Hard Light Productions Forums
Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The Modding Workshop => Topic started by: Mobius on September 13, 2010, 01:14:48 pm
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I got from an artist (http://spyderrock48.deviantart.com/) what appears to be an interesting mesh. A lot needs to be done to bring it in-game, but I think it will definitely be worth the effort. This is not for any mod/campaign in particular, it's just a model other community members may wish to use once it's done. That said, discussions on possible uses of the fighter are welcome.
I have the file in 3DS format, and it's 3mbs in size. If any modellers/texturers are interested, I can send the file via e-mail.
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"Blut und Ehre"? Seriously?
That said, it is a nice design.
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It's got one of those hilariously impractical pilot-killer cockpits!
But it looks cool.
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What does it need? it seems somewhat UV'd and textured or is it just my imagination?
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Needs all those things FreeSpace models require (like LODs). Yeah, it seems textured, but I don't know if texturing is efficient or needs to be completely redone.
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cool fighter, kind of reminds me of a stunt plane with weapons
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looks like a bomber to me.
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You couldn't pay me to fly that thing. No 5 or 7 o'clock visibility, let alone any way to check your six. When that female wingman in WiH starts yelling "Bandit behind your three-nine!" it'd be too late for the poor bugger flying this. :P
Anyway.
cool fighter, kind of reminds me of a stunt plane with weapons
Me too. Did anyone here play Crimson Skies as a young 'un? I get a very CS-esque feel to the ship.
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You couldn't pay me to fly that thing. No 5 or 7 o'clock visibility, let alone any way to check your six. When that female wingman in WiH starts yelling "Bandit behind your three-nine!" it'd be too late for the poor bugger flying this. :P
Anyway.
Use the radar and/or targeting controls, instead?
So... is anyone willing to work on the model? :)
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Another big issue with it realism-wise is the cockpit behind the center of mass; the pilot would a) be terribly confused by the aircraft's reaction to his inputs and b) die. There's a reason cockpits go on the front of the plane. But it's still badass.
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we are talking a space fighter so the centre of rotation would depend on where the manoeuvring jets are
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we are talking a space fighter so the centre of rotation would depend on where the manoeuvring jets are
It's gonna be pretty hard to get that cockpit in front of it.
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I think the cockpit should remain where it is.
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Eh.
The cockpit visibility from this thing is a lot better than in most FreeSpace ship designs, although I would criticize the front visibility more than rear in this case. That massive nose and payload bays will cover a fair area of view to the front, but contrary to most other FreeSpace ships, visibility over the shoulders is actually pretty manageable. It's still not exactly fit for a combat vehicle but better than most other stuff, so there's really no reason to criticize that here.
As for the centre of gravity/disorientation comment - you can't judge the centre of gravity visually without assuming that the ship is mostly homogenous as far as density goes. That may not be the case at all. The engines could easily be significantly more massive than the payload bays at the front, which would pull the CoG towards the rear. You could just position the centre of gravity below the cockpit while converting the model and SAY that the engines are more massive, which explains why cockpit is where it is.
That said, even if these were valid concerns, they wouldn't be good enough reasons to change the ship design. Aesthetics would be better reason, because this ship - like most others - is simply not designed for realistic demands that space combat would put on it.
Actually, it might be sort of interesting exercise to design and model just such fighter craft...
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I think the cockpit should remain where it is.
I don't want the cockpit moved - it looks good where it is, and FreeSpace pilots are immune to G-forces anyway - but I'm just commenting on the physics and biophysics of the design.
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It's like a crazy retro WWII thing. Kinda cool! :yes:
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You couldn't pay me to fly that thing. No 5 or 7 o'clock visibility, let alone any way to check your six. When that female wingman in WiH starts yelling "Bandit behind your three-nine!" it'd be too late for the poor bugger flying this. :P
Anyway.
cool fighter, kind of reminds me of a stunt plane with weapons
Me too. Did anyone here play Crimson Skies as a young 'un? I get a very CS-esque feel to the ship.
Yup
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Use the radar and/or targeting controls, instead?
Well I was taught from day one of flying to practice what's known in the Aviation world as a 'lookout'; frequently checking all clock points for traffic and any other not nice things that wreck a perfectly good aeroplane when you fly too close. As a pilot, your best form of maintaining situational awareness is by eye, and even in Freespace I always find that to be better than relying on the HUD in a dogfight.
But anyway, relying on the radar instead of your lookout is a recipe for disaster. Especially when there's a real possibility of stealth aircraft jumping in and killing a Council Elder. :P
I think the cockpit should remain where it is.
I don't want the cockpit moved - it looks good where it is, and FreeSpace pilots are immune to G-forces anyway - but I'm just commenting on the physics and biophysics of the design.
Yeah, the cockpit looks great on that ship, but it's in an entirely different league when it comes to practicality. :P
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FreeSpace =/= Realism =/= Modern combat. Also, the reason why I don't want any radical changes to the cockpit is simple: the artist did not give me the model to see its mesh changed: POFing, LODing, texturing... all these can and will be done because they're necessary, but I'd like the overall mesh to remain as it is. :nod:
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FreeSpace =/= Realism = Modern combat. Also, the reason why I don't want any radical changes to the cockpit is simple: the artist did not give me the model to see its mesh changed: POFing, LODing, texturing... all these can and will be done because they're necessary, but I'd like the overall mesh to remain as it is. :nod:
No one has suggested moving the cockpit on this model. Also I fixed your equation. :nervous:
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Visual sensors the pilot can flick through on his HUD to check his various o'clocks, even better if it has some kind of neural interface so he does it just by thinking about it.
Problem solved.
Using cameras is probably safer anyways, stops you having a huge weakpoint that we call a cockpit.
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You couldn't pay me to fly that thing. No 5 or 7 o'clock visibility, let alone any way to check your six.
Do any default FS fighters/bombers have visiblity to the back?
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Not really.
Hence I wouldn't fly for many of the factions present in Freespace. :P
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The overall shape would make for a pretty cool capship I think.
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Hey Guys! I'm the artist , lol, and i would like to note that i love crimson skies ( the design for this originated from a sketch of mine of an aircraft with a retro look and 3 pullers and 1 pusher ). PLEASE IGNORE THE RANDOM NAZI MARKINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this was made for a little thing me and my friend were doing, where it was a futuristic space war between neo-nazi's and neo-communists . also , it is un textured, all of those panels and things are actual polygons on the model. and to address the issue of the cockpit, yes the engines mass is heavier than the front loading bays, thus i have the cockpit more back ( plus it looks good ) and it was based off of the ME-109 http://www.cavemanrocketry.com/images/ME109.jpg (http://www.cavemanrocketry.com/images/ME109.jpg) . also before you guys can do anything with this, i seriously need to cut the poly count on this, its at like 25k polys or something like that, cause every circular object is 24 sided. any other questions- feel free to ask !
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Hey Guys! , just here with a quick update, i have done some serious polying down, and have managed to go from the previous 70646 triangles ( thats the model that mobius posted a pic of lol ) to 9969 triangles ( yay!! ) , i can still lower that number a bit if necessary. ALSO there are aditional changes that need to be made, based on the requirements and thigns allowed for FS2 ships, like do i need pre-made missle mounts, if so how many should be on a heavy fighter like this, can i use the rotary cannon default design of the weaposn? how many weapons are allowed, so basically, do you guys have a pre-laid out set of rules and guide lines ( including polycount limits and stuff like that ) for ships? [ for future reference , i know i cannot spell, its not that i cant spell, i just type incredibly way to fast, and my fingers move and it gets sloppy lol )
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Hey Guys! , just here with a quick update, i have done some serious polying down, and have managed to go from the previous 70646 triangles ( thats the model that mobius posted a pic of lol ) to 9969 triangles ( yay!! ) , i can still lower that number a bit if necessary. ALSO there are aditional changes that need to be made, based on the requirements and thigns allowed for FS2 ships, like do i need pre-made missle mounts, if so how many should be on a heavy fighter like this, can i use the rotary cannon default design of the weaposn? how many weapons are allowed, so basically, do you guys have a pre-laid out set of rules and guide lines ( including polycount limits and stuff like that ) for ships? [ for future reference , i know i cannot spell, its not that i cant spell, i just type incredibly way to fast, and my fingers move and it gets sloppy lol )
read this (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,37158.0.html)
Also, any rotating object needs to be a subobject. When we convert the model we can add the missile points. Missile points are just the points where missiles spawn.
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I have indeed read that, although it seems to talk mainly about textures and not the actual model, and my missle mounds, i meant the little bars on the bottom of the **** where a missle would sit, does the game have those? or does it just kinda fly out of a pre-designated missle port? and by the rotary cannon thing, i meant, would it be preferable if replaced it with a 1 barreled traditional laser type thing? or is it ok to have a rotary canon there, even if the current weapon is a laser?
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That would fit nicely in Starlancer.
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haha, well i hope i can make it to where it will fit nicely in here :)
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(http://i54.tinypic.com/34t8jur.jpg)
theres a pic of the polyed down version. ( entirely untextured, except some color added so it wouldent be so white it was burning out my eyes xD )
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missle mounds, i meant the little bars on the bottom of the **** where a missle would sit, does the game have those?
do you mean like visible missiles? the game can have those but I don't know how that works.
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Well, in my origninal mesh, i had put alot of random missles on there, but i removed those, and the missle mounts, so now it they will come out a a missle port ( actually two ) on the front of the nose, which will have to be textured on to it.
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Spyderrock48: Ahhhh dude, I could totally tell someone along in the design process had played Crimson Skies. :P I totally approve of this design now. :D
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haha :) excellent game, but yeah, the original design was actually a really sweet 4 propeller plane, if i cna find the sketch ill upload a pic of it :)