WP Abilities

[Fyron]

Gandalf Parker said:
Speaking of warp points, Im not sure which of the many mods I loaded that popped in tons of new warp points and descriptions for them but I wish they were abit more specific. There is lots of variety but effects (damaging, worthless shields, etc) dont seem to tie in to specific images. The planet images give some idea of what you will get when you examine it further but the warps seem random. Are we stuck with that?



Warp point abilities and warp point object descriptions are almost 100% unrelated. SE4 assigns the abilities randomly, and there is little we can do about it. SectType.txt (which defines the picture, description, and basic properties of an object, but not abilities) has no references to the ability classes in StellarAbilityTypes.txt. The same thing happens with stars, planets, storms, and asteroids.

With warp points, you can assign them as "unusual" with this line in SectType.txt:

Unusual := FALSE

If this is false, the WP will not have any abilities. If it is true, it can have abilities.

When a WP is added to a system, the type of WP is determined by this line in SystemTypes.txt:

WP Stellar Abil Type := Normal Warp Point

If it is "Normal Warp Point," the warp points will be of the non-Unusual type (Unusual := False). If it is "Unstable Warp Point," they will be of the Unusual type. Which entry in SectType.txt is chosen and which ability is selected in StellarAbilityTypes.txt is not relateable.

As a side note, SE4 only uses one WP entry in SectType.txt that has Unusual set to false. The last WP defined in the file with Unusual = False will be used for all normal WPs.

[PvK]

Really? I thought that the unusual ones got the unusual warp point graphics, which the normal ones get the normal warp point image. No?

The other option though is to use the map editor to make custom maps where you can choose the image and the abilities.

PvK

[Fyron]

Interesting. SEIV seems to enjoy making a significant portion of warp points be of the Usual SectType.txt type, devoid of abilities, even though I have every single warp point in SystemTypes.txt set to Unstable Warp Point and there is 0 chance for no ability on Unstable Warp Point in StellarAbilityTypes.txt.

It looks like having an ability makes the WP be of an Unusual entry in SectType.txt and lacking an ability makes it of the Usual type. The "WP Stellar Abil Type" does not seem to guarantee that the WP will be usual or unusual (unless no abilities are possible, of course).

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Did a bunch of posts just dissapear?

[PvK]

Narf, I assumed Fyron just started this thread with a quote from Gandalf taken from some other thread.

I don't remember the specifics, and can't look them up at the moment, but I think in Proportions mod I was able to add warp point abilities of various types, and make them show up with the unusual warp point graphics, though I think it's limited by system type like you say, so for instance all black holes get unusual warp points. I thought I was able to not only add variety to the effects (I know that worked), but to actually increase the chance that there would be some weird ability rather than nothing. Maybe I'm mis-remembering, though.

PvK

[Fyron]

I am not sure how anything I have said contradicts that?

[Gandalf Parker]

So...
in the mods do all unusual warps look unusual?

And if there are only 2 switches, common or unusual warps, then all of the variety and color in warp images is probably just confusing. Too bad that we have so much variety with so little that can be assigned as differences

Is a special image set aside for use with the warp-point creating technology? Can the wonderful image for "large stable artifically created warp point" do that?

[Fyron]

Whether unusual warp points look "unusual" or not is up to the author. In FQM, for example, all WP images are available for the "unusual" type. There is a large chunk of them that has a dummy ability.

Hmm... it would seem that my last round of testing was flawed. The chances for abilities on "Unstable Warp Point" were not actually adding up to 1000. So, it is possible to get the "usual" type of warp point crowded out from appearing on random maps. All created warp points are of the usual type, devoid of abilities. Making them look like jump gates and not having any jump gates appear on random maps will definitely work properly now. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif


And if there are only 2 switches, common or unusual warps, then all of the variety and color in warp images is probably just confusing. Too bad that we have so much variety with so little that can be assigned as differences

Indeed. Hopefully SEV will be better in this regard.