Ambrosia Garden Archive
    • Ambrosia Garden Archive
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      for EV-Classic, what is the best program to use for ship graphics?
      also how do you know how many degrees you have to rotate the ship?
      sorry if this is dumb question, I'm a noob

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      "Indecision is the key to flexibility"

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      Quote

      Originally posted by virmor:
      **for EV-Classic, what is the best program to use for ship graphics?
      also how do you know how many degrees you have to rotate the ship?
      sorry if this is dumb question, I'm a noob
      **

      Bah, hit the return button before I even finished entering my screen name. Sorry about that. Anyway....

      For ship graphics? Depends on what you want to do. If you want to simply edit existing graphics, it's probably best to use Adobe Photoshop, or some equivilant program. If you want to make new graphics, then you have lots and lots of choices. I personally would suggest using POV-Ray, but it has a somewhat steep learning curve and many people don't like using it. If you are determined, however, it does get easier with time. Other suggestions would be Mechanisto, Strata 3D, and Infini-D. They are all programs that can be obtained either for free, or for really cheap. Other more mid-range products would be Bryce (which is primarily used for making landing graphics), Carrara, Cinema 4D, uh... yea. And high-end, really expensive programs are SoftImage (which I also like to use), Lightwave (which many people use, including ATMOS, who made EV:Nova), Maya, and 3D Studio Max. It's all dependent on what you want to do with the program, how much you're willing to spend, and how much you want to learn the program.

      If you don't know the answer, then it's not a dumb question. Actually, this question (how many degrees) is asked frequently. The sprite starts at 0 degrees, and rotates 10 degrees over 36 frames. In other words, you have an array of 36 images (6x6), with a difference of 10 degrees between each consecutive frame. The last frame (bottom right) is the ship at 350 degrees, because EV will then loop back to the first 0 degree frame.

      Matrix

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      Strata all the way...

      (url="http://"http://homepage.mac.com/ewanc/rds/images/rebelfighter/shyrd_comm.jpg")example - my latest finished piece of work(/url)

      ewan

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      may contain nuts

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      (url="http://"http://www.evula.com")http://www.evula.com(/url)

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      I never think of the future - it comes soon enough. - Einstein

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      Quote

      Originally posted by nOOb:
      **http://www.evula.com

      **

      this topic is about animating ships, not hosting them.

      Edit: But then, you could have been linking it for Jules' hosting... in which case... the reply button blockquotes text from the person you are addressing.

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      Mantaray's Law: If a topic is born on #ev3, it will start stupidly and end in chaos.

      (This message has been edited by Mantaray (edited 10-09-2002).)

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      Quote

      Originally posted by Mantaray:
      Edit: But then, you could have been linking it for Jules' hosting... in which case... the reply button blockquotes text from the person you are addressing.

      Sorry, bit confused by that, what do you mean? I registered my .mac account, so???

      (edit)
      Was the link down? If so its not because my account has expired, its because .mac are switching servers and are experiencing difficulties at the moment, so we are to expect some down-time.
      (/edit)

      ewan

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      may contain nuts

      (This message has been edited by Jules (edited 10-10-2002).)

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      Quote

      Originally posted by what:
      **If you don't know the answer, then it's not a dumb question. Actually, this question (how many degrees) is asked frequently. The sprite starts at 0 degrees, and rotates 10 degrees over 36 frames. In other words, you have an array of 36 images (6x6), with a difference of 10 degrees between each consecutive frame. The last frame (bottom right) is the ship at 350 degrees, because EV will then loop back to the first 0 degree frame.

      Matrix**

      Actually, in EV/O, that's not quite correct. You're off by 5 degrees. The first image in the spin is used for any ship heading between zero and ten degrees, thus the image should be rotated 5 degrees so that it's centered on the interval of actual heading angles. Likewise, the last one should be at 355 degrees.

      Side note: in EVN, the ability to aim the ship in finer detail than shown in the spin images was removed, thus, in EVN, spins should start at zero degrees.

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      (url="http://"http://www.rit.edu/~jxc1906/")(Insert Signature Here)(/url)

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      Quote

      Originally posted by Wyvern:
      **Actually, in EV/O, that's not quite correct. You're off by 5 degrees. The first image in the spin is used for any ship heading between zero and ten degrees, thus the image should be rotated 5 degrees so that it's centered on the interval of actual heading angles. Likewise, the last one should be at 355 degrees.

      Side note: in EVN, the ability to aim the ship in finer detail than shown in the spin images was removed, thus, in EVN, spins should start at zero degrees.

      **

      What? What are you talking about? It's 0 - 350 degrees, and it always has been. Look at the EV graphics, especially the Bulk Freighter. It's pointing STRAIGHT UP. Besides, no one really notices if their ship is pointing in the exact same direction as it is accelerating. It's much easier to use 0, 10, 20, etc.

      Matrix

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      "Nothing is fool-proof to a sufficiently talented fool."

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      Quote

      Originally posted by what_is_the_matrix:
      **What? What are you talking about? It's 0 - 350 degrees, and it always has been. Look at the EV graphics, especially the Bulk Freighter. It's pointing STRAIGHT UP. Besides, no one really notices if their ship is pointing in the exact same direction as it is accelerating. It's much easier to use 0, 10, 20, etc.

      Matrix

      **

      Yes, I am quite aware that basically all existing EV/O scenarios (including the default ones) use the incorrect 0-350 setup. And, at least in the programs I've seen, there's no difference in ease of setting up between 0-350 & 5-355. And as to the "no one really notices" point, that's much the same argument as is used by people in favor of angled graphics. I notice. And I am mildly annoyed when it's gotten wrong. Of course, angled graphics are much worse offenders than a constant 5 degree difference.
      For comparison: imagine that someone had tinkered w/ your first-person-shooter of choice so that the crosshair was off by 5 degrees.
      You are right that it's a minor problem, though - I only really noticed it as a problem when I was using Heavy Rockets against distant targets.
      To prove to yourself that it is in point of fact this way: get a slow turning ship w/ a fixed forward beam weapon w/ no innaccuracy.

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      (url="http://"http://www.rit.edu/~jxc1906/")(Insert Signature Here)(/url)

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      Quote

      Originally posted by Jules:
      **Sorry, bit confused by that, what do you mean? I registered my .mac account, so???

      (edit)
      Was the link down? If so its not because my account has expired, its because .mac are switching servers and are experiencing difficulties at the moment, so we are to expect some down-time.
      (/edit)

      ewan

      **

      Nonono, n00b posted a link to evula.org, and / was confused. I postulated the theorum that n00b was reffering you to evula.org for the good purpose of establishing with your good self a free webhost.

      I always wanted to post something like that 😄

      🙂

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      Mantaray's Law: If a topic is born on #ev3, it will start stupidly and end in chaos.

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      Quote

      Originally posted by Wyvern:
      You are right that it's a minor problem, though - I only really noticed it as a problem when I was using Heavy Rockets against distant targets.
      To prove to yourself that it is in point of fact this way: get a slow turning ship w/ a fixed forward beam weapon w/ no innaccuracy.

      Why would you use Heavy Rockets on distant targets anyway?

      Matrix

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      "Nothing is fool-proof to a sufficiently talented fool."

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      Quote

      Originally posted by Jules:
      **Strata all the way...

      example - my latest finished piece of work

      ewan

      **

      That's a nice image for Strata.

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      -Zaphod Beeblebrox - President of the Universe
      All hail El Presidente Beeblebrox

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      Quote

      Originally posted by what_is_the_matrix:
      **Why would you use Heavy Rockets on distant targets anyway?

      Matrix

      **

      Because they do a lot of damage, and can be fairly accurate at that range, especially against slow ships. Distant in this case meaning off screen.

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      (url="http://"http://www.rit.edu/~jxc1906/")(Insert Signature Here)(/url)

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