Baltimore Steam Propulsion Laboratory

[Pieter Boelen]

I think the graphical part of the steam ship functionality is coded properly now.
See attached for the Build 14 Alpha 10 compatible files.
Add this code to the USS Constitution and start a new game to test:

	// PB: Steam Ships -->
refShip.steamship = true;
refShip.stack1X = 0; // Width
refShip.stack1Y = 5; // Height
refShip.stack1Z = 5; // Length

refShip.stack2X = 0; // Width
refShip.stack2Y = 5; // Height
refShip.stack2Z = -10; // Length
// PB: Steam Ships <--

Thickness of the smoke depends on the sail setting.
There'll be a little bit of smoke on "idle" setting and lots of it on "full ahead".

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Now that I have added the code support for two stacks on one ship, somebody can make the Napoleon and she'll look the part properly:

We might even be able to put two stacks side-by-side and put invisible sails on a Mississippi river steamer:

Also, do you remember in Master and Commander the white smoke on the Aubrey's "whaling ship" trick?
If not, see here for a picture.
We might be able to do that as well on the waller frigates we've got in the game.

Oh, the options, the options!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

So now it's up to the modelers to give us some stuff resembling steamboat.
We don't need too many, just a few to shake things up a li'l in the last period.
Make bring some extra trouble onto the player ("What is that smoke doing on the horizon? Damn, it's coming closer QUICK!").
And it could make a fun special event in, say, the Hornblower story,
even though in the books, Hornblower only gets to see steam tugs when he was an Admiral in "Hornblower in the West Indies".

If possible, I would like one of those big two-stack Napoleon-like sails-and-steam combo ships.
Paddlewheels are a plus; that'd look especially cool.
Though it'd also be interesting if a non-sail steamboat could be made.
We could propel that one with a sail with an invisible texture.

 

[carmenara]

Excellent. I guess when it comes to that we can even play an ambient sound for the steamboats' engines (which will not affect normal ships, good!).

When I get back for the weekend my objective is to get the wind-independent propulsion right. You sure it's still too fast? It was fine with the new settings here. I guess it's time to break out the arcade compass!

 

[ZarethPL]

hmm seems like i can star searchin for some steam frigate blueprints


btw why is the constitution the first ship to test such stuff ,earlier the big explosions now this ,God knows what ull do to her next time :

 

[carmenara]

btw why is the constitution the first ship to test such stuff

Prettiest ship in the Caribbean and the most modern design :3

We need a suitably American name for the Constitution steam conversion.

 

[ZarethPL]

btw why is the constitution the first ship to test such stuff

Prettiest ship in the Caribbean and the most modern design :3

We need a suitably American name for the Constitution steam conversion.

how abaut USS Valiant -steam frigate served from 1840's till 1890 thou it had 4 masts

 

[carmenara]

Perfect! - a good forerunner to the Napoleon battleship which entered service in 1850.

The model's almost finished too which means we could have a special easter egg for Build Beta :3

I might also do a quick recolouring of the hull for a French variant. We're using the yellow/black one as the RN heavy frigate. In the War of 1812 the English sailed much smaller ships but they did manage to outnumber and capture one American heavy.

 

[carmenara]

waller frigates

So that's what the "wallers" are. I'll be sure to do a Sea Shepherd paint scheme for the Valiant-class and name her USS Paul Watson. Lmao. And oh yes, make Whale Wars style videos. Who knows we might even make some friends LOL

 

[SuperChango]

Welcome to the future, gentlemen!

We are also able to move ships at any speed independent of wind direction and strength.

For now, we're wondering if we can get the ship to move forward regardless of wind strength. :wacko:

*pouts* Time to rename this thread!

You are a mean person you know... that top secret pic is almost painfull :

Greate work you two... i tought the coding was going to be waay more complex...

 

[carmenara]

You're right you know. My method of attaining wind independent propulsion from sailship sailing code makes absolutely no sense

I'll be awaiting the French steamer most eagerly and she will get a special manual all to herself. Same for your San Martin when it's done.

The people interested in Build marketing should be as enthusiastic as you!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Excellent. I guess when it comes to that we can even play an ambient sound for the steamboats' engines (which will not affect normal ships, good!).

I was thinking about the sound too. Not entirely sure how we would get a continuous sound playing.
And we'd need different sounds based on "engine" settings.
Still, it should be possible and it'd add a lot of good ambience.

When I get back for the weekend my objective is to get the wind-independent propulsion right. You sure it's still too fast? It was fine with the new settings here. I guess it's time to break out the arcade compass!

It did seem pretty fast in some cases. I wonder if the speed might still be wind-dependent to some extent?

hmm seems like i can star searchin for some steam frigate blueprints

You'll hear no objections from me on that account. Though finishing what you have in the works first would be most welcome.
We're not planning on adding too many steamships; at least for the moment...

btw why is the constitution the first ship to test such stuff ,earlier the big explosions now this ,God knows what ull do to her next time :

LOL! Truth be told, this time she's used for testing, because she looks the part.
I think with my previous tests, she had just been released and she was the 'next new toy' I wanted to play with.

Greate work you two... i tought the coding was going to be waay more complex...

Took me a whole day to get the graphics right though and working without stupid errors.
Still, I suppose it's a quite quick achievement. Luckily I was able to handle the smoke in a way I was already familiar.
Did you know the code is actually similar to my Kraken Attack code? (STILL need the tentacles!!! )

 

[Kazen Dukzom]

Nice.

 

[Iron Roger Flint]

Did you know the code is actually similar to my Kraken Attack code? (STILL need the tentacles!!!

)

I'll make some of those after I'm finished with Empress.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Would be much appreciated! I've been asking for those for... maybe a year now?
It's all I need to make an acceptable-looking Kraken attack in the game.
Without them, this is what it'll keep looking like:

 

[Kazen Dukzom]

"KRAKEN!!!"

Anyway how do I get the flying dutchman?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

The FAQ is your friend: http://forum.piratesahoy.net//index.php?/build-mod-and-forum-faq-t14915.html

 

[Kazen Dukzom]

Oooh. Thank you.

 

[Captain Maggee]

Its slightly less than a year, but yes both me and Pieter have been asking fairly constantly for them

 

[carmenara]

USS Valiant on trials. 46 guns versus Constitution's 52 but you'd think with the option of differential thrust, a paddlewheeler's agility is second to none.

I think the graphical part of the steam ship functionality is coded properly now.

You got that right - pity the wind effect code isn't working as the Build team discovered a long time ago, but the smoke is otherwise basic and functional.

I'll need your help to fix the smoke generator on the X axis, as right now the location counter-rotates around the ship. Centreline coordinates work fine so we can do a screw powered ship if we wanted to.