ATITD Wiki: Guides/Pyrotechnics

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Française: Pyrotechnie

Overview

Pyrotechnics is the art of fireworks. It allows players to create displays of fireworks with stars made in a Star Rack that are then loaded into a Fireworks Mortar. A multitude of patterns and arrays can be achieved for fun or for the Test Of Pyrotechnics. Also see Pyrotechnics Stadiums.

Star formulas can be learned at Universities of Art and Music. Additional stars may be made available by experimentation with a Portable Star Lab, which must then be returned to a University. See the Star Recipes page for the star formulas and their locations.

The remainder of this page covers the use and design of fireworks.

Note

Much of the information currently on this page was copied from the Tale 2 Pyrotechnics Guide. Nearly all information appears to be the same, but some additional editing may be necessary. -Gardiner

Interface

When you edit the design of a mortar, the mortar widget will appear. Through this interface you can specify how the firework behaves. A firework is comprised of between 1 and 12 stages. These stages are listed in the mortar widget with the values that define their behavior.

Add a new stage by clicking "Add Stage."
Delete a stage (except for stage 0) by clicking that stage's "delete."
Test fire the firework by clicking "Test Fire." You must have the necessary resources on hand, which are then loaded into the mortar. You can reclaim the resources by disarming the mortar. Test firing does not consume the resources, but only the mortar owner will see the firework.
Scroll among the stages using the scroll bar at the bottom.
Resize the window using the handle in the lower right.

Design

First, you'll need a mortar, which cost 10 Firebricks. There is some confusion over the tech requirement to build mortars. Starting the test, learning Pyrotechnic Mortar Construction, or both may be required. Mortars are reusable; the design can always be changed and the mortar rearmed and fired. then when you click on the mortar you'll bring up 12 stages with the following options. Stage 0 is launched from the mortar; stages 1-11 are launched from another stage which you specify.

Launch From: The parent of the current stage. Not available for the first stage.
Flight Time: How long this stage will live. Range: 0.1 to 99.9 seconds
Rockets: The number of rockets to use per repetition. Used for rings, fans, omnis and random. Range: 1 to 4000
Direction: The direction that the rocket is launched from the parent: Forward, Backward, Pitch Up, Pitch Down, Yaw Right, Yaw Left, Ring, Fan, Omni, Random.
Launch Speed: The speed of the rocket when it is first launched from its parent stage. Range: 0 to 6500 ft/sec
Launch Roll: Rotates the rocket around its forward axis. This is a one time rotation at the moment of launch and not a rotation over time. Range: -360 to 360 degrees
Thrust Forward: The acceleration on the rocket in the forward direction. Range: -300 to 300 ft/sec^2 (Note: Negative thrust can give you some strange and fun results as the speed reaches 0 and the rocket then endlessly flips over).
Thrust Pitch Up: The acceleration on the rocket in the vertical (z-axis) direction relative to the orientation of the rocket. Range: -300 to 300 ft/sec^2
Thrust Yaw Right: The acceleration on the rocket horizontal (left-right or y-axis) direction relative to the orientation of the rocket. Range: -300 to 300 ft/sec^2
Launch Reps: Launch another set of rockets every N seconds, where N is total time of the parent stage divided by the number of repetitions. Range: 1 to 250
Launch Offset: The delay after the parent's launch before this stage is launched. Effectively reduces the total time for repetitions mentioned above by the value specified here. Range: 0.0 to 99.9 seconds
Star: The type of star to use. Only lists stars that you currently have in your inventory. You must select a star type to launch or test.

Notes:

1) Egypt appears to have a gravitational acceleration of -33.00 ft/sec^2.

2) The initial stage appears to last 0.1 second longer than the entered time. If stage 0 is a forward launch, you can simply reduce the Flight Time to get calculated values to work (example: 0.9 sec flight time with a 33 ft/sec launch speed will give you a stationary platform for the next stage).

Launch Directions

It is important to remember that child rockets will retain the movement and orientation of the parent stage at launch (Example: firing backwards from a rapidly moving rocket may well only give you a slightly slower child instead of one moving the other way). Also, now that a rocket's orientation is defined by its direction of travel, the launch directions will vary as the parent travels along its path.

Forward: Sends the child in the same direction as the parent is heading.
Backward: Sends the child in the opposite direction to the parent (this will either give a slower rocket moving in the same direction or one moving in the opposite direction depending on parent speed at launch and child launch speed).
Pitch Up: Sends the child upwards (from the parent's point of view)
Pitch Down: Sends the child down from the parent rocket (this does not necessarily mean towards the ground).
Yaw Right: Sends the child to the right of the parent rocket.
Yaw Left: Sends the child to the left of the parent rocket.
Ring: Child rockets fly away from the center in a ring in the plane perpendicular to the forward direction of the parent. Rockets are evenly distributed around the ring. The down direction of the children matches the backward direction of the parent.
Fan: Child rockets fly forward and away from the center in a half circle in the plane defined by the forward direction and yaw direction of the parent (need verification for all circumstances). The down direction of the children matches the down direction of the parent.
Omni: Child rockets shoot away in a sphere.
Random: Each child is fired at a randomly chosen direction away from the parent.

Resource costs

To arm a mortar you'll need some papyrus paper, gunpowder, and the appropriate stars. Once the mortar has been armed, it may be fired.