren’t willing to put the time to understand it. How long have you pondered on how to do it? Have you done any experiments? Have you even tried?

And by try, I don’t mean opening the file, glancing at it, screaming “AHHH I DON’T UNDERSTAND” and close it. I also don’t mean changing random numbers, seeing it crash or fail, and stopping. You must try to understand the underlying structure - it isn’t so hard, but you should try with smaller goals first. Baby steps.

I guess FF that it’s up to you whether you release it or not, unless you’re reserving it for some special purpose then I can’t see why not. Having said that, I’ve no doubt that there would be far greater value in teaching everyone how to fish for themselves, as a once keen fisherman myself though, I know that knowing how to fish and being any good at fishing are two different things! You may just open up a huge can of worms so to speak.

Nova wrote:

Wolfie wrote:
In my world at least, thats not it. I want you to learn, and you can’t do that without learning yourself. Just open beam_effects.ini and you will see.

Human’s brain cant know everything. I dont understand the ALE. I understand a lot of FL stuff, but ALE and SUR are exceptions. And I need a help such as little child needs help with learning the ABC….

Also it is hard for me to understand something special in english: sometimes i have to use google translator, but of course it may give translation in wrong meaning. There are no russian FL modding communities.

Ahh, that is where you don’t understand us. It has nothing to do with .ale when it comes to beam effects.

When it comes to .ale editing, its hard for people to help you. I think I can safely say that there are none in the FL modding community that fully understand ALE. Me and Xar are coming up with something you might find of use.

@Wolfie: I’d disagree with that. ALEs are seen as some sort of arcane art, but I don’t exactly see why. Unlike SURs, we have tools that work effectively and reliably, and the syntax is simple and clear once you’ve wrapped your head around it.

Nova, I think the most important thing you’ll need to understand is how particle effects actually work. I’m afraid there is no such thing as a length for beams. Could you find a reason why? Think about how particle effects behave, how they are created, how they move. What could create length in such circumstances?

FriendlyFire wrote:
@Wolfie: I’d disagree with that. ALEs are seen as some sort of arcane art, but I don’t exactly see why. Unlike SURs, we have tools that work effectively and reliably, and the syntax is simple and clear once you’ve wrapped your head around it.

You’re saying someone in this community understands ALE files 100%? I disagree personally.

The basic stuff with emitters, appearance etc… Sure, but there are some stuff in ALEs that doesn’t make any difference at all.

@Nova:
Dude… You should know how to get along with what you got, and not always cry for the best…
“I want this, I don’t like that, this is not exactly what I asked, I want it 1:1…”
You have beams. Thats not what you saw, but its the best you can get without having experience with ALEs.

What you saw is, I assume, is deep ALE editing. You should find out more insted of asking and bragging all the time… I think the mod you should look for is Reballance, the latest version.

No, that’s not what I want. I care not for fame and fortune (otherwise I wouldn’t be running a site for a near-forgotten 7-year old game ). I want people to UNDERSTAND what they are doing, not just drone out the same tutorials over and over. You don’t make great modders that just follow orders. It doesn’t work that way.

However, I see that you are unwilling to think. If you want to make ALEs, you also need to see how they work conceptually. Plugging in random numbers is not how it should be done! Either you really want to do it and you invest time and effort into the job, or you don’t want to do it, and you should just say so right now to avoid wasting everybody’s time. The question I’ve asked has a simple answer, one that should come to you if you try to think about the concept behind how particle effects work. You’ve worked with 3ds Max already, didn’t you? How would you make a beam effect there?

@Wolfie: By the same token, nobody understands anything because we do not fully understand everything. That’s a false dichotomy. You can know something, master something even, without having perfect and absolute knowledge. We have enough knowledge about ALEs to do almost anything. We probably know over 80% of the format and we can work with it handily enough. I don’t see why you want things to be so black and white. Stop propagating the myths about ALEs being hard and maybe we’ll finally see more ALE editing, which is right now sorely lacking.