Hard Light Productions Forums
Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The FRED Workshop => Topic started by: birdbeast on May 31, 2008, 01:46:13 pm
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Hi there again,
Thanks for everyone's help earlier with my capital ship/waypoints/AI/IFF problems. That mission of my campaign is maturing nicely.
I'm currently creating 3D animations for my campaign. I was wondering if anyone in the community had or knew where to find any of the following (in order of preference):
- A scene file containing a 3D representation of the FreeSpace Universe system/jump node map
- A video/animation of such a 3D map showing the entire map of systems and nodes in full rotation along all three axes, and all 360 degrees. Similar to the rotations of the map during command briefings in the FS1/FS2 campaigns, but showing the entire map and rotating through all axes, to show the relationships between all of the systems and jump nodes
- A high resolution 2D image of the system/jump node map (or more than one, e.g. a front view, side view, top view, and perspective view)
If the first item exists, well, kudos++ for whomever created it, because reconstructing all of that must have been a ton of work.
However, I doubt it does exist, and it's painstaking and tedious to try to figure out where each system stands in relationship to all of the others in 3D space. How have other campaign modders managed this obstacle? The easy ways out, it seems, would be to:
N/A) Don't use prerendered cutscenes in the campaign at all
A) Focus the campaign in a small number of systems rarely used in the FS1/2 campaigns and "fudge" the relationships between them
B) Focus the campaign in a different universe
C) Have the campaign begin in 1-2 systems in the Freespace universe, and branch out into previously unknown systems, allowing you to create your own node maps
Any other ideas? Input is appreciated.
Thanks!
-bb
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One more thing -- and I'm sure this is a genuine n00b question -- if little of what I requested above exists, I'd like to get at the command briefing animations in the FS1/FS2 campaigns to play them at leisure instead of viewing them through the game, so I can get a handle on the relationship between at least those systems appearing in my campaign.
I understand the hierarchy of the FS2 directory structure, and I know these things are contained in the .vp archive files. Where can I get the tool to create/extract these files? Sorry, I'm sure this question has been asked a million times at least.
Thanks again
-bb
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I don´t think there is a whole 3DMap for FS2. But there is a Tool i posted, which let´s you make your own 3d Map. You could, after creating your Starmap, just film it with Fraps or something similar and then embed it into your Mod. Look here, you may want to use a good Translator... ;)
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,54164.0.html
You could also extract some of the Animations. I remember parts of the Jump Node System is showen in one or two Animations. I just don´t know which.
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more than one or two, there was a good number that showed nodemaps.
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Taristan/Raa/Snipes released a file that had a .3ds or something of the node map.
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I made a nodemap Max scene! Here is the link. (http://web.njit.edu/~pjo3/cbani/nodemap.max)
(http://web.njit.edu/~pjo3/cbani/sanode0.jpg)
Now this is part of what I was doing for Scroll of Atankharzim, and it was uploaded a long time ago, so it may have some Scroll-specific stuff in there. You can safely ignore anything beyond Adhara, if there is anything there.
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Can you make a 3DS one ?
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ehh, you'd lose all the object, material, camera, and rendering settings, making it basicly a bunch of balls hanging in space. What's the point? :blah:
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Some other ? I don't have 3DS Max.
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What DO you use? I'll see how I can help.
Inspired by how the systems are all over the place, I took a page from London's famous Tube Map and made this.
(http://pjfoliver.googlepages.com/nodechart-0.png)
There are versions up on the FS Wiki now too. It's not exactly beautiful but you can much more easily track territories and fleet movements, thus:
T-V War
(http://pjfoliver.googlepages.com/nodechart-1.png)
NTF War
(http://pjfoliver.googlepages.com/nodechart-2.png)
Capella War
(http://pjfoliver.googlepages.com/nodechart-3.png)
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Hehe, funky.
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Those tube maps are very readable, I prefer them to their 3D counterparts by far. :yes:
What exactly are the purple 'unstable' nodes in Mirfak, Regulus, etc? I notice that their 3D counterparts simply lead off the visible map. I suppose 'unstable' is a reasonable interpretation of these apparently unused/uncharted nodes. It would be interesting to have a campaign explore the systems beyond these nodes.
Then again, the GTVA colonial spirit is probably dead following the Capella incident. :nervous:
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(http://pjfoliver.googlepages.com/nodechart-0.png)
Because subspace is a series of tubes.
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It would be interesting to have a campaign explore the systems beyond these nodes.
Quite a few of them do. I think it's Derelict that has a loop from Dubhe to Altair, and the Scroll of Atankharzim takes place entirely beyond the Adhara node. There's a very, very interesting explanation for how it stabilized. :)
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Actually I'd point out we don't really know those nodes are unstable, just that they are unexplored. It's never specifically stated they're not traversable.
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Hey this Maps look pretty cool, though Alpha Centauri is much to far away. Now all we need is someone, who puts it on a interactive 3DStarmap.
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Hey this Maps look pretty cool, though Alpha Centauri is much to far away. Now all we need is someone, who puts it on a interactive 3DStarmap.
Subspace connects differently than Realspace. There are a minimum of five jumps between Sol and Alpha Centauri. Stop thinking of how close they are physically - this map represents travel via subspace nodes only. So, IMO, its fine that they're far apart.
What bothers me is that some of the balls lack glows (Regulus in T-V War map, etc). Or is there a reason for that?
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They're unclaimed/undiscovered systems.
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Urrr, Regulus is red, but no glow. All the other red planets have glows.
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Oh, right, of course. Probably a mistake.
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During the T-V War Capella and Regulus are frontier systems. Discovered and claimed, but virtually unpopulated. They're hardly territories at all.
A similar situation for Sol. It's definitely known, and allied, but there are no GTVA forces there (naturally.)
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Allied, huh? On my nodemaps I usually mark it as purple (unknown)
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On the subject of the TVW-era map...Regulus is definately Terran, not Vasudan. Hence the postwar terran "Regulus Syndicate" bloc (tech room, 'reconstruction entry').
As it would look odd to have Regulus alone in Vasudan space, it would make sense for the adjoining Polaris and Epsilon Pegasi systems (which connect to the Capella frontier) to be claimed as Terran, as well.
Far less definate is the nationality of the 'Sirius' system, but it is still in question as Sirius was one of the NTF's core systems and Terran Command treats Sirius as a Terran system in the mission following the destruction of Vasuda Prime (the mission with the three jump nodes).
It would seem that the GTA was slightly larger than the PVN (at least in terms of systems claimed), or perhaps it had taken a slight advantage during the TWV by the time of Fs1. On the subject of the former, it makes sense to have the GTA as a superior colonial power. The GTA has a far more powerful and developed economic base (our glorious blue planet) in comparison to Vasuda Prime.
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Galemp and I constructed the TV-war era map from the perspective of FS1, not FS2. FS2 did a bit of retconning in terms of system strengths and allegiances. And I consider tech room entries to be subordinate to in-game usage, canon-wise.
Neither Sirius nor Regulus are specifically described as being Terran or Vasudan in mission briefings, but both are unambiguously Vasudan in the command briefing animations. Furthermore, considering that both Deneb and Alpha Centauri are Vasudan, it doesn't make sense for Sirius to be anything other than Vasudan at a time when Polaris, Epsilon Pegasi, and Capella are virtually unexplored.
The GTA and PVN have different organizational strategies. The GTA is extremely centralized, with all of their major manufacturing, research, and economic infrastructure based in Sol. In contrast, the Vasudans are very decentralized, with many self-sufficient infrastructures spread across several systems. Therefore it makes sense that the Vasudans would have more systems than the GTA.