Hard Light Productions Forums
Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The Modding Workshop => Topic started by: CaesarCalad on February 20, 2013, 07:15:45 pm
-
Hey HLP Community.
I have finally begun modding my first ship, a fighter class for now, though I have only just started recently. Its name is currently the Thrace fighter, but I need some feedback on what race it kind of looks like, suggestions, and how to get some wings and mabye a cockpit/thrusters, anything of the like.
I will get some pictures up but first I need to know how to do that without actually having it in an attachment form.
Thanks!!!
-
Upload the pictures to a site such as imageshack then link it here using [lvlshot] or [img]
-
And how do i link to here so it shows on forum?
-
And how do i link to here so it shows on forum?
you put the link inbetween img and /img (stick [] inbetween img and /img, this also must be applied to lvlshot and /lvlshot).
-
Here they are!
(http://imageshack.us/a/img96/8113/thraceleft.png)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img534/203/thrace2.png)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img805/1592/thrace.png)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img40/6870/thracetop.PNG)
-
Now I am no expert modeler as you can tell, so please give me some feedback on certain things I might have done wrong so I can fix em, and also some ideas on cockpit design/ thrusters/ and the like.
-
How far into making this fighter are you? At the moment I can't really give a positive answer on what race it should be but we could use more Vasudan fighters, should it be Vasudan :)
But I will say the basic design looks familiar, what's your inspiration?
-
I started a few days ago, and this is the main kind of cockpit area of the fighter. I still wish to add some sort of base on the back of this thing, mabye a cylander of some sort, and also some wings for missles/guns.
As for making it Vasudan, that would be easy.
I just want to look at some of the regular vasudan models from fs2 and try and make them somewhat similar because my mod is going to be only about twenty or so years in the future.
-
Since capella I mean, since this is already in the "future"
-
All I can say is, build onto it and then we'll see :)
-
Without wanting to sound too cruel, this is really quite a bit too basic for anyone to provide much in the way of feedback or suggestions. My best advice at this point in your modelling attempts would be to follow a bunch of blender tutorials (there are thousands on various sites, plus just as many in video form on youtube and other sites). Pick ones that are focused on machinery type modelling, or even do a direct google for "Blender spaceship modelling tutorial".
I guarantee you, it's a lot easier to be creative and get your ideas out when you have a good solid grasp on the basics first.
-
Hello CaesarCalad!
Do you have any concept art drawings that you could show us? It's great that you're doing things, and very nice that you're posting WIP shots from the earliest stages, but it would be easier to see it "take shape" if we had something to compare it to.
:)
-
I see you decided to go with Blender instead of Wings 3D good choice. :)
When I started my first model I made a drawing of what I was trying to make.
Side view top view and front view. I imported it into blender to work from. This will give you a good starting place. My models never look like my drawings when I finish but they do give me a good start.
You may want to get some reference photos to get some ideas. Your model can look like something other than a freespace ship. You don't have to be confined to just one look for your ships.
Blender Cookies, and Blender Guru as will as youtube have a lot of good tutorials to help you with you modeling if you need them I use them a lot.
-
...do a direct google for "Blender spaceship modelling tutorial".
Did it for you: http://www.blenderguru.com/videos/create-a-spaceship-part-1/
-
I would suggest going straight to the whole ship, then refine it from there. Get the basic shape down first. If you have a really complex shape, then use a bunch of objects rather than a single box. Then when you get to building the cockpit and the engines and whatever, you have something to react to. It's much easier to keep it looking integrated that way.
-
I did not think to make a drawing, perhaps that is something to do for next ship.
I have also renamed the ship the Gladius, going for Roman weapons/tactics/military positions etc. Roman names generally.
Here it is with wings and thrusters from a few angles.
Have no idea how I am going to texture, but other than adding missle/gun bays and a few tweaks, I think this model pretty much done unless You think I need more detail.
Here are the pics
(http://imageshack.us/a/img845/5834/gladiusfront.png)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img687/4025/gladius2.png)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img543/5803/gladius.png)
-
Oh and the thrusters!!
(http://imageshack.us/a/img853/8710/gladiusthrusters.png)
-
And now a simple render (no clue how to make this better) with the missle bays and primaries added.
(http://imageshack.us/a/img811/1295/rendergladius.png)
-
I have only been modelling a few months, so my advice would be rudimentary at best, but for starters, can you toggle "quad view" and get us a screen of that, and can you bring up the wire frame view in quad view as well and get us that? I think you have some funky face twisting going on that needs to be taken care of.
-
I did have some twisting, and found that out when I tried to import into pcs2.
But that is fixed.
Here are the quadview pictures (I have the green because it gives me an extremely basic idea of the texture I wabt to use, these ships will be green.)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img594/2518/quadviewgladius.png)
Right now I am working on points, and then I will find somebody to texture for me, or if need be, do it myself, and import that texture into pcs2.
Then it should be done other then setting up the tables and such.
-
It isn't anywhere near ready yet. Trust me. I thought that my first model was done when I got to here:
(http://casofwar.hard-light.net/images/Pharaoh10.png)
But after much prodding and taking me by the hand (most times kicking and screaming), the guys around here got me to go from there to a final product that I am actually proud of. Look at all of the screens in this thread to see the evolution.
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=82710.20
-
Yeah I should probably put more work into it.
But for now I'm putting some more of my time into a modular defense station that can be docked to ships to give them extra firepower.
You should check this out if you haven't already seen it.
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=83780.0
-
After watching a LOT of Blender tutorials (fifty in all, just some basic modelling techniques) I realized that my new fighter was hopelessly basic and needs a complete new look to it.
I decided to wipe the board clean and try again... a wiser man.
I have not trashed the old one just in case I do not like the new one I have started, but I do not expect to be using it.
This time I have a nice little sketch made on my computer from autodesk sketchbook.
I will post a pic of it once I trap some time.
-
Here are my two cents - - trying to make a novel shape out of nothing takes a lot of work. But once you have the shape down, it'll get easier and easier.
With that said, given your skill level, I suggest that you bypass the shape creation step and modify a pre-existing ship. Go to the Wiki and find a low-poly model and play around with it. Play around with tools such as bevel, inset, and smooth. Turn it into a high-poly ship. This might step on people's toes as it deals with authorship, but you can do this purely for your own experience. Of course, if you end up with something nice, then share it!
R
-
... I don't think there has ever been any kind of issues around here in the past about someone making an upgraded version of an old ship. Not that it happens very frequently either.
-
I do not need a fighter anyway for the little campaign I am trying to make. Just a new cruiser and a corvette.
I have some new weapons I have made (Blue beam cannons, torpedos, etc.) And these two new ships are crafted to show these weapons off in the campaign.
The fighter was just a little test to see how things were with Blender and how well it converted.
Also to watch out for any problems I might encounter.