Vessel Finishing what stevecast Started

[Luke Reichelt]

I don't think texture extensions work with the inline client. I got comparable performance with D3D9 on older PCs, I would give it a try.

I "normally" always make normal maps (and others if appropriate) if I can for every project. It's a bit of a shame if you can't see them though?

I had unexpectedly some extra time so I've been trying to consolidate and finish/release some projects, motivated by the Drakh fighter, which was pretty easy (if all models where like this they could all be done in a week) I took a look at some of the others. The Centuri ships aren't very good models, lots of work for poor results. the Narn Outpost looks workable, and I started the Military base, possibly a mistake, mesh looks ok but lots of pieces and after a couple of hours at object 15 from 150 I notice a texture problem (similar to the B5 station) seems like there are missing textures, maybe I can reconstruct them, but that would be for the long term while I also continue with the Viking etc.

Regarding the three Narn vessels' dimensions, the Bin'Tak is about 1,900 meters long, while the military base, when fully assembled, is about 2,200 meters long. I'm not entirely sure about the size of the outpost, but this scene from the episode "The Coming of Shadows" should give you an idea thereof. For reference, the G'Quan-class heavy cruiser is about 1,400 meters long.



As for the Centauri vessels, The Scarab-class transport is 30 meters long, the Balvarian-class carrier is about 1,000 meters long, the Kutai-class gunship is about 200 meters long, and both Corvan-class variants are about 250 meters long.

Incidentally, you still haven't finished updating the Aurora-type Starfury in order to make it workable in Orbiter 2010 yet, having indicated that you needed to tweak the engine and VC camera placement in the .ini files. Also, if possible, perhaps you could take some time to continue debugging the mesh for the Nova-class dreadnought.

 

[Buck Rogers]

Window size is probably the best way to get a very rough approximation of dimensions, also the docks/hangars might help but I haven't been able to identify anything?
And I couldn't resist:


Testing @Artlav 's Gravgen, I think it might work in Orbiter2016! at least it loaded without crashing

 

[Luke Reichelt]

View attachment 39891
Window size is probably the best way to get a very rough approximation of dimensions, also the docks/hangars might help but I haven't been able to identify anything?
And I couldn't resist:
View attachment 39892
View attachment 39893
Testing @Artlav 's Gravgen, I think it might work in Orbiter2016! at least it loaded without crashing

Here's a rough draft of the SC4 config files for the three Narn vessels. I could definitely use some help with regards to the engine (in the case of the Bin'Tak) and docking port (in the case of the two space stations) placements.

By the way, if want to know the dimensions for the three Vorlon vessels, the corvette is about 500 meters long, the destroyer is about 1,000 meters long, and the freighter is about 250 meters long.

 

[Buck Rogers]

On the Outpost starting with a window height of 1m I get a diameter of 1800m, seems small next to the cruiser? With 2m (max logical?) 3.6 km, still small (?) (note the official specs say "various sizes"), so I guess that'l have to do?
No visible hangars, I imagine they're under the "ledge"? With no details I'll just put docks at the 3 ends?

 

[Luke Reichelt]

On the Outpost starting with a window height of 1m I get a diameter of 1800m, seems small next to the cruiser? With 2m (max logical?) 3.6 km, still small (?) (note the official specs say "various sizes"), so I guess that'l have to do?
No visible hangars, I imagine they're under the "ledge"? With no details I'll just put docks at the 3 ends?

Yeah, that seems reasonable.

 

[Buck Rogers]

Little update:
Jumpgate- been having fun with Gravgen, nice little mass accelerater, but I can't seem to seperate the force from the host attachment, and this isn't what jumpgates/wormholes really do. But still makes a nice entry point for a .scn (if only Orbitergalaxy worked on x64).

With the station also nearly finished I thought it would be nice to also have at least one ship for the release so I took a look at the Bin'Tak, really nice mesh, very detailed (hats off to the creator) but nearly 500 pieces, 500 materials, no names, a mammoth task, the most "fun" part, matching the materials to the textures with no/little reference material, a puzzle really best suited for long winter nights. My knowledge of Babylon 5 is insuficient and I'll need help identifing some things, what are the 4 things on the wings? apparently not engines? What should be on the inside of the "blasters", should it glow? (if you happen to have Celestia installed and can make closeup screenshots of the details that would great + any corrections etc.).
Oh and I'm still reading up on aerodynamics for the Viking, haven't found the data yet.

 

[Luke Reichelt]

Little update:
Jumpgate- been having fun with Gravgen, nice little mass accelerater, but I can't seem to seperate the force from the host attachment, and this isn't what jumpgates/wormholes really do. But still makes a nice entry point for a .scn (if only Orbitergalaxy worked on x64).

With the station also nearly finished I thought it would be nice to also have at least one ship for the release so I took a look at the Bin'Tak, really nice mesh, very detailed (hats off to the creator) but nearly 500 pieces, 500 materials, no names, a mammoth task, the most "fun" part, matching the materials to the textures with no/little reference material, a puzzle really best suited for long winter nights. My knowledge of Babylon 5 is insuficient and I'll need help identifing some things, what are the 4 things on the wings? apparently not engines? What should be on the inside of the "blasters", should it glow? (if you happen to have Celestia installed and can make closeup screenshots of the details that would great + any corrections etc.).
Oh and I'm still reading up on aerodynamics for the Viking, haven't found the data yet.
View attachment 39970
View attachment 39971

The blue things on the wings could possibly be the vessel's jump engines, although judging by the screenshot on Celestia Motherlode, I think it's just supposed to be a simple metallic texture.



The two "blasters" at the front of the vessel are heavy particle beam cannons. I don't think they're supposed to glow.

 

[Luke Reichelt]

In the meantime, here are the SC4 configuration files for the five Centauri vessels and the three Vorlon vessels.

By the way, have you done the normal maps I requested yet?

 

[Buck Rogers]

By the way, have you done the normal maps I requested yet?

No, otherwise I'd have posted. Your request was:

By the way, are you going to do the normal maps for the other vessels?

"other vessels" is rather ambiguous, I did reply saying I have done on previous ships and will where appropriate (of which apparently you don't make any use?). No others planned.

By the way the Bin'Tak is much bigger, more like 3km. Here's the same mesh (note there are different models) with blue glow (the blue tex. was also included and the mesh is not hull structure). I imagine it's part of a jump drive but I'm not savy with Bab. interstellar mechanics.

 

[Luke Reichelt]

"other vessels" is rather ambiguous, I did reply saying I have done on previous ships and will where appropriate (of which apparently you don't make any use?). No others planned.

I meant the Blue Star, Advanced White Star, ISA Excalibur, Centauri base station, Centauri atmospheric shuttle, Narn jumpgate, Thunderbolt-type Starfury, Aeolus-class towship, and Earthforce One.

 

[Luke Reichelt]

By the way the Bin'Tak is much bigger, more like 3km.

According to bcelestia's notes plus those of the B5 Technical Manual, it's definitely 1,900 meters long.

On a semi-related note, I could definitely use a bit of help with regards to the engine and docking port placements for the Centauri vessels, particularly the Balvarian.

 

[Buck Rogers]

I meant the Blue Star, Advanced White Star, ISA Excalibur, Centauri base station, Centauri atmospheric shuttle, Narn jumpgate, Thunderbolt-type Starfury, Aeolus-class towship, and Earthforce One.

I don't have any of these installed. The Narn Jumpgate I'm working on, imported the original mesh, also made it spin. Shouldn't it actually have 4 "generators"?

help with regards to the engine and docking port placements for the Centauri vessels

I don't have these installed either, you can use meshwizard to get positions.

According to bcelestia's notes plus those of the B5 Technical Manual, it's definitely 1,900 meters long.

As far as window/deck height, more importantly hangar size, and interestingly the saved original mesh scale, the mesh was built to be 3km long. Shrinking it would render the hangars practically useless (maybe a tesla would fit), I've added simple hangars to at least give it some function.

 

[Luke Reichelt]

I don't have any of these installed. The Narn Jumpgate I'm working on, imported the original mesh, also made it spin. Shouldn't it actually have 4 "generators"?

The Earth Alliance jumpgate has four "generators", yes, but the Narn one only has three.

As for the normal maps for the ISA vessels (the advanced White Star, Blue Star, and Excalibur), I'm thinking of including them as part of my next update for the Minbar system. I want to upload it before uploading the updated Z'ha'dum system (since I have this weird habit of doing things in pairs).

 

[Buck Rogers]

More scaling dilemas, my initial measurements of the Outpost were off, with a deck height of <2m it's just ~850m dia.! The Bintak has ~1.5m and is 3km long.
I've set the Jump gate at 2km long, anymore looks toy-like. The only info I found was that the generators can be moved apart to any size, but the generators themselves must have a fixed size? (and I originally envisioned the cruiser coming through the gate to dock with the station??)
On the Bintak mesh, it's super massive, and I mean data size, probably the biggest I've ever imported into Orbiter. I've repaired and optimised but it wasn't really made for gaming, probably about 30% could be deleted, but that would be an extensive rework. It kills my fps but if runs on my minimal pc it should be ok for most.

normal maps for the ISA vessels

Check the textures of the whitestar, if they're the same (identical structual pattern, colour doesn't matter)(the Shadow vessels also shared textures) you can use the same normal map.

 

[Luke Reichelt]

Check the textures of the whitestar, if they're the same (identical structual pattern, colour doesn't matter)

The textures for the advanced White Star (and the Blue Star) are very different from those for the standard version, meaning those vessels will require a completely new set of normal maps.

It kills my fps but if runs on my minimal pc it should be ok for most.

I imagine it would work okay on most systems. My laptop seems to have a pretty good graphics card. Though to be fair, I'm not really an expert on that kind of thing.

 

[Buck Rogers]

The textures for the advanced White Star (and the Blue Star) are very different from those for the standard version, meaning those vessels will require a completely new set of normal maps.

That's a shame, can you up just the main textures, I can take a look.
Note: no promises, without the original template if there are logos etc, bad quality, then it would need redrawing, ie reskin the whole mesh.

 

[Luke Reichelt]

That's a shame, can you up just the main textures, I can take a look.
Note: no promises, without the original template if there are logos etc, bad quality, then it would need redrawing, ie reskin the whole mesh.

So, what's your progress so far on the Narn vessels? Or, for that matter, the normal maps?

 

[Luke Reichelt]

Oh, and another thing - while working on my Star Trek systems, I only just realized I needed to properly synchronize the major moons' (i.e. those larger than 200 KM in diameter) rotation periods with their orbital periods, and that I'll need to do the same thing to my B5 systems.

Here the effect is demonstrated with Minbar:





…and Centauri Prime:





(By the way - if you're reading this, Buck Rogers, it turns out that we won't be needing normal maps for the Centauri base station, as it seemingly already has a perfectly functioning set thereof. I incorrectly assumed it was lacking such textures based on a single screenshot.)

 

[Buck Rogers]

I would also include the jump gates to the list. Not sure if we have any. Also those jump gates could be used as anchor for more dynamic scenarios, its its able to spawn vessels on an event.

I've made a Narn Jumpgate with new optic and spinning effect, but not quite sure what to do with it, Gravgen doesn't really fit and with no functionality it's a bit lame. If it could at least spawn a vessel that would be something. @Urwumpe, would you be up for coding something like that? I can provide any additional visuals if required.

 

[Urwumpe]

I've made a Narn Jumpgate with new optic and spinning effect, but not quite sure what to do with it, Gravgen doesn't really fit and with no functionality it's a bit lame. If it could at least spawn a vessel that would be something. @Urwumpe, would you be up for coding something like that? I can provide any additional visuals if required.

Sure, if you tell me how it should behave from the player perspective. Should some vessels spawn there, do something, go back to the jump gate and despawn again? That was my original idea. But of course, there are also other options and I don't know if we have any AI vessels yet.