New phasers firing opposite intended arc ??

[Lennis]

I've been modding BC for about two weeks and have learned quite a bit in that time, but I've run into a problem that's completely stumping my inexperienced mind.

I have been attempting to add a few ventral phasers to a TMP Constitution model, but for reasons that mystify me, the one phaser I've installed via MPE seems to be firing exactly opposite of the intended arc in-game.  The new hardpoint is on the bottom of the secondary hull, the intended arc is down and slightly to starboard.  The beam instead fires up through the hull and slightly to port. :?  I've experimented with a number of settings, including the orientation axis, but the beam insists on firing opposite any arc I assign.  I'm not new to adding weapons on existing ships.  I've added several to a Centaur with no problems, so this unexpected setback is causing me no small amount of stress.  I hope this is only a small oversight on my part and not some larger issue.  Can someone help?

Apologies in advance if someone else addressed this issue in a tutorial or something.  I'm still looking around for insights.

[Lennis]

I might have just found the answer to my own question.

http://bridgecommander.3dactionplanet.gamespy.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=9138

It seems to be a known bug in MPE.  A value of -53 to 23 would have to be switched to -23 to 53 to fire in the correct arc.  (sigh) The growing pains of a newbie modder.  I'll still have to see if this works.  If anyone else has thoughts on this MPE issue, feel free to post.

[MLeo]

Moving to Modding.

[Lennis]

It looks like it didn't work.  I had no choice but to make reverse firing arcs for the weapons to work correctly.  That took awhile to wrap my mind around.

[Nighthawk]

you need first to position your phaser in an XYZ position (say, the fore part)
so, let's assume it is 2,0,0 (X,Y,Z)

then, you need to orient it.
in the 3x3 text box matrix you have on the left part of the property window you need to enter the XYZ value for each XYZ vector (yeah, is confussing, I know) let's stay with:
Up: 0,0,1
Forward: 0,1,0
Right: 1,0,0

once you have it facing towards wherever you want (this one is facing straight forward), enter the firing arc value. they are set from the lowest value to the highest value, so for a 90?-wide 90?-high firing cone, they should be:

Horizontal:
     Start: -45
     End: 45

Vertical:
     Start: -45
     End: 45

if you ever need to re-orient the phaser, don't touch the firing arc. re-define the XYZ vectors instead. the firing arc will follow the forward vector orientation
think of it as a flashlight. the light points forward and projects a cone. the closer to a wall, the smaller the circle.
if you turn the light in any direction, the circle follows the flashlight orientation in either roll, pitch or yaw

[Lennis]

Thanks for the suggestion.  I'll have to try this, though the XYZ orientation is what I understand the least.  The arcs I used for my Constitution were somewhat unconventional, so I don't know if an orientation shift would have helped me in this particular case.  The arcs I used for the Centaur (my first weapon add-on experience) were simpler.  That may explain why I didn't have problems there.

[Nighthawk]

federation weapons are a separated chapter.
in that case, you do need to align the angles instead of the vectors, since you need to keep the firing arc aligned with the phaser strip, so in most cases the Z orientation will be 0,0,1, while in other races you can change to 0,0,-1 or 0,1,0.

I suggest you first learn all the secrets of weapons for the federation, and the other races will be easier once you get to handle it.

[ACES_HIGH]

in my experience, weapons are the hardest part to add to a hardpoint

[Chronocidal Guy]

Agreed, especially when you add a ton of separate phaser strips. 

For a good example of how to orient them backwards, check the CG Sov hardpoint... I think most of them are correct, but the firing arcs for the nacelle pylon arrays had to be reversed to work, probably since they face backwards.  My general method was to orient them correctly, then play around with + and - signs in the angles until they work right.  You may need to flip the order of the angles given as well, like swap the start and end angles for an arc.  It's really just a lot of trial and error.

Btw, I don't remember for sure, but I think every time you start or end a quickbattle the hardpoint scripts get refreshed, so you don't have to necessarily restart the game for every change.  Always worked that way for me anyway, other computers might not be so forgiving to run MPE and BC at once.