Development > Artwork
Possible new craft
Hoehrer:
Looks very good in low-poly ... this is a perfect compromise between polygons vs. shape.
--- Quote from: "Psawhn" ---It looks pretty ugly with only triangles, though. :P
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Never mind that glitches .. they will not be visible when it's textured (it's only a shading problem when gourand-shading). Just make sure you do not have overlapping faces, flipped normals or something along these lines.
high-poly: yes, these are perfect for renders, mission intro screens and stuff like that. Eyecandy goood ;)
space: EDIT see Winrers reply below :)
wings shape-change ... currently we display the models in the ufopedia, maybe the hangar (mattn: does this work yet?) and in the future I'd say it will get displayed in the interception screen .. but at what size and in what way that's still open. I believe it may be to much work for to little benefit to make some sort of variable-shape wings. But I'm always open for ideas.
Werner
Winter:
--- Quote from: "Psawhn" ---Actually, I tried to make sure the engines were over the center of gravity. That was one of the main goals from the start.
Well, I did just eyeball it, so it probably isn't over the exact center of mass. I wish I knew a way to calculate the volume of a manifold mesh in blender.
Oh well, let's pretend there's some really heavy stuff on the end of the wings to keep it in balance. ;) Tha or I can move the engines forward a bit more, or add a thruster in the belly.
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I don't suppose it's strictly necessary, but do remember that there'll be a variable weight of weapons in the front. Some small rotatable engines on the 'wingtips' at the back would not go amiss.
--- Quote ---Of course, I'd hold on to the high-poly mesh for renders and pictures and stuff if needed. :)
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Certainly.
--- Quote ---Oh, are there any requirements for the weapon mounts? Or any other kind of module mount for that matter?
I was thinking internal weapons bays on either side of the fuselage. Those holes on the top would reach into the bay. Cannons, lasers, particle beams, etc. would mount inside the bay but come through the holes.
If something like a missile is mounted, the bays can open up and the missile would drop down, like in an F-117 or F-22.
I'm not too sure about TR-20s. I could enlarge the gun hole to let them shoot out, they could be put on a deployable arm, or maybe they just can't mount.
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There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of room for internal bays in that tiny fuselage. I know it's supposed to be a light antimatter-powered fighter, but come on. ;)
I think modifying it to have larger weapon bays on either side of the cockpit would make it look more dangerous as well.
--- Quote ---As for textures, I need a bit of guidance. :)
Is the hull built out of alien alloys, or advanced terran carbon-polymers or whatever? What colour is it? Does the forming process create colour gradients?
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Alien materials. The colour can be anything you like, but it would logically be a darker colour due to the stealth aspect. Highlights and such can be added as you like; you can take freely from alien and human inspirations, as this craft will be a marriage of both.
--- Quote ---Is there a defined PHALANX colour scheme? Would the hull be mostly bare metal with paint accents/labels/decor, or would the entire thing be painted? (Like black radar-absorbing paint.)
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There is no defined PHALANX colour scheme, since PHALANX uses mostly adopted military and police equipment. As I said, a darker colour is somewhat expected.
--- Quote ---Would the ship go into space?
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Yes, but short orbital missions only.
--- Quote ---Does it need RCS thrusters? (Funny thing about that - if the engines weren't in the center of gravity, it could use gimballing and differential thrust to maneuver in space)
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If you add two extra articulated thrusters at the wingtips, it shouldn't need extra thrusters.
--- Quote ---Does it need heat tiles for re-entry? (Probably not, considering alien alloys, but it's still better to make sure.)
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Nope. Alien materials.
--- Quote ---Do the PHALANX mechs wash the ship down and repaint it regularly? Or should the textures be a bit battle-worn and ragged?
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Stealth paint is not an optional sort of thing. ;)
--- Quote ---Oh, something else. Should the wings change shape? I can probably find a way to bake that into blender's shape keys, in case the wings need to stretch out for slow flight or pull in for quicker flight or re-entry or something.
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I'm not fussed -- I doubt we'd have the ability or time to show the model actually changing shape anywhere that might be appropriate.
Since it's made from alien materials, though, it will (in the writeup at least) be able to change shape to some degree.
--- Quote ---774 Polygons. Many of those are quads, though. I don't know if quake2 model format supports quad-polygons or if it needs to be triangles.
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I believe it needs to be triangulated.
--- Quote ---If I turn it to triangles only, it's 1486 triangles:
It looks pretty ugly with only triangles, though. :P
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Program triangulations tend to turn out bad; see if there are any manual adjustments you can make so that both sides turn out symmetrical. I have to do this in Wings 3d all the time.
Either way, 1486 triangles is WELL within limits. The fewer the better, but you could probably add a few hundred more if necessary.
Regards,
Winter
Hoehrer:
--- Quote from: "Winter" ---I believe it needs to be triangulated.
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Yes that is becasue we use the md2 model format (which only supports tris) for ingame models. Basic support for md3 is there but i have not yet tested it with craft models (and i also need to check if _that_ would support quads). EDIT: fixed some things in this sentence :)
--- Quote from: "Winter" ---
--- Quote ---If I turn it to triangles only, it's 1486 triangles:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Psawhn/Blender/Mar19_lowpolytri.jpg
It looks pretty ugly with only triangles, though. :P
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Program triangulations tend to turn out bad; see if there are any manual adjustments you can make so that both sides turn out symmetrical. I have to do this in Wings 3d all the time.
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as i said above .. most strange affects that come from triangulation are gone when using uv-mapped textures and no grourand shading similar to that in blender. From experience: As long as we have the original (quads) model in blender (or in a format like obj that supports more than tris) we will have no problem at all.
Let the triangulation/exporting be our problem - it'll save you from some hassle. blend files are perfect :D
--- Quote from: "Winter" ---Either way, 1486 triangles is WELL within limits. The fewer the better, but you could probably add a few hundred more if necessary.
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Very true.
Werner
Psawhn:
Sounds encouraging! :D
--- Quote ---Let the triangulation/exporting be our problem - it'll save you from some hassle. blend files are perfect
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Will do! :D The way it's set up, the only difference between high-poly and low-poly is the little 'x' next to the subsurf modifier. :)
Variable weapon weight is a good point. (I wonder how a Firefly does it with just two engines - they even have a big cargo bay! Talk about variable weight... :P)
How about an extra belly thruster, and a pair of wingtip thrusters at the back like you said? ;)
I could make the belly thruster internal, rotating out when needed. (ie: leave the model as it is for laziness - leave the thruster for renders. ;))
--- Quote ---There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of room for internal bays in that tiny fuselage.
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That brings up a good point I forgot: size. About how wide should the craft be, yet still able to fit in a small hangar? I guess I don't need to worry about it, considering Hoehrer offered to worry about exporting. :)
I think I'm more curious, so I could model a pilot inside with the right dimensions.
That's another thing - the canopy window. Is a full-length window like that too big/impractical for a glass window, or are there transparent alien materials? (Do I need to worry about it?)
--- Quote ---I think modifying it to have larger weapon bays on either side of the cockpit would make it look more dangerous as well.
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That's a good idea. I'll work on that.
--- Quote ---Stealth paint is not an optional sort of thing. ;)
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Oh, I totally want to sig that now. :D
I'll try to keep everything in mind. :) Although, because I'm using a mirror modifier, it'd make it a lot easier if I can finish the geometry before working on unwrapping the UVs.
Winter:
--- Quote from: Psawhn ---Sounds encouraging! :D
--- Quote ---Variable weapon weight is a good point. (I wonder how a Firefly does it with just two engines - they even have a big cargo bay! Talk about variable weight... :P)
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They even it out with ballast tanks full of handwavium, and Wash's expert piloting. ;)
--- Quote ---How about an extra belly thruster, and a pair of wingtip thrusters at the back like you said? ;)
I could make the belly thruster internal, rotating out when needed. (ie: leave the model as it is for laziness - leave the thruster for renders. ;))
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I don't think the belly thruster would be necessary. After all, those main engines could probably rotate to provide some thrust forward, and considering they're antimatter-fuelled, they'll have plenty of power.
--- Quote ---That brings up a good point I forgot: size. About how wide should the craft be, yet still able to fit in a small hangar? I guess I don't need to worry about it, considering Hoehrer offered to worry about exporting. :)
I think I'm more curious, so I could model a pilot inside with the right dimensions.
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Dimensions are still a bit up in the air at the moment. The current Small hangar is not too big, but our mapping genius has managed to cram two Stiletto-class interceptors in there. I personally would like to restrict them to one plane per hangar, so that the small hangar could actually be used for more than one type of craft.
--- Quote ---That's another thing - the canopy window. Is a full-length window like that too big/impractical for a glass window, or are there transparent alien materials? (Do I need to worry about it?)
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No need to worry about that, just don't go overboard. ;)
--- Quote ---Oh, I totally want to sig that now. :D
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Go right ahead!
--- Quote ---I'll try to keep everything in mind. :) Although, because I'm using a mirror modifier, it'd make it a lot easier if I can finish the geometry before working on unwrapping the UVs.
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You can always mirror the model after you've UVed it. Perfect symmetry! *grin*
Regards,
Winter
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