[akeizm]

Hey all, newb this these forums.  After finishing freespace2 again for about the 6th time (I havn't had the game for long) I decided to make a capship for the game.

As for my modeling experience, I've only done a human model before this one and it came out ok (guess thats why I got top marks for it).  This is my first attempt at a freespace ship.

I call this ship the Desdinova (If this name is already taken i'll gladly change it).  Its taken me about 6 hours so far to get it to where it is atm.  I aimed it to be a larger capship,  by the looks of it, most probably a destroyer.  I havn't finished it as of yet, I still have to add flak cannons and laser turrets.  But I do have a bout 8 beem cannons on it atm.  With a Hanger bay in the back.






So, whats  your thoughts?  Any suggestions on ways to improve this model?  And, also where can I find information to get this thing working (guns setup and all that stuff) and put it into the game?

Well, thanks for your time.  Hope you like the Desdinova.

[KARMA]

well there's some polywasting in the front, the hangar may need some more work, but the overall model is not that bad, and the concept is nice

[Ryx]

I like it.

What's the polycount?
3D App?

[StratComm]

The stability of that mesh by freespace standards is completely off, as I don't see more than a handful of planar faces on the whole thing.  It will need triangulation for old FS2, and effectively it has twice the polygons that the modeling program will display.  I like the design, but I agree with previous posts that it is a bit poly-redundant on the front and that there are some areas that don't quite "fit" like the hanger.  But good job for your first work.

Also, if you can do human forms, you might try your hand at Vasudan ships.  They require a more organic approach anyway.

[akeizm]

I'm not to savvy on the techincal jargon of the programs, but I'll ask my friend, he did a 3d course.

Ummmm I used 3dsmax, the poly count was about 1,300.

[Black Wolf]

Hmm. Not bad 'tall for a first work, though I'm not sure if it has that elusive quality of "Freespaceness". Since it's a max model though, it's already triangulated, and thus should be reasonably stable in game. Will be interesting to see textures - a model like this that's going to make or break I think. Anyway...

Acquire Target : akeizm. Commence Plasma Core Insertion. Beam-Free-All. FIRE!



Welcome to HLP. There are exits to the left and rear. Do not attempt to use them. Under your seat you will find empty beer cans, cookie crumbs, dog eared dungeon Porn mags left by Shrike... oh, and a Flamethrower. Unfortunately, we're out of napalm, so you'll have to bludgeon people to death with them.

In the event of serious conflict, there are plasma rifles in the forward locker, though these can only be opened by an Admin, [V], God, or Hyperintelligent shade of the colour Blue. If, for whatever reason, you find yourself crawling around in the ductwork, there's a better than average chance you'll encounter a Shivan. They're easy to spot with the five legs and all. If you're lucky, it's just Carl, who responds well to food rewards. If not, then at least you die quickly. Be aware that the entrance to the main control room is guarded by subspatial claymore mines.

Oh, and yet another Aussie. We'll outnumber the brits soon

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by StratComm
The stability of that mesh by freespace standards is completely off, as I don't see more than a handful of planar faces on the whole thing.  It will need triangulation for old FS2, and effectively it has twice the polygons that the modeling program will display.  

3ds max auto-triangulates everything, anyway, so it doesn't matter.  Could probably do with a bit of optimisation on certain areas (with a 'grid' effect), but the design seems pretty neat.

[karajorma]

Pretty good for a first attempt. There is some poly wastage as the others have said but that can easily be fixed.

[Gloriano]

not bad at all:)

[magatsu1]

looks more like a heavy cruiser or corvette to me.

[pyro-manic]

Kewl. Me likes! Have a look in Karajorma's FAQ (in his siggy) for how to get the thing in-game.

I like the concept - keep at it, and see if you can get somebody to whip up some good textures for you.

[Akalabeth Angel]

Yeah, I'd think it would be a Corvette as well more than a destroyer. It could be a corvette with a hangar ala the Moloch

[akeizm]

Cool, thanks for the comments.  I'm going to texture it myself, need to learn somehow.  I'm on holidays atm, so I have a lot of time to work on it.

DAMNIT!  My mate told me that the poly count I took was wrong.  I was ment to look it the count in Editable Mesh, not poly.  And the count was 2996.....The poly reduction now begins.

[Krackers87]

DAAAAMN i like it!

NOO dont reduce it pls pls pls pls.

use it for ht&l

[akeizm]

I had my m8 look at it.  He reduced it to 1980 polys and it looks pretty much exactly the same.  I could have done it but I was too lazy.

I have both versions.  Now to make a skin for it.

[karajorma]

BTW I feel that we are telling you to reduce the number of polys so that you can spend them on something else

With HT&L 2000 polys is actually a little low for a destroyer or corvette. If you're making the ship for the standard retail version of FS2 it's far too much for a single sub-object so you'll have to divide the ship into smaller objects. HT&L however will quite happily take it as is.

[Setekh]

Welcome to HLP, akeizm - another Aussie! (I'm a Sydney-sider) I love your model - personally, though, I see her as a juggernaut class. She's too blocky, IMHO, to be a destroyer or corvette - but that's just my opinion.

[akeizm]

Being my first freespace model, i'm running into problems.  Its mainly with fred2 atm.  When I go Run Freespace gives me some can't find file error.

O also, do you know what causes this (Only happens on the front of the ship)?

[Setekh]

Hello... man, I used to know what that was. Something's telling me you have some messed up normals, but that might just be the fatigue talking.

What file does it tell you it's missing?

[aldo_14]

(2nd prob) - looks like your polycount is too high for Fred2 (normal FS v1.0 - 1.2).  Are you using the fs_open version?

(For point of reference, 'shards of death' occur with too-high poly models for FS2 ingame and in editor.... IIRC it's because the model requires more space to store than the game can alloocate - so the reading of model data overruns into other data, giving you erroneous point / face data.  The source code modifications should have increased the limits ingame, I assume fred2 has been updated aswell)