[PL_Harpoon]

I was little bored one day, so i started making the Valkyrie model. But I make horrible textures, so if anyone wants takeover I`ll give him the files. The model alredy maped, so it`s just texturing, and exporting into .pof.

Oh, and it`s made in 3DMax.

Here`s how it looks.

[Snail]

That's pretty good, but... Well, there's already a HTL Valkyrie in the works, so there might be a bit of competition. Anyhow, I quite like your model, especially those primary cannons on the wing, they look like Dalek gunsticks...

Well, you seem to have a lot of talent. Would you mind doing another model, like, the Anubis or Scorpion?

[PL_Harpoon]

Well, I didn`t know that, when i started making it, but sure, I can make an Anubis.

[Snail]

Thanks.

[Droid803]

Well, now we have more to choose from, and possibly a HTL Anubis?

[ShadowGorrath]

Why not the Sath, or Colossus?

Or maybe an Ancient fighter/ship ? ^^

[colecampbell666]

Colossus is done/WIP.

[ShadowGorrath]

I know that, just that there weren't any updates for some time now.

HTL Sathanas ?

[Droid803]

The retail sath actually has a decent polycount already, you know.

[Galemp]

Hrm, I'm dissatisfied with all the unnecessary greebling on the sides that could be done with normal maps, and the low-poly hard edges of the outline, especially the engine block and wings. You've added a lot of polygons, but haven't enhanced the model at all.

[Solatar]

I know I'm probably in the minority, but I'd actually like to see an HTL Anubis and Scorpion.

[Droid803]

Same. Maybe a HTL Shaitan as well.

[ShadowGorrath]

I give a go for the Scorpion. I mean, I have a use for it anyway My glow and shinemaps for it would become obsolete though.

[blowfish]

Here's a pic of VA's HTL Valkyrie, just for comparison:

[Solatar]

If you make an HTL Valkyrie, you're obligated to make an Angel that matches. 

[Titan]

how about VA does the valk, and Harpoon does the angel. then we're all happy, and if he does a 4-gunpoint version then we can play cardinal spear with it.

[Topgun]

I like VA's better...
and NO, you CANNOT make that detail with normal maps. freespace's normal maps suck. maybe if/when we get a materials system it will look better. but right now it sucks.
plastic ships OR if you change the command line the game becomes too dark.

[colecampbell666]

I like the VA Valkyrie more, it has added detail instead of just a bunch of greebles. No offense, VA is a very good modeler, with many years under his belt.

[Herra Tohtori]

and NO, you CANNOT make that detail with normal maps.

True, but only because making 90degree normal changes with normal map is as far as I know rather difficult and doesn't work very well due to div by zero... Parallax shift of sharply defined areas  (such as making an indented rectangular area on a flat surface) tends to have similar problems; the bottom of the hole would seem to slide "under" the surrounding area, but the sides of the hole wouldn't be seen...

freespace's normal maps suck. maybe if/when we get a materials system it will look better. but right now it sucks.
plastic ships OR if you change the command line the game becomes too dark.

What?

Normal map is a normal map; the information in the texture is used to determine the direction change of the surface normal at a given point. Then a shader adjusts the lighting on per-pixel basis to adjust for lighting depending on how much the normal of the surface is changed and how it changes the light's reflection. You wouldn't expect a model to change it's shape when you convert it to POF; similarly when you make a normal map the changes it makes to normals is (or at least should be) the same regardless of the renderer, be it a 3D-program or FS2_Open... although the shaders might make some adjustments to things like lighting and shinyness. Which can be adjusted individually to large extent without decreasing overall brightness.

Anyway, the point is that of the normal map sucks, it's not FSOpen's fault. If by plastic ships you refer to rounded, overly wide seam lines, all suck is in the normal map, not the shader system. It is true that normal maps tend to brighten the ships somewhat; however I don't agree on cmdline adjustments making the game too dark. Could you specify what kind of settings you've been trying?

[Snail]

If you make an HTL Valkyrie, you're obligated to make an Angel that matches. 

Vasudan Admiral already did a HTL Angel, I'm not sure if it's converted though.