Regenerating Shields for bases

[Mephistopeles]

We at FLU just released Omicron Minor and the the first Major. What I am looking for is information on how to make the shields around the bases in Omicron major destructible but also have them regenerate with in a couple of minutes. Any useful information on this will be highly appreciated.

[Mephistopeles]

I am trying to do this for tekagi's arch in tohoku any useful information could earn your name being listed in the credits for the flu mod.

[Gibbon]

You can make anything destructible, that's the easy part. A couple of things about regeneration. Once destroyed, anything will regenerate the moment you launch, but will be indestructible until the server resets. You won't be able to destroy the item a second time again until the server resets. Now, there is a workaround.

I'm assuming you are familiar with adoxa? There is a plugin of his called PersistentDestructibles which makes the whole thing a lot more realistic. It will keep the destroyed item dead until the server resets. I don't know about spawning it again fully healed without a server reset though. I know this isn't quite what you're looking for but is a step in the right direction

Download here: adoxa.110mb.com/freelancer/plugins.html#persistentdestructibles

Now having re-read the original post i see what you're trying to do. IIRC, the shield is attached via an FX hardpoint for the shield on Tekagis base. How about making a new shield entry for the base but using the Tekagi effect? What i mean by that is not attaching it via the FX hardpoint but simply make it part of the base, so when you hit it and the shield goes down, then the effect will disappear? I'm assuming this is what you're after

[Mephistopeles]

Yes that is exactlly what I was after thank u Gibbon.

[Gibbon]

Ok, which is it, the adoxa solution in the first part of the reply or the second one i suggested?

[robocop]

Hey Gibbs,

1st of all, miss you on TSP, I'm sure you have your reasons for leaving.

2nd, Meph was investigating for me on this issue.

I want to make the shields on the Nomad Lair and on Tekagi's Base (two different shields) destructable/regennable the same way a base turret or a tradelane gate is.

In other words, hammer that shield with enough firepower to take it down for a couple/few minutes, allow docking, and then regen. Without taking down the shield, docking will not be possible.

Could you elaborate a little more on that second solution you offered Meph?

[Gibbon]

Hi Robo, are we talking the Adoxa fix? This will keep it down until the server resets so not really what you are after. The second one is something off the top of my head which i'm actually going to go and investigate now and report back

[robocop]

No, I was more interested in your idea of adding the new shield entry. Adoxa's plugin would work if I could figure out how to kill the shield in the first place, but I want it to regen as well.

I'm guessing that the shield would have to be childed to a destructable object (shield generator) somewhere. I almost wonder what would happen if it were attached somehow to a base turret. When the base turret was killed the shield would go down and when the base turret came back up, the shield would reappear.

Kind of the reverse of the smoke you see when you blast a station turret.

[Gibbon]

Nothing to report testing wise but i have been looking through the code on this.

SOLARARCH

One of the few dockables with this line attached

shield_link = space_arch_shield01, HpShield01, HpShieldGen01

Now i looked for the shield in question as it should be sitting in st_equip.ini but it's not. This means the entry could be hardcoded. Having said that it's not difficult to define a shield.

In all the shield entries, each one has this type entry

hp_type = hp_fighter_shield_special_1 (up to 10)

Now bearing in mind what is in the solarch entry already, maybe substitute that for

space_arch_shield01

and attach a new shield via the loadout to the

HpShieldGen01 hardpoint as that's where it's mounted in vanilla.

The problem seems to be where to attach the outer_sanctum_shield as that has to be in with the shield somewhere

[robocop]

I looked at the space arch as well.
There are only three entries in there with shield links.
Tekagi's Arch, Dyson City, and the tradelane rings.
The Nomad Lair which has a shield as well does NOT have a shield link.

And yet the shield on the arch does not appear to be able to be shot down. The shield on the City I haven't looked at yet, but the shield on the tradelane rings appears to be what I'm looking for.

You shoot the tradelane rings and the tradelane ring prevents docking until the shield regens.
That might be the best avenue to pursue.

I'm going to have to look at the properties of the tradelane rings and the TLR_shield01 to see what I can find.

[robocop]

Oh, and in order to keep the mod compatible with the vanilla player (in the vanilla systems) I don't think I can ADD any pieces of equipment, can I? I know when I added ships to the shiparch and solars to the solararch, it created all kinds of problems with the server, especially for any players not running the mod.

If I were to add a shield mount to the Nomad Fighter for example, it would work if all players were running the mod, but if one player was not running the mod, when he shot at the Nomad Fighter, the ship would take damage as if there were no shield.

Adding the StarBlazer caused all kinds of problems with unmodded players crashing to desktop whenever they came within a certain range.

Adding solars to the solararch would cause players to CTD if they weren't running the mod, etc.

I'm not sure what would happen if I added a shield, but I'm going to guess that if I were to add a gun, any player not running the mod would have issues as well. Fortunately, if I were to add a shield, it would be on a base that would be accessible only to players running the mod so at least I've got that going for me...

[robocop]

All right, the Tradelane Rings have a single HpShield01 mount which is referred to in the loadout for the tradelane rings. On this shield mount is mounted the TLR_shield_gen01.

This is the shield entry for the tradelane 'shield'

[Shield]
nickname = TLR_shield01
DA_archetype = solar\dockable\TLR_shield_bubble.3db
HP_child = SpConnect

It appears that the shield generator is tied into the tradelane object somehow as it does not have to be hit directly in order to take it down. What's interesting is that I don't see any entries that specifically indicate that when the 'shield' is down, the tradelane doesn't work.

[ShieldGenerator]
nickname = TLR_shield_gen01
DA_archetype = solar\dockable\TLR_shield.3db
material_library = solar\Solar_mat_TLR.mat
LODranges = 0, 500
ids_name = 0
ids_info = 0
mass = 0
volume = 2
hit_pts = 500000000
HP_child = HpConnect
debris_type = debris_normal
regeneration_rate = 10
constant_power_draw = 0
rebuild_power_draw = 20
max_capacity = 1000
offline_rebuild_time = 30
offline_threshold = 0.3
shield_hit_effects = 0, gf_TLR_shield01
shield_collapse_sound = tl_disrupt
shield_collapse_particle = gf_TLR_powerout
shield_rebuilt_sound = tl_regenerate

So, the issue becomes this:
I have to create a shield generator similar to the tradelane generator and attach it to a HpShield mount I have to add to the lair object.

Then I have to create a shield that will protect the entry/exit points on the lair using the Nomad Dome Shield. This shield needs to be visible like the Nomad Dome Shields but must go away when the shield generator is hit.

I'm gonna fool with this for a bit but I'm stumbling in the dark. Any suggestions or advice you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

[robocop]

Actually, as I fiddle with this more and more I'm realizing that there are no shield properties at all to the nomad dome. It's actually a solar and as such does not have the ability to drop and regen...

[Gibbon]

Even if this is possible which with much experimentation i suspect it would be, new entries in various files would be required. It would have to offered as an addon mod. It certainly won't work directly with the vanilla files as is.

[robocop]

Oh, I understand that perfectly. My point is that in some cases adding items can either have an effect on the modded player only (adding a cloak hardpoint to a dreadnought for example, the unmodded player will still see the cloaked ship. The cloak has to be added to a vanilla hardpoint such as a light), or adding a shield to an unshielded ship. The unmodded player does not see the shield and will do damage to that ship as if it were unshielded.

Or the additions can really hose the server such as adding anything to the shiparch or solararch. For some reason unmodded players can't even log in or will CTD on launch even if the item is not in their range or in the same system. Whenever I've added items to the server I've had to modify unused solars to do the job.

Regardless, any modded solararches (SUPRISE objects for example) are only added to mod required systems anyway.