Hard Light Productions Forums

Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The Modding Workshop => Topic started by: Nighteyes on September 07, 2010, 09:30:55 am

Title: the Asura is back!
Post by: Nighteyes on September 07, 2010, 09:30:55 am
Hi guys, Axem's beauty is back!
I UV mapped it, added LODs, turrets and debris...
all we need now is for someone to step up and texture this baby, final convertion shouldn't take long as everything is set up more or less, I provided an AO bake as well :)
grab the model here:(2 new links, with updated model, should convert properly now)
http://rapidshare.com/files/417666036/Desktop.rar
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ADX7JPOY

(http://a.imageshack.us/img521/7308/33333w.jpg) (http://img521.imageshack.us/i/33333w.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: CommanderDJ on September 07, 2010, 09:43:57 am
This looks really awesome. Sadly, I can't help as I have no experience in anything modelling/texturing-related. But kudos to whoever decided to finally do it!
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Topgun on September 07, 2010, 10:20:48 am
the link doesn't seem to be working
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Nighteyes on September 07, 2010, 11:18:19 am
seems like mediafire is down... can someone confirm?
anyway I upload an updated version, this one needs a reset X form on it...
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Rodo on September 07, 2010, 11:30:58 am
Nice model there... very eye catching.
You did a nice job with it Nighteyes :yes:

Can't wait to see it textured.

EDIT: seems like mediafire is down as you said atm.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: esarai on September 07, 2010, 11:51:36 am
****IN DAMN I WILL DO IT FOR YOUR TEXTURE.

It's just... mediabiscuts is down.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: NGTM-1R on September 07, 2010, 11:58:00 am
Whoops, wrong Asura... :P
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Nighteyes on September 07, 2010, 12:22:48 pm
Links are fixed, and I checked that they are working, the model was also updated, I resetted X-form on it if anyone here knows why :P
Rodo: to clerify this is not my model, Axem made it, I just did all the dirty work :)
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Nighteyes on September 07, 2010, 12:34:10 pm
looking at it now, the model could use better smoothing as well, I'll do it if nobody will take up the converting of this...
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Rodo on September 07, 2010, 01:49:13 pm
Links are fixed, and I checked that they are working, the model was also updated, I resetted X-form on it if anyone here knows why :P
Rodo: to clerify this is not my model, Axem made it, I just did all the dirty work :)

I knew it, you made it clear on your first post.

I haven't seen this model before, is the previous version from Axem actually textured?
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Nighteyes on September 07, 2010, 05:58:32 pm
no, it wasn't UV'ed, what this thread is for, is for someone to step up and say: "give me this! ill texture it!!" :)
*looks like esarai will do it... i think
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Topgun on September 07, 2010, 06:06:30 pm
ill try my hand at it if I get the time/motivation.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Trivial Psychic on September 07, 2010, 09:26:38 pm
Is that a fighter or a cap-ship?
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: SypheDMar on September 07, 2010, 09:56:49 pm
In between a bomber and a cruiser, last I remember. A gunship he called it, I think.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Retsof on September 07, 2010, 10:33:53 pm
The pods don't look connected to the body.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Axem on September 07, 2010, 10:37:02 pm
Oh don't worry. They are.

Slightly older pic of it
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/NarfPics/nextgunship2.jpg)
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: PeterX on September 08, 2010, 01:53:09 am
May be it´s a heavy Shivan strikebomber or light gunship like  Illiushin 2 10 28  class battleplane. is it right?
I´ll also have a try to paint it. If it ´s ready then i´ll post it here.
Peter
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Nighteyes on September 08, 2010, 05:22:57 am
its current size isn't final yet, were thinking of something along the lines of a cain, or a bit smaller, something fast and nimble, but still has plenty of firepower to be a serious threat to any fighter wing
the model also currently has 12 turrets, and 17 debris pieces, so its a bit more appropriate for a larger craft...
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: 0rph3u5 on September 08, 2010, 08:52:15 am
 :yes: Great Job  :yes:

this will replace the SC Rictus in the "Workings Of The Warp"-Assets when it comes to the "super-special-role"
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Commander Zane on September 08, 2010, 01:33:43 pm
I'm suprised nobody's mentioned the star missiles. :P
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Trivial Psychic on September 08, 2010, 09:06:59 pm
From that ventral shot, it looks strikingly similar to a WhiteStar... probably the trailing fin-type-things from the engine pods and aft sections.  The dorsal engine pod throws off the similarities though.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Nighteyes on September 09, 2010, 11:55:11 am
I'll also try texturing this, I've never textured anything like this before, but I have some free time on my hands and I feel like giving this a try
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Nighteyes on September 10, 2010, 06:36:49 pm
Ok guys, I had a free afternoon today and here is my progress so far, feedback is welcome :)
(http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/4008/asurax.th.jpg) (http://img291.imageshack.us/i/asurax.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Droid803 on September 10, 2010, 06:40:11 pm
Hmmm not so sure on the big red areas, might be better off to have them as dark grey, and only have red glows/red lines (the smaller regions).
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Nighteyes on September 10, 2010, 06:42:48 pm
just kidding :P
here are the latest shots, as I said, I'd love some feedback, as I've never textured something like this before...
(http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/9940/22222222.th.png) (http://img820.imageshack.us/i/22222222.png/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/1594/333333m.th.png) (http://img693.imageshack.us/i/333333m.png/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/5448/111111xp.th.png) (http://img39.imageshack.us/i/111111xp.png/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Rodo on September 10, 2010, 06:49:03 pm
Well you are better than me definitely, it looks really REALLY cool.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Droid803 on September 10, 2010, 06:54:24 pm
Oh that one's great :D
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Axem on September 10, 2010, 06:55:06 pm
Not bad... not bad at all...

I don't like the circled parts as glowing red. Maybe they could be a lighter gray armor or something?
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/NarfPics/notred.png)

Also the indent around the front and pipes along the neck should have a glowing red texture.

But yeah, this is ace.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Hades on September 10, 2010, 07:59:18 pm
I hope whoever converts it keeps it a gunship, we really don't have enough of those, and that it's publicly released (which it very probably will).
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Trivial Psychic on September 10, 2010, 08:57:41 pm
I assume that the untextured little white bits are turrets?
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Hades on September 10, 2010, 08:59:27 pm
They are, I think. I remember Axem telling me they were on IRC.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Nighteyes on September 10, 2010, 09:44:48 pm
yes, model will be publicaly available
yes, the white things are turrets
axem: :( I quite like those red glows! ill try with armor plating, but if it won't looks as good I'm switching back to red glows :P
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Axem on September 10, 2010, 10:21:59 pm
Well when I was modelling it, I thought those red areas to be cascading layers of armor.

To me it just doesn't feel right to have those large parts be glowing. Shivan glowing areas tend to be inset or as thiner stripes along a model.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Mobius on September 12, 2010, 05:06:14 am
So far so good! I already know how to use it... ;7
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Nighteyes on September 12, 2010, 08:36:21 pm
So far so good! I already know how to use it... ;7

how can you possibly know that, when the size, speed and weapons arn't even finalised yet?
anyway, I "think" the textures are ready, no spec, glow or normal maps yet(thats why the red glow parts look a bit strange), its all using the same texture, so that would be the next things to do, any final feedback? :D
(http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/1579/111vm.th.png) (http://img40.imageshack.us/i/111vm.png/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/5535/2222tp.th.png) (http://img684.imageshack.us/i/2222tp.png/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/3131/3333d.th.png) (http://img267.imageshack.us/i/3333d.png/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/8347/4444d.th.png) (http://img819.imageshack.us/i/4444d.png/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Rodo on September 12, 2010, 08:55:38 pm
Superb work!
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: esarai on September 13, 2010, 12:36:32 am
Holy **** dawg... you work fast.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: headdie on September 13, 2010, 03:16:44 am
holy **** that's good!!!!
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Axem on September 13, 2010, 10:45:22 am
Awesome. Not sure I like the dull red around the "head" and pod insets though. It might look better when its a glow map.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Mobius on September 13, 2010, 11:28:28 am
how can you possibly know that, when the size, speed and weapons arn't even finalised yet?

I'll find an use regardless of its role. ;)

I love the details... :yes:
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Dragon on September 13, 2010, 11:59:17 am
It looks good.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Nighteyes on September 14, 2010, 12:50:26 pm
ok guys I need some help regarding converting the model, when I convert it lod3 shows up instead of lod0, don't know why this is happening.
so, who can upload a simple pof file, with the model, decently sized(so i can see the textures from up close) so i can check the textures and normal map in game?
the only thing that is left to do is adjust the debris a bit and create a debris texture...
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Nighteyes on September 15, 2010, 10:30:52 am
I see I'm gonna do all of this by myself...
anyway, update, all textures are done, normal map needs tweaking, and debris map needs creating as well...
I got the model in-game, no working turrets yet, and the scale is off, but this is what I have so far :)
(http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/1647/screen1235.th.png) (http://img52.imageshack.us/i/screen1235.png/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/4684/screen1229.th.png) (http://img408.imageshack.us/i/screen1229.png/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/2941/screen1228.th.png) (http://img838.imageshack.us/i/screen1228.png/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Axem on September 15, 2010, 10:56:44 am
Beautiful :) My baby is growing up... :(
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: MatthTheGeek on September 16, 2010, 11:03:34 am
Wow. But the shape keeps making me think of a fighter.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Droid803 on September 16, 2010, 01:42:46 pm
Well its a gunship, so its somewhere between a bomber and a cruiser, so its small-ish :P
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: General Battuta on September 16, 2010, 01:48:56 pm
Well its a gunship, so its somewhere between a bomber and a cruiser, so its small-ish :P

Technically I think it should be called a gunboat. A gunship is typically an aircraft (i.e. helicopter gunship), meaning it'd be one of FreeSpace's fighter breeds, whereas a gunboat is a small armed craft, smaller than a corvette or frigate.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Rodo on September 16, 2010, 01:52:49 pm
It's the Asura gun-thing

Someone to help Nighteyes with the pof and debris? :D
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Droid803 on September 16, 2010, 01:54:24 pm
Ship, boat same thing! :P
I distinctly remember a discussion about this before that got split and sent to the nether regions of the forums...
Actually, I'm not so sure about its fate now to think about it, but it happened.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: headdie on September 16, 2010, 03:10:22 pm
comparisons with the real world says gun boat, rule of cool says gunship so go with what works for you
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Timerlane on September 16, 2010, 07:47:48 pm
FWIW, Star Wars did it the 'wrong' way. Starwing Assault Gunboat (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Assault_gunboat)(10m fighter), Corellian Gunship (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Corellian_gunship)(120m, more of a full-combat version of the Corellian (CR90)Corvette).
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Nighteyes on September 16, 2010, 10:02:55 pm
ok, I my job is done here, everything is ready, just final converting and tabling to be done(FUBAR said he will take a look at converting it), once the pof is ready I'll table the ship and pack it all together and post it here :)
(http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/2275/1111111c.th.png) (http://img96.imageshack.us/i/1111111c.png/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Nighteyes on September 17, 2010, 12:12:08 pm
ok, here it is, not 100% ready for release, but the pof and textures are final, whats left to do is to fix the pof and adjust the multi part turrets so they shoot correctly, as well as fire points and final table adjustments.
there are 2 versions of the pof, with and without a shield mesh, personally I would like it to have one...
I'm heading into lots of RL work, so someone will need to finish this and upload the final adjustments... enjoy!
http://rapidshare.com/files/419634101/final_asura.rar
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1BJ0Q2BL
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Mobius on September 17, 2010, 12:16:11 pm
:yes:
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Trivial Psychic on September 17, 2010, 06:49:24 pm
I've noted a problem, at least if you want those multi-part turrets to work right.  Now, there may have been some progress in solving this, but to my knowledge the turrets need to be on a level position, with the arms either pointing straight up or straight down.  Your ventral turrets are pointing forward and your flankside turrets are at an angle and pointing down to the side.  If you leave them the way they are, they will behave quite strangely.  They can be repositioned to the directions you've set via initial position code in the tables.  As for the flankside turrets, even if they are arranged properly, you'll want to give them a wide field of fire and give them the flat to not shoot through their parent ship's hull.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Nighteyes on September 17, 2010, 07:23:41 pm
FUBAR tells me there is no problem regarding angled turrets anymore, some talk about uvec and fvec telling pcs2 that they are at an angle, I'm no expert at this but I'm sure its doable...
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Trivial Psychic on September 17, 2010, 07:56:35 pm
After viewing it in PCS2, I have a further couple of suggestions, but I think you've progressed a bit too far to make them.  That said, I'm gonna make them anyway.  The first involves texturing.  Just inboard of the pods, you've got a few wedge-shaped extensions on the trailing edge.  In shape, they remind me considerably of the engine of the Nephilim bomber, and on that model it glows red.  You may want to make that texture change to maintain that design element from previous Shivan designs.  The second suggestion involves the rear dorsal turret.  You have it a bit nested below the aft fuselage on either side.  While this will make the turret a little more difficult to take out when attacking it, it also prevents it from targeting enemies from the side.  You may want to consider raising it up slightly so it can have a greater field of fire.

That said... AWESOME!
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Droid803 on September 17, 2010, 08:17:39 pm
Side-mounted/angled multiparts work, yes.
It'd be a lot easier to figure out the exact fvec/uvec if we knew exactly how the turret is rotated though.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Trivial Psychic on September 17, 2010, 08:29:49 pm
I still say that it would be easier to set up if at least the standard-position turrets had been set in the arm-up or arm-down position in the model.  That would only leave the flankside turrets to do the fancy design on.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Trivial Psychic on September 18, 2010, 12:16:13 pm
Double Post.

I've taken the pof and fleshed it out in PCS2, adding subsystems, turret data, eyepoints, dockpoints, paths (auto-generated then manually corrected), and corrected the firepoints.  The shielded model has also been given primary and secondary firepoints, though it would really benefit from some custom weapons.  I placed one primary bank matching up to the three nose bumps (the sensors) and second bank with 2 firepoints, one on either side of the lower head, just in from the "fang" prongs.  The missile banks match up to the circular clusters where the pods connect onto the main body.  I split them into three banks.  Each inner 3 are one bank, while the outer 2 in each cluster together make the 3rd bank.  I also modified the tbm file with the primary and secondary banks, changed the engine subsystem to just one (since it had two engine subsystems listed), adjusted some subsystem hitpoints, and added a flag to auto-generate the HUD icon.  The table is geared towards the shielded version, so if you want to use the unshielded, you'll need to comment out the primary and secondary banks, and possibly change the class to "cruiser" since the dockpoint isn't flagged as a rearm point on that one.

What I DIDN'T do, includes the $uvec $fvec stuff in the model, so the turrets won't work as intended yet, fleshed out the primary/secondary data for player use (it's only at default banks), and I didn't do the nebular trail points.

Asura, as modified by The Trivial Psychic (http://www3.sympatico.ca/daniel.topps/AsuraMod.rar) (maps not included)
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: General Battuta on September 18, 2010, 12:18:13 pm
There is no need for a version without a shield mesh. Simply set the ship's shield value to zero in the tables and the mesh will not be used.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Trivial Psychic on September 18, 2010, 12:32:32 pm
Well, one was included with a shield mesh, be it a MODview-generated generic shield, and I wanted to include one that had primary and secondary firepoints, so there were gonna be two files anyway.  I also forgot to mention, that I borrowed the MOI settings from the Cain.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Nighteyes on September 18, 2010, 06:55:50 pm
I don't completly understand the primary and secondary banks talk, arn't these values meant to be used on a fighter?
I spoke with Axem, and we think this model should use a cruiser flag, as it just moves in a funny way with a fighters AI... from what I saw it also makes the ship not able to target a few ships at once, focusing all the turrets at one target(12 turrets on me is usually an instant kill)
the back top turret is gonna be AAA, I'm not going to place it higher, a lower FOV is better as this model is heavy on turrets as it is :P
I'm currenty creating some shivan railguns to be used instead of the megafunk turrets, will release it here if anyone is interested

how is the shield mesh? I did it in 2 minutes, I'm not sure its good...
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Trivial Psychic on September 18, 2010, 11:57:43 pm
Well, the tbm file you included did have it flagged as a bomber, so I assumed that you would want it as such.  Besides, as this is a Public release, it wouldn't be all that surprising if someone wanted it as a player-flyable ship, so having one with primary & secondary firepoints already set up seemed to me to be a good idea.  The unshielded one I included doesn't have the banks added, so if you want a shield for that one you can just import from the shielded one.

On the question of shields, the included mesh is... simple, to put it gently.  It appears to me that you used MODview's auto-shield function to create it.  Most fighters and bombers are made with a shield mesh that follows the contours of the ship mostly, so by that standard it is quite poor, unfortunately.  That said, some modelers don't do shields very well, so I'm not complaining, and I'm no modeler.  Furthermore, while MODview and PCS2 display the shield mesh in a proper position, the FS2 Lab shows the lower tip of the nose protruding from the front end, so there may be a miss-alignment between what the POF editor programs display, and how FSO renders it.

Also, I forgot to mention that I set up rotation axises for the multi-part turrets, but there appears to be some miss-interpretation between MODview and PCS2, which have different interpretations as to which axises are which.  You may want to take a look at this when doing the uvec fvec.  I also changed the table to give a AAA for the chin turret.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Nighteyes on September 19, 2010, 03:31:27 pm
well, what I would like is for it to be a cruiser, I have no idea how to fix the uvec and fvec and was hoping you will finish what you started, as you have more experience in these things than i have...
personally i don't like much the shield mesh that follows the ships outline, it wastes lots of polygons and the overall visual benefit is minimal, its also cooler IMO to see a bullet hit a shield a few meters away from the ship, loots more like a shield that way :P

edit: yeah looks like the shield mesh isnt even, can you generate one for the model? I just created a sphere in 3ds max... the engine glows also need adjusting...
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Trivial Psychic on September 19, 2010, 11:23:42 pm
There is an auto-generator in Modview, and options to edit the facings, by stretching them along the 3 axes.  Unfortunately, Modview really hates me and crashes on saving and deletes the entire model's data, leaving a 0 KB file in its wake.  Fortunately, I kept backups.  I've made some attempts with uvec and fvec, but I don't know if they are working or not until someone checks it out ingame.  Stand by for an update to my download.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: The E on September 19, 2010, 11:29:39 pm
I would really recommend using PCS2 instead.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Trivial Psychic on September 20, 2010, 08:25:51 pm
I have been using PCS2 for the most part, but there is no options (yet) to modify or create new shields.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Nighteyes on September 23, 2010, 09:44:07 am
Ok, an update, I've updated most textures, as well as added a proper normal map
I also fixed a few smoothing issues on the mesh, and adjusted the shield mesh.
now, I dont know why but in PCS2 the shield mesh covers the whole ship, but in game the tip of the head is sticking out of the mesh, I don't know why that is...
http://www.mediafire.com/?zku94w6yf5hm9kv
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Droid803 on March 22, 2011, 06:22:39 pm
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/126554/FS2/%5BsecretAGFJK182048192%5D/SGsAsura2.pof

I went and smashed it with my FixHammer under orders from SG for EW.
I took that version, made it back into a gunship-sized ship.

of note, it has properly aligned multiparts with correct fvec and uvecs (I hope).

So note:
- The shield mesh is gone
- It does not have the smoothing fixes Nighteyes did. In fact, all smoothing was redone by me (lost on import), who is lazy and used autosmooth.
- The scale isn't perfectly the same as the original, so reimporting it probably won't work well
- All weapons are now turrets, including those missile banks
- I haven't tested it at all, so yeah. use at your own risk. tell me whatever's wrong and I'll (try) to fix it
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Trivial Psychic on March 22, 2011, 10:05:03 pm
Did you change the size at all?  I've been doing some work with it myself, but I think I've kept it in the multi-turret bomber type... shields included.  I'm still trying to figure out the non-standard-axis-multi-part-turret-control part though.  Perhaps observing your work will assist me in that.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Droid803 on March 22, 2011, 11:09:30 pm
Well I scaled it up and scaled it back, so the size is close but definitely not perfect.
Title: Re: the Asura is back!
Post by: Fearless Leader on March 23, 2011, 01:29:45 am
Fantastic looking, and scary sounding, I look at and thing "it could eat me", IMO it really looks good.