Re: Status

#16
5379, with a single 1024 res map - pretty much a modern HTL fighter really.

The model, despite being a HTL upgrade of our original gunship by Flipside is rather ancient now....lets see..... wow 2005 vintage in fact! Older than I thought!
......that's...pretty pathetic given how long it took to ACTUALLY finish it off properly just recently. Sigh. :\
Twisted Infinities

Re: Status

#17
5379, with a single 1024 res map - pretty much a modern HTL fighter really.

The model, despite being a HTL upgrade of our original gunship by Flipside is rather ancient now....lets see..... wow 2005 vintage in fact! Older than I thought!
......that's...pretty pathetic given how long it took to ACTUALLY finish it off properly just recently. Sigh. :\

It's the mapping that makes the model though. :) (NB: I think you should've posted a full-lit version to see them in their glory).

To be honest, if I ever get round to making the sort of freighter-come-q-ship thing I've wanted to do for a while, it's reassuring to see you can make something looking that good at that reasonable a budget.

Plus you can always just stick on detail-box greebles. It's what I'd do. If I ever got the damned things to work.

Actually, thinking about it, the whole HTL 10k-for-fighter thing is pretty nuts.

Re: Status

#18
Thanks man. :)

A slightly older unlit version is here. There are also some more here if you're interested. BW made the original texture, and what I think works so well in the end result is a combination of the simplicity (and to an extent the near-randomness) of the panelling, the strategic placement of greebles to break up that panelling, and then the way the normal map and especially the shine map highlight those greebles and the bring out the differing metallic look of the individual panels. Now I just need to work out how to achieve similar effects on future ships in under 6 years! :\

And yeah 10k per fighter is pretty crazy, but not necessarily bad. If those polys are well spent it can be quite worthwhile.
That said however, yeah it definitely runs the risk of drowning the model in greebles, leaving little in the way of defining characteristics of the ship. It's kinda like they become so detailed that they become bland. (The new transformers are an excellent example of this, where you can really only tell who is who by what colour they are. For fun and science I greyscaled that pic and they all sorta merge into something resembling a junkyard with legs. :p )
Last edited by Vasudan Admiral on Mon May 16, 2011 6:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Twisted Infinities

Re: Status

#19
Thanks man. :)

A slightly older unlit version is here. There are also some more here if you're interested. BW made the original texture, and what I think works so well in the end result is a combination of the simplicity (and to an extent the near-randomness) of the panelling, the strategic placement of greebles to break up that panelling, and then the way the normal map and especially the shine map highlight those greebles and the bring out the differing metallic look of the individual panels. Now I just need to work out how to achieve similar effects on future ships in under 6 years! :\
It's nice to see an actual green colour scheme in keeping with how the FS2 ships were going.

In a sense you're probably lucky that the design of the ship isn't something that dates, in the sense of looking bad a few years down the road. I actually started trying to work with a sort of double-overage, making everything twice as detailed, twice as high res, as is justified at the time of starting it. Which is a good way of never finishing anything, to be honest.
And yeah 10k per fighter is pretty crazy, but not necessarily bad. If those polys are well spent it can be quite worthwhile.
That said however, yeah it definitely runs the risk of drowning the model in greebles, leaving little in the way of defining characteristics of the ship. It's kinda like they become so detailed that they become bland. (The new transformers are an excellent example of this, where you can really only tell who is who by what colour they are. For fun and science I greyscaled that pic and they all sorta merge into something resembling a junkyard with legs. :p )
The weird thing is that of the few 10k+ fighters I have made, none have actually used those polys for anything other than smoothing (viewtopic.php?f=46&t=4349 for example). I'm feeling a real urge to keep everything 'simple' nowadays; not only is it easier, but I think it looks more realistic. Plus anything like a fighter is only visible for short periods at mostly medium-to-long ranges (which is why I tend to focus on designing the rear engine configuration of pilotable ships - IMO it's probably the easiest way to ensure quick silhouette recognition, especially with low ambient lighting).

The Transformers are a gold standard for confusion (the links broken, but I'm presuming you mean the movie CGI); I don't know precisely what the animators and modellers are thinking, and whether it was by choice, but they have these amazingly intricate and detailed models that are completely incomprehensible in motion.

Re: Status

#21
Just want to jump in here:

Yes, I am on holiday (I'm in San Francisco right now), and will probaly be out of the game until around August. Which sucks a bit. But I'm still committed to a 2011 release (sans voice acting) of Acts 1 and 2. The FREDding is really close, and while I have very slightly feature creeped (I mean very slightly - I've been putting decent looking trees into the atmospheric missions - annoyingly I've lost the pics I uploaded) the big time eaters are still texs - the Orestes (my bad) and codename Spaceball 1 (VAs project, when he has time between Uni). Everything else (like the HTL Heimdall we recently received, new water textures etc. etc.) can be released with the main release if they're finished, or as part of an upgrade pack later on, so they will not delay release.



WRT the other stuff on the thread, as usual from him, VAs work on the harpy has been top notch. I'd like to claim the texture, but the truth is all the best bits are his, and the reason my parts look good comes down primarily to the shine and normal mapping he's done. :D The turrets are also cool (also all VA's work) - IMO, that rear dorsal turret is the best looking multipart beam turret I've ever seen.

Also, I can't believe I missed that fighter of yours when it was first shown off Also - it's awesome, looks like a heavy complement to the Leto, at the same level of quality (i.e. enormous :)). If it ever does get finished, I'd love to slot it into Frontlines. :D
TI - Coming in 2011 - Promise!
:flag9:
"Everyone has to wear clothes, and if you don't, you get arrested!" - Mr. T

Re: Status

#23
California was great, very scenic. Saw snow for the first time in my entire life. :) The entire trip was cool actually, Iceland was a highlight, awesome geology. Same goes for a few other spots (Yellowstone, Grand Canyon etc.). But I'm back home in Australia again now, and back into TI. Currently, or at least, last I heard before I went off to work, VA was working on converting Blackwood Station, one of a surprising number of very near complete HTL models that just got held up by the need for (relatively) minor adjustments. My major project at the moment (as of tonight when my swing ends at least) is the Orestes texture job. There's a WiP on the internal at the moment, probably about 40 - 50 percent done with the diffuse texture. I'm hoping to finish it this break (i.e. Before wednesday). Since it's my last big contribution to the Act 1 modpack, once it's done I should be able to focus on FRED and the general housework of getting the campaign together.

Timeline wise, taking into account my work schedule and VA's patchy availability due to university related supervillain research, I'm hoping to have an internal alpha by October, a more or less finalized modpack and associated beta by November, and a release in December. I'm still committed to a 2011 release date for act 1.
TI - Coming in 2011 - Promise!
:flag9:
"Everyone has to wear clothes, and if you don't, you get arrested!" - Mr. T

Re: Status

#26
Some current WiP pics:

The Orestes (Model is finished, Textures are in progress) -
Image
Blackwood Station - currently in the process of being converted -
Image
[EDIT]Should emphasize here - both models are by VA, my only contribution here is the texture on the Orestes (and some very minor model tweaks).
TI - Coming in 2011 - Promise!
:flag9:
"Everyone has to wear clothes, and if you don't, you get arrested!" - Mr. T

Re: Status

#27
These designs are uber cool. THey're like ":used future" FS ships. FS ships to me never really seemed part of a "used future" sinc ehtey all looked like they were straight off the assembly lines, especially the civilian installations (mainly because all of them looked exacatly the same), but this gives them some extra soul and interestingness

Re: Status

#28
Blackwood Station is uber cool. Whole mod is awesome. Can't wait for the release :D.
BTW. Is this possible to release separated components of the station after the main release of whole mod? They would be very useful to modders as self-dependent stations.

Re: Status

#30
Blackwood Station is uber cool. Whole mod is awesome. Can't wait for the release :D.
BTW. Is this possible to release separated components of the station after the main release of whole mod? They would be very useful to modders as self-dependent stations.
You'll have to talk to VA about splitting them up like that - I'm not certain exactly how the station's submodels are getting divided, but it might be a relatively simple task. [Ninjaed by VA :(]
These designs are uber cool. THey're like ":used future" FS ships. FS ships to me never really seemed part of a "used future" sinc ehtey all looked like they were straight off the assembly lines, especially the civilian installations (mainly because all of them looked exacatly the same), but this gives them some extra soul and interestingness
Yeah, used future and the whole civilian world is a major focus in TI, especially in the first act. Actually, the entire Act 1 modpack includes no new fancy-pants GTVA warships at all. In fact, at this point, there're only plans for one new GTVA capital class all through the campaign.
TI - Coming in 2011 - Promise!
:flag9:
"Everyone has to wear clothes, and if you don't, you get arrested!" - Mr. T
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