Vessel Finishing what stevecast Started

[Buck Rogers]

Thanks for your feedback.
Well it is over 1 km long. I was thinking with the final revision of mass etc... to make it a little more manuverable to give it a slightly more "arcade" feeling (but it's not the slowest I've seen in Orbiter!).
Retro Thrust: it doesn't visually have any, add some anyway?
Doesn't look like it should be going anywhere near an atmosphere, shouldn't need hover.
Increasing thrust: It's already pulling 3g even if that's with only 1.8M tons ( I checked some older Babylon5 addons and the larger ones seem to be geared (sensibly) to ~1g acc).
My intention would be to make it fit well in the Babylon5/Orbiter universe (other B5 addons- although it looks like many could do with an overhaul!), and make B5 fans/other happy. As close to the cannon/ realism as possible? But as said I'm no B5 expert so the people have the say.
Probably most important is total DV which is pretty high right now.

@Luke Reichelt ; you tested the SC4 version right? Also can you check, compare with other B5 vessels?

Would be great if someone could check the VB 2016 version too.
Also if there's anything missing, or mistakes please let me know.

 

[Luke Reichelt]

Thanks for your feedback.
Well it is over 1 km long. I was thinking with the final revision of mass etc... to make it a little more manuverable to give it a slightly more "arcade" feeling (but it's not the slowest I've seen in Orbiter!).
Retro Thrust: it doesn't visually have any, add some anyway?
Doesn't look like it should be going anywhere near an atmosphere, shouldn't need hover.
Increasing thrust: It's already pulling 3g even if that's with only 1.8M tons ( I checked some older Babylon5 addons and the larger ones seem to be geared (sensibly) to ~1g acc).
My intention would be to make it fit well in the Babylon5/Orbiter universe (other B5 addons- although it looks like many could do with an overhaul!), and make B5 fans/other happy. As close to the cannon/ realism as possible? But as said I'm no B5 expert so the people have the say.
Probably most important is total DV which is pretty high right now.

@Luke Reichelt ; you tested the SC4 version right? Also can you check, compare with other B5 vessels?

Would be great if someone could check the VB 2016 version too.
Also if there's anything missing, or mistakes please let me know.

Yes, I did test the spacecraft4 version, as it is compatible with spacecraft3. And while the vessel may not have any retro thrusters visually, it should still be included for the sake of ease of function. Same thing with the hover thrust.

 

[Buck Rogers]

EA Hyperion update:

 

[Luke Reichelt]

EA Hyperion update:

Very good, but you still need to increase the main, retro, hover, and altitude thrust values a bit (at least by a factor of four or five) for the sake of ease of function, as it's still a bit sluggish and rather slow. It at least needs to be fast enough to allow for easy orbital insertion. While you're at it, perhaps you could take a few screenshots of the Hyperion-class cruiser in its natural habitat, specifically my Epsilon Eridani system, including at least one shot of said vessel alongside B5 itself.

 

[Buck Rogers]

I downloaded your Epsilon Eridani system addon, it doesn't work, it's missing .cfg files? Did get the Narn (82 Eridani) to work.
To avoid too much ping pong you can edit the Orbiter2010/Config/Spacecraft/EAHyperionCruiser.ini, MAXTHRUST, RETRO, HOVER as required.

teaser:

It had so many holes I almost gave up.

As promised: updated ISV Venture Star VB + SC4

 

[Luke Reichelt]

I downloaded your Epsilon Eridani system addon, it doesn't work, it's missing .cfg files? Did get the Narn (82 Eridani) to work.
To avoid too much ping pong you can edit the Orbiter2010/Config/Spacecraft/EAHyperionCruiser.ini, MAXTHRUST, RETRO, HOVER as required.

teaser:
View attachment 31075
It had so many holes I almost gave up.

As promised: updated ISV Venture Star VB + SC4

You were right, I had forgotten to include the config files for the Epsilon Eridani system! How could I have not noticed that earlier?

With that said, I'm planning to create scenarios featuring the Nova-class dreadnought and Hyperion-class heavy cruiser in said system, so I can't fix the issue until the former vessel is released. Plus, I'm still unsure if the site's update feature is working properly yet (a problem which is also affecting two of my Star Trek systems, namely Bajor and Romulus, at the moment). Regarding the Nova-class, I recommend re-using most of its configuration file from the already existing EAS Agamemnon, since the Nova-class is pretty much the direct predecessor to the Omega-class. As for the Hyperion-class, all we need is a few tweaks and it'll be ready for an official release. Specifically, the main, retro, hover, and altitude thrust values need to be increased by a factor of 10, respectively 7.2e11, 3.0e11, 4.0e11, and 20e8.

 

[Buck Rogers]

You were right, I had forgotten to include the config files for the Epsilon Eridani system! How could I have not noticed that earlier?

Can happen, that's why it's nice to have somone check one's work
...create scenarios- good idea.

I did import the Nova, but the mesh was a mess (not an import problem), so I went for the Tempest, (mistakenly) thinking that would be easy. I'm currently building hangars for it. Both the Tempest and Nova share features which might make it easier, so I'll take another look.

Hyperion updated, and, released...
and the ISV. Back to the hangar (tempest).

 

[Buck Rogers]

The Hangar...

 

[Luke Reichelt]

Did you also check out any of my other B5 systems (namely Centauri Prime, Minbar, Z'ha'dum, and Vorlon Prime)?

 

[Buck Rogers]

Have Vorlon on my 2010 install.
Free time got a little thin (again!), but made some progress, posted some screenies.
https://www.orbiter-forum.com/threads/orbiter-screenshot-thread.8/post-603074

 

[Luke Reichelt]

Have Vorlon on my 2010 install.
Free time got a little thin (again!), but made some progress, posted some screenies.
https://www.orbiter-forum.com/threads/orbiter-screenshot-thread.8/post-603074

By the way, if you decide to take any screenshots within the Z'ha'dum system, I recommend using the Far IR celestial background to emulate the appearance of the system in the series. In the meantime, here are the config files for the Epsilon Eridani system:

 

[Buck Rogers]

I couldn't get any of your planetery systems to load on Orb2016 + D3D9 (works fine with Orb2016 + inline gfx).
After a whole night of pulling my hair out I think I might have solved the issue:
I added these lines to each "sun" file:

Module = Sun
ErrorLimit = 1e-6
SamplingInterval = 1497

eg. attached file.
and now they load:

 

[Buck Rogers]

Pre-release:
EAS Tempest

VesselBuider Orb2016
(SC4/2010 version not fully tested, not all docks maps).

Starfury Aurora VesselBuider Orb2016 update

One bug (exiting VC makes meshes turn black/ transparent), which I thought was a material/ mesh order problem, I could not solve (I remade every material and edited every mesh), but it only happens with SC4 so this is VesselBuider only. @Luke Reichelt: maybe the mesh works in Orb2010? (but the thruster posititions have changed).
I can ony reccommend installing Orb2016, I will never delete my legacy Orb2010 install (to much good stuff in there!), and I even jump between versions in the same mission to get the best of both worlds, but there's to much good stuff in Orb2016 to miss out (not only D3D9) and it's the only way forward, and I hope (bit by bit) the best of the past will join Orbiter present and future.

 

[Luke Reichelt]

Pre-release:
EAS Tempest
View attachment 31300
VesselBuider Orb2016
(SC4/2010 version not fully tested, not all docks maps).

Starfury Aurora VesselBuider Orb2016 update
View attachment 31301
One bug (exiting VC makes meshes turn black/ transparent), which I thought was a material/ mesh order problem, I could not solve (I remade every material and edited every mesh), but it only happens with SC4 so this is VesselBuider only. @Luke Reichelt: maybe the mesh works in Orb2010? (but the thruster posititions have changed).
I can ony reccommend installing Orb2016, I will never delete my legacy Orb2010 install (to much good stuff in there!), and I even jump between versions in the same mission to get the best of both worlds, but there's to much good stuff in Orb2016 to miss out (not only D3D9) and it's the only way forward, and I hope (bit by bit) the best of the past will join Orbiter present and future.

Great job, but I would recommend increasing the Tempest's main, retro, hover, and altitude thrust values to 7.2e12, 3.0e12, 4.0e12, and 20e12, respectively, for the sake of ease of function. This will have the effect of making the altitude thrusters insanely powerful, but it's the only way to make the vessel at least somewhat maneuverable.

Just one thing, by the way - the Far IR background was meant to be used for Z'ha'dum, not the Epsilon Eridani system - for the latter you can just use the regular celestial background.

 

[Buck Rogers]

"Project Osram" EA Lifeboat

Haven't found any bugs so I'll finish off the Tempest & Starfury for release.

The Nova has parts missing, reversed, shifted, and even hanging in mid air, hard to know what to do with it, did find a diagram that might help a little but haven't warmed to it yet.

 

[Luke Reichelt]

"Project Osram" EA Lifeboat
View attachment 31404View attachment 31405View attachment 31406View attachment 31407
Haven't found any bugs so I'll finish off the Tempest & Starfury for release.

The Nova has parts missing, reversed, shifted, and even hanging in mid air, hard to know what to do with it, did find a diagram that might help a little but haven't warmed to it yet.

To be fair, the Hyperion was in a similar state when you began working on it.

 

[Buck Rogers]

Unfortuneately not, the Hyperion looked OK on the outside, it's on the vertex level where the "fun" starts. One can see the Nova is shot from the getgo.
After a little work adding textures etc..., in orbiter:

May look half OK, but it's a long way from "up to scratch", some things are simply mirrored, or shifted, but others I'd have to guess, and there are over 2100 objects that would need smoothing, texturing, normals, vertex optimization...
I've attached the .msh file, you can add it to any SC4 .ini file and take a look, maybe it's OK for some screenshots.
I'm currently done with the VB version of the lifeboat and now have to remap the thrusters for the SC4 version...

 

[Luke Reichelt]

Unfortuneately not, the Hyperion looked OK on the outside, it's on the vertex level where the "fun" starts. One can see the Nova is shot from the getgo.
After a little work adding textures etc..., in orbiter:
View attachment 31516
May look half OK, but it's a long way from "up to scratch", some things are simply mirrored, or shifted, but others I'd have to guess, and there are over 2100 objects that would need smoothing, texturing, normals, vertex optimization...
I've attached the .msh file, you can add it to any SC4 .ini file and take a look, maybe it's OK for some screenshots.
I'm currently done with the VB version of the lifeboat and now have to remap the thrusters for the SC4 version...
View attachment 31517View attachment 31518

Once you've got all the problems with the Nova-class mesh fixed, perhaps you could take a screenshot of the vessel in the Epsilon Eridani system, possibly alongside the B5 space station itself. Oh, and another thing - when you start working on the Shadow and Minbari vessels, the best option is to recycle most of the config files from the equivalent Vorlon or Narn vessels, similar to what you're currently doing with the Nova-class and EAS Agamemnon.

 

[Buck Rogers]

If I find the time, which is currenty very little, not very taken by the Nova, maybe there's something with a better work/ gain ratio, and appeal, also have other projects I'd like to catch up on when the time is available.
At least hope to release the Lifeboat soon. Doing two versions is a little tedious, any assistance with SC files would be welcome.

 

[Luke Reichelt]

If I find the time, which is currenty very little, not very taken by the Nova, maybe there's something with a better work/ gain ratio, and appeal, also have other projects I'd like to catch up on when the time is available.
At least hope to release the Lifeboat soon. Doing two versions is a little tedious, any assistance with SC files would be welcome.

Hopefully you can find time to work on these add-ons over the Christmas holidays.