Hard Light Productions Forums

Community Projects => The FreeSpace Upgrade Project => Topic started by: Hades on June 05, 2009, 01:37:31 pm

Title: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Hades on June 05, 2009, 01:37:31 pm
I have the link, and they gave me the go-ahead to post it, so here (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8HE92NRW) it is. Be warned, it's in .c4d format so only Cinema 4D users can open it and export it to another format.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Aardwolf on June 05, 2009, 07:08:38 pm
Can someone convert it? Kthxbai.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Droid803 on June 05, 2009, 07:16:30 pm
IIRC this one looks more like an upgraded version of the Arcadia than simply a high-poly one (with the smooth armor plates and all). Still, would be cool to have.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Aardwolf on June 21, 2009, 02:43:19 am
Um... so is anybody going to convert it and upload it somewhere so us normal people can have it?
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Maverick on June 21, 2009, 11:14:25 am
Is it possible to post a few pictures of it as well to see what we're getting? I'm tired of seeing that old arcadia among the nice HTL ships T-T
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Droid803 on June 21, 2009, 12:03:00 pm
All screenshots of it have vaporized since Ragingloli purged his DeviantArt account, I think.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Snail on June 21, 2009, 12:08:30 pm
All screenshots of it have vaporized since Ragingloli purged his DeviantArt account, I think.
That explains why I couldn't find anything...
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Galemp on June 21, 2009, 02:36:28 pm
Hooray!

BTW, the high-poly Colossus I've been posting pics of was his originally. I can't wait to take a look at this.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Hades on June 22, 2009, 02:47:25 pm
http://www.freespacemods.net/download.php?view.558
Read the description first.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Galemp on June 22, 2009, 03:25:07 pm
Thanks for that... but yeah, it appears the texture coordinates and material indexes have been completely lost. Well, same thing happened with the Colossus... but it'll be UV mapped anyway, right?

Taking a spin around the geometry, I actually think this could be an acceptable upgrade for the Arcadia for the Media VPs. It's a lot more of a shell with greebles in it, and isn't as solid as the original, but the concept is pretty cool. Changing the center hexagon to a circle might be contentious, but overall the boost in quality is worth the effort.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Hades on June 22, 2009, 03:31:47 pm
I'm glad that I could help. :)
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Droid803 on June 22, 2009, 03:58:26 pm
Even if it doesn't make it into the MVPs, it'd make a nice Arcadia mk2.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Mongoose on June 22, 2009, 06:34:48 pm
Maybe it's just my senility talking, but didn't someone (Vasudan Admiral maybe) once make quite a bit of progress on an HTL Arcadia model?  Like, to the point where most of the flat stretches of the "belt" had been heavily detailed?

And yeah, that circular hole in the center would be a definite no-no from me.  Looks interesting, but the giant hexagon is too iconic to the original design.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: colecampbell666 on June 22, 2009, 06:51:31 pm
Aye. I like the hexagon. And VA was making a new Arcadia. It was on hold until some projects (Hades etc.) finished.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Dragon on June 22, 2009, 07:07:08 pm
And yeah, that circular hole in the center would be a definite no-no from me.  Looks interesting, but the giant hexagon is too iconic to the original design.
Not to mention none of Arcadia extensions would fit circular hole unless modified versions of them are made.
It would be great if you could make hole in HTL Arcadia exactly the same size as in lo-poly one ,thus allowing extensions to be used with it.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Droid803 on June 22, 2009, 07:41:13 pm
The extensions are going to look pretty ugly (read: low-poly) next to a high-poly Arcadia anyway. They'll have to be remade if you don't want them to stick out like a sore thumb.
Besides, compatibility with largely unused user content doesn't really matter.

I don't mind the circular hole. Though it can't be THAT hard to turn it back into a hexagon.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Hades on June 22, 2009, 09:22:05 pm
Personally, I think a circular hole is the way to go, and I'd bet that is what Volition would have made it if they made a high-polygon version.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Kolgena on June 22, 2009, 09:22:14 pm
I think it should be a hexagon. Blocky and square says Terran all over it. Smoothed out circular hole? Not so much.

Edit: Hades, what makes you think that? If they wanted a circular hole, they would have modeled an octagon or decagon by using a near negligible number of polys. I think that the hexagon is intentional.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Hades on June 22, 2009, 09:27:15 pm
You don't understand, back then a few more polygons would have made a difference in gaming. Besides, the whole model is curvey, so having a hexagon hole in the middile would just look very out of place.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Kolgena on June 22, 2009, 09:31:51 pm
The way the hole is shaped, you'd need 3 extra polys for every side added.

That means you have 6 extra polys for an octagon and 12 extra polys for a decagon. I can't for the life of me imagine a computer that would run fine with a hexagon but lag on a decagon.

Regardless, the deciding factor for what shape of hole we get is based on whether it's worth the effort to butcher up ragingloli's arcadia or the one VA's working on right now. Either way, it's a detail that most people are going to get acclimatized to eventually.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Aardwolf on June 23, 2009, 07:49:05 am
Um... I just imported that .3ds into Wings3D... I don't know if it's wings or the model itself, but it chopped it into myriad itty bitty pieces.

Screenshot attached.

Edit: Opening the .obj works, but neither imports with proper smoothing. Also, the materials are missing. And the texture coordinates are wrong.

[attachment has decomposed]
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Galemp on June 23, 2009, 11:12:22 am
Wings got the import wrong, but yes, the model is definitely in as-is condition.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Snail on June 23, 2009, 11:14:19 am
What about Vasudan Admiral's?

He must not be very happy right now. First Water gets out the Valk before him, and now someone's going to throw out the Arcaida...
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Kolgena on June 23, 2009, 01:02:31 pm
Well, from whatever screens VA has released so far, it looks like he's only got the docking sheet done so far.

If we could mash VA's docking sheet with specialized docking points with RL's central body, it might be better. I sort of doubt that though, since the two styles of arcadia might clash.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Snail on June 23, 2009, 01:20:22 pm
Well to be perfectly honest this Arcadia looks a lot more like a Mark II. it's got rounded edges and everything.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Mobius on June 23, 2009, 01:49:34 pm
We have already seen similar modifications to the SFr Dis, and they work fine (IMO).

I know you may say that Terran designs are known to be blocky, but a radical development of the Arcadia is welcome as long as it doesn't break compatibility with other fan-made stuff. I remember many custom missions in which ships are placed very, very close to Arcadiae (pretty much as if they were docked) - any radical changes to the mesh might cause collisions and/or crashes. :(
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Mongoose on June 23, 2009, 02:34:12 pm
The Dis was kind of an ass-ugly ship that was rarely used in FS2, though.  The Arcadia is far more iconic of the series as a whole and pops up in just about every fan-made campaign.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Mobius on June 23, 2009, 02:39:29 pm
So true, indeed. I hope there won't be any compatibility issues with the model. :)
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Dragon on June 23, 2009, 03:03:15 pm
I hope that INFA is going to have HTL extensions for Arcadia ,in other case they are going to look strange ,of course if they even fit into new hole.
Personally I like those addons ,they help to add some variety to these classic stations.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: FreeSpaceFreak on June 24, 2009, 01:11:49 am
(http://i43.tinypic.com/9058v9.jpg)

*points to hexagon*

And would those antennas break compatibility as well? They sure look cool.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Zacam on June 24, 2009, 01:44:09 am
The glow is hexagonal. Doesn't mean the hole has to be, just that the glow does.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: blowfish on June 24, 2009, 02:26:01 am
They used pretty low-poly models for the cutscenes anyway, although better than in-game.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: shiv on June 24, 2009, 02:48:39 am
Even if you don't want this Arcadia in-game, many fan made campaigns would like to have an opporunity to use it as in-game model.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Mobius on June 24, 2009, 11:19:48 am
I hope that INFA is going to have HTL extensions for Arcadia ,in other case they are going to look strange ,of course if they even fit into new hole.
Personally I like those addons ,they help to add some variety to these classic stations.

Hehe... ModDB has the answer... ;)

And would those antennas break compatibility as well? They sure look cool.

Sigh, I'm afraid they will. I've seen many ships ordered to fly through waypoint paths passing near Arcadiae (I've even FREDded some myself) in a way that would lead them to collide with those antennae.

:(

Even if you don't want this Arcadia in-game, many fan made campaigns would like to have an opporunity to use it as in-game model.

As member of the INFASA team (and, more in general, as FREDder) I'm interested on a new variant of the Arcadia. Axem's Asteria is a very nice addition to the Terran roster, and I hope to find a larger version of the Arcadia to boost the usage of extensions. :)
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Retsof on June 24, 2009, 12:42:58 pm
What are these extentions that everyone is talking about?  Did someone make snap-ons for the Arcadia?
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Mobius on June 24, 2009, 01:27:56 pm
Extensions can only be used on Arcadia models with two additional dockpoints (located inside the polygon formed by the exagons). Basically, they're models (whose textures fit with those of the Arcadia) that can serve a variety of purposes. As far as I know, the only extensions that were released are the following: connection extension (connects an Arcadia to another Arcadia or a comparable installation, like INF's Arcas), communication extension (a large array of panels) and 4-dockpoints extension that allows FREDders to combine the provided extensions.

Additional extensions are in INF SCP. :)
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Dragon on June 24, 2009, 04:34:25 pm
Where I can get the last one? 
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Snail on June 24, 2009, 05:14:23 pm
INFASA, if/when it is released.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Dragon on June 24, 2009, 05:45:08 pm
As far as I know, the only extensions that were released are the following: connection extension (connects an Arcadia to another Arcadia or a comparable installation, like INF's Arcas), communication extension (a large array of panels) and 4-dockpoints extension that allows FREDders to combine the provided extensions.
I mean this (underlined) one ,Mobius said it's released.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: colecampbell666 on June 24, 2009, 06:17:06 pm
Look at INFA.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Dragon on June 25, 2009, 12:31:30 am
In INFA I can see only GTExA (first one mentioned by Mobius) and GTExC (second one).
I got INFA from their main site.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: shiv on June 25, 2009, 01:04:13 am
There will be more in next release of INFA, called INFA Standalone
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Dragon on June 25, 2009, 02:37:42 am
Mobius said that three extensions are already released.
I see only two in INFA.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Hades on June 25, 2009, 02:45:11 am
There's one or two in the OTT dump, which was on Hades Combine and is on FSmods.

EDIT: Yes, there's one. Just checked.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Dragon on June 25, 2009, 09:13:21 am
[facepalm] Why I could have forgotten ,I even asked about it someday. [/facepalm]
But ,on the other hand ,it's a GTExD ,used for defence ,not the
4-dockpoints extension that allows FREDders to combine the provided extensions.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Snail on June 25, 2009, 09:51:38 am
The
4-dockpoints extension that allows FREDders to combine the provided extensions.

has not been released AFAIK.
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Dragon on June 25, 2009, 10:08:53 am
Mobius said it was...
Errae humanum est.  :)
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Snail on June 25, 2009, 10:39:46 am
Sometimes we must learn that even Mobius makes mistakes.

(just kidding mate)

;)
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Mobius on June 25, 2009, 12:00:10 pm
I'm too involved in INFASA to remember what the INFA package was about. :D And yeah, you're going to see additional stuff in INFASA and even more stuff in INF SCP. :)
Title: Re: Ragingloli's Arcadia...
Post by: Aardwolf on June 25, 2009, 02:10:42 pm
Back on topic, is anyone going to do anything with this?