WingNuts and Bolts

# Carriers

This section details the Carrier menu

The carrier is your base of operations. It can move and attack, but it must be protected at all costs.

Your standard Carrier window.

# Graphics

To make a new Carrier press "New".

Has base image - This is the base image to be used as your carrier. Choose a graphic from the pull down menu.

Has crater image - When the carrier takes damage from bombs, craters are left on the deck, this is the image to be used as the crater.

Has landing light image - This is an image to be used as "landing lights" that appear when you approach the carrier to land.

Base altitude - This is the height of the carrier over the land. The value here measusred in pixels will determine the distance between the carrier and the shadow.

Has impact explosion - This is the explosion to be played when the carrier takes damage.

Has death explosion - This is the explosion to be played when the carrier is destroyed.

Add decorative extra sprite images - These 16 check boxes let you add up to 16 images that sit on the base and make up different parts of the carrier.

X offsets - This is the cordinate along the X-axis for the sprite.

Y offsets - This is the cordinate along the Y-axis for the sprite.

Bearing - This is the angle that the sprite is facing in degrees.

Altitude - This is how high above the base the sprite is drawn in pixels. This value will determine how far the shadow is from the sprite.

Your standard Carrier Properties window.

# Properties

Shield level - This is the minimimum and maximum values in points for the carrier's shields.

Extra per level - This value in points, is added to each level. The formula is: (Extra X Level Number) + Shield Level. So if Extra per level is 10, and the carrier is on level 10, the carrier has 100 extra shields.

Velocity - This is the forward velocity of the carrier, measured in pixels per second.

Yaw rate - This is the rate in degrees per second that the carrier can turn.

Yaw acceleration - This is the acceleration rate in degrees per second squared for the turning of the carrier.

Runway center X - The carrier can have a runway that the player ship can land on. This is the cordinate on the X-axis in pixels of the runway.

Runway center Y - This is the cordinate on the Y-axis for the runway, measured in pixels.

Length - This is the length of the runway measured in pixels.

Capture weidth - This is the distance to the side the runway, in pixels you can be and still be "captured" by the carrier to land.

Capture length - This is the distance from the runway, in pixels you can be and still be "captured" by the carrier to land.

Capture angle - This is the maximum angle you can be away from the runway and still be "captured" by the carrier to land.

Capture distance - This is the distance, in pixels away from the runway you can be and still be "captured" by the carrier to land.

Collision detection circles - This is just like the collision zones for Enemy Craft and Player craft. To make a collision circle, click the check box next to it. You can have 16 different circles. To see the circle, you'll need to click "Collison" on the bottom left of the window. You can position the circle with the following commands:

- Use the Arrow Keys to move a circle up and down, left and right.
- Use the + (plus) and - (minus) keys to increase or decrease the size of the cirlce.
- Hold down shift while using the arrow keys to move the circle 10 pixels at a time.
- Hold down shift while using the + (plus) and - (minus) keys to increase or decrease the size of the circle 10 pixels at a time.

Collision circles can overlap, and should. To adjust a circlue, use the "Edit Circle" option at the bottom right of the window. Each numbered button corrosponds to that collision circle.

Your standard Carrier Turrets window.

The carrier can have up to 16 turrets, which it uses to defend it's self from enemy planes. Use the checkboxes to add or remove turrets.

X offsets - This is the position on the x-axis of the turret, measured in pixels.

Y offsets - This is the position on the y-axis of the turret, measured in pixels.

Bearing - This is the initial bearing of the turret in degrees.

Altitude - This is the distance above the carrier base that the turret will be. This value in pixels changes the distance of the shadow.

Destroy turrets proportionally to the remaining shield level - This option will destroy the turrets as the carrier takes damage. The game takes the total number of turrets and divides the carrier shields by that number, to determine when turrets are to be destroyed.

Enemy awareness distance - This is a value in pixels that measures how close an enemy must be to the carrier before the carrier "notices" it and will fire on the enemy.

Distortion effect when destroyed - This will let you choose an OpenGL distortion to be played when the carrier is destroyed. This is only viewable in the game.

Your standard Carrier Extras window.

Particle rate - This is the rate that particles are created when the carrier is damaged in particles per second.

Maximum number of trails - This is the maximum number of particle trails that can show up on the carrier. The more trails, the more taxing the effect is on the computer.

Particle type 1 - 4 - These 4 options let you assign up to 4 different particles to the carrier to be used.

Has looped engine sound - This is a sound to be played as the looping engine sound.

Has damage received sound - This is the sound to be played when the carrier takes damage.

Has explosion sound - This is the sound to be played when the carrier is destroyed.

Has attack alarm sound - This is a sound to be played when the carrier comes under attack.

Has half shields sound - This is a sound to be played when the carrier's shields are at 50%.

Has critical shields sound - This is a sound to be played when the carrier's shields become critical.

Has carrier destroyed sound - This is a sound to be played when the carrier is destroyed.

Has farewell takeoff sound - This is a sound to be played when the player takes off from the carrier.

Has welcome back sound - This is a sound to be played when the player returns to the carrier.

Escort velocity - This is the speed in pixels per second the carrier will have when it enters the escort phase, heading to the warp point.

Escort acceleration - This is the rate of acceleration in pixels per second squared in the escort phase.

Escort yaw rate - This is the rate in degrees per seond that the carrier can turn in the escort phase.

Escort yaw rate acceleration - This is the rate of acceleration in degrees per second squared that the carrier can turn.

Has animated hover images - These are images you can attach to the bottom of the carrier to give it a more "scifi" hover effect. Choose the image from the pulldown menu.

Number of instances - this is the number hover sections to create.

Image scale to apply - This will let you scale the image larger or smaller. A value of 1 is 100% scaling, .5 is 50% and 2 is 200%.

Ellipse dimensions - COMMING SOON!