Hard Light Productions Forums
Hosted Projects - Standalone => The Babylon Project => Topic started by: Nightstorm on August 19, 2020, 05:09:14 pm
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Good evening folks. Personally I love the immersion of having a cockpit to use with TrackIR and after getting used to them in Diaspora I really missed having one in TBP. I know some folks don't think they're needed and that's fine, but that's the beauty of this engine and this community. We can add new features for others to use and enjoy, or not, that's up to them.
I originally obtained the cockpit mesh from the standard starfury model located here:
http://celestiamotherlode.net/catalog/fic_babylon5.php#top
BS-41 was the download.
I followed the link to the uploader's page here looking for permission.
http://homepage.eircom.net/~bcelestia/
As stated on that page "The models were gathered from various internet sources and converted to the Celestia compatible 3DS format."
So, in my opinion, that makes them fair game for use as there's no way to even determine where they originally came from and they're already out in the wild for free use.
I did a lot of modification work to the mesh and trimmed it down to the bare essentials to use as a cockpit.
This is for the Aurora class Starfury but I've set up the ship table add on file to use it for the Badger and Tiger too as they're very similar in design. I don't yet have a working cockpit for the Thunderbolt but I'd like to. I figured since many missions are flown in this ship, having a cockpit to use for it wouldn't be a bad thing :)
The zip archive contains the files already in their correct folders. All you need do is copy them to your TBP\data folder and then fly a fighter. It should be good to go. The modifications are in a tbm file so no edits were made to the ships.tbl.
Here is the mod download:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gep53usv83b2xpk/Starfury%20Cockpit.zip?dl=0
I've added an animated version of the cockpit too for those that are interested. It has some lights flashing along with the "scanning" message.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/195wh6qp7y588sn/Starfury%20Cockpit%20Animated.zip?dl=0
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More screenshots:
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That looks awesome :) :yes:
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nice! love to see the SF Cockpit! well done
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nice! love to see the SF Cockpit! well done
Thank you, I'm sure someone with better modeling skills could make a better version or even improve on this one, but it will do for now :)
Emi I was wondering if you would share out the texture maps for your Hyperion again? The old link expired and I'd love to get the glow maps for it. Thank you!
@Anyone and everyone feel free to do whatever you like with this model/textures and please share any improvements you make.
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Thank you, I'm sure someone with better modeling skills could make a better version or even improve on this one, but it will do for now :)
The cockpit looks great! Do you think you can do similar ones for the Thunderbolt and the Narn, Centauri and Minbari fighters too? Also can we put this into the next TBP core release if any is planned?
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I was going to try and do something for the Thunderbolt next. I'm not sure about the others yet. I had some ideas but we'll see how they work out.
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Added an animated version of the cockpit in the first post.
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The animated version doesn't make a huge difference, I would in fact remove the blinking line from the radar as it might confuse players. Speaking of which, I never noticed it before but already the original radar was not correctly centered and sized, so targets could move out of the HUD graphics. This becomes very obvious with the cockpit, so I quickly corrected it in the attached table :). OverDhill, could you please include this in the next Knossos update? Which hopefully could include this cockpit and maybe some more cool cockpits too!
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Oh yes, I forgot about that. I fixed it myself right away. Thank you though. I'm working on new HUD, a modified version of the one in Diaspora and it's almost complete. My dream goal for this cockpit would be to figure out how to render the radar to the texture for the sensor display similar to what was done in Diaspora. I've not figured out how to do that yet. As to the animation, I left both versions up, so folks can use whatever they prefer.
I'm working on a Thunderbolt cockpit now, and I've already ported two different Thunderbolt models into the game. One from EMI, and another really old model I've had kicking around on my hard drive(s) since 2001.
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My dream goal for this cockpit would be to figure out how to render the radar to the texture for the sensor display similar to what was done in Diaspora.
You mean in a color fitting to the display texture or without the normal background? The latter would probably be possible, but then the radar background would be missing for all other fighters that you can fly in TBP which isn't good. And in the case of Vorlon and Shadow fighters, a cockpit just doesn't make sense...
I'm working on a Thunderbolt cockpit now, and I've already ported two different Thunderbolt models into the game.
Great!
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Might anyone have a Valkyrie cockpit planned?
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Here are some screen shots demoing the new Thunderbolt model, Thunderbolt cockpit, and updated HUD.
The HUD uses customized elements from Diaspora, credit the the Diaspora team for the original awesome HUD. I've modified it and adjusted numerous things. The Energy Transfer system bars are the two right most ones next the weapons energy.
The Cockpit used for the Thunderbolt is a modified version of one that was released a number of years ago by Steve-O for Blue Planet 2. The post is from 2013.
https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=71151.msg1666291#msg1666291
The lines of the cockpit lend themselves well to the Thunderbolt's shape. I heavily modified the mesh to work and adjusted some textures for the correct genre.
The Thunderbolt model itself is from a model pack I downloaded back in 2001 and MAX format. I still had them on my drive and decided to see if I could get it to work. After extensive modifications and trial and error, I succeeded.
The original model was created by Conor Clancy back in 2001. It was released for free use to the public back then but I none the less attempted to contact him at the hotmail address in the readme. No reply was received.
From that read me:
"This Model is not for sale and should be distributed freely
This model was created for love, not money. So please don't sue me Joe
Babylon 5 and Crusade are copyright © and trademark & trade; 1992-1999, PTN Consortium."
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More screens.
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Cockpit screens.
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More.
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The zip file in the first post for the standard cockpit has been updated to include the Thunderbolt cockpit as well. Updated table and maps included.
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Both links in the first post have been updated to include the Thunderbolt cockpit. Standard and animated versions. I retextured the panels as well.
Thunderbolt should be ready for release soon. I just need to get the ships table thrusters corrected.
HUD is ready, I just want to try and consolidate it into a TBM if possible instead of a replacement TBL.
Here are some shots:
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Do you know of a mission where you actually fly a Thunderbolt? Scrap that, I already found one: Star Fury Pilot - A view from the gallery.
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A view from the Gallery is one.
SFP A V F T G.fs2
Its very easy to change the ship your flying with the missions editor though. Run fred2_open.exe and open up the mission you want to edit. They are located under data\missions.
Then under Editors menu select shps. Under Select Ship start looking through the fighters until you find that one that has the box checked next to Player Ship. In the SFP Severed Dreams.fs2 for example that would be Alpha 1.
You'll see the check box checked. Ship Class field is set to EA Aurora by defatul. Change that to EA Thunderbolt. Save the mission.
Now, if you want to be able to select your ship and weapons in the game you can use the Mission Specs editor. On the right side of that page is a section called Flags. Clear the check box next to Red Alert Mission and Scramble Mission.
Save. There you go, now when you play that mission you'll have the option to pick from the available ships.
If you want to change the available ships/weapons, use the Team Loadout Editor. You'll see the ones that are available have a check box next to them.
That should do it.
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I saw your posting too late. Anyway this cockpit does look fantastic too :)! Now the alien ships should be next ;)...
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I don't know of any reference shots for the cockpits of other fighters. I recall a couple of scenes in a Frazi but not that showed any displays. There might have been some in a Minbari Nial from the Ranger episode I can't recall the name of now. When Lenier was training.
That said, it's not impossible but it will depend on what I can come up with.
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There was a Frazi cockpit shown when G'Kar flew one himself. Also there should be cockpit scenes in a Nial when Lenier was following a Centauri ambush in season 5 (which doesn't really exist ;). Otherwise you could just make something up following the outside geometry :)!
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Very nice pass at adding a cockpit in. Diaspora's got a great looking HUD indeed. Glad to see my custom wingmen gauge is getting some more use.
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Yea that's a nice touch :)
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So I have played a bit with the Thunderbold cockpit now and I don't really like it. It's blocking too much of the view and the real radar being in the middle of three different colored fake displayes is very confusing. Can you please try to move the whole middle console down so that the lower two orange displays are outside the screen and the top one aligns with the actual radar? This works much better in your Starfury cockpit...
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I was messing with that very idea last night. My initial impression was that it seems to make your head "too high" in the cockpit. I'll mess with it some more though.
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Based on testing and feedback, I've altered the viewpoint in the Thunderbolt cockpit. I think this works MUCH better. And you have the added advantage of seeing more details of the cockpit that you couldn't see before. The head position still looks ok relative to the seat, but more importantly, the field of view is less obstructed by the console and frame.
*Minor revision* I adjusted the head rest up and back a bit to line up with the new point of view and removed the "wings" on it to facilitate a better view out the sides. I think seeing both engine nacelles is pretty cool when you look left or right.
The links in the first post have been updated. The only changed file was the EAM_TBolt_CP.pof.
Thanks,
Screens:
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Wow, this looks perfect now! I'm for including these two cockpits into the core TBP mod and updating the version number. Any other cockpits that may come later are not as important, I can only think of a handful of missions where you fly a Narn or Minbari figher and none with a Centauri fighter at all...
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Wow, this looks perfect now! I'm for including these two cockpits into the core TBP mod and updating the version number. Any other cockpits that may come later are not as important, I can only think of a handful of missions where you fly a Narn or Minbari figher and none with a Centauri fighter at all...
Thanks, I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I'm making minor tweaks on the animated version of the TBolt pit. I have no objection to these being included in the mod.
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Does anyone have this issue when external view is enabled ? Its disappears if you disable Light Shafts in post_processing or wxlauncher. And same issue for starfury cockpit also.
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I believe that's the real-time shadows feature in the latest engine.
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Hopefully this will be fixed in the future. Otherwise it will be looks weird for cutscenes.