Escape Velocity: Star Fleet Genesis

[AndyThomas]

Brad, I had problems with that .gz file - could you try it without the archive? Thanks for the promotion BTW - that's a bit more like it! Pending my getting the necessary settings and running through your walk through, here's a couple of shots of my Ocean Patrol fighter. Looks OK from the front, but the back's not very exciting - want to do something with it, or shall I just have a crack at adding some surface details to break it up a bit?

[Bradster]

Quote Quote: from Shane on 10:59 pm on Nov. 23, 2002Don't you think it would be great that if where ever possible you use actual images from the show for view screen images etc. Star Fleet Command, Moonbase and Pluto Base are all obtainable. I guess you might need 3D models for them as well but your Moon Base modal dialog box looks great. And it gives it that look of authenticity.Good point. My only real concern is that the video captures would look a bit out of place next to all the computer-generated graphics. After all, the quality of said captures isn't exactly perfect. I capturing video in the DV format at 720x480, but the source material itself is already pretty dodgy. Here's the actual shot of Moonbase from that dialog after a brief cleanup in Photoshop:Still, it would add that extra touch of authenticity. This idea could certainly be extended to the ship snapshots as with the X-Bomber here, but again there will be all-new ships that will instead require CG images which would be a stark contrast to the vid caps.Heh, I don't know why I even bothered GZipping that c4d file, Andy. The original was only 68 KB. Anyhow, I've actually made some additions to it since I posted before; so, it's now 107 KB -- not a big difference. Here's the new link:http://brad.project-think.com/starfleet ... hter.c4dAs for your fighter, a few custom-shaped boxes on that back panel will probably suffice for detail. Remember, the sprite for that model will probably only be about 30 pixels wide and tall. So, a great deal of detail isn't necessary.(Edited by Bradster at 7:23 am on Nov. 24, 2002)

[Shane]

I can see your point. I'm encountering this type of thing with TROM, but with the right adjustments things can be made to fit. I've also got the LaserDiscs to grab from so quality is not an issue.I'll have a tinker around and post the results in a gallery thread so at a time of your choosing you can select images that might be useful.Here's an outpost sample image:And here's a little quicktime movie:It" target="_blank">http://www.bigdaix.com/spacey.movIt was the 3rd age of mankind........ Shane.(Edited by Shane at 12:13 pm on Nov. 24, 2002)

[AndyThomas]

12 months after the great Space War...The X-Project was a dream given form...

[AndyThomas]

Thanks to Brad's instructions I think I've managed to generate the sort of file he's after. It's a bit dizzying to watch but if I've done it right then this should pave the way for my attempting the other models I've signed myself up for! I'll be interested to hear what the pro makes of it! The second file is just the object itself which'll only make sense to Brad...http://www.sfxb.co.uk/OceanFighter.movh ... lPlain.c4d

[Bradster]

Ah! I'll have a look at that new model of yours in just a few.I also have a little something for us to watch. Last night I finished a sample animation to show off my "scout cruiser" model. There have been a few improvements to the mesh since the picture I posted on page 2 of this thread. My main reasons for rendering this ten-second spot were to test a new seamless "splotchy" background starfield I had made, to test the random setting of the glow used in the jet exhaust (note that it flickers), to try a method of layering different glow colors to make a gradient in the jet, and to see if the looping rotation of the scanner had any skips between loops. I'm satisfied with the results, but I don't think the starfield is quite right. The stars themselves aren't sharp enough and the blue blotches aren't as prevalent as in the TV show. Currently I'm using a 2000x2000-pixel image wrapped spherically on a sky object. The image itself has a gradient to black on the top and bottom 250 pixels to hide the polar distortions caused by the wrapping. I can share it too if anyone is interested.In any case, here's the animation for your viewing pleasure:http://brad.project-think.com/starfleet ... r.mov(1.05 MB, requires QuickTime)Oh, and how does this tie in to the game? Well, there are separate sprites for ship running lights and engine glow that are multiplied into the display at runtime. So, I'll need the jet for that. Also, I've found that in place of a static picture, I can use a QuickTime video in the box where you would purchase the ship or hail someone flying that kind of ship. This would be a fun feature to exploit, but I would want to keep any videos small and highly compressed so the plugin would not grow to some ridiculous size like 100 MB.Okay... now to try Andy's file...Well, after watching C4D completely lock up twice and having to kill its processes I found that it was choking when it couldn't find the texture files. How strange! C4D usually just skips past any missing files. No problem; I just removed the textures from the materials before trying to render again.Anyhow, it looks nice. After examining the various objects with the polygon tool, it actually gave me an idea for a new tutorial, one that won't necessarily affect the appearance of the ship's meshes, but will probably reduce CPU load and give you a quicker and more responsive working environment by reducing excessive or unnecessary points and polygons. There are also a few bugs with some polygon normals being reversed, but I can explain all that later.The design itself, though, looks pretty solid overall. My hands are already pretty full with these other models for now; so, you can continue to tweak this one or work on others or whatnot in the mean time.

[Bradster]

By the way, Shane, that's one handsome outpost.I'd swear I've seen something like that before...

[AndyThomas]

Heh. I have absolutely no doubt that the model could be made more efficient - my machine's speed is probably covering up for inefficiencies on my part! Reversed polygon normals eh? Sounds painful! So, will the animation itself actually "do"? From what you've said above the small amount of experimental jet glow I added either a) won't be enough or b) had to be killed off to keep your machine running? I in turn will have a look at your Pluto fighter and see what I can pick up from that. I noticed all the Glows you had set up and was intrigued...

[Shane]

>>By the way, Shane, that's one handsome outpost. I'd swear I've seen something like that before...<<Heh, thanks. Lets just hope The Shadows don't here about it. I guess Star Fleet physics negates the need to have orbiting style vehicles to create artifical gravity. But space stations always look cool spinning around.The vids are great and above all else they look like Star Fleet.I can see a mini movie happening before very long.Shane.(Edited by Shane at 5:46 pm on Nov. 25, 2002)

[Bradster]

As I mentioned elsewhere, I have resumed work on this "little" project. My new first priority is to get 3D models built (or at least temporary placeholders) for the game. Then I can work on their physics, followed by the systems, missions, characters, etc.Here are my new models for the Ocean Fleet fighter and Mars fighter.http://homepage.mac.com/bradster/.Pictu ... ews.jpgThe differences in the two?Mars has fins, an upgraded engine, and a slightly wider nose and larger hull. Also, there are supports on Ocean's intakes and a "dirtier" surface overall on the Ocean Fleet fighter.