Hard Light Productions Forums

Community Projects => The FreeSpace Upgrade Project => Topic started by: mjn.mixael on March 13, 2012, 12:37:22 am

Title: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: mjn.mixael on March 13, 2012, 12:37:22 am
It's released! See this post! (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=80236.msg1621117#msg1621117)

First thing's first. If you post in this thread, you have been prewarned. You can critique and have your opinion, but do it with tact. We will not have a repeat of this thread. (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=73732.0) Got it? That goes for me as well because I was part of the problem last time.

Now, on to the fun stuff...

RgaNoris and I have been working hard on this. The mesh (Mostly Ragingloli's but with pieces of VA's & Esarai's mixed in) itself was a complete mess, so Rga cleaned it up. We broke it down into several greeble boxes as well. This is an incredibly detailed mesh and we had some tough decisions to make. We had to deal with a very large surface area and so the biggest decision was just how many maps we would use. Retail uses 15 different tiles. We finally narrowed it down to 6 maps. This, however, is still a big compromise and sadly it's map resolution that took the hit. We know this, and we made that decision to best balance visuals and optimization. It won't change at this point either, just FYI.

UV Mapping took [what felt like] a few lifetimes too... However, the mesh is fully UV Mapped and texturing is well underway. I thought it was time to show some progress. This is clearly still WIP. A few maps are incomplete (Rga and I split up the texturing work too). Shine maps are temporary or nonexistent as well.

Without further ado..

(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk264/mjnmixael/Private/ImageBin-1.jpg)
More angles coming later.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Ulala on March 13, 2012, 12:59:27 am
 :eek2: All I can say is wow! Bummer about the map resolution, but I think it looks great. I especially love how you guys managed to incorporate a circle and a hexagon, with impressive execution I might add. :yes::yes:
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Rga_Noris on March 13, 2012, 01:16:05 am
Its been awesome working as a team on this, although I would like to relay detail is still present in the model. In areas were texture resolution is low, there is more model detail. Where the model detail is low, texture resolution is increased. We broke all the rules on this one to make the compromise, and I must say... it looks great, especially in game. I would be surprised if anyone feels the detail is missing.

I am particularly proud of the fighter bay...
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: mjn.mixael on March 13, 2012, 01:33:29 am
Its been awesome working as a team on this, *snip*

I think you all can safely assume that you'll see many more Mjn/Rga cooperative creations in the future.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Lester on March 13, 2012, 01:52:20 am
I think the hexagon/circle discussion can be safely put to rest, as this looks absolutely mindblowing.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Crybertrance on March 13, 2012, 02:10:35 am
Whoa! this is a nice surprise... :D
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Kolgena on March 13, 2012, 02:12:15 am
Looks incredibly stunning. Are the two towers on the top and bottom simply unfinished? I'm guessing so, since they look kind of odd without lights.

Given any thought to baking some light that will be given off the building/skyscraper/greeble inlays? I guess that'll come with the AO bake if ever.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: mjn.mixael on March 13, 2012, 02:18:01 am
Here's a closeup of what I did to try to recreate the retail tile texture that was slapped all over the old model.

I decided that the tile featured a few main things I had to try to recreate. Purple lines (looked like girders or something), the pipes, some windows, and the grey boxes.

I've tried to recreate that same style, but this time using some clever normal maps to make the pipes actually look like pipes along the hull. The purple lines mixed with some geometry on the HTL mesh, created an interesting and unanticipated effect. The station looks like it is sporting some sort of exo-structure. Once the shine map is complete, these should really look nice.

(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk264/mjnmixael/Private/ImageBin-2.jpg)
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Kobrar44 on March 13, 2012, 06:06:14 am
Can we see it without textures?
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Colonol Dekker on March 13, 2012, 07:08:26 am
I :yes: this.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Commander Zane on March 13, 2012, 07:51:19 am
Certainly, good things come to those who wait.
I like this, the Arcadia looks great.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Rodo on March 13, 2012, 08:09:49 am
I like what I see, guys you are clearly doing a good job and I have only praise to throw at you right now so here it goes: I WUV U ALL.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Nyctaeus on March 13, 2012, 08:38:03 am
It suprised me, how awesome is that texture :yes:
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Rga_Noris on March 13, 2012, 09:53:05 am
FYI, It already features an AO map and baked glows are planned. Some are already baked and visible in those shots, but the bulk has yet to be started.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: mjn.mixael on March 13, 2012, 08:48:27 pm
Here's a new angle in celebration of finishing the diffuse, glow, and normal on all of the platform associated greebles, and greebles located around the pylon area.

(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk264/mjnmixael/Private/ImageBin-3.jpg)

All that remains are the towers and the flat part of the platform (which I'll do last).
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Rga_Noris on March 13, 2012, 10:37:13 pm
That lazy shmuck your working with needs to finish those detail boxes as well.

What's his problem anyways?
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: BlasterNT on March 13, 2012, 10:55:33 pm
Ooh.  First thing it reminds me of is something like
(http://0.tqn.com/d/gojapan/1/0/4/4/shinjukunight.gif)

It does look rather cartoony, but I'm assuming that's because it doesn't have shine maps yet.  Should look great with shine. 
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: sigtau on March 13, 2012, 10:56:19 pm
No complaints from me.  Top notch compromise if I do say so myself.  Keep up the good work; I'm very impressed.  :nod:
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: esarai on March 13, 2012, 11:02:58 pm
Dat installation.  Dayum.

Only one minor nitpick I have is that there is no apparent depth difference between the surface piping and the purple hull struts that were worked into the texture. They seem to cut each other off, as if two images were pasted next to each other.  It's quite a jarring effect, so could we try making those girders' normals stand out a bit more?  Or, failing that, make the regions below the girders appear more recessed?

Then again, this might just be a fault of the camera angle, and I'm going on about nothing.

Regardless, you gents did a fine job of making this thing look like a giant space city, like it was supposed to be.  Excellent work!

EDIT:  Took another look at the picture, I can see that there is a shadow cast on the recessed regions from the struts, but the recessed regions have a border that appears beveled, making them appear even with the struts.  Perhaps cut out the bevel around the edges of the recessions and it'll look more recessed. 
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: mjn.mixael on March 14, 2012, 12:30:04 am
The bottom tower nearing completion. I AM UNSTOPPABLE.

(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk264/mjnmixael/Private/ImageBin-4.jpg)

But now I have to stop for a day or so....  :nervous:
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: FreeSpaceFreak on March 14, 2012, 01:01:37 pm
The bottom tower nearing completion. I AM UNSTOPPABLE.

(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk264/mjnmixael/Private/ImageBin-4.jpg)

But now I have to stop for a day or so....  :nervous:

Hmm, nice one :yes:
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Trivial Psychic on March 14, 2012, 04:28:27 pm
I'm assuming that it is too late to bring this up, but had you even considered making a version of the Arcadia with the additional mast on the cargo pad, as seen on GTI Riviera in the FS1 intro?  It is often suggested that this was part of an experimental "deflector" technology, as mentioned in the MX-50 tech description.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: mjn.mixael on March 15, 2012, 06:46:13 am
It's amazing what you can get done when you can't sleep...

(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk264/mjnmixael/Private/ImageBin-5.jpg)

Temporary shine added so you can see the details better. Also, this concludes the bulk of the diffuse work. I'll be grunging it up from here and tweaking things as I go.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Dragon on March 15, 2012, 10:20:43 am
Looks good. Can't wait to see it finished.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Deadly in a Shadow on March 15, 2012, 10:29:10 am
It's amazing how awesome that looks. Keep up da good work!
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Alan Bolte on March 15, 2012, 12:51:40 pm
What I like:
Dat Hexagon!
Greebles. Greebles everywhere!
The towers.
Clever translation of texture into hull detail in several different places.

What I'm not completely sold on:
Silver-roofed office buildings on the docking platform. That color just looks out of place there.
I feel an opportunity was missed to add detail and definition to a docking platform element: what I presume to be bulk cargo access, or escape pod hatches, or fighter elevators down to a maintenance level. Probably not the latter, since they were also on a different texture on other parts (residential?) of the hull. You didn't even just copy the original, you made them all glowing white instead of green squares with white outer markings. On the other hand, there's so much added detail to every other part of the hull that that one little thing is really a non-issue.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: mjn.mixael on March 15, 2012, 01:37:18 pm
I can assure that there are no green squares anywhere on the old Arcadia texture. There are yellow rectangular areas with what seems to be a caution stripe marking around them. That seems to be the closest thing I can find to your description. And I did recreate those all over my platform.

As for the white buildings. Meh. I just basically drew an entire city... and this is my justification for being a little lazy. In a city, there are interesting buildings and there are plain ones. Consider those to be plain ones. At least they aren't a solid color. They have panel lines and some metal grunge.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Cyborg17 on March 15, 2012, 02:17:42 pm
I agree with Alan.  I can understand your justification. It just looks out of place.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Sushi on March 15, 2012, 02:29:03 pm
Ooh, very nice! I approve.  :yes:
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: --Steve-O-- on March 15, 2012, 02:48:25 pm
good lord..... :jaw:
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: SF-Junky on March 15, 2012, 03:52:38 pm
Wow, great work so far. I'm looking so much forward to see this ingame. :)
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Alan Bolte on March 15, 2012, 05:35:17 pm
You're right, they're yellow, I just thought they were green because I was unintentionally comparing them to the purple-white markings that I probably assumed were yellow-white.

I'm talking about these things. What are they? I have no idea, but they're everywhere! But on the new station they look like an overexposed photo and I still don't know what they are.

Again, though, I'd like to emphasize that this is a probably pointless nitpick in what is otherwise a stupendous achievement.

[attachment deleted by ninja]
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: mjn.mixael on March 15, 2012, 06:12:51 pm
You.. do.. realize.. that those are on the HTL model? Heck.. they've been partially modelled in...

They are even visible on the HTL model in your screen.

EDIT: Also.. it really doesn't matter what they are. They are on the retail model, so they are on the HTL model. It's like the bright yellow area on the hexagon. I tried thinking about what it actually was structurally.. but in the end it doesn't matter, it just needs to look similar.

[attachment deleted by a ninja]
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Dragon on March 15, 2012, 07:13:17 pm
It seems that shinemaps on them could use touching up though, it's the lighting that makes them look "overexposed".
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: mjn.mixael on March 15, 2012, 07:16:30 pm
*snip*
Temporary shine added so you can see the details better. Also, this concludes the bulk of the diffuse work. I'll be grunging it up from here and tweaking things as I go.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: mobcdmoc3 on March 16, 2012, 09:35:09 pm
That looks really good, I've got no complaints aside from the somewhat strange looking grey pieces on the far left of the first picture. ^^ The circle on the main hull piece is a nice addition, though I can't really explain why.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Commander Zane on March 16, 2012, 10:20:51 pm
Those bits on the first image don't show the textures.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: HAZARDLEADER on March 20, 2012, 08:25:06 am
 :jaw:  great job, mjn great job!!!
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Colonol Dekker on March 20, 2012, 09:05:08 am
HAZARDLEADER!
In a real topic?

*hadsplodse*
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Woolie Wool on March 20, 2012, 05:32:14 pm
Who is this guy and how has he managed to get a unique title without me ever having seen one of his posts before?
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: MatthTheGeek on March 20, 2012, 06:06:09 pm
Some dude that mainly posts in GenDisc (a board that barely belongs to HLP really).
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: HAZARDLEADER on March 24, 2012, 08:08:34 am
HAZARDLEADER!
In a real topic?

*hadsplodse*
I go to real topics all the time, I just don't post as much.   :nod:
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: Cobra on March 26, 2012, 08:14:57 am
By being a colossal derp. :P
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: mjn.mixael on March 31, 2012, 10:55:39 pm
Alright! It's finally that time. After many, MANY months of serious hard work, RgaNoris and I would like to release this mission ready version of the HTL Arcadia! It's a huge and very detailed model, so what we really need is for lots and lots of people to collision test this. We want to be absolutely sure that there are no holes or outstanding issues.

Drop the VP into your mediaVPs_3612 folder. There is a test mission included, just run that. Report your issues here!

Download FULL RELEASE IN FIRST POST
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia
Post by: General Battuta on March 31, 2012, 11:01:46 pm
Alright! It's finally that time. After many, MANY months of serious hard work, RgaNoris and I would like to release this mission ready version of the HTL Arcadia! It's a huge and very detailed model, so what we really need is for lots and lots of people to collision test this. We want to be absolutely sure that there are no holes or outstanding issues.

Drop the VP into your mediaVPs_3612 folder. There is a test mission included, just run that. Report your issues here!

Download

this is some kind of sadistic april fool's joke isn't it
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: Trivial Psychic on March 31, 2012, 11:04:07 pm
Nice to see the new design all squared away.  :lol:
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: mjn.mixael on March 31, 2012, 11:05:48 pm
I forgot to include a screen.

[attachment deleted by ninja]
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: Cyborg17 on March 31, 2012, 11:36:27 pm
470 KB, huh?  I think I'll hold off until the real final release.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: mjn.mixael on March 31, 2012, 11:40:52 pm
small textures are for collision testing. no need for a huge download just for that, right?
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: Cyborg17 on March 31, 2012, 11:50:41 pm
The POF itself is going to be 5 times that size.  I'm not that gullible.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: jr2 on March 31, 2012, 11:58:27 pm
Shoulda used one of those utils to create files of a specified size with random content.  ;)
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: Snail on April 01, 2012, 12:29:19 am
Edit.

Did a bit of testing. I regret to say, there's a massive hull error I found almost immediately. Right in the middle of the model there's a huge gaping hole that I can fly all the way through.

Could it be caused by missing textures?

(http://i.imgur.com/qUHEH.jpg)

I assume this is a beta release so the full textures weren't included, but it still looks pretty good.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: mjn.mixael on April 01, 2012, 12:38:17 am
Dammit Snail. Now people will think it's a RickRoll...
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: Dragon on April 01, 2012, 04:01:26 am
On any other day, I'd download it immediately. Today, I think I'll wait for April 2nd.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: Rga_Noris on April 01, 2012, 04:34:56 pm
LOL.

Okay, you've all suffered our bad humor long enough.

:)

Download FULL RELEASE IN FIRST POST

EDIT: This is still a BETA for the above mentioned reasons. We've had to hold it back because we keep finding holes (we didnt make the mesh and its taken a ton of effort). So please, fly in the nooks and crannies. Also, some of the objects may appear to not have a glow, normal or shine. That's because they don't. It's a beta. Get over it.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: SypheDMar on April 01, 2012, 05:21:07 pm
Hahaha. April Fools!  :lol:
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: Angelus on April 02, 2012, 01:34:26 pm
well, seems screenshots can be deceiving. the actual model is ...not what i expected. it looked slightly different on the screens, but i guess it's because of the angle in those shots.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: Yuzuki5749 on April 02, 2012, 07:53:00 pm
Why is the HTL Typhon included in the VP? :confused:
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: rscaper1070 on April 02, 2012, 09:26:07 pm
To make the file size seem reasonable.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: Cyborg17 on April 02, 2012, 11:17:16 pm
Why is the HTL Typhon included in the VP? :confused:
  :lol:
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: SypheDMar on April 02, 2012, 11:19:35 pm
Why is the HTL Typhon included in the VP? :confused:
  :lol:
April Fools! ;7
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: mjn.mixael on April 04, 2012, 11:31:19 am
Why is the HTL Typhon included in the VP? :confused:
  :lol:
April Fools! ;7

Indeed. There were 50 downloads of the first pack and then another 75 for the one RgaNoris posted...
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: Aardwolf on April 04, 2012, 02:23:25 pm
I was like "ok, this is obviously a fake, but I want to see it anyway".

And then I was like "ok, this is probably just the same file padded somehow to take up more space", so I didn't download the second one.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: Rga_Noris on April 04, 2012, 03:02:17 pm
Yeah, but it was way fun. The actual release isnt far behind though. Depending on todays progress, I may post a video with some shots of the detailed (and animated!) fighter bay.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: MLCBotMan on April 04, 2012, 03:03:27 pm
I look forward to that!!
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: Rodo on April 04, 2012, 03:08:47 pm
Animated fighterbay?

Well well, most unexpected!
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: Rga_Noris on April 05, 2012, 04:24:51 am
http://youtu.be/98RNYR48x6w?hd=1

Here's a video. Please keep in mind the following:

Mission has weird lighting.
Some textures are missing normals, shines, and glows.
Most glows that are present are place holders.
Turrets are not textured.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: T-LoW on April 05, 2012, 04:43:32 am
Your voice is utterly calming :D

This model looks so great and the little details you added to the fighter bay are insane! I think I can screw the question about the proportions? (because the FB interior looks so big in comparsion to the rest of the station and a human body)... but all in all proportions were never a real thing in the FS-Universe - so screw it :)

Also another question. The characteristic yellow glows with the X-steelbeams look cool but (of course) 2-dimensional. You didn't mind modeling the X-frames of this part of the texture to give it a more 3-dimensional look or will bumpmaps do the trick?
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: Rga_Noris on April 05, 2012, 04:53:14 am
The proportions are based on Mainhalls. The fighter stands perfectly fit most of the fighters, the man doors are a bit larger for the sole reason that any smaller and they would look wierd due to low resolution. The forklift is about 1/2 the size of a fighter, with the cat walk being about 2 meters in width.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: Mars on April 05, 2012, 04:53:49 am
I love your fighterbay.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: Rga_Noris on April 05, 2012, 04:54:27 am
Its currently not seeing anyone, but got out of an abusive relationship.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: FreeSpaceFreak on April 05, 2012, 05:01:22 am
Great work overall, and nice touch on that forklift :yes:

Movie-technicality: the SFX makes you a little hard to understand at times.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: Rga_Noris on April 05, 2012, 05:06:03 am
Yeah. I tried to turn it down, but I had to speak quietly because the wife is sleeping in the next room.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA RELEASE]
Post by: mjn.mixael on April 05, 2012, 05:57:46 am
Just watched the video myself. "Really he appears to be completely intoxicated."  :lol:

Also another question. The characteristic yellow glows with the X-steelbeams look cool but (of course) 2-dimensional. You didn't mind modeling the X-frames of this part of the texture to give it a more 3-dimensional look or will bumpmaps do the trick?

As RgaNoris said in the video, we didn't really design the mesh. We took Ragingloli's mesh, mixed in some from VA's mesh and Esarai's mesh (to change the hole from a circle to a hexagon) and went from there. Ragingloli didn't model in the cross beams you are talking about. In most cases a normal map would be just fine for detail like that, but with the nature of the glow in that area, the normals are somewhat hidden. (The detail stands out nicely when glows are off though). So it is what it is.

Lastly, as much as I'd like to say I've done most of the work... (as Rga seems to say in his video) I think it is, or will be, an even split when it's totally finished. This project certainly wouldn't have gotten this far if we hadn't split the work.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: Ulala on April 06, 2012, 12:10:12 am
Wow, very impressive guys! Ten thumbs up. :yes:
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: mjn.mixael on June 19, 2012, 11:20:30 pm
(http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af118/RgaNoris/ImageBin.jpg)

4340 lights placed in Blender by RgaNoris and baking is in progress. Enjoy.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: ssmit132 on June 19, 2012, 11:43:45 pm
That actually looks like there's loads of activity going on inside. It gives me the same impression as looking at a lit city skyline. Amazing work. :)
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: Ulala on June 20, 2012, 12:39:15 am
It looks incredible.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: Crybertrance on June 20, 2012, 02:59:54 am
Awesome Work!!!  :yes: :yes: :yes: :yes: :yes:

Im a little more interested in seeing it blow up in-game, with debris and all, please make it as epic as possible!

Ps: I have a little suggestion (its probably too late), inside the "beak" looks rather flat compared to the outsides, is it possible to have some few high rises there?
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: MatthTheGeek on June 20, 2012, 03:04:09 am
GTI Christmas Tree

Wait. I might have already said that one before.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: Oddgrim on June 20, 2012, 04:51:20 am
awesome work!
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: Rga_Noris on June 20, 2012, 07:28:54 am
Quote from: Crybertrance link=topic=80236.msg1617291#msg1617291
Ps: I have a little suggestion (its probably too late), inside the "beak" looks rather flat compared to the outsides, is it possible to have some few high rises there?

This actually isn't our mesh. Its a combination of several other peoples work, and aside from combining their work, we never intended to spend much time modeling. So yeah, too late :)
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: mjn.mixael on June 20, 2012, 07:44:19 am
Awesome Work!!!  :yes: :yes: :yes: :yes: :yes:

Im a little more interested in seeing it blow up in-game, with debris and all, please make it as epic as possible!

Ps: I have a little suggestion (its probably too late), inside the "beak" looks rather flat compared to the outsides, is it possible to have some few high rises there?

 :wtf: It will explode just like any other ship in the game.... because short of # of debris (which won't change from retail)... the modeller has little control over how it explodes.

And inside the beak has plenty of detail. Even if it didn't there is no way that we'd go back and change it now. It's taken literally months to get the UVs and textures this far along.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: Dragon on June 20, 2012, 08:17:31 am
Well, if you have a lot of large debris, the fire trails will look quite pretty during the explosion. I guess it was basically a request to provide a lot of good looking debris.
Anyway, the model is awesome.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: mjn.mixael on June 20, 2012, 09:32:15 am
The debris needs to be of the same size and count as the retail mesh to avoid extra insta-death material in the mission space in order to maintain complete retail compatibility.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: MatthTheGeek on June 20, 2012, 10:06:52 am
Is it a new FSU policy, or a policy for big ships ? 'Cause I'm pretty sure some older MVPs ships have much more debris than retail (Fenris/Leviathan, to name the first on top of my head).
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: mjn.mixael on June 20, 2012, 10:13:21 am
It's probably newer than those models... especially for big ones. There was a discussion recently about how debris would affect missions and, IIRC, some tests revealed that it can affect missions pretty drastically, and so debris needs to stay similar to retail especially for large models with large chunks.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: MatthTheGeek on June 20, 2012, 10:15:01 am
Interesting. It's a bit sad because debris are le cool, but it's FSU's job to maintain retail balance, so can't argue.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: MLCBotMan on June 20, 2012, 10:15:16 am
I WANT!!! I WANT!!! (DROOOOL)

Seriously Awesome Work :yes: :yes:
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: Kolgena on June 20, 2012, 10:31:48 am
Man, this looks so good. All the little buildings and windows really give this a much better sense of scale than the purple blob that was the original.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: Rodo on June 20, 2012, 12:47:25 pm
I agree, now with the new Colossus and the Arcadia coming along I'll finally feel like an almighty tiny small dot in the universe.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: SkycladGuardian on June 20, 2012, 03:20:33 pm
It really looks like a city in space, like a very valuable asset, which is very important to the war effort and you don't want to lose.
Great job!  :nod:
The retail model always conveyed the feeling of a minor, everyday space-installation, like the platforms of the X-Wing games.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: Kolgena on June 20, 2012, 05:29:15 pm
For some reason, the station reminds me of deadspace 2.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: sigtau on June 20, 2012, 10:14:24 pm
I can't wait to see the Capella installation get blown to hell.

This is true craftsmanship. :yes:
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: Cyborg17 on June 20, 2012, 10:34:08 pm
The Good:  It's awesome work. It feels real. It even reminds me of Bentusi ships.

The Bad: I'm feeling a little bit of color confusion from the yellowish squares scattered across the hull, not too big a deal from far away, but a little jarring up close.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: Black Wolf on June 20, 2012, 10:43:42 pm
Well, while I don't think I'm ever going to be able to really like some of the aesthetic choices you guys have gone with, I can acknowledge that it's been very well realised - the level of quality is outstanding. On that front, well done. :yes:
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: Rga_Noris on June 20, 2012, 10:59:36 pm
The Good:  It's awesome work. It feels real. It even reminds me of Bentusi ships.

The Bad: I'm feeling a little bit of color confusion from the yellowish squares scattered across the hull, not too big a deal from far away, but a little jarring up close.

Yeah, when I was placing the lights in Blender, I went over board with the yellowish coloration. Already fixed... much more desaturated with an overall more muted glow.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: Cyborg17 on June 20, 2012, 11:08:54 pm
You are my hero.

Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: MatthTheGeek on June 21, 2012, 02:46:17 am
I agree, now with the new Colossus and the Arcadia coming along I'll finally feel like an almighty tiny small dot in the universe.
Use the -fov flag to reduce your FOV. The default one is abnormally large and gives you a slight fisheye effect, which is why ships don't look as large ingame as they're supposed to. Report to the wiki page for command line flags for more info.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: Aesaar on June 22, 2012, 08:52:04 am
Would you mind sharing the settings for a few of lights in there?  Mainly the white window lights and red lights on the pylons.

I've always had trouble getting lights in Blender to look good, and those look pretty much perfect.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: Rga_Noris on June 22, 2012, 04:05:00 pm
So the trick to good lighting is trial and error. Also remember that you can only really make the cast off lighting effectively, and the "light bulb" is better off in an editor. Also, while using an ordinary lamp is simpler, I primarily use rectangular area lights. For windows or lights on large flat spots with no nearby walls or angles, one area light that is slightly larger then the source (example: window) facing the model. This will create a natural glow around the edges of the source, but it won't create anything else. Next I take that same light, duplicate it, and using local rotation (as opposed to global), I rotate it 180 degrees, increase the energy, and then use the render preview to check it out, and adjust accordingly. The inward facing light that you first placed should be elevated off the mesh a bit, while the outward facing light should be quite close to the surface. You seldom need to use energy levels above 1.0. Also remember that the energy level will be spread out through the size of the lamp, meaning a small lamp with a power of 2 will light a small area rather brightly, but a large lamp of the same power will be much duller. Also, disable spec on the lamps... You cannot bake spec, and you will get a deceptive preview if you leave it on.

So that's my recipe. Area lamps offer great control, but will not work for everything, so preview often. PM me if you need additional help.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: Aesaar on June 22, 2012, 06:40:28 pm
Thanks for the advice.  Very much appreciated.

Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: Spoon on June 24, 2012, 01:36:53 pm
This looks awesomesauce.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: Rga_Noris on June 29, 2012, 06:11:38 pm
Just a heads up everyone, today the Arcadia entered its final round of testing. Some minor glow map changes and any unforeseen bugs noted from the incredible FSU team are all that stands in the way of release. Shots, maybe a video to follow!
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [BETA NOT RELEASED]
Post by: Ulala on June 30, 2012, 03:18:22 am
Just a heads up everyone, today the Arcadia entered its final round of testing. Some minor glow map changes and any unforeseen bugs noted from the incredible FSU team are all that stands in the way of release. Shots, maybe a video to follow!

/me happy dances.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: mjn.mixael on July 07, 2012, 12:39:00 am
Welp, it's that time.

RgaNoris and I have finally finished mapping, and texturing the 80,000 polies of Ragingloli's GTI Arcadia. This thing's a beast. The detail in Ragingloli's mesh is superb and we tried our best to bring out the detail while keeping the feel of the original Arcadia installation intact. Many, many hours were spent on this and I'll admit that, at times, it was not a labor of love any longer.  :lol: RgaNoris painstakingly placed and baked over 4800 lights to the glowmap. I asked him just moments ago...

Code: [Select]
<@MjnMixael> RgaNoris.. when did we start this?
<@RgaNoris> 9 year ago.

That's certainly what it feels like. I've lost track of how much time we spent on this.. but here it is, completed. It features destroyable subsystems and a modelled fighterbay too. Both of which are a treat.

(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk264/mjnmixael/FSU%20Screens/Arcadia.jpg)

DOWNLOAD HERE (http://www.mediafire.com/?uo1gcql71tqp7rg)
This model will still undergo a lot of FSU testing, but please report any issues here.

Lastly, we realize some people feel that this is kind of a large step from the original design. We are aware of the differences in design. However, so far the model doesn't break balance of Arcadia based missions. We realize the model's different in a lot of ways. We didn't design it. We took an impressive mesh, cleaned it up and released it. We would like to avoid major arguments over those types of things.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: BlasterNT on July 07, 2012, 12:52:57 am
Wow.  Downloading right away.  I can't wait to see this in mission. 

The next MediaVPs are going to be the best ever. 
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Goober5000 on July 07, 2012, 01:15:19 am
Now that is an absolutely gorgeous moon.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Rga_Noris on July 07, 2012, 01:34:20 am
What moon? That's no moon, it's a space sta-

Oooooh I get it.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: The E on July 07, 2012, 01:43:45 am
Umm, sorry to say this, but the normal maps are sort of invalid. Especially 03 - 06. Please refer to Herra's excellent guide (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=64769.0) for info on how to make them properly.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: TopAce on July 07, 2012, 02:19:10 am
Looks great :yes:

I'll test some of my missions that revolve around an Arcadia and see if this geometry causes issues.

[EDIT]I tested mission 10 of Luyten Civil War, which features the Arcadia and was designed with the vanilla Arcadia in mind. The mission remains playable and beatable, and my sub-par comp didn't choke as I was flying around it, so good job in that regard. However, I have to make some modifications to the mission to better suit this geometry. Since the HTL version breaks nothing, it's more like a loud note to self than a piece of criticism.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Dragon on July 07, 2012, 06:14:09 am
I like it. You nailed all of it's distinctive features.
After a closer look, the bright metal parts could be darker, and the inside of the ring could be brighter. Also, the "1C" plaque between the arms is mirrored.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: BloodFleet on July 07, 2012, 09:28:07 am
Well that was weird, I first played the Third Watch single mission to see this because I knew it had an Arcadia, noticing that I could fly right through the thing (but still shoot it). Then put it in a test mission and it was fine. Dunno whats up with that never had that happen before. Probably some kind of bug I don't know about lol.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Alan Bolte on July 07, 2012, 10:19:02 am
I notice that some of the windows are white on the diffuse map as well as the glow. Was this intentional or an oversight?

Also, the way Turret #1 hangs off the side of the hull is kinda odd.

Beautiful work all around.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Spoon on July 07, 2012, 10:22:26 am
Superb job  :yes:
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Goober5000 on July 07, 2012, 03:01:27 pm
Does the center hole still accept the various GTx extensions?
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: mjn.mixael on July 07, 2012, 03:03:01 pm
It should. I'll be honest, I didn't personally test it, but I'm 97% sure it's the same size and location within the mesh as the retail one.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Rodo on July 07, 2012, 05:18:23 pm
If the Cato still shoots through it, then everything is all right  ;)
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Nyctaeus on July 07, 2012, 05:55:41 pm
You should check the debris for submodels. I've notticed a hole in one of the comm's debris. Others may be buggy too.
It's a... HUGE departure from original Arcadia, but it's freaking awesome anyway :yes:
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: mjn.mixael on July 07, 2012, 05:58:22 pm
 :wtf:

live debris is a "huge departure" like normal maps are a "huge departure"... in that retail didn't have that capability...

So easy with the all caps words there.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Rga_Noris on July 07, 2012, 06:34:42 pm
I think he was referring to the design, as opposed to the debris, without properly conveying it.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Dragon on July 07, 2012, 06:53:58 pm
Yeah, the second sentence is about the Arcadia as a whole. The phrasing is ambiguous, but it might've worked better in Polish.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Alan Bolte on July 07, 2012, 07:29:58 pm
The results of a few beam slashes are simply stunning. So many destroyable subobjects!
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Rga_Noris on July 07, 2012, 08:06:12 pm
The saddest part is that retail fighter bay hit points are null, as in you can't destroy them...but the pof is set up to blow up and spew crates and stuff.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Ulala on July 08, 2012, 05:55:47 pm
Sorry to be a huge noob about this.. but do I just drop the Arcadia folder into my mediavps folder? And do I have to select it specifically under the mod menu?
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Rga_Noris on July 08, 2012, 08:52:50 pm
Just place it in your root fs2 folder, then select a mod. It will use the mvps, if present.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Ulala on July 09, 2012, 08:15:17 pm
Thanks. :)
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Cobra on July 15, 2012, 03:50:41 pm
Sweet merciful CRAP! I go away for a week for werk and I see all this awesome stuff being released! Gorgeous work. :)
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: SirCumference on August 04, 2012, 11:29:04 am
Is there a mirror for downloading this model? I get an "access denied" message from the MediaFire link.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: jr2 on August 07, 2012, 01:28:55 am
Uploading to my Dropbox, watch this space for download link momentarily...

EDIT: Although I will note, that I just downloaded it from MediaFire to upload for you, so apparently, there's an issue on your side with MediaFire.  Just so you know.  ;)

EDIT2: here (https://www.dropbox.com/s/j5cq5drrl6d2jgt/Arcadia.7z)
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: HAZARDLEADER on September 04, 2012, 12:18:54 pm
Hello Mjn... I put the VP file in my Media vps folder...and I thought you want to see these... 
Can you help? Do you want my debug log? :nervous:


[attachment removed and sold on the black market]
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: The E on September 04, 2012, 01:10:27 pm
Always, ALWAYS post a log when stuff like this happens.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: FreeSpaceFreak on September 04, 2012, 01:14:30 pm
You got the wrong version, try redownloading.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: mjn.mixael on September 04, 2012, 03:02:01 pm
 :lol:

yeah, that's the joke version. the real one should be in the first post.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Mongoose on September 04, 2012, 03:58:57 pm
So that's what that thing did. :lol:
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: rscaper1070 on September 05, 2012, 03:38:26 pm
That's like a boomerang April Fool's joke, you think it's gone, and then it comes back around and smacks somebody. :lol:
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Crybertrance on September 06, 2012, 06:21:11 am
Btw, how did you even get that version, HAZARDLEADER? It was taken down, what, 2~3 days after the prank?
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: mjn.mixael on September 06, 2012, 08:41:16 am
Actually, it looks like those are still up.. I suppose I'll go remove them.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Black_Yoshi1230 on September 27, 2012, 07:21:16 pm
Maybe this could catch your attention:

Ancient-Shivan War, I get "28 errors" at the startup window (before the pilot login).

"Memento Mori" in Derelict, the mission crashed upon loading.  Funnily enough, when I remove the Arcadia files, it works normally. "The Sixth Wonder" and "Dunkerque" in the main FS2 campaign worked normally with the new Arcadia, though...

Maybe it's me probably stuffing my MediaVPs folder with some of the shiny new post-3.6.12 ships.

Code: [Select]
Malloc Failed!

ntdll.dll! ZwWaitForSingleObject + 21 bytes
kernel32.dll! WaitForSingleObjectEx + 67 bytes
kernel32.dll! WaitForSingleObject + 18 bytes
fs2_open_3_6_14_RC8_DEBUG.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_14_RC8_DEBUG.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_14_RC8_DEBUG.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_14_RC8_DEBUG.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_14_RC8_DEBUG.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_14_RC8_DEBUG.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_14_RC8_DEBUG.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_14_RC8_DEBUG.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_14_RC8_DEBUG.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_14_RC8_DEBUG.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_14_RC8_DEBUG.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_14_RC8_DEBUG.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_14_RC8_DEBUG.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_14_RC8_DEBUG.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_14_RC8_DEBUG.exe! <no symbol>
fs2_open_3_6_14_RC8_DEBUG.exe! <no symbol>
kernel32.dll! BaseThreadInitThunk + 18 bytes
ntdll.dll! RtlInitializeExceptionChain + 99 bytes
ntdll.dll! RtlInitializeExceptionChain + 54 bytes

[attachment removed and sold on the black market]
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: mjn.mixael on September 27, 2012, 07:58:07 pm
Those are pretty clearly mod specific issues, especially since the Arcadia worked in the main FS2 campaign.

ASW has an Arcadia? :wtf: Those 28 errors will be easy to fix with a log.

As for the malloc failed with Derelict. I'm surprised that the Arcadia would cause a malloc failure in Derelict and not in FS2. However, your inteligrated vid card isn't doing you any favors for the new Arcadia...
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Droid803 on September 27, 2012, 08:01:48 pm
lol trying to run mediavps with an intelgrated
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Black_Yoshi1230 on September 27, 2012, 08:11:22 pm
You know, it's odd about how Diaspora wasn't supposed to work on my laptop, but it worked when I plugged it to my HDTV, the only thing that didn't render properly was smoke effects.

Edit: As far as Derelict missions go, only "Memento Mori" crashes after the mission is loaded. Every other mission started up and worked fine.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: FreeSpaceFreak on September 28, 2012, 01:30:26 pm
ASW has an Arcadia? :wtf:

No, no we don't...

Quote
Those 28 errors will be easy to fix with a log.

^ This.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: jr2 on September 29, 2012, 07:18:47 pm
Black_Yoshi, do you perhaps happen to have two video cards?  One ATI or nVidia, and the other built in to your CPU?  What's GPU-Z say (link in my sig)?
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Black_Yoshi1230 on September 29, 2012, 10:21:27 pm
I just have one, and it's Integrated (Intel HD Graphics Family 3000, drivers from August 2012). (Please don't rub in my face that I could have spent an extra fifty to a hundred bucks for a laptop with a dedicated card, I already had to live with that torment for five months already. Sadly, my current laptop's the only thing that can even run this generation's stuff, all my desktops are 2004 stock boxes that were meant for college, not entertainment.)
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Mongoose on September 30, 2012, 03:05:22 am
Hey, no shame in an '04 stock box; I'm stuck with one myself.  Granted, I've beefed up the RAM and video card, but still. :p
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Vrets on June 07, 2015, 12:40:38 pm
Hey, anyone else noticed that the "bigship" docking point (in this version of the arcadia, really just the docking point at the base of the command tower thingy above the rest of the docking points) has a horribly glitched docking path? All ships must clip hideously through the Arcadia model to reach this dock point. By hideously, I mean that an entire Argo will actually disappear into the hull of the station for about 30 seconds.

Would this be tough to fix? The inbound docker ship should really come in "straight down" to dock, thereby avoiding entering the model geometry.
Title: Re: HTL Arcadia [RELEASED]
Post by: Colonol Dekker on June 25, 2015, 02:46:07 am
Check the docking path in model view or ship lab.  I can't get to either at the moment. See if there are any glaring mishaps?