Rigidchips

Basic Car Designing

2008-09-03T01:10:00.003+01:00

Let's move on to cars. A car is probably easier to make than an airplane or boat, because it does not need to be balanced, as it is going to move on the ground, not through the air or the water. You want to get a good number for the brakes; not too low, not too high. For the emergency or handbrakes (if you decide to add them), you can set a high number.
Try experimenting with the handling; if you want your car to perform hairpin turns, then you might want to try a handling system that enables the axels to turn a lot. Just watch your speed when you're turning, especially, if your car is tall. Otherwise, you'll roll over when you turn at high speeds. You can try tweaking the speed with which the axels will turn. At the Val section in the RigidChips Designer, you can set the default step. This is the step for the axels when they are returning to their normal position (straight). You can set the step for the axels as you turn them to be higher or lower than this so-called "return step."
Be realistic with your engine power; you don't need it to be set at 1,000,000 (unless you're designing a very heavily armored tank-like vehicle.
With some practice, you'll be designing cars that perform well!

RE: Basic Boat Designing

2008-08-29T09:02:00.002+01:00

Just to help Chris P. along, here's a way of removing the roll that comes from using a propeller; use two. All you need are two counter-rotationg propellers (preferably RLWs) and you have no roll! Just beware, if you are using an outboard motor design, to much power will make the section of the boat where the propeller is lift out of the water.

Basic Boat Designing

2008-08-27T01:01:00.012+01:00

Moving on, I'm going to cover the basics for designing watercraft. The first model I built from scratch was a boat, and it worked rather well. The 4 essential things to keep in mind when designing a boat are:

Balance: Make sure the center of gravity is just right; this can take a while, and I still haven't gotten it completely right, achieving a perfect balance. A shortcut that I have seen in most successful boat designs is the use of jets or air balloons to let the boat float on the water; this results in a perfectly level boat. Just be sure to place the balloons or jets in the proper places.
Stability: A problem that may arise when using a propeller for boats is the rolling of the boat to one side or another when turning. I have seen boats that use propellers for propulsion, and the rolling is almost nonexistent, but I still haven't figured out how the designers tackled the problem. I have reason to believe that the size of the boat determines this. A big boat will not roll as much with a propeller as a small boat with a propeller. If you do not feel like fiddling with propellers, incorporate jets for turning and propulsion, as it saves weight, which helps the balance. It also makes the design less cluttered. The boat will still roll a bit when turning, but not nearly as much as when using propellers that cause the boat to roll.
Buoyancy: A nice looking boat isn't worth diddly squat if it sinks into the murky depths! If your boat is small enough, you can get it to float without jets or balloons. However, if you are designing a large boat, balloons or jets can help resolve this problem.
Keep it Grounded: If you're going to use jets for propulsion in your boat, proceed with caution. The power to weight ratio of the boat is something to keep an eye on. Too much power, and your boat may begin to lift off. Finding the right amount of jets or the right amount of power for each jet is key. If you want to design a boat for maximum speed, try to find the right balance between power and weight (remember, things can be unequal and still be balanced!), where the power is at the maximum for the boat's weight, without becoming airborne. Otherwise, you can always reduce the power a bit to be safe.

Basic Model Making Tutorial

2008-08-19T09:32:00.002+01:00

To save Chris P. from the trouble, I've made a tutorial for basic model making. This is for Designer only! It won't make sense if you don't have the Designer!
The tutorial is located here:
http://files.filefront.com/Designer+Guidezip/;11439994;/fileinfo.html

It is .HTML format, just extract all the files somewhere, then open it in IE. Not FireFox. I usually promot FireFox, but this time it has failed me by not displaying the tutorial properly. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the tutorial!

A Beginner's Guide (Cont.)

2008-08-19T09:23:00.002+01:00

Something Chris (other one) forgot to mention:
The jets have 3 options:
Option 0 is a normal jet, the one Chris described.
Option 1 is a helium balloon. This provides upward lift in air.
Option 2 is an air balloon. These float on water.
Just thought you might like to know!

Also, with jet option 0, the effect goes as followed:
Effect 0: No smoke.
Effect 1: Thin smoke.
Effect 2: Medium smoke.
Effect 3: Thick smoke.
Effect 4: Heavy smoke.

Options and Effects are all set in the same place where you set angle, colour ETC.

A Beginners Guide

2008-08-18T19:22:00.004+01:00

Okay, let's get down to business. RigidChips was created by a Japanese man named Takeya Yasuhiko, who is sometimes referred to as "the Student." Think of a rigid body or physics simulator that calculates air and water resistance. Now add the ability to create models using various components, called chips, which you command to perform actions (virtually anything) using a scripting language; the result is RigidChips. Using a text editor, such as Notepad, you can create or edit models. Using the RigidChips Designer software, you can see a model as you design it. Go to this link to download it: http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA013928/soft.html . This software makes designing models much easier. In this post, I'm not going to go into too much detail; I don't want to confuse you.
There are several types of chips in RigidChips:

Chip: Is affected by gravity, as well as air and water resistance. The standard component.
Frame: Similar to a chip, except it is not affected by air resistance. Also lighter, since it is a frame.
Weight: Essentially a heavier chip.
Trim: A chip that can rotate; hold your hand out flat, imagining that your hand is the trim, and your forearm is the chip it is connected to. Now rotate your hand so that your thumb (or pinky finger, it doesn't matter) is facing up. That's how the trim rotates.
Trim Frame: The name says it all.
Rudder: Another chip that can rotate; hold your hand out flat, and turn your hand so that it is no longer pointing in the same direction as your forearm. That's how the rudder rotates.
Rudder Frame: Again, the name says it all.
Wheel: Can be scripted to turn to move the model.
RLW: Like a wheel, but is usually used for the rotors on helicopters or the propellers on planes.
Jet: Just a circle with a black circle in the middle; provides thrust.
Arm: A gun; can be scripted to fire.
Cowl: Has no weight, and is not affected by air or water resistance. Can also be made more or less transparent, reflective, etc. Once a cowl is down, the only thing that can branch off of it is another cowl, so use with some caution.

That's all for this post; I don't want to make it too long! Next, we'll be covering basic model making.

Online Play

2008-08-18T11:31:00.004+01:00

Just a short post to detailing how to play online. The website http://rigidchips.orz.hm is maintained by a japanese guy, who calls himself Hikeo. He has said he is happy for foreigners (E.G us) to come on his servers:
Hi,I'm hikeo.
I'm admin of rigidchips.orz.hm.
Im glad to have my server introduced here.
Generally, foreigners are welcomed, but I'd like you to remember following things.
1 My server is in Japan.
2 Most players in my server cannot speak English.
3 Due to the high ping, your message in chat of RigidChips may be lost and cannot reach other players with the bug of RigidChips.
(Quoted from http://rigidchips.ipbfree.com/index.php?showtopic=63)
To access his server on RigidChips, first press the Tab key on your keyboard to bring up a window entitled "Network". On the top left of that window, there are two radio buttons; Host and Connect. Tick the "Connect" circle. Then type in the name you want people to see you as in the "User" text box. The "Color" button next to that textbox allows you to choose a colour for your marker. This will add a hexdecimal colour code next to your name. Don't worry, this code will not show up in-game. So, if I wanted my username to be Chris, and my colour to be red, I would type Chris#FF0000 into the "User" box. The next box down is labeled "Host". In here, you must type the I.P address of the host computer or network. To access Hikeo's server, type rigidchips.orz.hm into the "Host" box. Last box is labeled "Port#". In here, you must type to port number of the hosting computer or network. Hikeo's server has three ports; 2345, 51234 and 37564. the most commonly used one is 2345, then 51234 and lastly 37564. So go one 2345 first, if there is no-one on there, have a look at 51234. If, again, no-one is online, go on 37564. If no-one is on that port either, it means they are all asleep. Or maybe they just didn't want to come online. Anyway, Once you have typed in all of the details you need to, press the "Start" button, and RigidChips will attempt to connect you to the network. Sometimes, RigidChips cannot connect. If this problem occurs, try closing RigidChips and starting it up again.

A thing to remember is that not everyone online will want to battle you all the time, so do not just sit there shooting them. All you are likely to achieve by doing that is getting everyone annoyed with you. Also, a lot of them do not speak english. A few of them do, like Ruby, MINIMI, Koeen, Nekt, Hikeo and so on. Lastly, your message may not be sent due to the very high "ping" of RigidChips. If no-one answers, try sending your message again. Don't overdo it though!

Well, I hope this post was informative, and I hope you enjoy online play in RigidChips. My name online is Chris, and my marker is a light orange colour. If you see me, feel free to have a chat!

Introduction

2008-08-17T19:40:00.002+01:00

Hello, I'm Chris. Yes, I have the same name as AliensExist51. This could get very, very confusing! I have been using RigidChips for over a year now, so I have got some fairly good skills with Lua script, and general Model building. I hope to be a large contributor to this blog, with a combination of models and tutorials.

My Intro

2008-08-17T17:35:00.006+01:00

Hello, I'm Chris! I've been a RigidChips model designer since late April, and I've learned all sorts of things about the program and modeling. I have seen many interesting, fascinating, complex, and amazing models since I first became interested in the program. In this blog, we (Thorero and I, and anyone else from the forums who may wish to contribute) will explain what RigidChips is, what you can do in it, and how you do it. It may seem a bit overwhelming at first glance, but trust me: you will gain more understanding of it as we publish posts. You don't have to be a mathematical or computer genius to create a good model; you're only limited by your imagination!

Google Lively Room

2008-08-17T14:17:00.000+01:00

Well we've now got a Google Lively Room! It can be accessed from the main page at the Rigidchips Home, Or from here:

Welcome!

2008-08-16T21:25:00.000+01:00

Welcome Folks! This post will follow the work of some of the Model, Map and Mod Makers in Rigidchips. Along with some really nifty Tutorials, and some special models not available anywhere else.