This has most likely been asked before, but with the search feature still down I can't find the answer I'm looking for. What's the maximum ship size you can have in Nova? I have a feeling it's somewhere around 200pixels by 200pixels, but Im not too sure, and I coulden't find anything about it in the Bible either.

Thankyou in advance

TheRedeemer

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I think it's quite a bit bigger than that - i've made ships over that size and they worked just fine in EVC/O, and since Nova has pretty much improved on everything in EVC/O, it oughta work fine in Nova too.

I think perhaps there is no maximum ship size, it just uses more and more memory - so if you get a monster ship onscreen it will probably just slow down the game a lot.

Divals

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I don't recall there being an actual value for 'maximum ship size' but it's always an idea to not use graphics larger than the minimum screen size, due to something about the graphics buffer. So as long as none of your target audience are playing Nova on their Gameboys, you should be fine.

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The maximum size is limited by the maximum size for a PICT-ressource. Go ahead a try to save a VERY large PICT. I can't remember the limit, but I've exceeded it once.

Have fun
Denb

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(This message has been edited by Denb (edited 07-16-2003).)

Thanks guys, I only thought that there was a maximum ship size because I was looking through the Nova and Polycon data files, and I can't recall any ships being any bigger than 200pixels by 200pixels, so I assumed thats the maximum you can have.

This is good news for me, because I've always wanted to make some monster ships

TheRedeemer

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The main problem with large ships is that, in order to make their movements smooth, you really need to have more than 36 frames, which means you bloat the file size. Add in the effects -- alternate frames, animation or banking, lights, weapon and engine glow -- and you can max out the size of your files (remember, ResEdit only allows resource files of some nebulous number between 13-15 MB -- I've seen the former, others claim the latter) very quickly.

For SFA, I'm releasing a TNG-era graphics pack for future plug-in designers, and the Romulan D'Deridex Warbird shän comes in at 320x256, with 72 frames to make it turn smoothly. It's virtually in a graphics file all its own.

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On that subject, is it possible to have a ship in EVC/O with more than 36 sprites? It would really be handy for some of the bigger ships in TGC, ie the Havulaarium Battle Cube and the Imperial Death Eyeball.. they're pretty jerky with only 36 sprites. EV-Edit (which i use for testing my graphics) seems to have the ability to use more than 36-frame sprites, but i don't want to spend the effort to make larger sprites if i can't use 'em.

Divals

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Quote

Originally posted by Denb:
**The maximum size is limited by the maximum size for a PICT-ressource. Go ahead a try to save a VERY large PICT. I can't remember the limit, but I've exceeded it once.

Have fun
Denb

**

Wouldn't pict be only for spins? I'm not sure, but wouldn't rleds be okay without that limit? Oh wait, the individual pictures/frames... got it. I think. :frown:

I've always wondered this same question. If only matt dropped by more often.

~A~

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classic and override can only handle 36 frame sprites. i've heard that nova can use more, though i've never tested it so i won't confirm or deny it. as to the size, my knowledge is again limited to classic and override: in evc and evo the maximum sprite size is 640x480 (for all 36 frames), so if you assume a 6x6 sprite, the biggest ship is 104x80. i believe this is different in nova, though i don't know if they dynamically allocate the sprite buffer (in which case the only limit is your machine's memory) or if they just made it bigger (much bigger, b/c it supports much more than 36 frames per sprite now)

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Eh.. i've made ships up in the 200x200-ish range and EVO supports 'em juuuust fine

Divals

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'Ainsi Deathscythe began for scalfire and crosspiece around.'
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Quote

Originally posted by Divals the Conqueror:
**Eh.. i've made ships up in the 200x200-ish range and EVO supports 'em juuuust fine:p

Divals

**

He's right.. EVO is a tough little bugger. I once made a planet that was the size of four screens. (that's right- four screens) It looked cool as hell, but the in game speed was butchered all to hell.. The screenshot looked damn cool. I wonder if I still have it around.. Anyone remember that?

_bomb

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SPQR
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The maximum size of a PICT is around 32000x32000 pixels, because the width and height are stored in signed 2-byte numbers (IIRC). That would mean the max size spin you could run through EnRLE with a reasonable number of frames would be about 2000x2000 pixels. If you made a planet at the full maximum size (32000x32000), it would take up ~1.57 gigabytes. Ouch. In other words, you can't make an RLE that big simply because you wouldn't be able to fit it into a resource fork.

-Vaumnou

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(This message has been edited by Vaumnou (edited 07-16-2003).)

Well, you're talking about the extreme limits of the file format, I think that Nova wil have given up looooong before 3200032000 pixels (do you imagine? someting like 3040 screens at 1024*768!!!!).

Remember that in Nova you are not limited to PICTs for images.

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