[Einstine909]

Hi
Im new to HLP. I owned the original FS2 and played it a lot... untill the disk blew up in my computer!
But then i found HLP 2 yrs later I downloaded the SCP and decided to give back to the comunity. -thanks

So I made a new turret for FS2:
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/6486/massdriver4xi.jpg

its a mass driver for the times when the beams just dont reach. this is the anti cap version. i am working on an anti fighter version that has multiple smaller drivers

if u didnt notice it isn't textured...well anyone good at textering? if anyone wants to texture just give me a format u want it in

BTW- i use blender

[Raptor]

Word of adivce:  Texturers are VERY thin on the ground.  Either busy on their own projects or on community stuff.  They rarely help out us freelancers (I've been given advice and ideas, but no actually help per se)

The image is rather dark.  Could you provide a brighter one, maybe without the star background?  Barrel looks good (but a bit poly heavy), but the base looks a little bare.  Overall, good start

[Einstine909]

thanks for the tips! And a few questions:

where are the fs2 textures anyway?

What should the polycount be?

[Sarafan]

Begin plasma core insertion, gunnery control, open fire:




Welcome to HLP. Please keep all appendages within the installation at all times. Flamethrowers are located underneath all seats, however, due to the rising cost of oil, the ID / evolution debate (don't debate me on Whether or not there is a debate),V, and the meaning of life, the napalm has been replaced with Holy Water. Plasma rifles are located in the weapons locker, but only Admins,V, or a hyper-intelligent shade of blue have access to these areas. If you meet a Shivan in the ductwork it is most likely Carl, give him your lunch and back away slowly, odds are good you'll be fine. Recommend reading includes Karajorma's Freespace FAQ for general questions, and The Freespace Wiki for specific issues and questions.






Yes, first kill.

[Mars]

That's a familiar welcome speech   

[Raptor]

thanks for the tips! And a few questions:

where are the fs2 textures anyway?

What should the polycount be?

You'll need VPview to extract them from the VP that came with the game, but their generally low res.  The Media.vp's created by people include better versions, but be warned, very large downloads.

As for poly count, well experiance is really the only way to judge it.  My own turrets range quite a bit themselves.  For instance:


This is a really old one, intended to replace the big turrets on the Orion.  192 all told (not trianglated)


A newer one, that features my railgun barrels.  Note the holes in the barrels themselves.  553 polys (again, not trianglated)  I really need to redo the texture for this...


Then we have this monster, the latest I made.  805 all told   It actually does have a texture map, but I haven't actually filled in the details   The bottom section is actually a ring that the turret sits on.  That stay's still and the turret rotates within it.

Basically, as a rule of thumb.  If there's going to be a lot of them on a ship/in a mission, keep it low.  The last one can get away with being such a poly-whore since the turret is bigger than most fighters, and thats not including the barrels!

[Goober5000]

Hi there.

You spelled Einstein wrong.  If that's what you were trying to spell.

[Einstine909]

thanks raptor

i will have to redo them-~3000 polys on the anti cap and ~6000 on the other

and for the spelling, it was my intention to spell it that way, sort of a joke i came up with a few yrs ago- but thanks anyway

[Einstine909]

well i redid the cannon to ~500 faces non triangulated

and a few more questions:

does fs2 not allow quads?

for anyone that uses blender: will it correctly export the UV's to a .cob or will i need to do somthing else?

i am getting the idea that there arn't mulltiple part side turrets for a reason, is this true?

[Raptor]

well i redid the cannon to ~500 faces non triangulated

and a few more questions:

does fs2 not allow quads?

for anyone that uses blender: will it correctly export the UV's to a .cob or will i need to do somthing else?

i am getting the idea that there arn't mulltiple part side turrets for a reason, is this true?

In answer to your questions:

1) Quad gun points? yes, but that is the maximum number of gunpoints a turret can have.  Try to add more, and FS crashes.

FS can handle any shape polygon, as long as it a) is completely flat (all the points/vertices are on the same plane),  b) there are no inside corners (no L-shapes), and c) there are no more than 20 points in each one.  PCS refuses to convert any model which contains a polygon with more than 20 vertices.

Apprently the SCP fixes (a) and (b) automatically, but I find it's easier to stick to the pre SCP rules concerning ploygons.  You can't go wrong then.

2)I've never used blender.  I've always used Truespace, so I can't help you here

3) Yep.  Side Multi-part turrets just don't work.  It is embedded in the code (so I've been told) that the game assumes that any MP turrets normals are vertical.  Side multi-part turrets have been high on the modellers wish list for the SCP for quite a long time now, but the coders working on the SCP refuse to touch the turret code regions with a twenty foot barge pole.

I heard that one of them (at last!) was starting to look at the code.  So far nothing has come to light...