test content
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc

Sector Space: Spawning Inside of Stars?

135

Comments

  • tacofangstacofangs Member Posts: 2,951 Cryptic Developer
    edited September 2016
    AGAIN GUYS - I don't need more examples of this. I know what's going on, and there isn't an easy solution to it. It's the same issue as with the ESD shuttlebay. It doesn't matter what system you're in. It can happen to any of them.

    Pro Tip: Don't park right next to a star, and it's not likely to occur.
    valoreah wrote: »
    tacofangs wrote: »
    No, that's because the nav point is on the PLANET not the star. If you approach a system with the planet on the far side of the star, you'll try to fly through the star. If you approach from the side the planet is on, you'll stop just outside the system. I don't have a good way of improving that, unfortunately. And since there are no beacons in space, your ship doesn't know how to navigate around anything. You just fly into it and kind of slide around the collision until you're free.

    Ok, thank you. I don't suppose there is a way to create an invisible nav point around the entire system, is there?

    Uh. . . huh? A nav POINT, is just that. A single point that you fly towards. Even if we had a nav bubble, that would just stop you at the edge of the system, yes?

    warpangel wrote: »
    valoreah wrote: »
    That might be difficult considering that you could be coming from any direction so I'm not sure how that would work unless it were possible to create a thin shelled spherically shaped nav point that then somehow connects to the planet in a single line. I doubt it's doable.

    An invisible sphere the circumference of the star system is kind of what I was thinking. I don't know if anything like that would work. Just a thought.

    Or they could just put the mission triggers back on the stars so you don't have to fly around looking for it.

    It's true, they used to be on the stars. We moved them to planets because when you go on a mission, that mission isn't just the system, or the star, it's on or around a specific planet, and it allows us to put multiple locations in one system. See Andoria/Procyon V.
    Could we put an interact button inside of stars, that either removes collision detection on the player for 5 seconds or warps them forward a small distance to outside the star? We could label it 'solar ejection' or something.

    I have an idea of what I can do. No promises though.

    khayuung wrote: »
    It is possible to make the entire star a collision zone instead of a hollow sphere? This might allow us to spawn around the star rather than in it.

    Not really. ALL game collision (in pretty much all 3d games) is you colliding with the mesh of an object. That collision is inherently 2 dimensional, and all 3d objects are completely hollow.
    nikeix wrote: »
    @tacofangs There's a 100% reproducible stellar ensnarement in the second mission of the Future Proof arc. The Na'kuhl's home system

    If you fly up to the smaller pre-events bright star, run the mission, and then return to sector space you'll be englobed within the larger 'mostly dead' star. Gets me pretty much every time :).

    Would it be possible to add the larger star's collision pattern to its smaller state?

    Again, this wouldn't work. The issue isn't the SIZE of the collision, the issue is that people are parked right next to it when they change maps. Having bigger collision just means people park next to that instead of the surface of the star. Then they get stuck inside of THAT. I don't have a way of forcing people away from something, that isn't using the same collision that is problematic at the moment.
    Only YOU can prevent forum fires!
    19843299196_235e44bcf6_o.jpg
  • hanover2hanover2 Member Posts: 1,053 Arc User
    edited September 2016
    warpangel wrote: »
    valoreah wrote: »
    That might be difficult considering that you could be coming from any direction so I'm not sure how that would work unless it were possible to create a thin shelled spherically shaped nav point that then somehow connects to the planet in a single line. I doubt it's doable.

    An invisible sphere the circumference of the star system is kind of what I was thinking. I don't know if anything like that would work. Just a thought.

    Or they could just put the mission triggers back on the stars so you don't have to fly around looking for it.

    ^
    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    khayuung wrote: »
    How about make interact buttons appear far further than having to slam facefirst into the system?

    Also !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • autumnturningautumnturning Member Posts: 743 Arc User
    tacofangs wrote: »
    No, that's because the nav point is on the PLANET not the star. If you approach a system with the planet on the far side of the star, you'll try to fly through the star. If you approach from the side the planet is on, you'll stop just outside the system. I don't have a good way of improving that, unfortunately. And since there are no beacons in space, your ship doesn't know how to navigate around anything. You just fly into it and kind of slide around the collision until you're free.

    I know for a fact that the nav point for New Romulus is definitely NOT the planet! The nav point for New Romulus is the midpoint between the twin stars in the system. Same deal for Vulcan. Andoria is perhaps the worst offender for having the nav point destination be a weird location well below the south pole of the planet in sector space.
    tacofangs wrote: »
    Uh. . . huh? A nav POINT, is just that. A single point that you fly towards. Even if we had a nav bubble, that would just stop you at the edge of the system, yes?

    From a usability standpoint, I'm thinking that a "nav ring" on the plane of the system's ecliptic "on the edge of the system" outside the orbit of any planets would ultimately be a superior system. That way the auto-nav function gets you CLOSE to where you want to go, and then when you get there, it's up to the Player to navigate the final few LY to reach the planet you're trying to get to.
  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,236 Arc User
    Well, regarding autotravel, some of those seem to not point to the right location at all. But that's not really applicable AFAIK when you use the map to autotravel. that is apparently supposed to have you autotravel to the star.
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    My character Tsin'xing
    Costume_marhawkman_Tsin%27xing_CC_Comic_Page_Blue_488916968.jpg
  • nikeixnikeix Member Posts: 3,972 Arc User
    tacofangs wrote: »
    AGAIN GUYS - I don't need more examples of this. I know what's going on, and there isn't an easy solution to it. It's the same issue as with the ESD shuttlebay. It doesn't matter what system you're in. It can happen to any of them.

    If there's "no solution" what exactly are you asking us? I'm feeling a little handicapped here since I can't actually stare into the code...

    Does the game have the ability to inflict a knockback that'll ignore walls? Because then you could bury a knock node in the center of stars that'll kick people out of them. Have it pulse once every 15 seconds based on the server clock instead of individual counters or something. Still adds a ton of server activity to the maps, but at least they become somewhat 'self-cleaning'.

    ((and I was trying to point out there's place in the game where the object changes size - that is a different englobement issue than most of what's being reported where a static object might eat someone :)))
  • warpangelwarpangel Member Posts: 9,427 Arc User
    tacofangs wrote: »
    warpangel wrote: »
    valoreah wrote: »
    That might be difficult considering that you could be coming from any direction so I'm not sure how that would work unless it were possible to create a thin shelled spherically shaped nav point that then somehow connects to the planet in a single line. I doubt it's doable.

    An invisible sphere the circumference of the star system is kind of what I was thinking. I don't know if anything like that would work. Just a thought.

    Or they could just put the mission triggers back on the stars so you don't have to fly around looking for it.

    It's true, they used to be on the stars. We moved them to planets because when you go on a mission, that mission isn't just the system, or the star, it's on or around a specific planet, and it allows us to put multiple locations in one system. See Andoria/Procyon V.

    Well, yes. But almost all the mission text still says "go to X system." So you get there, and no mission start button. You have to fly around the star looking where the interact is. Before the sector revamp, the autopilot used to bring you straight to the interact.
  • edrogenedrogen Member Posts: 202 Arc User
    Hello Taco,
    Thank you for even looking at this issue.
    Can you fix the issue by considering it a spawn point problem instead of a collision problem?

    What I mean is (in 2d) and greatly simplified to not create a wall of text:
    Each Star has an x,y location. There must be some radius 'r' that is the maximum size for all stars rendered in STO.
    So when spawning a ship make sure the spawn point is outside of all star's spawn points plus/minus the radius range.
  • nikeixnikeix Member Posts: 3,972 Arc User
    You could also give stars a 'drain' -- deliberately punch a hole in the bottom ships can go through. Yes, you'll get antics with players deliberately flying up into them, but people would always be able to get out without resorting to transwarp. Messaging the existence of the drain to new player might be a little awkward, but if a simple pop up triggered by extremely close proximity to the star's center point could announce "If trapped with in the star's surface, please exit via the bottom."

    Though I suppose if you have "stellar core" pop-ups, that pop-up could just have a button to exit vie "solar ejection", as described above with a fixed teleport to the edge of the system.
  • gazurtoidgazurtoid Member Posts: 423 Arc User
    Just to belatedly confirm that this seemingly can happen at almost any star. In addition to the places listed, off the top of my head I have had it happen at Na'kuhl, Vor and B'Lii (in Alpha Quadrant - I use it as a convenient waypoint to help work around the duty officer border issues).

    On a related point, there is a (possibly superficially) similar issue with respect to the edge of sector space. I have experienced this several times when parked at the Delta Volanis Cluster (to do the Colonial Duty Officer mission chain).

    I park at Delta Volanis, doff, and log out. Sometimes, when I log back in to that char, I apparently spawn a little too far to the west - and seemingly end up outside the invisible wall marking the edge of sector space. I can move north and south without problems, and can move slightly further to the west before being blocked. However, when I try to move right, in order to get back onto the map, my progress is blocked by an invisible wall.

    To be fair, its not that hard to get out of - the solution is the same as for when you get stuck in a star - either switch instance, or transwarp somewhere. That untangles you from the geometry and lets you move normally again.
    yjkZSeM.gif
  • hanover2hanover2 Member Posts: 1,053 Arc User
    tacofangs wrote: »
    Pro Tip: Don't park right next to a star, and it's not likely to occur.

    As a paying subscriber, comments like this do not sit well with me. I am not the one being paid to solve these kinds of problems, and "change your actions to work around the flaws in our product" is abysmal as a customer service policy.

  • pappy02upappy02u Member Posts: 141 Arc User
    edited September 2016
    I know possible solution, it's not a good solution but it might be a beer can and duct tape fix. Why not just remove the crash box and let us fly through the stars? I know "realism" or "immersion" but earth is 24000 AU away from the sun and the sun is .21LY in radius this might get a pass.
  • jorantomalakjorantomalak Member Posts: 7,133 Arc User
    edited September 2016
    tacofangs wrote: »
    I know people have brought this up to me before, but I'm actually in a place where I can look into these things right now. So. . . If you know a place where, when you go back to Sector Space, you end up inside the collision of a Star, or other wonkiness like this, please tell me what Star is the issue below.

    Note that this is not a general sector space thread for "I don't like how dark it is," or "why isn't X planet in SS?" This is specifically about a particular issue that I can probably fix.

    Thanks.

    The Vor system last night i was running freind or foe FE , and when i exited the vor system i found i was inside the vor star , had to change instances and wound up at sol, had to travel all the way to qo'nos at warp 5....not fun and very slow :/
  • drakethewhitedrakethewhite Member Posts: 1,240 Arc User
    tacofangs wrote: »
    Pro Tip: Don't park right next to a star, and it's not likely to occur.

    I wouldn't if your auto-nav didn't run me face first into them. Meaning that I have to make the effort to back away from the object before hitting that dialog box to take me in. And that means that sometimes I have to circle around things once I've backed away because that too me too far.

    As thing stand this is what you should have said:
    Pro Tip: Auto-Nav works as well as a 1-year old playing t-ball. Don't trust our coding and correct the problem yourself by backing away from where ever it took you and finish your approach on manual.
  • tacofangstacofangs Member Posts: 2,951 Cryptic Developer
    Ok guys, I'm putting in a bandaid that I think will help (if not solve) the situation.

    Essentially it works like the ESD shuttlebay. You can still get stuck in a star, but once this goes out (it'll be a bit), if you fly around a little inside, you'll enter a warp volume that will boot you out to the middle of the quadrant map. Not the most graceful, but will hopefully save you some transwarping. . .
    tacofangs wrote: »
    Uh. . . huh? A nav POINT, is just that. A single point that you fly towards. Even if we had a nav bubble, that would just stop you at the edge of the system, yes?

    From a usability standpoint, I'm thinking that a "nav ring" on the plane of the system's ecliptic "on the edge of the system" outside the orbit of any planets would ultimately be a superior system. That way the auto-nav function gets you CLOSE to where you want to go, and then when you get there, it's up to the Player to navigate the final few LY to reach the planet you're trying to get to.

    I thought that's how it worked now? Yes, the point is in the center of the system (it's what marks the system on the overhead map, so it has to be there), but there is a distance at which it should stop auto-navigating you. Due to the range in sizes of systems, that may be inside of some larger systems, or well outside some smaller ones.

    nikeix wrote: »
    tacofangs wrote: »
    AGAIN GUYS - I don't need more examples of this. I know what's going on, and there isn't an easy solution to it. It's the same issue as with the ESD shuttlebay. It doesn't matter what system you're in. It can happen to any of them.

    If there's "no solution" what exactly are you asking us? I'm feeling a little handicapped here since I can't actually stare into the code...

    Does the game have the ability to inflict a knockback that'll ignore walls? Because then you could bury a knock node in the center of stars that'll kick people out of them. Have it pulse once every 15 seconds based on the server clock instead of individual counters or something. Still adds a ton of server activity to the maps, but at least they become somewhat 'self-cleaning'.

    ((and I was trying to point out there's place in the game where the object changes size - that is a different englobement issue than most of what's being reported where a static object might eat someone :)))

    Originally, I was asking for locations where this issue occurs. People responded. I looked into it. I discovered what the actual problem was, and that knowing more places isn't useful.

    hanover2 wrote: »
    tacofangs wrote: »
    Pro Tip: Don't park right next to a star, and it's not likely to occur.

    As a paying subscriber, comments like this do not sit well with me. I am not the one being paid to solve these kinds of problems, and "change your actions to work around the flaws in our product" is abysmal as a customer service policy.

    I'm not saying that is a final solution, I'm saying that is a way that a player can IMMEDIATELY mitigate the likelihood of encountering the issue. We OFTEN suggest workarounds during the meantime that we're working on an issue. This was just meant as a lighthearted version of that.
    Only YOU can prevent forum fires!
    19843299196_235e44bcf6_o.jpg
  • davefenestratordavefenestrator Member Posts: 10,613 Arc User
    Thanks for looking at this, suggesting a work-around and developing a band-aid.

    People who don't work on large applications don't realize that "just fix it" is not as easy as it sounds. Even when you can finally reproduce the behavior that doesn't mean you have a fix for it.
  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,236 Arc User
    IIRC clusters don't have collision at all.
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    My character Tsin'xing
    Costume_marhawkman_Tsin%27xing_CC_Comic_Page_Blue_488916968.jpg
  • pottsey5gpottsey5g Member Posts: 4,235 Arc User
    warpangel wrote: »
    tacofangs wrote: »
    warpangel wrote: »
    valoreah wrote: »
    That might be difficult considering that you could be coming from any direction so I'm not sure how that would work unless it were possible to create a thin shelled spherically shaped nav point that then somehow connects to the planet in a single line. I doubt it's doable.

    An invisible sphere the circumference of the star system is kind of what I was thinking. I don't know if anything like that would work. Just a thought.

    Or they could just put the mission triggers back on the stars so you don't have to fly around looking for it.

    It's true, they used to be on the stars. We moved them to planets because when you go on a mission, that mission isn't just the system, or the star, it's on or around a specific planet, and it allows us to put multiple locations in one system. See Andoria/Procyon V.

    Well, yes. But almost all the mission text still says "go to X system." So you get there, and no mission start button. You have to fly around the star looking where the interact is. Before the sector revamp, the autopilot used to bring you straight to the interact.
    Experienced that a lot and its really frustrating at times. Sometimes it even just drops out before you get to the star system.
  • edrogenedrogen Member Posts: 202 Arc User
    edited September 2016
    Since a warp out volume is the way you are going.
    Instead of warping into the middle of the map, can you warp the ship forward the distance of 2 times the diameter
    of the star, sure to put us outside of the star but not far away from it?

    OK, last thought: What about 2 light years towards the center instead of at the center?
    Post edited by edrogen on
  • tigerariestigeraries Member Posts: 3,492 Arc User
    Just finished Cold Comfort and was spawned stuck/attached to the Raveh System's star. In Alpha Quad, Raveh Sector, Raveh system. I am not "inside" the star... but cant move away from it at all, will go to bridge to see if reloading will get me unstuck.
  • fonz71fonz71 Member Posts: 346 Arc User
    tacofangs wrote: »
    I know people have brought this up to me before, but I'm actually in a place where I can look into these things right now. So. . . If you know a place where, when you go back to Sector Space, you end up inside the collision of a Star, or other wonkiness like this, please tell me what Star is the issue below.

    Note that this is not a general sector space thread for "I don't like how dark it is," or "why isn't X planet in SS?" This is specifically about a particular issue that I can probably fix.

    Thanks.

    i spawned in star at alhena... think that's how you spell it.
    Don't know why it says i'm an ARC user. i will never use that TRIBBLE Cryptic!
  • tacofangstacofangs Member Posts: 2,951 Cryptic Developer
    edrogen wrote: »
    Since a warp out volume is the way you are going.
    Instead of warping into the middle of the map, can you warp the ship forward the distance of 2 times the diameter
    of the star, sure to put us outside of the star but not far away from it?

    OK, last thought: What about 2 light years towards the center instead of at the center?

    In short, no. Warp Volumes take you to a spawn point. Ideally I'd go through and have each star put you at a spawn point just outside of it, still within the system. But that would take a LOT of hand placed volumes and spawnpoints.

    What I can do easily (as a stop gap) is to put a volume into the Star Library pieces, which points at a general spawn point name. That way, that volume now exists on ALL stars everywhere, but it only points at one single spawn point name. So I can then put in a single spawnpoint of that name, and all stars will go to it.
    Only YOU can prevent forum fires!
    19843299196_235e44bcf6_o.jpg
  • kitsunesnoutkitsunesnout Member Posts: 1,210 Arc User
    edited September 2016
    Personally, I'd just do away with collision detection in sector space altogether with the exception of the sector walls, and including other players ships which on occasions can still sometimes get crowded at busy new places creating jams with those scimitars : P. After all if memory serves sector space is for all intents and purposes supposed to be more like an astrometrics view rather than a true to scale etc view and collisions would realistically be almost impossible. Sure, it may seem weird for ships to "apparently" fly through a star, but it's no more weird than ships bouncing into/scraping them without peril either in my opinion.

    Edit: Would be hilarious though if ships hitting stars did blow up XD! But not going to help the matter of course lol.
  • edrogenedrogen Member Posts: 202 Arc User
    tacofangs wrote: »
    edrogen wrote: »
    Since a warp out volume is the way you are going.
    Instead of warping into the middle of the map, can you warp the ship forward the distance of 2 times the diameter
    of the star, sure to put us outside of the star but not far away from it?

    OK, last thought: What about 2 light years towards the center instead of at the center?

    In short, no. Warp Volumes take you to a spawn point. Ideally I'd go through and have each star put you at a spawn point just outside of it, still within the system. But that would take a LOT of hand placed volumes and spawnpoints.

    What I can do easily (as a stop gap) is to put a volume into the Star Library pieces, which points at a general spawn point name. That way, that volume now exists on ALL stars everywhere, but it only points at one single spawn point name. So I can then put in a single spawnpoint of that name, and all stars will go to it.

    Game Engines and Maps, good times. I appreciate the reply and description, and the work done towards the fix.
  • stobg2015stobg2015 Member Posts: 800 Arc User
    jjd#4348 wrote: »
    Hey tacofangs, if you want an instance that happens almost every time (I say 'almost' because only Sith deal in absolutes...), returning to sector space after completing the 'Cutting the Cord' mission will get you stuck in the Brea System star.

    Just had this happen to me, as a matter of fact. I submitted a bug report on it.
    (The Guy Formerly And Still Known As Bluegeek)
  • autumnturningautumnturning Member Posts: 743 Arc User
    tacofangs wrote: »
    What I can do easily (as a stop gap) is to put a volume into the Star Library pieces, which points at a general spawn point name. That way, that volume now exists on ALL stars everywhere, but it only points at one single spawn point name. So I can then put in a single spawnpoint of that name, and all stars will go to it.

    Two recommendations:

    The Dyson Gate at the Jouret System, which is about as close to smack dab in the middle of the Beta map as you can get.

    Outside the (closed!) Dyson Sphere near the Iconia System, as a sort of "Surprise!" to anyone who has forgotten that there's a Sphere all the way over there (that no one has gotten into yet).
  • lazarus51166lazarus51166 Member Posts: 646 Arc User
    Haven't had it happen to me in a star yet, but I did have something weird going on yesterday where I got killed in a few times in installation 18 on a fed, right in the last room and kept respawning inside the door and getting stuck to the point i'd have to restart the mission half a dozen times to get through it. might be related?

    ...either that, or Q was speaking literally in all good things about picards 'trek through the stars'
  • nikeixnikeix Member Posts: 3,972 Arc User
    tacofangs wrote: »
    What I can do easily (as a stop gap) is to put a volume into the Star Library pieces, which points at a general spawn point name. That way, that volume now exists on ALL stars everywhere, but it only points at one single spawn point name. So I can then put in a single spawnpoint of that name, and all stars will go to it.

    Hopefully three of them... so all stars in that quadrant go to that quadrant's central spawnpoint :).
  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,236 Arc User
    tacofangs wrote: »
    What I can do easily (as a stop gap) is to put a volume into the Star Library pieces, which points at a general spawn point name. That way, that volume now exists on ALL stars everywhere, but it only points at one single spawn point name. So I can then put in a single spawnpoint of that name, and all stars will go to it.
    Two recommendations:

    The Dyson Gate at the Jouret System, which is about as close to smack dab in the middle of the Beta map as you can get.

    Outside the (closed!) Dyson Sphere near the Iconia System, as a sort of "Surprise!" to anyone who has forgotten that there's a Sphere all the way over there (that no one has gotten into yet).
    I just flew over to that on most of my characters and I can't seem to see the Herald Sphere....
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    My character Tsin'xing
    Costume_marhawkman_Tsin%27xing_CC_Comic_Page_Blue_488916968.jpg
  • fovrelfovrel Member Posts: 1,448 Arc User
    edited September 2016
    Chulan system, after doing the mission 'Abducted'.

    For triggering this mission, I had to fly to a neutral zone, somewhere near Drozana. Then back to Chulan, seems to me as a waste of flying time.

    I am rolling a new Romulam character and after leaving the Romulan flottila. my ship is placed at Sol system. Had to travel back to Galordan something. Not so cool with warp 5.
  • tacofangstacofangs Member Posts: 2,951 Cryptic Developer
    nikeix wrote: »
    tacofangs wrote: »
    What I can do easily (as a stop gap) is to put a volume into the Star Library pieces, which points at a general spawn point name. That way, that volume now exists on ALL stars everywhere, but it only points at one single spawn point name. So I can then put in a single spawnpoint of that name, and all stars will go to it.

    Hopefully three of them... so all stars in that quadrant go to that quadrant's central spawnpoint :).

    Sorry, yes. I can put the same named spawn point in each Quadrant, and all stars will go to their respective quadrant's escape spawn.


    Only YOU can prevent forum fires!
    19843299196_235e44bcf6_o.jpg
Sign In or Register to comment.