Matrix Games Forums

i just have a few q's (but first some info)
since i'm am a nood to moding Starshatter: the gathering storm i'm here...

i'm making a private mini mod to see what can be done etc etc

first off i'm using stock i repeat stock Ships and fighters and i would like to know how to add a turret to the falcon (but here's the big) "but" while keeping the stock guns and missles.

i have the starmod program and magic (modeling) programs.

the 2nd thing is about adding hard points to a cap ship so more guns can be added

My recommendation would be to start off reading the MOD SDK on the Starshatter website. While certainly not a complete bible, it will get you started down the right road.

First off, There are now 2 stock turrets available for small craft. One is for the LCA, the other is the back-end of the TBolt. Scale will be your biggest problem as I imagine the TBolt turret will look unreasonably HUGE on the Falcon.

Second..while you can put hardpoints on cap ships, you don't need to to add weapons. This is easily explained in the MOD SDK, so I won't repeat it all here.

Hope this helped.

V/R

oh ok i'll try that thanks and also what's a good modeling program other then magic?

Just read the mod sdk doen't exeacly tell you how to add weapons like turrets etc etc
just tells you where they could go

How to add the weapons is buried in the weapons portion of the MOD SDK. The best way to figure out deffing (as creating *.def files is called here) is to practice on a test ship (called a cube, or some other basic shape) and see how it works in-game. Once you have that ironed out, you can go back and mod an existing ship with confidence.

As for another 3D program, I have no specific recommendation, but it must be able to produce .obj or.3ds files so they can be converted to .mag for the game.

V/R

Welocme to Starshatter DgreyWolf.

So you want to start modding huh? [8|]

As a noob one can suffer from information overload. And some of that information can be confusing in and of itself.

Besides the Mod SDK information... check out the sight listed below. It has quite a few tutorials available.

http://ssd.servehttp.com/ssdv2/

Learning to mod can be frustrating in the beginning. It's also very time consuming once you get into it. [:)]

The only way to actually learn Magic is simpy to start using it. It's use will be key when you start placing all those fancy new weapons and turrets on your nifty world beating ships.

Obtain a stock ship .def file and make a printed copy of it. Also locate the .mag file for the same ship.

Open the .mag file up in Magic and compare the coordinates listed for the ships weapon placement with what is displayed in Magic. You'll see numbers displayed along the bottom of the display boxes.

In a .def file... the basic location of something in normally listed loc: (000,00,000)

I use the lower right box to get my Left and Right coordinates. I can usually get my Up and Down coordinates from the lower right box too.

I usually get my fore and aft or front and rear from the top left box.

(00,00,00) example. left to right. first number is left or right. Minus numbers for Port, regular number for starboard.

second number is up and down. Down is a negative number. Up is a normal positve number

Third number is fore and aft or front of ship or back of ship. Aft is usually negative.

Oh, and the the numbers can be more than two digits. (000,000,000)

It all depends on the size of the ship.

Well, now that I have made things as clear as mud. [:'(]

Like I said... modding can be mind boggeling. I used to have hair. [:D]

thanks wdboyd good explaintion
sorry to hear about your "hair" Loss (wdboyd)

unforually i checked out the site got to the tut's and when i went to check on them i got a error 401 page not found [:(]


ok using your explaintion (wdboyd)

i came up with this...
(bottom of ship Devastor near the bow, along the flat section)
00461, -0099 Right side veiw in magic
00000, -00588 top view

Which of the 2 below number should i be using in each straing of numbers

one last question and that is how do you invert the turrents? if you look at them in the game they all have their top of the turrent pointing up i was wondering if it's possiable to flip them around so that their top is point down like their on the bottom of the ship i'm modding.

Hi,

Sorry about the site problems. I have no control over that. If I find anything else, I'll report it. Try this one.

http://ssd.servehttp.com/ssd/magic101.php

I suggest you start learning with a simple craft... like a fighter or attack craft. They have fewer weapons and such. That's how I began. Just learn how to locate things and positions on the craft first.

And yes, you can invert weapons and turrets. I have inverted versions of all of my custom weapons and or turrets. Basically, in magic you select the object in one of the boxes and use the manipulation capabilities of Magic to simply spin it around. Then save it as the name you desire for a inverted version. Of course, you will have to create a weapon.def for it and add it to the appropriate spot on the selected crafts shipname.def.

I realise that you are eager to do what you want to do but there are actually no shortcuts. Again, start small and simple. Once you feel comfortable, attempt more complicated things. [:'(]

ah i see so i'll have to use the cube test ship
ok np thanks