Referencing BC craft

[Joaquin]

Hi guys,

Thanks to your help I've got my scripting moving along pretty well, but I've got a couple of more questions when you have the time to answer.

1.I seem to remember that the shuttle and interceptors can be referenced individually when scripting. The GBS docs hint at the possibility. I've tried "sc1", "sc_1" and "sc-1" to reference BC shuttle craft 1. I just get an error during prepare.

Can't reference individual support craft; i.e. SC1, IC1, etc.

2.I'd like to use some ground vehicles as debris in the space environment (adds more drama to the aftermath of an intergalactic battle). Is that going to cause my scripts any problems in the long run?

Try it and find out. I disagree though. This will just add clutter IMO.

3.Am I looking for trouble if I have a non BC craft dock with the BC?

YES because non-CC (aka BC) craft cannot dock with CC asset.

Oh, on the documentation end of things, I always indent ifs, etc. but for some reason when I copied the script from Notepad the indents didn't stick. I am using EDIT to do my scripting. Speaking of documentation how do I format the output of these notes to reduce the font? Do I use the UBB codes listed in the New Topic editor?

code:

---

Use the UBB "code" "/code" tages to maintain format.

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TTFN

Thanks,

Joaquin

[ 11-20-2001: Message edited by: Gallion ]

[Gallion]

Sorry Joaquin, I missed this before

TTFN

[Joaquin]

Gallion,

Thanks again for the reply. Clutter? One mans clutter is another mans prop. More questions and observations.

True, but I was refering to having debris comprised of ground and air craft. Like I said, go for it and see what happens. If it works, share

1)Hmm... I saw a reserved word "SC" listed in the documentation. I thought I could detect the presence of Shuttle Craft using it but it did not seem to work. Have you used it?

Yes the SC is on the GBS reserved verbage list. I have not had any luck parse-ing a script using the SC1, IC1, etc. as a condition or what not in a script. When I want an event or condition to reflect either SC or IC assets, I use IF/IFNOT HERE (etc) player as the system event action.

There is probably a way to script it correctly but I have not figured it out yet. Besides, hanging an event or condition based on support craft (SC, IC, etc.) is not something I do often, IF ever.

2)Also tried !Reach assuming it had something to do with detecting the status of a crafts physical proximity to an object. That didn't turn out either. Is there a way to determine when a craft gets "close" or "near" an object?

!reach {object} is a system event trigger that has one to several events that will trigger once the actor reaches the {object}; this means get close (i.e. 1-10km), not dock. Think about what happens to your BC when the Reingard (sp?) shuttle reaches your bc in lv105 in the old/new ACM.

3)It looks like I can literally make anything into a spacecraft if I carefully duplicate a typical spacecrafts Radar, Dynamic, AI flags and create a new definition in the object file. Am I correct?

In theory ye. However, the the version of GBS thatthe SC is releasing (BC3K GBS version included) is the lite version. Which only allows script generation NOT changing game parameters

TTFN

Thanks,

Joaquin

[ 11-21-2001: Message edited by: Gallion ]

[Gallion]

Just a bump to get Joaquin's attention

TTFN

[Joaquin]

Gallion,

Ok, got it. By reaching I am guessing you mean an actor actively reaching a target vs. "waiting" for something to reach it. Maybe the SC can shed some light on the use of SC.

Joaquin

[Joaquin]

Gallion,

Try "SC,1" to reference Shuttle 1. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Joaquin

[Gallion]

hehehe ... mayhaps I will Joaquin. Good show there. But there is a caveat IMO.

To hang a conditional EVENT on SC,1 (for example) could lead to a paradox - what if the player's SC1 is destroyed or undergoing repairs at the time of the mission?

TTFN

[ 11-25-2001: Message edited by: Gallion ]

[Guest]

This goes back to an effect I tried back in my days of scripting with GBS-I. I was attempting to emulate the "Identify" function made famous by the Star Wars space sims - you know, flying close to something to scan it's contents. It would have been a useful feature for some of my GBS missions. However, it didn't work. You can't place a !reach function on the CC, only on other ships, and it will only be triggered if the the other ship is actively trying to reach you - ie. if you put a !reach condition on a cargo container for your command craft, it won't be triggered, even if you fly your command craft next to it.

At least, that's how it worked in GBS-I.

[Gallion]

What DeSylva said

TTFN

[Joaquin]

Gallion,

Good show - Thanks, I've been doing that kind of stuff all my life. Figuring things out, that is. Even have a few patents. There seems to be some limitations to using it, though. Either that or I've got a bug in my script (probably the later).

Caveat - You have to take that possibility into account in the programming, as usual.

DeSylva,

Right. I had a suspicion that it worked that way given the name and programming paradigm thats taken a while to sink in. Thats why I asked.

Thanks,

Joaquin

[Supreme Cmdr]

It will be cleaner in the final GBS-II release.