Great work, Dalmp, and thanks for the postscript .
Just credit where it's due.
I don't think searching through hardpoints manually is in the realm of possibility anymore, so I'm glad it's well structured.
I've been considering doing that myself, but have worried about performance with less optimized projectile models.
...
Can you test it with using a different projectile for the singles too? Should be a fairly easy change to Projectiles.xml.
Yeah, done already. All TL's are using custom projectiles, though it's not obvious from the screenshots. Also put the octuple and dual shield impact particles in from FoCA's custom stuff, and while I was at it enlarged the shield impact from adv and exp guns, and made the octuples do 'Huge_Dud' on armor to keep it looking half-decent (although an 8-shot dud would be better, I don't have one).
Octuple shield hits on Recusant.
Octohit2.jpgI was worried the executor would give me some lag headaches (as it doesn't use fire-linked guns and still pulses) but actually it seems fine. Probably due to the scale I used. That's another unforeseen performance benefit. The projectiles don't need to be as big to look good. Because the models are so much brighter, they look perfect at a fraction of the size of the stock effects. Actually they look overwhelming when they are too large, so I kept them pretty small. I used 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2.25, 3.38 scale for LTL, TL, HTL, ATL and ETL with FoCA's models. The vast bulk of projectiles used are scale 1.0 and 1.5 as a result. Pretty small.
Executor-class ripping apart an MC80
Liberty-class
Executor3.jpgIt's hard to see the effect in a still shot, but the net effect is actually very vivid. (I've desyncronized the guns, so they aren't all lined up when they fire).
In-game everything
seems to run smoother in combat, even the executor. Actually my only beef atm is that I need to rescale the Strike-cruiser's guns individually. Heavy Octuples look odd coming out of those small turrets. Looks fine from the ISD though.
Right from the hardpoint.
Octoclose.jpgI suppose I could run an FPS test modded vs unmodded.
(EDIT: I thought the loading screen seemed choppy, but it was only because I had ~18 editing windows open
. Much better now that I closed them all
. )