[archaic0]

I'm looking for a short list of things required to add a new unit. This is what I've done so far.

I'm adding a bomber aircraft (modified harrier - slower, stronger, bigger bomb, more expensive, and limited to 4)

rules.ini
Added the unit [ARB] (copied ORCA and modified)
Image=ARBOMBER
Added the unit's weapon [ARBomberW] (copied Maverick and modified)
Added ARB to the PadAircraft= list
Added ARB to the AircraftTypes lise

Edited string table to add it's name
Edited art.ini to add an entry for the Image= reference [ARBOMBER]
Created a cameo SHP and put in ecache99.mix

My unit shows up in the menu with my cameo pic, and all the rules work fine. There are just two things that need fixed.

1. My unit is sometimes inconsistant about movement. Sometimes it will move to a spot and just hover instead of returning to the airport

2. My unit is invisible. I need to know how to create the animations (prefer to extract the harrier ones and edit them)


I cannot select my unit with the square box, or seem to select it when it is hovering, I can only select it on the airport pad. I was thinking that might be related to the missing model (voxel?)

I'm looking for a previous post about extracting existing voxels and editing them, but any help is welcome.

Once I get a voxel made an in my new .mix file, will my issues go away and will the unit work perfectly?

[needleman]

You need a voxel. Most vehicles in RA2 (and TS, for that matter), don't use specified animations as they did in RA1, rather, they use a volumetric pixel model. It's like a bitmap, but 3D. The voxel's filename needs to be the same as the header for the art.ini entry. Normally, I'd point you to a resource site or two, but if you want, there's a nice voxel already in the game files that's unused that should work just fine. Add the line Image=FORTRESS to the plane's rules.ini entry. Now set the cameos in the [FORTRESS] entry in artmd.ini to your new ones.

As for the hover thing, make sure your plane's Dock= entry includes all the possible airpads it can be built from.

[archaic0]

update:

I found and extracted the falc.vxl and falc.hva files and renamed them to my new unit name. It shows up now, but it's inconsistant in moving still.

The Dock= entry is the same as the harrier, I just copied the entry and changed these things:

BuildLimit=4
Trainable=no
UIName=Name:ARB
Name=AR Bomber
Image=ARBOMBER
Primary=ARBomberW
Strength=500
Speed=7
Cost=2400
Points=40

That's all that is different from the Harrier entry except for removing the veteran and elite weapons definitions since it's not trainable.

Any idea why it's acting strange?

To be detailed, my plane will move sometimes and return to the airport, only to hover and not land. Other times it will move and hover where it moved to. Most of the time, if it attacks it will land correctly, but not always.

I'm stumped because it's using the same animations as the harrier and the same locomotor, so what make it act strange?

[premier89]

Post all of your code for your unit.

[archaic0]

RULES.INI

; AR Bomber
[ARB]
BuildLimit=4
Trainable=no
UIName=Name:ARB
Name=AR Bomber
Image=ARBOMBER
Prerequisite=RADAR
Primary=ARBomberW
CanPassiveAquire=no
CanRetaliate=no
Strength=500
Category=AirPower
Armor=light
TechLevel=3
Sight=8
RadarInvisible=no
Landable=yes
MoveToShroud=yes
Dock=GAAIRC,AMRADR
PipScale=Ammo
Speed=7
PitchSpeed=1.1
PitchAngle=0
OmniFire=yes
Owner=British,French,Germans,Americans
ForbiddenHouses=Alliance
Cost=2400
Points=40
ROT=3
Ammo=1
Crewed=yes
ConsideredAircraft=yes
AirportBound=yes
GuardRange=30
Explosion=TWLT070,S_BANG48,S_BRNL58,S_CLSN58,S_TUM U60
Maxdebris=3
IsSelectableCombatant=yes
VoiceSelect=IntruderSelect
VoiceMove=IntruderMove
VoiceAttack=IntruderAttackCommand
VoiceCrashing=IntruderVoiceDie
DieSound=
MoveSound=IntruderMoveLoop
CrashingSound=IntruderDie
ImpactLandSound=GenAircraftCrash
Locomotor={4A582746-9839-11d1-B709-00A024DDAFD1}
MovementZone=Fly
ThreatPosed=40
DamageParticleSystems=SparkSys,SmallGreySSys
AuxSound1=IntruderTakeOff ;Taking off
AuxSound2=IntruderLanding ;Landing
Fighter=yes
AllowedToStartInMultiplayer=no
ImmuneToPsionics=yes
PreventAttackMove=yes


ART.INI

[ARBOMBER]
Voxel=yes
Remapable=yes
Cameo=ARBOMBER

[premier89]

I inserted the code into one of my mod's aircraft real quick and it work just fine, except I had to change the code for the weapons and art.

; Thunder Phoenix X30
[TPX]
BuildLimit=4
Trainable=no
UIName=Name:ARB
Name=AR Bomber
Image=TPX
Prerequisite=RADAR
Primary=PxF
;Secondary=CnG
CanPassiveAquire=no
CanRetaliate=no
Strength=500
Category=AirPower
Armor=light
TechLevel=3
Sight=8
RadarInvisible=no
Landable=yes
MoveToShroud=yes
Dock=GAAIRC,AMRADR
PipScale=Ammo
Speed=7
PitchSpeed=1.1
PitchAngle=0
OmniFire=yes
Owner=British,French,Germans,Americans
ForbiddenHouses=Alliance
Cost=2400
Points=40
ROT=3
Ammo=1
Crewed=yes
ConsideredAircraft=yes
AirportBound=yes
GuardRange=30
Explosion=TWLT070,S_BANG48,S_BRNL58,S_CLSN58,S_TUM U60
Maxdebris=3
IsSelectableCombatant=yes
VoiceSelect=IntruderSelect
VoiceMove=IntruderMove
VoiceAttack=IntruderAttackCommand
VoiceCrashing=IntruderVoiceDie
DieSound=
MoveSound=IntruderMoveLoop
CrashingSound=IntruderDie
ImpactLandSound=GenAircraftCrash
Locomotor={4A582746-9839-11d1-B709-00A024DDAFD1}
MovementZone=Fly
ThreatPosed=40
DamageParticleSystems=SparkSys,SmallGreySSys
AuxSound1=IntruderTakeOff ;Taking off
AuxSound2=IntruderLanding ;Landing
Fighter=yes
AllowedToStartInMultiplayer=no
ImmuneToPsionics=yes
PreventAttackMove=yes
ElitePrimary=PxF
;EliteSecondary=CnG

; Phoenix Fire Missiles
[PxF]
Damage=40
ROF=10
Burst=6
Range=6
Projectile=AAHeatSeeker2
Speed=20
Warhead=KaP
Report=SeawolfAttack

; Phoenix Fire Missiles, Elite
[PxFE]
Damage=45
ROF=10
Burst=7
Range=6
Projectile=AAHeatSeeker2
Speed=45
Warhead=KaP
Report=SeawolfAttack


I don't think warhead is important. It must have something to do with the weapon.

[archaic0]

That doesn't surprise me really, it's just inconsistant. I've been messing with the voxel with an editor I found (although the colors are not working right yet) and they've been flying around fine most of the time.

I can usually get it to glitch by selecting one of the planes and clicking on the ground a couple inches from the airport. The plane goes there and hovers. If I move him (by clicking on the ground) too close to the airport then he decides to go ahead and head back and land.

Then there's the occasional trip across the map (no attack) and the plane comes back and hovers and won't land until I target and attack something.

I'm just not sure what the issue is, but I'm going to play around with the weapon (trying yours) to see if that changes anything.

Thanks for the help.

[needleman]

Try messing around with the Speed= settings. If it's too high or too low, it can't land.

Also, for a nice visual effect, you can mess around with the PitchSpeed and PitchAngle settings to have the plane bank in a turn (instead of the existing flat turns). Try these (note: this is set for the Harrier's speed, not your bomber)

Speed=14
PitchSpeed=.15
PitchAngle=0.9
ROT=5

[archaic0]

Does the speed need to be a multiple of anything? I just slowed it down to half, but maybe it needs to be an even number or something?

[DCoder]

Other TS/RA2 aircraft have speeds from 14[orca bomber/harrier] to 18[banshee] and they work fine. Maybe you should raise the speed to something like that, or try even numbers ... I doubt if even or not has smth to do with it, but you can never know.