Hard Light Productions Forums
Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The Modding Workshop => Topic started by: Col. Fishguts on February 24, 2008, 04:06:22 pm
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Well, work on this literally started years back (2004 if the file info is correct) and I've been working on it on and off whenever nothing else needed to be done for TBP. In the meantime I had to learn how to make decent textures from scratch among other little things. But now I'm happy with the texture job, LODs and debris are done, most of the POF data is also finished. It just needs some final touches on the table and a specmap, but that will be done some time next week.
So here's a preview of my first model created for FS2 (and not TBP). The GTB Rhea, a light strike bomber designed to be a true successor to the Athena.
(https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B8E1oi6H-R3raW1mLXpiS0Vyalk)
Tech entry fluff:
The Rhea is Han-Ronald's next generation strike bomber. Basically it is a fighter airframe with a large enough bomb bay to carry 4 Cyclops torpedoes. Additional armament consists of a triple-barreled primary bank under the port wing and a small missile bank on top of the fuselage.
Its primary role as a strike bomber is to conduct precisions strikes against targets without the need for a dedicated escort wing. A typical tactic used by its pilots is to punch a hole in the defending fighter screen of their target before the bombs are delivered. Additionally, the Rhea can be deployed in larger fleet engagements to disable and disarm enemy capital ships with Stiletto II missiles and then support the space superiority wings.
The Rhea has powerful engines and a large afterburner capacity, making it the fastest ship in the GTVA fleet to carry the Cyclops torpedo. Together with the strong armor and shields for a ship its size, this gives it the ability to survive bombing runs on heavily defended targets. However, that ability comes with the price of reduced maneuverability due to its relatively high mass and asymmetrical layout.
(https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B8E1oi6H-R3rc2MyOXJZalR6eDA)
UPDATE: It's finished, download HERE (https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B8E1oi6H-R3rWGd4Z2RrSzA3MjQ)
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Bleh, i had a fighter i wanted to name the GTF Rhea.. oh well, the ship itself is ownage :nod:
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Very cool bomber, but I hate offset gun banks.
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I love em, for the look anyway
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I love the texturing. Simple yet attractive. Could maybe use a bit more detail (like some smudges or scratches and stuff) but otherwise it's great! Mind if I blatantly imitate it? :p
Oh and I personally think the gigantic triple turret is awesome.
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I love em, for the look anyway
They look ok, but they are a b*tch to use.
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Awesome job! :yes:
Why do I feel the urge to resurrect the Morrigan? ;)
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Bah. Myrmidon is all I say. Two Heliai (Helios plural? Sounds crappy though) missiles on that, probably superior speed and SIX banks.
Sorry, the Myrmi owned the Rhea :p
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I consider the Myrmidon's use of Helios cheating, and it seems utterly ridiculous that the Myrmidon could carry bombs (where would they come out?), so therefore the Myrmidon is still the worst new fighter in FS2. Thank you, come again.
Could you add a couple more guns in the nose?
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Interesting design. I like it. :) :yes:
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I love the texturing. Simple yet attractive. Could maybe use a bit more detail (like some smudges or scratches and stuff) but otherwise it's great!. Mind if I blatantly imitate it? :p
Go ahead, I was trying to imitate the FS1 look anyway. This is what I consider a factory new look with some light weathering and dirt. I think at one point I'm gonna do a heavily weathered and battle-scarred version with some fancy shark decal on the nose. But drawing convincing scratches and damage is harder than I hoped.
About the offset gun bank, well I wanted to do an asymmetrical ship from the beginning. Plus its also supposed to be a slight penalty, since I didn't wan to create another uber-ship-of-doom. And I know that the Myrmidon can carry the Helios, but I consider that a glitch or easter egg of :v: since its never used in the main campaign. Also, the Myrmidon is ugly as hell and can go and die in a fire.
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Looks great! My only complaint is that 3 guns is slightly too light an armament IMO, and perhaps adding a pair of noseguns might be in order.
*totally not complaining about offset gunbanks whatsoever*
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I love it, I really love it! I'd be flying this in dogfights all the time, loaded up with Piranhas.
While I adore the offset gun mounts, I do really think it could afford to have another gun in the nose. Have the tech fluff (or even the table entry) note that the triple gun mounts are meant for Maxims, Akhetons, or tactical weapons. Like the Ursa, it would be useless for dogfighting without them. Compensate with low weapons energy capacity if you must.
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The athena had the best firing points of any fighter or bomber in the game. They were dead on accurate, the penalty for them was that the most powerful weapon you could equip on the athena was the avenger cannon. Dead on firing points while not being able to equip the most powerful laser and being able to carry actual bombs would truly be a successor to the athena.
On the other hand cool ship :yes: It doesn't seem very fs'ish right now, but that's bound to change since the textures are going to be worked on more as it is for battle scars. The cockpit is very reminiscent of the apollo fighter which is great. For the color scheme of the rhea i would make it more colored like the apollo than what it is now. Right now it seems like the ship is a cross between an fs apollo and a bsg mark 2 vyper. Different coloring on it, and weathering and battle scars, then you'll have something that'll be a nice advancement with the unkowns of post capella fs.
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That looks superb. Well done. :yes:
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no pic :(
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You obviously are quite blind then :p Theres a big old pic right there and if i can read it with all my ****ty anti viruses/spyware/popup blockers you should be able to too
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The athena had the best firing points of any fighter or bomber in the game. They were dead on accurate, the penalty for them was that the most powerful weapon you could equip on the athena was the avenger cannon. Dead on firing points while not being able to equip the most powerful laser and being able to carry actual bombs would truly be a successor to the athena.
On the other hand cool ship :yes: It doesn't seem very fs'ish right now, but that's bound to change since the textures are going to be worked on more as it is for battle scars. The cockpit is very reminiscent of the apollo fighter which is great. For the color scheme of the rhea i would make it more colored like the apollo than what it is now. Right now it seems like the ship is a cross between an fs apollo and a bsg mark 2 vyper. Different coloring on it, and weathering and battle scars, then you'll have something that'll be a nice advancement with the unkowns of post capella fs.
Hm. I think it IS freespacy, somekind of Zeus clone (Which gets my reward as 'the fighter-bomber almost never seen in the campaign and never used by players).
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I see em now.. Very purdy. :nod: Strikes me more as a fighter tough.
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Purty is right... *coyote whistles*
I think you should go with the ursa setup; An offset group of gatlings of DOOM, and a pair of chin mounted guns for fighter killin. If you're going to use those big ones against cap ships, how accurate do you have to stinkin be?
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Hm. I think it IS freespacy, somekind of Zeus clone (Which gets my reward as 'the fighter-bomber almost never seen in the campaign and never used by players).
That's because a Zeus can be destroyed with a dirty look. It makes more sense as a stealth bomber (like the Loki) just because it's so ridiculously fragile.
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I'm quite happy with the single off-center gun bank. It may be personal preference, but I prefer to use the strongest gun and conserve weapon energy by carefully aiming.
Also, keep in mind that it is rather small, so the actual offset of the guns is way smaller than on the Ursa. During gameplay testing, I haven't had to really compensate for the offset, except when chasing very small fighters like Manticores. But then again, the Rhea isn't intended for dogfighting anyway.
(http://b5-project.com/img/screenshots/gtbrhea_comparison.jpg)
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I'm quite happy with the single off-center gun bank. It may be personal preference, but I prefer to use the strongest gun and conserve weapon energy by carefully aiming.
Also, keep in mind that it is rather small, so the actual offset of the guns is way smaller than on the Ursa. During gameplay testing, I haven't had to really compensate for the offset, except when chasing very small fighters like Manticores. But then again, the Rhea isn't intended for dogfighting anyway.
(http://b5-project.com/img/screenshots/gtbrhea_comparison.jpg)
I was about to ask for a comparison against a small moon, but you beat me to it by an hour. Anyways--I think it looks too small... scape it up and add a bit more green and it'll fit in better.
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Cool! Looks like a pre-FS1 ship :)
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Great ship. Offset gunbanks are okay, as long as you don't need to use them against fighters (small error in the Tech entry: it's under the port wing, not under the starboard one). Perhaps you should put some well-placed dogfighting guns next to the cockpit, since your Tech entry also says that it is intended for use without escort fighters. No matter how fast it is, I wouldn't want to be in a bomber with Maxims or SDGs only and without protection :nervous:.
The size is good as well, I imagine it as being the Terran version of the Nahema. Is it about that big?
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If there's one plase I don't mind offset gun banks, it's on a bomber. For a light bomber that can be expected to do some dogfighting, I can understand complaining, but if your job is to go in and bring down a Demon, who cares how accurate your gun is? The target is so freakin huge anyway, it shouldn't matter much.
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Bah. Offset GBs bring manly aiming skill back into this puppies (Aight, TrashMan?).
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I don't get why no one seems to be able to compensate for off-center guns. It's really not that hard once you get used to it. :wtf:
I'm looking forward to the release of this. :D
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I liked using the Ursa because the offset banks made fighting interesting again. That, and a top-mounted Kayser. Anyways--why not put a single-shot bank up there for the dogfighters?
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What's everyones problem with an offset gun? :confused:
Just aim slightly off. I mean the there are three guns right next to each other so you don't have to be that accurate (you have a big "tube" of fire) and I personally think it makes it more interesting. Powerful guns that are challenging to aim? Don't water it down with some bland little nose guns! Keep it's character! If you want to blow fighters inside out with ease then practice a little with the gun!
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Ingame screenshots:
(http://b5-project.com/img/screenshots/RheaIngame1.jpg)
(http://b5-project.com/img/screenshots/RheaIngame2.jpg)
(http://b5-project.com/img/screenshots/RheaIngame3.jpg)
(http://b5-project.com/img/screenshots/RheaIngame4.jpg)
(http://b5-project.com/img/screenshots/RheaIngame5.jpg)
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Looks awesome! Did you mean to use the retail engine effects? Nice work on the cockpit too.
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Bleh, it deserves the name Rhea... forget my ****ty fighter
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I prefer simmetrical craft but I like this one :yes:
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Slight :bump:
It's ready for release: Download here (http://b5-project.com/img/screenshots/GTB_Rhea.zip)
Put the VP in your FS2 folder and you should be ready to go. Included is a small test mission (accessible in the mission simulator) so you can take it for a spin against a Shivan convoy.
More ingame action
Squadron going in
(http://b5-project.com/img/screenshots/rheaMission1.jpg)
Launching torps
(http://b5-project.com/img/screenshots/rheaMission2.jpg)
Kill kill kill
(http://b5-project.com/img/screenshots/rheaMission3.jpg)
BOOM
(http://b5-project.com/img/screenshots/rheaMission4.jpg)
Too close, TOO CLOSE
(http://b5-project.com/img/screenshots/rheaMission5.jpg)
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do you have like a light bomb to use with it? a midway between a trebuchet and a cyclops?
Great work though. :yes2:;):yes:
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Wow nice work. I like.
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do you have like a light bomb to use with it? a midway between a trebuchet and a cyclops?
Great work though. :yes2:;):yes:
Cyclops IS a light torpedo, dude.
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Try Cyclops#short or Rebel Bomb. Or even Unknown Bomb.
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what's the difference between cyclops#short and cyclops?
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Cyclops#short has a shorter range. Its slower. But it does twice the subsystem damage. IIRC Cyclops#short is what you use in the main campaign.
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maybe i can cobble something together from INF, WCS, and all the other mods i have... :drevil:
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Courtesy of Col. Fishguts' Seal of Approval, I present to you the normal mapped GTB Rhea!
(http://i31.tinypic.com/9tn3ix.png)
Download link (http://www.mediafire.com/?vnbkbntooln); contains three maps.
- edited shinemap that has black alpha channel and thus does not produce environmental reflections for the ship's hull (and makes it looks more like in Fishguts' screenshots, since he apparently doesn't use env mapping :) )
-normal map - quite obviously; the production/distribution version suffers somewhat from the DDS compression artefacts on diagonal lines. I have another, uncompressed version of the normal map which removes the compression (obviously), but also uses more VRAM resources, so I ended up putting the compressed file up for downloads for now. The difference is mostly visible in the ship lab and at close range, so for the most time it isn't an issue.
-height map - use at your discretion. It doesn't do anything really noteworth and thus is mostly lack of resources - the normal map alone does a fine work, so if you're in any way tight with system resources, leave this out.
As for using the files... open the 7zip-file, pick the appropriate files, and copypaste them to your ..\FreeSpace2\GTB_Rhea\data\maps directory.
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Excellent, Herra! :D
"Bella, la Finlandia!"
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Courtesy of Col. Fishguts' Seal of Approval, I present to you the normal mapped GTB Rhea!
(http://i31.tinypic.com/9tn3ix.png)
Download link (http://www.mediafire.com/?vnbkbntooln); contains three maps.
- edited shinemap that has black alpha channel and thus does not produce environmental reflections for the ship's hull (and makes it looks more like in Fishguts' screenshots, since he apparently doesn't use env mapping :) )
-normal map - quite obviously; the production/distribution version suffers somewhat from the DDS compression artefacts on diagonal lines. I have another, uncompressed version of the normal map which removes the compression (obviously), but also uses more VRAM resources, so I ended up putting the compressed file up for downloads for now. The difference is mostly visible in the ship lab and at close range, so for the most time it isn't an issue.
-height map - use at your discretion. It doesn't do anything really noteworth and thus is mostly lack of resources - the normal map alone does a fine work, so if you're in any way tight with system resources, leave this out.
As for using the files... open the 7zip-file, pick the appropriate files, and copypaste them to your ..\FreeSpace2\GTB_Rhea\data\maps directory.
Do you even have AA on? :wtf:
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Sure looks like AA is on, of course you have to click on the image to see it in its full glory.
Again, very nice work Herra.
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Do you even have AA on? :wtf:
lvlshot tags tend to cause aliasing when it resizes the image to fit the forum layout, since it seems to use no interpolation for resizing. Click the image to see it in full 1280x1024 resolution, which should look notably much smoother, since I used 16xAA for that screenshot... though I usually use 8SxAA for normal playing, and that looks awesome too.
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looks great :yes:.
Nice background btw, is it a default one from FS2 open? If not, where can i get it?
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looks great :yes:.
Nice background btw, is it a default one from FS2 open? If not, where can i get it?
(http://users.tkk.fi/~lmiettun/Kuvat/Starfield_2.jpg)
Custom GIMPed by me about... two years ago? :eek: How the time runs...
Oh, by the way, perhaps I should explain that the screenshot I posted is slightly enhanced with GIMP. Basically, I just added the background and changed the hue of the ship a bit to match the surroundings. Nothing too drastic, so if you put a bluish sun on a mission with background like that, you'd end up with notably similar screenshots. But as it is, it isn't straight out from FS2_Open so it could be considered a minor bullshot... ;7
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So the starmap ain't in-game, huh? Pity.
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I just saw this thread - very nice fighter, very nice background. Hope to see it in one of the more well-played campaigns. :)
By any chance, do you have a 1680x1050 version of that background (does it come in a higher res than 1280?) It stretches rather nicely, though, so it's undergoing trials as my background wallpaper. :)
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By any chance, do you have a 1680x1050 version of that background (does it come in a higher res than 1280?) It stretches rather nicely, though, so it's undergoing trials as my background wallpaper. :)
Alas, no, I did it in 1280x1024. I can try and duplicate the process in higher resolution, though.
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We could make skybox of this texture.
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A damn beautiful skybox at that, perhaps also versions with planets etc :D
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It would be bloody close to impossible to make that a skybox and retain all the detail. Better luck would be making separate nebula textures, but even then getting them to match each other seamlessly and without too many gaps would be... difficult.
On a current MediaVP skybox style (which uses tiles) it might get more than a little repetitive and obviously tiled. Then again, with a continuous skybox texture, the highest effective resolution with one texture is 4096x2048 on my card at least; it's possible to set the skybox to use two 4096x4096 textures as hemispheres, which would in terms of detail be the same as using a 8192x4096 texture, but I dunno if the performance / VRam hit would be acceptable...
Trying it can't hurt, obviously. :drevil:
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Make at least 5 different variations, so that no 2 same tiles touch eachother. and besides, isn't the player going to be a little busy to notice all the repetition?
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It's pretty obvious when you tile two non-tiled images.
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It's pretty obvious when you tile two non-tiled images.
I think it would be pretty nonsensical to use nebulas such as this through skyboxes. I can't think of anything it could do better than the regular nebula system, other than being simpler in background editor (and much more complex to make).
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With the right combination of blue nebulae, I bet you could get an effect similar to this. You would need a lot of nebulae to cover the whole sky though.
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Since this got bumped, I might as well mention that I've updated the download link with a new VP, which includes Herra's very cool normal, height maps and tweaked shine maps.
Available here (https://share.ols.inode.at/9P4O44GEF8TI7YZH8YTW2JD0OKWSVJM49PSCS9Q9).
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Since this got bumped, I might as well mention that I've updated the download link with a new VP, which includes Herra's very cool normal, height maps and tweaked shine maps.
Available here (https://share.ols.inode.at/WDQNQMANQ0HVI2U2L4ZM8E5T0QIR7373FWQ7J1T0).
You might as well drop the height map from the VP since it's effect isn't really all that notable and it adds another texture to be rendered. I included it as an optional/experimental content, but for a VP release, I think it'd be better to keep it out because it's more difficult to activate/deactivate when it's in the VP and people whow want to deactivate it will be... inconvenienced.
Also, the download link gives a file named WDQNQMANQ0HVI2U2L4ZM8E5T0QIR7373FWQ7J1T0. Without extensions. I could guess it was a zip file at second try and it opened normally in 7zip after renaming itto GTB_Rhea.zip, but it will most likely confuse the heck out of a lot of people.
At least that's what it gave as a downloadable file with Firefox. Didn't try other browsers. I've personally found MediaFire.com to work pretty painlessly for boy uploader and downloader, if you're looking for an alternate place to put files to.
EDIT: false alert. It was just the Free Download Manager screwing things up... Firefox itself could handle it normally.
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Ok, I've removed the height map from the VP, I couldn't judge its effect, since normal/height maps are not supported on my oldish GPU.
About the weird link, the gibberish is the direct link to the download, which is hosted on the online storage service of my ISP, but when you click it it should save with the correct name.
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So the starmap ain't in-game, huh? Pity.
*bumpage*
Now it is.
(http://i26.tinypic.com/2rmvc3m.png)
...or rather, almost. I haven't placed any baked-in stars onto this nebula texture (it isn't impossible to do so, though) but aside from that, I have devised a cunning plan to use global nebula texture while retaining sharp stars like in the recent MediaVP's. Basically what you're looking at is two skybox spheres, the outer one having the stars and the inner one having the nebula texture.
In-game it looks very close to that custom background. Perhaps the hue is a bit different, but that can be fixed relatively easily now that I've got the stuff actually working. :)
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I don't care if it's imperfect. Please upload it to FSMods. :)
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Fine, here it is. (http://www.freespacemods.net/download.php?view.189)