Weapons animations

[Timstone]

Hi all,

I've been wondering how the weaponsfire is displayed.
Are they just images (like in SE IV), or are they animations. Could some one give some more info? Perhaps even Aaron, David E Gervais of someone else from the devs?
I would like to know what kind of things are possible in SE V.

[Captain Kwok]

It's more or less the same as in Star Fury.

[Baron Munchausen]

He did explicitly say that the Starfury engine would be used for combat in SE 5, you know.

[Ron_Lugge]

Starfury? Whats that?

[Timstone]

I know, but I don't know how it is done in Starfury. So, could you please elaborate?

[Phoenix-D]

Torps and Bolts (DUC, etc) have the same general format- a sprite is displayed en route to the target, with as many frames of animation as you like. Torps home in either instantly or with a set turn rate. Bolts fly straight to their target (neither miss).

Beams connect from the firer to the target, doing damage for the duration of the beam. They also have an arbitrary number of animation frames, and can miss.

All three have a speed rating. For bolts and torps, its how fast the shot travels. For beams, its how fast the tip of the beam travels.

[Q]

I like the weapons animation very much in starfury.
If it's similar for SE V, I will play much more tactical combat than in SE III or SE IV.

[Timstone]

So every animatiuon is still controlled by images (bmp's for example) tied together forming the animation. Hmm... not very gracefull.
I can recall the use of lights and particles was possible in SE V. I sure hope so, because I could do some kickass effects if that's the case. Then it is possible to create a very cool photon torpedo or the rays of a Vorlon Dreadnought. Also mines would look very interesting. Maybe even several different cloaking looks could be inplemented. Interesting to say the least.

[Ed Kolis]

Bolts never miss? I know they don't in Starfury (unless the target turns really fast) but I thought Aaron would fix that for SE5...

[Suicide Junkie]

Who says he didn't?