Project OBSP Development Thread

[Arthur Dent]

Are the explosions just meshes or actual particles. If not: Would it be possible to make particle streams forming a smoke cloud / mushroom cloud?

 

[RisingFury]

They're meshes. It wouldn't be possible to make a cloud from particle effects. It would lag too much.

 

[gattispilot]

Could the mesh be located below the horizon and then raise up to the horizon like the smoke raises from the ground. Or maybe scaled from small to large.

 

[Hielor]

Could the mesh be located below the horizon and then raise up to the horizon like the smoke raises from the ground. Or maybe scaled from small to large.

Won't work in the general case, since the visible "ground" in orbiter can be several kms below the landable surface.

 

[gattispilot]

What if the mesh was at the surface but scaled and then moved up.

 

[the.punk]

I think for the atomic explosion it wouldn't look good if you are just scaling.
It must be an complexer animation.

 

[gattispilot]

If it is a simple mesh how about this. you have several stages of it. And start with the base and then turn on the next stage and so forth. I guess you could do the reverse.

 

[the.punk]

Yes different stages would be good.
Then the atomic explosion could rise in the air.

 

[escapetomsfate]

For the effects, it might be best to let weapons spawn different vessels on explosion, instead of changing the mesh. That way, Animations can just be started on creation of the vessel giving developers more flexibility than using a "ExplosionAnimationID" parameter in a CFG file. This should happen in the next release.

Progress Report: Development is slow. I've tried a rewrite twice, and both failed. I simply cannot find a good class structure to use. Maybe if I just spent a complete day working out all the bugs, it would be worth the effort.

I'm wondering what the best module system is, too. What would be the best out of these two approaches?

-One DLL controlling everything (As it is now).
-Spreading out the workload between DLLs (Explicit linkage).

Well, talking about guidance...
Can anyone test this?..
Missile takes targets autonomously, "space" key launches the missile from CDG.

Wow! That is looking good I found no bugs with it.

 

[RisingFury]

I can't wait for the next release!

Though I think we should focus as much on weapons of mass destruction. Orbiter Combat should be more about dogfighting and skill instead of dropping a nuke to keep someone off your back

 

[the.punk]

That is a knowen bug.

 

[Diaboy]

Hey guys, I haven't played this yet, and I'm no expert but I thought you might find this website useful:

http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3x.html

It has a whole load of realistic ideas on how space combat might work.

Just a quick question - in a 0G environment with no atmosphere, wouldn't explosions move anyway...?

 

[garyw]

In one word, yes. An object in motion will remain in motion in the same direction untill acted upon by another force. Other than the gravity of any other near-by objects, an explosion would go straight. But watch out for debris from explosions, those are the real danger once the weapon explodes.

Incorrect.

Most damage from an explosive is in the pressure wave. Contain that and you contain the blast.

 

[ThatGuy]

But would there even be explosions? If there is no atmosphere, nothing can burn, right?

 

[RisingFury]

But would there even be explosions? If there is no atmosphere, nothing can burn, right?

Unless the weapon carries it's own oxydizer, not just the fuel to provide the explosion. But probably the most effective weapon would be a fragmentation warhead, detonating on impact or in close proximity.

 

[tblaxland]

Unless the weapon carries it's own oxydizer, not just the fuel to provide the explosion. But probably the most effective weapon would be a fragmentation warhead, detonating on impact or in close proximity.

Explosives don't need atmospheric oxygen to react, that is what makes them so powerful. If they needed atmospheric oxygen then the reaction would be limited by the surface area of the material. Instead, explosives are fully self-contained and decompose explosively given sufficient activation energy (eg, from a detonator and, in bulk material, from the shock wave formed by initial reaction). See TNT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinitrotoluene

 

[RisingFury]

I made that statement assuming the explosion was in space. Sence there is no oxygen (which is the primary fuel for fire) in space, the explosions would be very small, as well as the pressure wave which would only last as far as the fuel that caused the explosion. The initial explosion can put in a hull breach in space, but the debris from the weapon blowing apart would have to do most of the damage to the craft. And unless the oxygen stays inside the craft, which it wouldn't after the hull being breached, the explosion would only be effective enough to send dibris all over the place at high velocities which would cause the most danger. Even if you had that area automaticly sealed off, the dibris itself could unseal that area and effect other areas as well.

On a planet with an atmosphere, it might be a different story. Especually a thick atmosphere (like Earth) with lots of oxygen (or other flamable gas). The explosion would do the most damage because there is something else in the area for the pressure wave (officially called "shock wave") to travel. And the dibris would be slowed significantly by the air resistance.

You don't understand! Explosives already contain a mix of fuel and oxidant. They don't rely on atmospheric oxygen to react. The explosion would be far smaller if they didn't since only the surface of the explosive would detonate and send the rest of the fuel all over the place... even if that ignited, you'd have an explosion scattered over several cubic meters... and that would turn a powerful bomb into a bunch of loud firecrackers...

 

[garyw]

Debris. Spell check please!

 

[Ghostrider]

If you want to to a lot of damage on a vessel in space, you'll either need to make the weapon bigger, or let the dibris do the work. Which is probably will either way.

No, you only have to design it properly. Google "shaped charge" up. A relatively small explosive charge can kill a main battle tank and incinerate its crew when make the right way.

 

[garyw]

We're not talking about tanks which are limited to the ground, we're talking about space. It would take a lot more explosives to get the same sized explosion in space than it does on Earth because there is no oxygen in space. Your best shot is a fragmentation bomb.

Never heard of inertia?