[mini-MOD] XChange Guild Portals 1.0a

[OPR]

XChange Guild Portals 1.0a
by OPR

Version : 1.0a
Release : 04/27/2011
Compatibility : X3TC all versions, NHTC 1.2 in RAR version
Bêta-test : Absconce, Cpt-Killer

Please excuse me if there is language mistakes, I'm french and perhaps my English is not good

Description :
This mini-mod increases the size of all X3TC portals by 225%.
By enlarging the transit zone, collisions are less frequent, NPC ships pass more easily, and bigger ships, as Valhalla, go throught without problems.

Inspiration :
I liked the mini-mod Large Gates by PSCO1.
Sadly, this mini-mod changed only the classics portals of the Commonwealth. The vortex size being the same for all portals, by entering the HUB or passing though the new Terran gate of Neptune, collisions with smaller gates were frequent.
Inspired by PSCO1's idea, I created this set of portals, including ALL existing portals in X3TC.

In facts :
[ external image ]
These are the portals of the mini-mod XChange Guild Portals, compared with the originals portals.

From left to right and top to bottom :
- Disabled Ancient Portal (from the Aldrin plot)
- Classic Ancient Portal
- Destroyed Ancient Portal
- HUB Portal
- Terran Portal in Neptune (from the Aldrin plot)
- Terran Trans-Orbital Accelerator
- Terran Portal in Neptune, construction in progress (from the Aldrin plot)

Download and Instructions :
XChange Guild Portals from the XChange Guild forum (in french)

Evolutions :
04/27/2011 : Terran Trans-Orbital Accelerators fixed
04/25/2011 : Original Release

Thanks :
- PSCO1 for the original idea.
- Absconce and Cpt-Killer for testing.
- XChange Guild Team for good advices and supporting me as I labouriously discovered modding on X3TC and NHTC.

[Sam L.R. Griffiths]

Nice idea, got 1 question....

Q) The Vanilla Hub gates appear to be matched to the size and shape of the Hub. Is this actually so? If so, how does this address that?

[EmperorJon]

Good point... it may cause problems. Also, there may be other ares where (maybe not the normal gates) but the wrecked ones might be in an asteroid or something... the TOAs might be a bit problematic in some places too.

[paz3r]

[ external image ]
They're indeed a bit oversized for The Hub. Haven't tested it on working gate set though.

[OPR]

@Roger L.S. Griffiths & EmperorJon :
Good questions, all these portals have been tested in their real situations, especially HUBs, TOAs, Neptune's one and destroyed ones. All are well placed and not "included" in asteroids or stations.
In the HUB, they look closer together but well integrated to the superstructure, they are not "sinked" in the walls or something like that...

Just try it, if you don't like these portals, they are easy to uninstall !

[TrixX]

Need to separate the hub portals from the rest of them so they can be a different size. Relatively easy to do though

There should be no conflicts elsewhere though ]

Very nice work there mate!

[OPR]

Need to separate the hub portals from the rest of them so they can be a different size. Relatively easy to do though

Of course, just use the Rar version and delete the file /objects/others/terraformer_gate.bob.
But this will cause the same problem as Large Portals by PSCO1...

There should be no conflicts elsewhere though ]

...there will be conflicts between the Hub portals and the hull of large ships passing through !
Be aware of that.

Is the size of these Hub portals really annoying ?

Very nice work there mate!

Thanks !

[TrixX]

Not quite what I meant

Basically you can make the Hub Portals use a separate model and event horizon texture to the Terraformer Portal. I've pretty much set it up for XTL but then XTL has no Hub

[F.A.B.]

finally, the mod i was waiting for for so very long. looks great, thank you!

[Sorkvild]

King Size

[F.A.B.]

hey OPR,

i did some testflights using the gates and so far everything seems fine, except for the TOA modell, which has the event horizon misplaced (you can actually see it at your screenshot above).
would be great if you could adjust the modell so that the event horizon and the first ring match again.

[OPR]

hey OPR,

i did some testflights using the gates and so far everything seems fine, except for the TOA modell, which has the event horizon misplaced (you can actually see it at your screenshot above).
would be great if you could adjust the modell so that the event horizon and the first ring match again.

I noticed this, and considered it as a minor problem. This happens because the center of the 3D model is not the same as the center of the ring, but matches the next vertical lines of the TOA, the ones that look like an arch.

As you see in my screenshot, the TOAs (Vanilla and mine) are not aligned with the other portals, but their arches are, althought the TOAs have been spawned with the same Z coordinate as the other portals for my tests. I didn't knew how to solve this problem, so I released the mini-mod as it is.

Perhaps in a further version !

[TrixX]

Just change the centre coords in 3DS MAX and re-export

[OPR]

I worked on it, and new testings will be performed before the release of the fixed version. You just have to wait a little time, a new set including TOAs working correctly will be available soon !

I'm a modding beginner, sorry !

[kamikazepenguin]

I have to tell you, this is fantastic, and exactly what I was looking for. Keep up the good work!

[OPR]

Thanks for your interest !

A new version is available at the top of this thread, TOA's entering/exiting point has been fixed, as you can see on the picture in my first message.

Enjoy !

[F.A.B.]

now it works perfect - good job!

[soulmonarch]

Popped into Earth last night and ran smack dab into a doubled-up jump gate. (Two gates superimposed over the top of each other.) Ship blew up immediately, since it was an M1 and jumped me directly into the middle of one of those prongs on either side of the gate.

Only other thing I have installed that might affect this is the TOA to Jump Gate replacer.

When I get home I'll turn on God mode and clipping and grab you screenshot.

[Varek Raith]

Popped into Earth last night and ran smack dab into a doubled-up jump gate. (Two gates superimposed over the top of each other.) Ship blew up immediately, since it was an M1 and jumped me directly into the middle of one of those prongs on either side of the gate.

Only other thing I have installed that might affect this is the TOA to Jump Gate replacer.

When I get home I'll turn on God mode and clipping and grab you screenshot.

The replacer from the Terran Revitalization Project?
IIRC, he added another gate to Earth that goes to...Venus, I think.
Those gates are spawned right next to each other.

[OPR]

If those gates are too close, by increasing their sizes they can be superimposed, of course.

A screenshot would be usefull to understand...