Rocket Never Goes Online

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brice
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Rocket Never Goes Online

Postby brice » Sun Apr 29, 2007 5:57 am

EDIT: forget about it! I screwed up. The "launchpad_victory.txt" string IS in my executable -- I just don't know how to use my file viewer (shame: I left the "backwards" option on when I tried to search the 1.4.0b9 executable... from the beginning!)

About the EscapeRocket and the hardcoded script, it does run, but only on the *second* fuel cycle. If you let the rocket launch on the first fuel cycle (like I was doing) then the script doesn't get called. The rocket (and DGs) must go through a burn cycle, and then the script gets called when the rocket ignites the second time around. It still never goes online, but this is the next best thing.

The Rocket can be made to burn when it reaches 100% fuel. No passengers are needed. Any of the following work: grenades, airstrike, cannon fire. The Demo2 works because the rocket appears as an enemy unit to the red DGs. Their grenades are what start the first burn cycle. But it can be anyone who inflicts the damage. If you point a cannon at it you can blow it up and let it refuel over and over. A very durable rocket ship! You can even shoot it after it lifts off. Then it stops mid-air and quivers.

Too bad there's no way to detect a first launch. And there's no way to switch the teams so red DGs can ride (and burn). I wanted to make a "stop the launch" level. Back to the drawing board.


------------don't bother reading the rest -----------

This post isn't a question. It's more of a bug report. It's mostly intended for IV people like Icepick who might be able to fix it, and insiders who might have some pull.

The EscapeRocket never comes online in 1.4.0b9 (linux). However the linux 1.3 Demo2 works fine. The demo executable has a hardcoded script name of "launchpad_victory.txt" which fires when the fuel and passengers reach 99% and 100% respectively. This hardcoded string is missing from the 1.4.0b9 executable.

xander, I know you're on a Mac, and you've used the Rocket in Insurrection. Were you ever able to get the Rocket to come online? You might try setting up a script named "launchpad_victory.txt". Or if you can look at the darwinia executable with a raw file viewer, you can search for that string. Is it mentioned in the Mac execuatble?

How 'bout the Windows 1.4.2 executable? Or the upcoming 1.5? Has the rocket script been dropped since 1.3? Can it be put back easily? Or is it too late?

Even a hardcoded script name is better than nothing. Otherwise there is no way for a mod to know the rocket has launched. The mission objective never becomes complete, even in the demo. I suspect it's because of the way the fuel ramps up asymptotically. The only way to get fuel 100% is to set it that way to begin with.

Thanks!
-brice
Last edited by brice on Mon Apr 30, 2007 9:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby brice » Sun Apr 29, 2007 10:46 am

EDIT2: the script CAN be made to fire on the first launch! :) The rocket is supposd to be dynamic, and there is an additional flag parameter in the mission file:

Code: Select all

Buildings_StartDefinition
   # Type              id      x       z       tm      rx      rz      isGlobal
   # ==========================================================================
   EscapeRocket   0  551.49  1357.44  1   -1.00   0.06   1   -1   50.00   20   -1   0
Buildings_EndDefinition


The last "0" is what I'll call the Burn Flag. Once the rocket has gone through one burn cycle this becomes a "1" forever more, no matter how many more burn cycles you put it through. This flag can be set by hand with a text editor.

When the Burn Flag is set, the launchpad_victory.txt script always fires when the rocket ignites. The script will fire repeatedly during the same session if you blow up the rocket and let it refuel several times.

So I'm one step closer to being able to do a "stop the launch" level... except what to do if someone shoots a rocket in mid air? The script will have already fired, but the rocket launch will effectively stop. I guess the solution is to not give the player a cannon on that level. But that's kinda what I wanted...
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Testrie
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Re: Rocket Never Goes Online

Postby Testrie » Mon Apr 30, 2007 5:10 am

brice wrote:...Xander...


erm... Xander? I'm going to assume that xander has something to say...

eyra
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Re: Rocket Never Goes Online

Postby brice » Mon Apr 30, 2007 7:23 am

Testrie wrote:
brice wrote:...xander...


erm... xander? I'm going to assume that xander has something to say...

eyra


... there's no need. My original question to xander was based on my own foolishness. The case is solved as far as I'm concerned.

...Unless you or anyone else want to talk about what the EscapeRocket is capable of, or how to make it work, or how the Demo2 scenes were made to work. That's all stuff I can talk about. xander too probably.

-brice
Last edited by brice on Mon Apr 30, 2007 9:51 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Testrie
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Re: Rocket Never Goes Online

Postby Testrie » Mon Apr 30, 2007 7:43 am

brice wrote:...question to Xander was based....


You did it again! xander!!!

hey! you got angry at me when I did it!

eyra
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Postby trickfred » Mon Apr 30, 2007 8:25 am

brice: Let me run that through the MakeSenseFilter(TM) for you. Testrie is trying to hint at/crack a joke about the fact that xander prefers his 'handle' spelled with a lower case 'x', rather than with a capital as you have been doing. I prefer the same myself with regards to my own handle, though you won't see me launching into a histrionic tirade about it. ;D
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Postby xander » Mon Apr 30, 2007 3:33 pm

trickfred wrote:brice: Let me run that through the MakeSenseFilter(TM) for you. Testrie is trying to hint at/crack a joke about the fact that xander prefers his 'handle' spelled with a lower case 'x', rather than with a capital as you have been doing. I prefer the same myself with regards to my own handle, though you won't see me launching into a histrionic tirade about it. ;D

I would like to point out that I don't think that I have ever launched into a "histrionic tirade about it" because someone miscapitalized it. I got into it with BrianBlessed after he insisted that it shouldn't matter in the least, after I added a comment about it to some other post that I was making. Generally, I just ignore it, as I have done here. I bring it up from time to time, but let is pass more often than not.

As to the rockets, Insurrection uses another trick. I found that I could trigger the launchpad_victory script, but that it went by too quickly, and I didn't get to say everything that I wanted to say, and it takes the player to the wrong ending. On the other hand, there are some ways to cheat. The entire life-cycle of the rocket looks like this:
  1. The rocket starts offline (and, actually, never comes online), with as much fuel and as many DGs as you start it with. If you start above a certain percentage, skip to number 3. Otherwise, go to 2.
  2. The rocket is dormant. It needs fuel and DGs. As you bring fuel pumps online, the fuel in the rocket increases. When the rocket is totally fueled, DGs will start to board. When the rocket is full of DGs, launch preparations will start. Go to 3.
  3. The engines start to rumble, and smoke and sparks are shot out of the bottom of the rocket. Additionally, red DGs are spawned from a building that the rocket links to (this is, if I recall correctly, a trigger link, rather than a link link). The rocket will continue to rumble and make smoke for about a minute, at which point it will launch, end of story. However, it is vulnerable at this point. If it is attacked with explosives, it will cease launch activities. Go to 4.
  4. Now, the player must bring the rocket back online. If you have already brought the fuel pumps online, they will stay that way, and keep feeding fuel to the rocket. However, you will have to get more DGs to the rocket. Go to 5.
  5. Once the rocket is ready to go, it will launch, and the launchpad_victory script will run.

In Insurrection, I didn't want to go to the demo ending, but rather to the escape-from-Darwinia ending. So, I took advantage of (3) to make things work. There is a script trigger out in the middle of the ocean. The rocket is linked to that script trigger. When it is ready to launch, red DGs are spawned in the ocean. They all die very quickly, but not before setting off the script trigger, which starts the end-of-game script.

Also, recognize that most of the above steps in the rocket life-cycle can be skipped by judicious editing of the mission file or map file that the rocket inhabits. You can skip (1) and (2) by loading the rocket with fuel and DGs from the start. You can skip (3) and (4) by setting the flag that brice describes above. And you can skip (5) by using another script at (3) (i.e. do what I did in Insurrection).

All of that being said, the EscapeRocket will never come online, in terms of game status. It does all kinds of cool things, but you can never complete an objective if that objective requires the rocket to be online. This doesn't generally matter, as the rocket will still launch, and you can run scripts that will open up levels, &c., but when using the rocket, you have to understand that it will never come online.
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Postby hitm4n » Mon Apr 30, 2007 7:47 pm

So let me get this right...

you, Xander, are saying the rocket will never come online ??

:D
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Postby xander » Mon Apr 30, 2007 8:04 pm

hitm4n wrote:So let me get this right...

you, Xander, are saying the rocket will never come online ??

:D

I, xander, have yet to see an EscapeRocket come online without hacking game.txt.

xander

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