[boewolf]

I have stated to medel alien ships from the Independence day movie.  But i can't skin or make the interface art.  I was wondering if anyone has done anything like this, and would be able to help me out??

[Deepblue]

Why? There are plenty of FS2 quality models already out there...

[karajorma]

Originally posted by Deepblue
Why? There are plenty of FS2 quality models already out there...

Why not? I don't mind seeing new mods Finish the ship off and get it working in the game and I'm sure you'll find someone willing to skin it for you

[deep_eyes]

dude someone already started making ID4 ships, i forgot who though me thinks it was star-something guy witht he startrek ships or sumtin.

[FreeTerran]

I like the idea but i'm to busy to help you....sry

[karajorma]

Originally posted by deep_eyes
dude someone already started making ID4 ships, i forgot who though me thinks it was star-something guy witht he startrek ships or sumtin.

Star Dragon made some but he tends to cut corners (no LODs, debris etc. ) sometimes since he converts his stuff from models not made specially for FS2. (No offence meant SD )

That said it might be worth getting together with him and seeing if you can turn his model into a full FS2 one with LODs etc if it doesn't already have them.

[boewolf]

Sure i can make general modles, but thats about it on that front.  I don't know how to add sheilds, debris or turrets.  If someone knows of a good tutorial for truespace 3.2 could they direct it to me plz??  Apart from that i can make the general ship data.

[karajorma]

I've got my own truespace turreting tutorial in my FAQ and links to other peoples tutorials on shields and debris.

[Taristin]

Originally posted by karajorma
Star Dragon made some but he tends to cut corners (no LODs, debris etc. ) sometimes since he converts his stuff from models not made specially for FS2. (No offence meant SD )
 

It doesn't take hardly anything to make LOD's, or debris in TS... Hell, I'm gonna do it for the Bastion Model when it finishes it's 3rd year of R&D... :nods:

[Star Dragon]

Heheh lets get one thing straight, ol' Star Dragon here makes nothing at all (i'm just a skill hack)  However, I've had the good fortune to have converted lots of ships from different sources (other space sims). SOme are a LOT harder than others but I get a good percentage of useable ships. Personally I couldn't make a to save my life, but regualr guns/missiles no problem! I just masteres thrusters (thanks to Boboau!!! Aurora rocks but needs to get rid of that error on closing). As for lods, I don't model so I dunno what to do about that, I have started trying to save other files that have LODs but are unconverted beside lod1 so if a modler is interested in that particular ship I can send the initial lod1 pof and all the rest of the lods (and textures) and they can take it from there.

Some of the latest pof's made (but not tested yet)



(let me know if you want the model, it's just a basic pof. I did this a long time ago just to see if it would work and never got around to finishing the guts - guns,subs,shields,ect)

Damn I tried to post teh picture again cause I damn sure I deleted it from starblvd site and it won't let me upload it even renamed! Oh well... I gotta go do my 2 week tour at Willow Grove Base so I AM bring my comp with me but will most likely not be able to do much online (unless there is a library nearby) so Have a good 2 weeks without me guys! (Ummm guys can you wait to bring out the kegs until AFTER I've left? He he he)

[Rampage]

Originally posted by boewolf
I have stated to medel alien ships from the Independence day movie.

The cruisers with the ion cannons are just oversized dishes and the fighters are a Ulysses variant.  No big problem.

[boewolf]

I can add data (gun points, subsystems ext).  I haven't realy tryed debrie.  but i like most of those modles.  I sure i could try to finish them up.  I would like to try anyway.  So could u plz send then to [email protected].  Thanks.

[Star Dragon]

Heheh that would take a while with 56k....

I'll try to get you the ID4 fighter when I get set up at teh hotel. after that I will be working on them (the others) myself over the two week tour nightly so unless there was a specidif ship you just "got to have" maybe a little later would be better... First I will be testing hem out to make sure they work in fred and in game and then they go into the folder to finish (I got a whole system set up from my shipyards folder, new ships, temp, WIP temp, test maps (so I don't always have to open my huge ass FS2 map folder cuase it take awhile (lots of textures have accumulated in there!) then a folder for converted cobs with textuers, then goes to models to be resized (meaning cob got pofed and works in Fred but wrong scale).   Then when I am happy with it the model goes in to the model folder of the appropriate FS2 install/data folder. ST,SW,B5,BSG,Original, or All-Mod. WHEW! I basicly got it down to a 20 minute job if everyting goes smoothly, otherwise it can take a few hours or even the whole day if the model has a problem, or if the textures on it need to be changed, plus the resizing.

Speaking of which, I was never satisfied with teh galactica's size so I cobed the pof and resized it 300% bigger. I re-pofed it and tested in fred, at first looked great and was gonna start redoing all the data (luckily it has turrents and aurora would make rearming it a snap). BUt then I noticed a stary poly line , I roteted the model and BHAM! shard of death! Fred lock-up in mid rotation as the errant plane spruted from teh model into infinity.. DAmmit! Why does this happen? The poly count hasn't changed, just the size... Did I do something wrong?

[boewolf]

I have heard that resizing in truespace can increase the poly count of a model.  thats what i have been told but i haven't seen any evidence to this.  and just the id4 ships would be great at the moment.

[StratComm]

If you have any nonplanar surfaces, then it can but those will cause problems in Freespace anyway.  I have never seen polys added to a model when resizing in Truespace.  However, a more efficient method of resizing is to change the PCS conversion ratio, as it will have to be set anyway.

[Star Dragon]

TS converting doesn't always work right, you could end up with a messed up model... try incresing a ration of  4/13/7 and see what you get by a\changing it to 14/23/17 Forsome reason teh poportions get all messed up!

    I used 3d exploration to open the cob and reave with pre save transformation all ratios times 300% maintain porpotions. Always works when resizing models before pofing....

anyway got to the hotel. Can't connect to internet from room, gonna burn a disk for you tomorrow and try to email the id4 alien fighter (only ID4 ship I got) to you B... This kinda suck but at least I got my comp with me... L8tr all

[StratComm]

well if you try to convert it like that you are definately going to get an out-of-proportion model.  Try increasing each dimension by 3 times its value (i.e your 4/13/7 model would become 12/39/21) and it will scale correctly.  You are doing bad math with what you are trying to do; adding 10 to each dimension will change the proportions unless all were alike to begin with.

Or if you use the scale tool, hold down both mouse buttons and it will scale each dimension the same amount (you may be able to right click the scale button and get a type-in dialogue too, but I can't remember).