Awesome, the STR# resources work properly on Intel OS 10.4 now in MC4.0a4. I can also close snd resources by clicking the red button now. On top of that, PICT and RLE thumbnails display properly, never in negative colors!
I couldn't find any bugs in this build at all, in fact. There are a number of typographical inconsistencies in the wëap resource fields. I'll get to those in a minute though. First are some more feature suggestions:
Ability to pick spďn for weapons from a list or thumbnail GUI from the wëap resource.
Ability to pick snd for weapons from a list from the wëap resource.
Ability to pick resource from any open file whenever picking from a list.
Text field by "spin continuously" check-box in Misc Flags section of wëap resource in which to enter BeamWidth (for delay between frames) and have it sync with the "real" BeamWidth field.
On the Star Map when a system is selected I'd like it to show a list of spöbs within that s˙st (much as it currently shows links from it.)
The option to color the circles representing systems on the Star Map to match their government's "map border" color (white for uninhabited.)
For STR resources could there be a little text guide describing which ranges reference which STR# fields? A list (partial? complete?) is in the appendices of the Nova Bible, but it would be handy to have when making STR resources.
And finally...I'd like to be able to save files when an editor window is open.
Okay, now on to typography in wëap editor. There's a lot of these, so I'm going to post the name of each field in question, followed by the present text. I'll make the part I want you to look at in bold. Usually it's just a missing space or carriage return. If there's something more I'll write it afterward in italics. A single character in bold is where I think it perhaps could be capitalized. Of course, it's entirely possible that the apparently missing spaces/returns are a local issue on my machine. If that's the case and the text displays fine for you, then just check out my italicized comments:
MassDmg: MassDmg and EnergyDmg tell Nova how much damage to dowhen one of this weapon's shots hits something. Energy damage does damage toshields only, and mass damage does damage to armor only. Further, if a shiphas shields, its armor can't be damaged until its shields are knocked down(unless the weapon is a shield-penetrating weapon).
EnergyDmg: <ditto>
AmmoType: What kind of ammo the weapon uses-1: Ignored (unlimited ammo)0-255: Draws ammo from this type of weapon. (Usually, if your Hector Cannon was of ID 131, you'd set the AmmoType to 3 so it'd use Hector Birdseed Pellets or whatever. However, you could conceivably set it to use ammo from another weapon's supply by setting the AmmoType to something else.)-999: Ship is destroyed when weapon is fired-1000 & below: Weapon uses abs(AmmoType+1000)/10 units of fuel per shot. ( e xample: -1005 = 0.5 units per shot)
Graphic: What graphic set to use for this weapon. 0-63 : Use this graphic set (i.e. spin resources 200-263 ).
Actually is 0-255 for spďn resources 3000-3255
Inaccuracy: The weapon's inaccuracy as it leaves the ship (ignored for guidance-10 point defense beams) -1 and below: Fires to the side by this angle (absolute value in degrees)0: Fires straight1 and up: Fires with up to this amount of inaccuracy (in degrees)
Impact: The magnitude of the impact when the shot hits something0: No impact1 and up: This amount of impact, which is inversely proportional to the ship's mass. (e.g. Missile = 30){For beams: Functions normally, with one exception: if the impact is set to a negative value, the beam acts as a tractor beam. Smaller ships will be pulled towards the firing ship with a strength proportional to the Impact value, while a small ship firing a tractor beam at a larger ship (or asteroid) will "latch on" to it and be dragged along. Note that you cannot enter hyperspace if held by a tractor beam from a ship that's larger than you are. Note also that inertialess ships are not affected by tractor beams.}
ExplodType: What kind of explosion to show when the weapon hits.-1: No explosion0-63: This type of explosion1000-1063: Explosion type 0-63, plus a random number of type-0 explosions around it
ProxRadius: The radius of the weapon's proximity fuse (useful for unguided missiles and bombs)0: Weapon requires direct hit to do damage1 and up: This number of pixels of proximity radius{For beams: ignored.}
BlastRadius: The radius of the weapon's blast effect 0: No blast effect1 and up: This number of pixels of blast radius{For beams: ignored.}
Decay: How fast to decay each shots power-1 or 0: **Ignored1 **and up: Remove one point of mass & energy damage every time this number of frames goes by (1 frame = 1/30 sec.){For beams: If Decay is greater than zero, the beam will "shrink" before it disappears from the screen. The actual time the beam spends on screen will be Count + 16 - CoronaFalloff in this case, so adjust your Reload value accordingly (otherwise you'll get too many beams onscreen at once).}
Falloff: The corona falloff. Higher numbers make the corona fall off faster. This value must be between 2 and 16. ( s ince lightning beams have no corona, this is ignored for lightning beams)
Also note: Positive Falloff makes sprite weapons fade out over time. Negative Falloff makes them fade in. Higher numbers (greater absolute value) make fading happen faster.
Recoil: The amount of recoil force to apply to the firing ship when this weapon is used:0 or -1: No recoilPositive values: Thrust the ship (b)backwardsNegative** values: Thrust the ship (b)forwards(note** that the resulting change to the ship's velocity is inversely proportional to its mass)
Feel free as well to ignore my suggestions. You've made an excellent program, David Arthur, and I'm highly impressed. It works wonderfully! If you really want to credit alpha testers, call me Nevin "Qaanol" Brackett-Rozinsky
Thanks for all your time, work, and dedication. You're truly an example.
**I have to delete the resource a second time in order to delete it once and for all. (if I remember right, I'm at school right now so can't be sure)