Final Update (before Finals)

This is my final version before dedicating myself to my finals. The key features added in this version are:

>> Landing bay gravity (only on the Colonial destroyer at this point)
>> Automatic damage mitigation for larger objects (it's just harder for a viper to destroy a basestar - I had to add this so the structure numbers don't get out of hand)
>> Landing Gears (you can press "L" for landing gears - they don't anything yet; so, you will still take some damage when landing)
>> Landing (you can land on the destroyer!)
>> Turret controls (turrets should go around and around - there's a default value being inputted to all turrets - the system works for when I decide to put AI routines in)
>> Turret destruction (you can destroy turrets without destroying the big ship - the colonial destroyer is the only ship with turrets at this point - but you can test it out)
>> Turret take damage, and damage effects the efficiency of the turret.
>> A colonial destroyer (christened the Hermes Class Destroyer by me - it's even mostly textured)
>> A cylon destroyer (not textured at this point for really functional beyond target practice)

In the next version, I will focus on completing the turret control and develop missile launchers. As it stands, I need to complete the loading functios for turrets. Each turret has a fire zone; a turret should not be able to turn and face its own ship. To facilitate this, I need to define the fire zone for each turret. This will be done via the database. Each turret will be stored and sorted by the turret designation (each turret on a capital ship will have a designation) and ship classification. This means turret TT11 for a Hermes class destroyer may have a different fire zone than turret TT11 on the Battlestar Galactica.

In addition to fire zone information, I will need to store the basic parameter (like vehicle data, turret control, fire control and other variables) in the database. During the Start() routine for the parent ship, these values will be loaded into each turret.

Missile launchers will follow a similar design philosphy. The only real difference will be the projectile and in the AI routines. Bullets require a good line of sight setup to hit a target; missiles can be a release and forget variety. Missiles, after all, can have independent guidance systems. If I can get the turrets completed, I should be able to get missile launchers up and running without any major issue.

With turrets and missile launchers out of the way, I will probably have enough of a game framework to start on the AI routines and mission development. That's assuming that I have not missed anything significant (it's been known to happen on occassion).

At any rate, here is the latest prototype. I think there is a crash error somewhere in this version; however, I have not been able to pin it down. If anyone finds it, I would appreciate the output and crash logs. In addition, a description of what was going on would be really appreciated...

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/43398523/Builds.rar