[IronBeer]

Ok, this is really a compedium of long-standing questions that have kinda been bothering me for a while. I'll probably add to it as more things pop up, and I would invite anybody with technical-oriented (let's try to keep the support questions out) questions to speak up here as well.

So, with no further ado, here goes:

1. Does a null moment of inertia really mean anything? Ships seem to behave just fine without one even though a debug build will complain about it.

2. Is a download for the Gargant available anywhere? (Yes, I know it's stupidly broken, I'd just like to have it)

3. Speaking of custom models, where could I grab Nukemod? The link listed in the wiki for the relevant ships does not work.

4. While on the topic of model dumps and whatnot, the link provided in the wiki for the 158th model dump no longer functions. Is there an alternate somewhere?

5. Are there step-by-step tutorials for making a simple ship from scratch anywhere? I know there's a tutorial on the wiki, but it's quite incomplete. Committing more detailed information to the existing tutorial would likely make it easier for new modders to break into the field.

6. How could I add a shield mesh to an already-existing ship model?

7. Shield meshes can be bypassed in-game if incoming fire originates from inside the mesh, correct?

8. Most of us know that the limit for ship classes in non-Inferno builds is 130 classes. Is there a similar limit for weapons? If so, what is it?

9. Beam weapons are hard-coded to a maximum range of 30 km. Do other weapon types have a similar limit, and if so, what is it?

10. What is a good modelling tool for somebody who has little experience in 3d modelling? (Read: me)

That's all I can come up with for the moment.

[Angelus]

Ok, this is really a compedium of long-standing questions that have kinda been bothering me for a while. I'll probably add to it as more things pop up, and I would invite anybody with technical-oriented (let's try to keep the support questions out) questions to speak up here as well.

So, with no further ado, here goes:

1. Does a null moment of inertia really mean anything? Ships seem to behave just fine without one even though a debug build will complain about it.

Even if it seems to work fine, it should be fixed.

3. Speaking of custom models, where could I grab Nukemod? The link listed in the wiki for the relevant ships does not work.

http://www.game-warden.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=43

there are two downloadlinks, only one of them works ( unless Nuke changed something ) since i DLed Nukemod ~6 weeks ago.

4. While on the topic of model dumps and whatnot, the link provided in the wiki for the 158th model dump no longer functions. Is there an alternate somewhere?

iirc, it's no longer available since the mod is up and running again.

5. Are there step-by-step tutorials for making a simple ship from scratch anywhere? I know there's a tutorial on the wiki, but it's quite incomplete. Committing more detailed information to the existing tutorial would likely make it easier for new modders to break into the field.

Depends for what modeling application
check this thread, is for 3DSMax, but most of it should apply for Blender as well.
DL the pdf, it covers most important things about modelling and exporting

http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,64929


This ones a bit older and for Truespace 3.2, but should work for TS7 as well, a good tutorial for beginners.

http://underworld.fortunecity.com/pacman/106/fs2mods/shipcreationguide/


Also check this site, it anwers a lot of questions about Modding FSO and has usefull links:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/karajorma/FAQ/intro.html

6. How could I add a shield mesh to an already-existing ship model?

Export the ship as .dae import it in either Blender or 3DSMax, add the shield mesh there ( import a fighter which already has one as referrence ), create the shieldmesh and export as dae again, load in PCS2 and edit the mesh. You'll need to create ani files for the HUD or use existing ones from a other ship ( not recommended ).

7. Shield meshes can be bypassed in-game if incoming fire originates from inside the mesh, correct?

wait, are you talking about Capships? Do NOT make shieldmeshes for Capships!!!!

8. Most of us know that the limit for ship classes in non-Inferno builds is 130 classes. Is there a similar limit for weapons? If so, what is it?

http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Engine_Limitations  

9. Beam weapons are hard-coded to a maximum range of 30 km. Do other weapon types have a similar limit, and if so, what is it?

Not sure about that one

10. What is a good modelling tool for somebody who has little experience in 3d modelling? (Read: me)

That's all I can come up with for the moment.

Blender is recommended unless you can spend around 3500 bucks for 3DSMax
Truespace 7 is also a valid option, but my suggestion is to avoid it like the plague and use Blender instead. ( awaiting a flame storm for
this comment from TS7 users...)

[IronBeer]

7. Shield meshes can be bypassed in-game if incoming fire originates from inside the mesh, correct?

wait, are you talking about Capships? Do NOT make shieldmeshes for Capships!!!!

Mmmkay. Well, why not?

[Snail]

Do whatever you want!!! It's his personal opinion!!!!


That said, yes, I do believe shield meshes are bypassed if fire comes from inside the mesh itself.

[Angelus]

The shieldmesh has to have an rather high polycount to look halfway good, and even if it looks strange.
It also has to stay within the boundingbox of the ship, it leads to undesired results if not.
To do that the shieldmesh has to be VERY close to the ship, which will look fugly ingame, and might still cause some holes in the shield.
You don't win anything with a Capship shieldmesh, use the surfaceshields flag for capships instead.

[Snail]

Does surface shields actually give a visual effect now?

[blowfish]

6. How could I add a shield mesh to an already-existing ship model?

Export the ship as .dae import it in either Blender or 3DSMax, add the shield mesh there ( import a fighter which already has one as referrence ), create the shieldmesh and export as dae again, load in PCS2 and edit the mesh. You'll need to create ani files for the HUD or use existing ones from a other ship ( not recommended ).

You don't need to reconvert the ship.  Once you have a shield mesh that you are sure fits around the ship, just open the POF in pcs2, go to the shield section, click import, and select a file for the shield mesh to be loaded from (the object must be named shield).

9. Beam weapons are hard-coded to a maximum range of 30 km. Do other weapon types have a similar limit, and if so, what is it?

No such limit exists for other weapons.  Beams only have a limit because unlike other weapons, they don't have a fixed location.  And it can be changed in the tables, even for beams.

[Angelus]

Does surface shields actually give a visual effect now?

No idea, but iirc Vidmaster said in a TBP thread about exactly this matter, that the WC guys got it to work now.

[IronBeer]

Hokay, gonna add another question to the list before following up on some earlier answers.

11. Where did the Blue Planet team get their music for Age of Aquarius? I think it's really good (in many ways... I won't elaborate here), and knowing where they got it would provide an obvious place to start looking.


Ok, regarding Nukemod- I tried every link I could find at gamewarden, and no luck.

Now, for the 158th, at this time, I'm primarily interested in a few models from that project. Is there any way I could get a hold of them? Would the 158th team mind?

Regarding shields, I am intending to experiment with capital ship shields. I'll defer to forum wisdom regarding a big shield mesh, even though I think flying "under the shields" would be a cool gameplay mechanic.
Snail, would you mind pointing me towards that thread about surface shield visual effects?

[FreeSpaceFreak]

Nukemod is up on FSMods: http://www.freespacemods.net/download.php?view.186

[IronBeer]

Nukemod is up on FSMods: http://www.freespacemods.net/download.php?view.186

Thanks a bunch! Now if only there were some answers about the fabled Gargant...

[Spoon]

Lol at the misinforming about capship shields
Shieldmeshes work and look just fine. I've been using them for my own mod a long time now. And yes, if you fly inside a shield and hit the hull, you bypass the shields and do direct damage to the hull. The surface shield flag prevents this.

[Snail]

Thanks a bunch! Now if only there were some answers about the fabled Gargant...

Only 2 people in the world have it on their HD: SadisticSid and Woomeister.

Also, it's not that great. Woomeister himself has said so.

[The E]

11. Where did the Blue Planet team get their music for Age of Aquarius? I think it's really good (in many ways... I won't elaborate here), and knowing where they got it would provide an obvious place to start looking.

The BP team (Well, Darius, at the time) took and takes music from a variety of sources. Check the credits in the readme (Or in the credits screen for the upcoming rerelease) to see the sources.

[IronBeer]

Ok, for Question 6, I kinda meant along the lines of, "If there is a .pof file that I want to mess with the shield mesh, then how can I ...uhm, un-convert it into a form that a modelling program could use?"

[The E]

Use PCS2 to convert the model to dae or cob.

[IronBeer]

Use PCS2 to convert the model to dae or cob.

D'oh. Didn't see the "Save as" option. Then, once in .cob, the model can be further converted into whatever is needed, right?

[blowfish]

Yeah, though you're best off with something that can import COB or DAE.

[Nuke]

Nukemod is up on FSMods: http://www.freespacemods.net/download.php?view.186

Thanks a bunch! Now if only there were some answers about the fabled Gargant...

i cant seem to get into my game-warden ftp. the offitial release was supposed to be the one in the nukemod-cos forum, but this seems to be that version. mind you it hasnt been debugged against 3.6.10 so there might be issues. im to lazy to do such things at the moment.

[Getter Robo G]

Bah surface shields....

Real modders use REAL shield meshes.   


As you can clearly see, the Romulan is protected by the shield and does not affect it's outgoing fire. Unfortunately the cap phaser explosion is too large for the effect to be seen. reference the following photo for mesh visual of that ship against the fighter phaser.




What it looks like when the shield is hit:


I was flying on an attack angle shooting several beam rapid fire on different faces so I managed to get 3-4 hits recorded on the screenshot. They fade quickly.