Hello, while working on my last project the Eclipse II Star Destroyer, I have thought of modifying the CV Pulse Laser Weapon properties in config.ecf so I can make its main superlaser weapon functionning in Empyrion. What i would like to do is making the pulse laser fire at very high rate so when its fired on automatic, it kinda looks like a pulsating continous laser, like the one from the Death Star in the Star Wars movies. I've tried making some modifications to the "rof"property from config.ecf but it didnt really work as intented. I also know its possible to change the color of the FX particle effect to match the green from the Death Star instead of the vanilla blue. I recall someone making changes to the turrets projectile particles so they look like Star Wars lasers, but I can't find it again. And i dont know wich file i need to modify or how. So im asking for your help on those two things, you're my only hope. Link to the Eclipse II thread: https://empyriononline.com/threads/eclipse-ii-super-star-destroyer.92556/#post-426089
The maximum speed of any weapon was capped in A12 to 600 rpm (0.1 RoF) If you give it a second firing mode assigned to RMB you can fire it at 1200 rpm, but it's probably not gonna look like what you're after. If you change the PfxMuzzle to SniperMuzzleLaserGreen you'll get a green beam, but they'll be small since there's no CV laser beam that's green, unless you completely change weapon class from Ranged to LauncherSS and the ammo into a Projectile using Entities/Items/Weapons/Projectiles/AlienRocketGreenPrefab as the Meshfile.
Yes thats what i figured out, I tried adding another "0" (0.01 rof) to test and noticed no difference when testing in game. Im not sure how to precisely describe how I want it to look, my idea was to increase the rof so high that every projectile would nearly instantly folllow its predecessor, thus visually creating an impression of a continuous pulsating beam. But even with the Rof at 0.1, projectiles are still too away from each others so not rendering how i wanted. Another idea i had was to also modify the FX or the projectile itself to make its particle effect much longer in size, therefore filling the gap between two projectiles and making the "continuous beam" visual effect possible with the rof capped at 0.1. About your last proposition i think i get what you mean when you say it would look small, I tried allowing CV pulse laser turrets on SVs wich worked except the projectile was gigantic in comparison of sv size for the turret. I've tweaked my config.ecf a bit but im far from an expert at modifying it, do you have a link to a tutorial or some ressource thread explaining how it works please ? I know its possible to add a secondary fire mode but I dont know how for example. Thank you for your help.
Soooo, I've figured out a few things: -Since the last update, I need to change both config.ecf AND itemsconfig.ecf for the changes to be taken in account in game, I dont understand what has change but I get the impression that creative games use itemsconfig.ecf and survival games use config.ecf, not sure tho. So the changes i was making in config.ecf wasnt actually affecting the weapon in my creative save, but once i've modified the rof in itemconfig aswell it worked as intended to make a continous beam. -Then from the recommendation of Vermillon, I've tried changing the class of the weapon to launcherSS and modify its ammo to IONCanonCharge, so it uses Zirax Base Plasma turret projectiles as ammo, and it works better than what I was hoping for, the visual is exactly as i wanted it to be. -Now theres a problem tho, as it uses the Zirax Plasma Rocket projectile, it demands an ammo called "ION Charge" or "ION Canon Charge" to shoot wich doesnt exist in the item menu, so I've had to set its ammo to unlimited like the Zirax turrets otherwise I couldnt use it as I couldnt find its ammo. -I think there is no ammo items existing for the Zirax Turrets as they are all set with unlimited ammo, and not meant to be used on player bases or ships. Now some more questions: -Is there a way to modify the weapon or its rocket projectile so it uses the Zirax plasma shot model but keeps its original ammo or at least an existing ammo? Or as i fear, is the fired projectile tied to the ammo? -Is it possible to keep the original Pulse Laser as a Ranged class with its default config and make its RMB secondary firing mode as a LauncherSS firing the Zirax Plasma Rocket with a 0.1 RoF ? -Or can I add a new projectile thats a copy of the Zirax Plasma Rocket, but with different properties, so I can change the settings like damage etc without affecting the Zirax turrets ? And finally the result with the Zirax Plasma Rocket as projectile:
Not exactly, but close. If you look in the games scenario folders you will see that creative mode has it's own config.ecf file now by default (to increase some stack sizes only in creative). This means if you want your custom config.ecf file to work in creative mode you have to copy it into the creative scenario folder and overwrite the default one included. When playing a scenario that includes custom config files it will load from the scenario folder last, meaning the default one in the creative folder is the one used when playing that mode always. Either delete config.ecf in there, or copy yours over it. Be warned that since it is a default scenario your changes will all be undone when the game updates or you verify files. So you'll have to either create a custom creative scenario entirely OR get used to copying files every update.
Thanks for the precision, but now comes another question what is the purpose of itemsconfig.ecf? I mean some of its properties are exactly the same as what you can find in config.ecf, like RoF for example, but some others are unique to itemsconfig, the PfxMuzzle for another example. So what happens if i change the RoF in config.ecf and not in itemconfig.ecf or the inverse ? In wich cases the game is gonna use config.ecf RoF or itemsconfig.ecf?
Not all properties are available in config.ecf for reasons. If both files include the same properties then the one that loads last (always config.ecf) will be the one used for the properties it contains. The properties config.ecf doesn't contain will still be used from ItemsConfig.ecf. This is why it is suggested when creating a custom config.ecf file that you ONLY include the lines and properties you are actually changing in there. You don't have to use the entire example config, you can only include the properties you are adjusting. If you already adjusted them in the ItemsConfig.ecf, for example, then you don't need to include those properties in the config.ecf. Just remove those lines. If both files include ROF property (example) then you can either, 1. Adjust it in the ItemsConfig.ecf and then remove those lines from the config.ecf entirely. OR 2. Adjust it in the config.ecf and not worry about that property in the ItemsConfig.ecf. OR 3. Adjust it in both just because you want to. It's your choice how you do it. Just remember config.ecf loads last.
Thank you, that makes way more sense. So ItemsConfig.ecf is kind of the base properties for items that can be overwritten by config.ecf, either from the scenario if using one, or from the one in the base Configuration folder, again if using one. So wich one is it better to modify ? Leave the base values in ItemsConfig and only add what you want you modify in config.ecf I guess?
So I've studied Vemillon's Reforged Galaxy config files and I've been able to figure out how to add a secondary firing mode, I've added a new projectile and assigned it to the Pulse Laser alternative mode. So I can change its properties without affecting Zirax plasma turrets projectiles. Everything is working as intended, so you can consider this thread closed.
I would recommend copying the itemsconfig entry for the PulseLaserChargeMSWeapon (ID 171) and the PulseLaserMSWeapon (ID 112) from the Reforged Galaxy over your existing entry in your ItemsConfig and change the JUST the meshfile in the new 171 to Entities/Items/Weapons/Projectiles/AlienRocketGreenPrefab from the IonCannon. You'll want to adjust the rate of fire and projectile speeds to suit your needs. With that the weapon will function normally, but have the effects without requiring exotic ammo.
Well what I did was copy your EMP Warhead projectile entries, as I wanted to have a new projectile so I can keep the rest vanilla, and only kept the ID. I edited the rest to fit my needs, and removed/added some lines. Overall it works perfectly I just need to adjust the damages/blast radius/multipliers. The only thing that I didnt understand was the "Radial" properties you added in your config file. As I didnt really know what this was doing, I just ignored and removed them.
