Designing a ship from scratch

Flash · Post by **Flash** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 8:05 pm

So is there a program out there which will build these ship2_v.x files? I've done animation in 3DMax before. There has got to be something similar out there.

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 8:07 pm

Have you looked for an 3ds exporter for that file type? That's usually the way; design the model in a program like 3dsMax, then export it as a file type the game can read.

skarb · Post by **skarb** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 4:18 am

From post: 113351, Topic: tid=7909, author=Viper wrote:Have you looked for an 3ds exporter for that file type? That's usually the way; design the model in a program like 3dsMax, then export it as a file type the game can read.

i've been using blender with no issues, the engine seems to accept models with larger poly counts as well. The .X export option is already in most builds, also you can use the assimp plugin for importing .X

I'd really like to be able to replace the space station models, but there doesn't seem to be a way.

The only trouble I've had is with scaling, everything needs to be really tiny it seems.

Post by **Marvin** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 4:30 am

If you get it figured out, how about doing a tutorial? I've been wanting to create some Flash Gordon space ships since Legends.

skarb · Post by **skarb** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:25 am

From post: 126514, Topic: tid=7909, author=Marvin wrote: If you get it figured out, how about doing a tutorial? I've been wanting to create some Flash Gordon space ships since Legends.

Blender works fine; heres the model from the last post in game

Theres loads of blender tutorials out there, anything else you would need to know is in the kit already

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 3:44 pm

That is very cool, very nice indeed......

skarb · Post by **skarb** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:19 pm

From post: 126612, Topic: tid=7909, author=Maarschalk wrote:That is very cool, very nice indeed......

Thanks! But do you notice the messed up texture stretching on the other parts? That is because all components use the same texture files, so they would all(every ship part) have to be custom made and mapped to the same texture file, otherwise you end up with one part that looks right and a bunch of mangled looking pieces.

Also a few tips... It seems like the game doesn't like meshes that aren't closed, and when it comes to the frames it looks like everything must be attached... No loose parts in the mesh or it crashes. Also, the game models are composed of tris, but I've had no problems using quads instead.

Mojo · Post by **Mojo** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 6:16 am

If you're using Blender, it may be useful to create ships using the free Blender shipyard, which you can find here:

http://www.blendernation.com/2011/09/14 ... yard-v0-7/

As a part of a Blender file repository, it's released under the Creative Commons licence, which means as long as attribution is given and you're not profiting from it (which you're not, it's a mod), you can freely use and distribute the models you make from it.

Since all the models in the various layers are made by the same artist and therefore fit the same general art design, it might work well for creating civilian frames and their component parts -- it would add a lot of diversity while ensuring that every part "fits", both in terms of no actual gaps in the polies, and generally making sure that each one looks as if it belongs with the others.

Would be nice to use, and then make more jet-styled fighter frames to give every ship type and class a unique visual appearance. Been experimenting with it myself recently and enjoying the results.

From post: 126645, Topic: tid=7909, author=skarb wrote:Thanks! But do you notice the messed up texture stretching on the other parts? That is because all components use the same texture files, so they would all(every ship part) have to be custom made and mapped to the same texture file, otherwise you end up with one part that looks right and a bunch of mangled looking pieces.

I was actually wondering about this. Is it possible to, for want of a better term, hack the UV map when creating a new model? Ie, jigger the model to UV map to use hull2*.dds files for certain parts of the ship (eg, paint-colour options) while designating a separate, user-defined texture file for unique parts of the ship?

I know that the actual interior cockpit can be done this way (as, for example, Max's cockpit demonstrates).

[Edited on 1-27-2012 by Mojo]

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 4:00 pm

From post: 126645, Topic: tid=7909, author=skarb wrote:Also a few tips... It seems like the game doesn't like meshes that aren't closed, and when it comes to the frames it looks like everything must be attached... No loose parts in the mesh or it crashes.

I found that out the hard way. This is when I stopped working on getting my model in game lol, don't have the time for it. Just wanted to see if I could get it in game just like that.

You're free to have a go at my model if you want though, skarb. A long time ago I spent a lot of time on it and I just never came around to getting it in a game.
It's pretty high-poly model though, close to 10.000 if I remember. I also have maps for the different sections and one or two (maybe even three) different (HD) textures for it.
Just holler if you wanna spend some time on it, I'd love to see it in game!

Edit:
Here's a couple of screenies of it:

Texture 1:

Texture 2:

There are more textures, but they have been specifically designed for the Admin / Server Police team on the server I was on at that time. This makes them unsuitable for EM.

[Edited on 1-27-2012 by Viper]

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 7:11 pm

Wow Viper, that is very cool.....

skarb · Post by **skarb** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 10:33 pm

From post: 126861, Topic: tid=7909, author=Viper wrote:
From post: 126645, Topic: tid=7909, author=skarb wrote:Also a few tips... It seems like the game doesn't like meshes that aren't closed, and when it comes to the frames it looks like everything must be attached... No loose parts in the mesh or it crashes.
I found that out the hard way. This is when I stopped working on getting my model in game lol, don't have the time for it. Just wanted to see if I could get it in game just like that.

You're free to have a go at my model if you want though, skarb. A long time ago I spent a lot of time on it and I just never came around to getting it in a game.
It's pretty high-poly model though, close to 10.000 if I remember. I also have maps for the different sections and one or two (maybe even three) different (HD) textures for it.
Just holler if you wanna spend some time on it, I'd love to see it in game!

[Edited on 1-27-2012 by Viper]

Yeah I bet I could get it in the game, probably have to cut it into pieces/components though. PM me a dl link and I will have a go at it once I get done sorting through all the vanilla stuff I've extracted (finally got the actual UV maps out of the game! Check my new thread, you might get some use out of it).

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Fri Jan 27, 2012 11:26 pm

Awesome. Could you recommend a good free upload location please, I used to use MegaUpload, but I think they took that down didn't they.
The model is already grouped up in (again, if I remember correctly) 8 groups. But change whatever you like in order to get it in game. If you don't mind, after you are successful, I would like to make it publicly available for those who like to play with it in game as well.

Thanks skarb!

Dagonet · Post by **Dagonet** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 12:37 am

I recommend mediafire for uploading.

Mojo · Post by **Mojo** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 3:07 am

If you want a free upload site, I'd recommend dropbox. It's as easy as dropping folders or archives into a public folder on your computer and distributing the public link. No mess, no hassle, one time setup.

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 12:25 pm

Thanks for the recommendations. I have gone with MediaFire.

Here are the files:
Main model
UV Maps
B&W texture
Black&Orange texture

I noticed that I never made emissive maps or shader maps, so if anyone wants to have a go at those, feel free.

Dagonet · Post by **Dagonet** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 3:43 pm

Woohoo, I won Mojo! :p

Lets see what we have here, Viper

skarb · Post by **skarb** » Sun Jan 29, 2012 10:11 pm

here is something terribly handy, this is a blender file with ship parts galore, which you can use to build your own components. It is listed on blendswap as an open copyright(CC0), so the author doesn't actually care if you pull stuff from it, distribute it, etc. Trust me when I say, this one file is priceless even if you only use it for a baseline.

Everything I've tried from this file works just fine in the game (heck even the model I posted above is a modified part from this file). I guess I was wrong about closed meshes, because even those seem to work fine. The only thing is the scale, you should import a kit ship file first for scale reference... Because everything needs to be very tiny to work in the game.

Obviously this isn't blender specific, you can export these parts to pretty much any file format out there for use in whatever your preferred 3d app is. I'd also highly recommend going to graphicall.org to get a build of blender that is a fit for your particular computer specs/os. Personally I use blender for modelling and 3dcoat for texture and extra UV work, though I actually prefer blender over 3d coat for texture work (but having paid for 3dcoat I feel I need to use it).

Anyhow here is a link to the actual file:

Shipyard Download

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Sun Jan 29, 2012 10:14 pm

Wow, another very cool thing.....

EN4CER · Post by **EN4CER** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 7:05 pm

Damn that ship looks cool Viper!!! The textures look really nice as well. I'm very surprised to see so few model mods to this game. I assumed that would be one of the more popular mods.