Hard Light Productions Forums

Community Projects => The FreeSpace Upgrade Project => The FreeSpace Port Upgrade => Topic started by: PL_Harpoon on August 10, 2008, 04:04:21 am

Title: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: PL_Harpoon on August 10, 2008, 04:04:21 am
I was little bored one day, so i started making the Valkyrie model. But I make horrible textures, so if anyone wants takeover I`ll give him the files. The model alredy maped, so it`s just texturing, and exporting into .pof.

Oh, and it`s made in 3DMax.

Here`s how it looks.
(http://www.harpliki.republika.pl/valk.jpg)
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: Snail on August 10, 2008, 04:20:42 am
That's pretty good, but... Well, there's already a HTL Valkyrie in the works, so there might be a bit of competition. Anyhow, I quite like your model, especially those primary cannons on the wing, they look like Dalek gunsticks...

Well, you seem to have a lot of talent. Would you mind doing another model, like, the Anubis or Scorpion?
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: PL_Harpoon on August 10, 2008, 04:46:47 am
Well, I didn`t know that, when i started making it, but sure, I can make an Anubis.
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: Snail on August 10, 2008, 04:48:49 am
Thanks.
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: Droid803 on August 10, 2008, 12:00:35 pm
Well, now we have more to choose from, and possibly a HTL Anubis? :D
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: ShadowGorrath on August 10, 2008, 12:09:34 pm
Why not the Sath, or Colossus? ;)

Or maybe an Ancient fighter/ship ? ^^
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: colecampbell666 on August 10, 2008, 12:22:39 pm
Colossus is done/WIP.
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: ShadowGorrath on August 10, 2008, 12:38:12 pm
I know that, just that there weren't any updates for some time now.

HTL Sathanas ?
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: Droid803 on August 10, 2008, 12:45:53 pm
The retail sath actually has a decent polycount already, you know.
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: Galemp on August 10, 2008, 01:25:12 pm
Hrm, I'm dissatisfied with all the unnecessary greebling on the sides that could be done with normal maps, and the low-poly hard edges of the outline, especially the engine block and wings. You've added a lot of polygons, but haven't enhanced the model at all.
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: Solatar on August 10, 2008, 01:26:30 pm
I know I'm probably in the minority, but I'd actually like to see an HTL Anubis and Scorpion.
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: Droid803 on August 10, 2008, 01:48:56 pm
Same. Maybe a HTL Shaitan as well.
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: ShadowGorrath on August 10, 2008, 02:19:30 pm
I give a go for the Scorpion. I mean, I have a use for it anyway ;) My glow and shinemaps for it would become obsolete though.
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: blowfish on August 10, 2008, 02:23:03 pm
Here's a pic of VA's HTL Valkyrie, just for comparison:

(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/VA--Twisted_Infinities/Valkyrie/ValkWIP4.jpg)
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: Solatar on August 10, 2008, 02:38:24 pm
If you make an HTL Valkyrie, you're obligated to make an Angel that matches.  :p
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: Titan on August 10, 2008, 04:31:08 pm
how about VA does the valk, and Harpoon does the angel. then we're all happy, and if he does a 4-gunpoint version then we can play cardinal spear with it.
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: Topgun on August 10, 2008, 05:25:52 pm
I like VA's better...
and NO, you CANNOT make that detail with normal maps. freespace's normal maps suck. maybe if/when we get a materials system it will look better. but right now it sucks.
plastic ships OR if you change the command line the game becomes too dark.
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: colecampbell666 on August 10, 2008, 05:37:47 pm
I like the VA Valkyrie more, it has added detail instead of just a bunch of greebles. No offense, VA is a very good modeler, with many years under his belt.
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: Herra Tohtori on August 10, 2008, 06:42:59 pm
and NO, you CANNOT make that detail with normal maps.

True, but only because making 90degree normal changes with normal map is as far as I know rather difficult and doesn't work very well due to div by zero... Parallax shift of sharply defined areas  (such as making an indented rectangular area on a flat surface) tends to have similar problems; the bottom of the hole would seem to slide "under" the surrounding area, but the sides of the hole wouldn't be seen...

Quote
freespace's normal maps suck. maybe if/when we get a materials system it will look better. but right now it sucks.
plastic ships OR if you change the command line the game becomes too dark.

What?

Normal map is a normal map; the information in the texture is used to determine the direction change of the surface normal at a given point. Then a shader adjusts the lighting on per-pixel basis to adjust for lighting depending on how much the normal of the surface is changed and how it changes the light's reflection. You wouldn't expect a model to change it's shape when you convert it to POF; similarly when you make a normal map the changes it makes to normals is (or at least should be) the same regardless of the renderer, be it a 3D-program or FS2_Open... although the shaders might make some adjustments to things like lighting and shinyness. Which can be adjusted individually to large extent without decreasing overall brightness.

Anyway, the point is that of the normal map sucks, it's not FSOpen's fault. If by plastic ships you refer to rounded, overly wide seam lines, all suck is in the normal map, not the shader system. It is true that normal maps tend to brighten the ships somewhat; however I don't agree on cmdline adjustments making the game too dark. Could you specify what kind of settings you've been trying?
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: Snail on August 11, 2008, 04:21:47 am
If you make an HTL Valkyrie, you're obligated to make an Angel that matches.  :p
Vasudan Admiral already did a HTL Angel, I'm not sure if it's converted though. ;)
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: Vasudan Admiral on August 11, 2008, 07:10:51 am
I didn't actually. ;)

Woomeister assembled it from the bits of the Valkyrie that were mixed into the uglies, which is what I'd intended to do with the uglies all along to build the loki, zeus and valkyrie. So yeah - the HTL Angel is based on the incomplete HTL Valkyrie if that makes sense. :D

Anyway, it's a nice model you have there PL Harpoon. :)
If you do make a HTL Anubis I'd love to see the result.

Oh and in case you haven't been beamed yet:
:welcome:
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: Titan on August 11, 2008, 07:41:24 am
oh yeah, it's gonna be in INFA, right?
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: PL_Harpoon on August 11, 2008, 02:15:49 pm
Actually, I also think, that VA`s one is better, but you could also add the empty missile banks, just in case someone (like me :P) wants to use give  "show secondaries"flag.
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: blowfish on August 11, 2008, 02:18:31 pm
Actually, I also think, that VA`s one is better, but you could also add the empty missile banks, just in case someone (like me :P) wants to use give  "show secondaries"flag.

That doesn't work well for FS2 in most cases because of the fact that the missiles vary in size so much...
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: Galemp on August 11, 2008, 02:53:36 pm
Sadly, Blowfish is right. What looks good with Hornets looks poor with Furies, lousy with Phoenixes and ridiculous with Tsunamis.

Bobboau, though, has proposed a workaround based on spacing the first firepoints widely based on the max capacity of the fattest warhead the ship can carry, then making subsequent firepoints denser and denser so that when you're loading lots of small missiles they're all tightly packed, but with a few large missiles they appear spaced. This doesn't always work either because missile cargo size doesn't correspond directly with the POF size.

Hmm. I just thought of a code opportunity here. See my post in the SCP forum.

BTW, this should be moved.
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: Snail on August 12, 2008, 01:04:42 am
BTW, this should be moved.
Uhh, where? FSU?
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: Herra Tohtori on August 12, 2008, 01:58:38 am
Not FSU, because Valkyrie is not in FS2. If it can't be here it should go to FSPort, but I can't really think of any reason why it couldn't stay here.
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: PL_Harpoon on August 12, 2008, 05:37:45 am
Well, I though about that missile problem, and I think it could be solved by making a specific missiles available only for specific missile banks. I tried to do that, but the bad thing is, that only a bombers could use Trebuchets and Stiletto II, and only Myrmidon and Perseus (from fighters) could use swarm missiles. And of course only a few bombers could have in it`s banks something other than bombs and these two missiles above.

BTW, I also noticed, that the Trebuchets are more usefull for destroying capship`s turrets before bombarding it, than for killing the bombers :)
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: colecampbell666 on August 12, 2008, 08:03:28 am
What if you scaled the missile to the smallest fighter, made them the same size in each other ship, and then spaced them out in the other ships accordingly.
Title: Re: Valkyrie HTL
Post by: PL_Harpoon on August 12, 2008, 08:14:40 am
What if you scaled the missile to the smallest fighter, made them the same size in each other ship, and then spaced them out in the other ships accordingly.

Another good idea :)