Model system

Attachments

Models may have special "tag point" Group nodes where other models may be attached. You may define a tag point in Blender by placing an Empty object and giving it one of the predefined names.

The system is meant for attaching equipment: guns, cargo pods, turrets...

Example: A generic gun model attached to a point "tag_gun_right":

The actual list of available names has not been determined yet.

Collisions

By default, the collision mesh of a model is the bounding box of all the meshes. For more control, you can import a custom mesh using the collision directive in the model definition:

collision collision.obj

Decals

Decals are meant for customizable insignia on spaceships and changing advertisements on space stations. Up to four unique decals are available for a model (multiple identical decals are allowed). Place a piece of geometry, usually a flat quad, with proper UV coordinates and name it decal_01, 02, 03 or 04. The game will then use a special material on the geometry.

Other special nodes

• Labels
• Thrusters
• Billboard lights

New systems that need to be developed

Lots of them :)

• Lua API
• System to handle attachments
  • Tag points may be rotated in code to implement target tracking guns
• System to handle spaceship logos, station advertisements and shipyard UI to customize your ship
• UI to paint your ship and a system to give faction-appropriate colour schemes to NPC ships
• Building sets
• etc