2018-07-10 Shields

[Haxus]

http://hazeron.com/vid/ShieldHits.mp4
http://hazeron.com/vid/ShieldBaseAtlantisLanding.mp4

Military Shield Projector
Military shield projector building is now operational.

• Shield bubble appears at the proper radius; it was previously incorrect.
  
• Shield protects its contents where they literally reside inside the bubble. Parts of buildings that extend outside the bubble can be targeted.
  
• Shield projector recharges its capacitors every 10 seconds. Energy is taken from power plants connected by ground.
  

The Bubble is the Shield
Previously, shields were treated as surface armor. The bubble was there only as a visual cue that shields were present. This was confusing to players who perceived the bubble to be the shield itself. Now, the bubble is the shield.

This caused some things to change.

• Shields block weapon fire that originates outside the bubble. Weapons hit on the shield bubble, not the hull.
  
• Shields do not block weapon fire that originates inside the bubble. Weapons inside the shield can fire outward.
  
• Shields do not block explosives used to open doors because the blast originates inside the shield. This is a change from old style ships, where hull doors were protected by shields.
  
• Shields block objects that enter the shield too fast. An object is blocked if it enters the shield with a speed greater than 150m/s relative to the shield. This one is going to kill some people.
  
• Shields do not block objects moving around inside the shield or moving from inside to outside the shield.
  
• Shields block missiles, rockets and bombs that enter the bubble. They explode on the shield surface. Shrapnel does not hit shield contents. Bombs that hit shields do not make craters in nearby terrain.
  
• Shields absorb blasts and collisions. The protected ship cannot be pushed by hitting the shield.
  
• Incendiary, acid, etc. weapons that explode on the shield do not inflict the protected ship with fire or acid.
  

Shield Hit Effect
The hit effect on the shield bubble was not working. It is fixed. You will now see an orange glow at the point of impact on the shield.

Shield Transparency
Shields now become more transparent as their energy is reduced.

• On spacecraft, sides of the shield bubble are transparent according to energy at each side of the shield.
  
• On buildings, shields do not have sides and the entire shield bubble uniformly becomes more or less transparent.