Yet another flashlight demo

[6643a540ba20aZylonBane]

Also very SS1 like

It's not SS1-like at all. In SS1 you can turn the headlamp on and run around freely.

I'm currently leaning toward tying the flashlight to the compass. This wouldn't really make logical sense, but it would neatly solve two problems-- it would give the flashlight script a host object that would be unlikely to conflict with any other mods, and it would allow toggling the flashlight using an existing keybind. And it's not like anyone ever uses the compass anyway.

[6643a540ba452voodoo47]

yeah, "weird numbers appeared, is my game possessed by satan" steam forum posts are not that uncommon. should work nicely, and optionally disabling/not showing the actual compass stuff should be easy.

[6643a540ba5baKolya]

I use the compass! How else am I supposed to find North on a spaceship? 

[6643a540ba6fevoodoo47]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCEGnxyUCj0&t=94 (1:34 in case the link won't open at the correct spot)

[6643a540baaa3Silversharp]

I'm currently leaning toward tying the flashlight to the compass. This wouldn't really make logical sense, but it would neatly solve two problems-- it would give the flashlight script a host object that would be unlikely to conflict with any other mods, and it would allow toggling the flashlight using an existing keybind. And it's not like anyone ever uses the compass anyway.

Any chance to release a standalone mod based on this idea? Toggable flashlight in place of compass, this opens new possibilities for me. I would make the game even darker if I had a flashlight.
I even had this idea of simple night vision based of alpha channel illumination similar to what Koyla did with his recent white round crosshair.

[6643a540bac23Silversharp]

Is it possible to script player object to cast a light like "the rapier sword" does, and alter the parameters of light somehow? Like a glowing stick or a flare.
I know it's an omnidirectional light, directional flashlight is a bust anyway. ? ?

[6643a540bad91Silversharp]

Well, I'm not giving up on this 

https://youtu.be/GGO9dkpDbcc

A switchable "lantern" similar to what can be seen on the video, pretty please?
I'm sure theoretically and technically it can be done. Light saber glows around.

[6643a540baec5voodoo47]

add this

Code: [Select]

+ObjProp "BigSpoon" "SelfLit" = "200"to the Spoon gamesys.dml, start a new game. shiny glowy spoon!

[6643a540bb02eZylonBane]

Finally did some more work on this and wrapped it up into an installable mod. I'm still tweaking the parameters, so consider this a beta. I'd appreciate any feedback on the implementation and any framerate issues.

Code: [Select]

Flashlight Biomod 0.9
April 2020
by ZylonBane
- Experimental nanotech biomod deposits bioluminescent cells within the retina
  to provide coherent illumination of the users's field of view.
- Replaces compass module in standard cyber implant architecture. Use compass
  keybind to toggle activation state.
- Continuous light generation is physically taxing, so movement speed is reduced
  by 20% while biomod is active.
EDIT: Attachment removed

[6643a540bb121Kolya]

Is there a technical reason for the speedcontrol?

[6643a540bb303ZylonBane]

Technical? No. Gameplay, yes. The reason is to discourage players from just turning it on and leaving it on. Since it doesn't use energy or any other resources like most other game flashlights, something had to be done to balance it, so I went with speed. I figure this works well since in the game's dark areas you're usually going to be moving around pretty slowly anyway.

Another note: This now gives the flashlight beam a bit of inertia instead of hard-locking it to the direction you're facing. This is intended to make it feel more "real" and less like just an engine effect, but I imagine some people might find the lag distracting. Let me know what you think.

[6643a540bb6a4sarge945]

It would be cool if there was a light spell (a psi power) that basically either made your eyes glow or made a ball of light follow you around, for an extremely small psi cost (maybe nothing upfront, then 2 psi per minute or something).

I dunno, just random ideas. I guess there are already enough borderline useless psi powers, although this could have some use in the cargo bays for psi users who usually have a particularly hard time there against all the robots. At least I have a hard time there.

Another possible balance idea is to make eating food replenish it for a while, like it's getting bio-energy from your digestive system.

Does the flashlight make the player easier to spot?

I am just throwing stuff out here.

[6643a540bb9cfZylonBane]

Does the flashlight make the player easier to spot?

It adds a dynamic light to the player, so I'd imagine so. Why don't you try it out and see for yourself?