Part
Seven: Overview
In this section
you will begin setting up the resources starting with a
template for each players local resources.

7.0
Resources
The
ResourceSphere_1.missphere
file
contains every single resource element that we want to use
in the map including asteroids, dust clouds and particles.
When ships are placed in the ResourceSphere they go under
AI control, even when playing with no computer players.
There will only ever be more than one of these if it becomes
bigger than 64k.
We
know exactly what is going on in the Resources
and Distribution Files,
we know that not only the resource clusters are here, but
also if we want AI controlled ships and other derelicts
or scenery then they all go in here too.

7.1
- Copy
the relevant map distribution files to the map folder.
In
your Revelations2 folder delete all the *.dist
files. Now, go into the Tutorial Map Folder, you
will find three more distribution files called ‘Asteroid.dist’,
‘DustCloud.dist’ and, ‘Tiny.dist’ copy these
into your Revelations2 folder. Don’t worry about the distribution
files at the moment, they are simple text files that have
the data pertaining to the range of sizes of each resource
type, and should we need it; the regeneration rates of these
resource types. We will deal with these later, but we add
them now so we can jump in and out of the game and see our
changes as we make them.

7.2
- Edit
the ‘ResourceSphere_1.missphere’
file.
Open
up the
‘ResourceSphere_1.missphere’
file
now, we will ignore the 3 line header beginning with the
semicolon and deal with the rest.
7.2.1
- We
only need the first line beginning with Resources<tab>,
so I want you to delete every other line beginning with
Resources<tab>, so we are left with just the one.
The
only reason we are keeping this line is because it makes
a handy template to build our resources from.
7.2.2
- Okay
our first line should look like this;
Resources
Asteroid,11498.0,-75590.6,37846.9,Sphere,AsteroidCentre.dist,20,10038.4,20076.8,0.0,0.0,2048,?
which
reads:
Resources
resourcetype,
posx, posy, posz,
layout, distribution, numResources,
radius, length, roty, rotz,
properties, propertiesparam..
7.2.2.1
- First
we will to change the location of this spherical cluster.
We want this sphere to be one of the spheres that surround
the player Mothership. The easiest way to do that is to
open up the Mothership_0.missphere file (Player
One) in your Revelations2 folder and copy the x,y,z
co-ord. (posx,posy,posz) and replace the posx,posy and posz
values in your resource line with these. So that’s the cluster
centred about the players MS,
7.2.2.2
- We
are happy that it’s a sphere so leave that.
7.2.2.3
- Next
we want to point this resource line at the ‘Asteroid.dist’
file, so delete ‘AsteroidCentre.dist’ and replace it with
‘Asteroid.dist’.
7.2.2.4
- Leave
the resourceNum at 20 it’s a nice big amount to start us
off and allow for initial building in the relative safety
of the immediate vicinity of the Mothership.
7.2.2.5
- Lets
leave the next two values alone, the radius and diameter
is fine here, we know this because this is the resource
cluster that we start in when we play ‘Hyperspace
Arena’ and if it ain’t broke…
7.2.2.6
- Angle
and rotation are fine, for a sphere it does not matter in
the slightest, ignore them.
7.2.2.7
- The
property value for this sphere is already set at Regeneration
(2048), this is cool as we want the to regenerate to encourage
the players to stay put and not all charge into the centre
as is too often the case. The propertiesParam has been left
at the default of ‘?’, this seems to manifest as roughly
the propertiesParam value of 7. Lets speed it up a little,
lets hike it all the way up! Change the propertiesParam
to ‘1’.
And
that’s it. Your lines should look like this;
Resources
Asteroid,0.0,50000.0,0.0,Sphere,Asteroid.dist,20,10038.4,20076.8,0.0,0.0,2048,1
Resources
Asteroid,0.0,-50000.0,0.0,Sphere,Asteroid.dist,20,10038.4,20076.8,0.0,0.0,2048,1
Start
up Homeworld and take a look at everything so far then
Alt-Tab back to desktop. Lets go on to discuss the distribution
files in a bit more depth.

7.3
- Edit
the Asteroid.dist
file.
This
file contains the information on the size and amounts of
each size of the resource you have in a cluster. They are
very simple files giving the relative sizes of asteroids/dustclouds
of the resources named in the Resourcesphere file. There
can be any amount of distribution files in the folder.
We
now know that the range of sizes of each resource type,
and the range of regeneration are found in the distribution
file that each resource line names. Lets give a slightly
higher emphasis to the ratio of asteroids found in the Asteroid.dist
file. Change the Asteroid.dist file lines to match this;
Asteroid0
0
1
Asteroid1
2
3
Asteroid2
3
3
Asteroid3
3
2
Asteroid4
1
0
The
point of this is to give the clusters our players start
in more RU’s. This will make these clusters highly desirable
areas worth fighting for, bring the fight to each other
as opposed to a central area drawing each player in, as
many small maps tend to do.
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