A1 - hidden = 1 command?

[Shadowtech]

This is for Armada 1

What is the practical use of the odf command hidden = 1 ? I know that it hides an object when you build something but what good is it? The object is hidden from view and unusable. If anyone knows could you include a practical example.

[CABAL]

There are a few possibilities, but most of them are really weird and work best with 'avoidme = 0', which makes ships pass right through. The stock use is simply to hide the map lights, but other uses include hiding research pods so that only the station can be targeted, "researching" things from a shipyard by building an invisible and intangible ship, or, if you're really nuts, building an invisible and intangible mining station that uses a "freighter" that's actually a combat ship that can turn but not move to create a turret that turns to face the target. That one has the problem where freighters still try to dock with the mining station that isn't technically there, though. There may be a way to get the mining station to automatically shoot itself, but I never got that far.

[MrVulcan]

Those are good suggestions, CABAL

I use it to create invisible map objects that are either a station or a uball object. These can be used for a variety of effects:

adding extra effects to the stock nebula via weapons on the hidden object
light sources, also via weapons with shotspeed = 0
let the AI build more freighters on each moon by letting it build invisible mining stations (yes it can shoot itself, but better option is to give it 0 life support)

[Shadowtech]

Thanks guys! I never could figure out a practical use for the command. Your suggestions are interesting and I'll give them a try!

[Shadowtech]

Just a follow-up question out of curiosity. Does anyone know why the command was included in armada in the first place? Does it have something to do with map objects?

[CABAL]

There's a directional light object (dlight.odf) that has a model to make it easier to position. The hidden command makes it so the light still works, but you can't see the model. You can still see it in the map editor, though.