Project Shuttle-A Mk.IX

[Max-Q]

This tool can calculate normals as well as do a bunch of other helpful mesh stuff.
Works with Orbiter's mesh format natively, so no extra importing/exporting.

 

[OvalDreamX]

Sounds like a normals issue, have you tried using Shipedit under Orbitersdk/utils, to generate the normals? Failing that, I've had luck with re-importing the mesh into Blender and using the "set normals from faces" tool on the misbehaving bits.

Thats very helpful! Ill try that tonight to see if it solves the problem

 

[OvalDreamX]

This tool can calculate normals as well as do a bunch of other helpful mesh stuff.
Works with Orbiter's mesh format natively, so no extra importing/exporting.

Tnxs for sharing that! And if I understood correctly, itll help me getting the coordinates for animations and such too

 

[OvalDreamX]

It worked \o/


Not only that but it also fixed the Hangars I had modelled earlier

 

[OvalDreamX]

Update. Finished unwraping and doing a preliminary uv pack. Texel density looks ok-ish, maybe ill try to adjust it better. So I tried to have some fun with the uvgrid texture (here you can also see the overall texel density



And after that, tried to see how it would look with a formal material on. And when exporting, I looked at the texture size and saw 8k as one of the options. So I though, why not? Hereby, I present you, Shuttle A with 8k textures! (511mb in textures alone)



Ofc this is not the final texturing, this was just a test to see how the uv map did ingame and to have some fun.
But now that Ive seen how well Orbiter handled 8k textures, I may release the final version with an optional package with 8k textures

 

[OvalDreamX]

And, if you were wondering, heres how it looks with 4k textures, practically the same unless you zoom in REAL close

 

[francisdrake]

The 'used' look with the battered corners looks great! Hope this skin makes it to the final edition.

 

[Mojave]

The 'used' look with the battered corners looks great! Hope this skin makes it to the final edition.

Makes me wonder what it is rubbing against.

 

[Pioneer]

One thing that I would like to suggest for the new Shuttle-A are realistic fuel parameters. I can't imagine that a spacecraft of that size would have enough fuel to travel in between planets, or between Earth and Moon in fact, without refueling.

 

[n72.75]

Makes me wonder what it is rubbing against.

Have you seen me fly....

 

[OvalDreamX]

Makes me wonder what it is rubbing against.

Yeah that used look was just for textung uv unwrap with complex pbr materials ingame. Final release will have materials close to what the original had in terms of wear and tear

 

[OvalDreamX]

One thing that I would like to suggest for the new Shuttle-A are realistic fuel parameters. I can't imagine that a spacecraft of that size would have enough fuel to travel in between planets, or between Earth and Moon in fact, without refueling.

Yeah im not the code guy. I actually wanted to add some functionality to the shuttle a, but after seeing some tutorials and seeing the amazing work @Max-Q did with the Dark Energy, I dont think im up to the task haha. Homewer, if someone wants to help on that front...

(and Ik, english.exe has stopped working on this one)

 

[Max-Q]

Yeah im not the code guy. I actually wanted to add some functionality to the shuttle a, but after seeing some tutorials and seeing the amazing work @Max-Q did with the Dark Energy, I dont think im up to the task haha. Homewer, if someone wants to help on that front...

(and Ik, english.exe has stopped working on this one)

Please don't let my project discourage you from finishing yours; I spent almost two years working on DarkEnergy!
If you decide not to finish, please at least release your excellent mesh as a resource for another dev to make into something great.
I wish I had your skills (and patience) for 3D modelling!

 

[OvalDreamX]

Please don't let my project discourage you from finishing yours; I spent almost two years working on DarkEnergy!

Wow thats a LOT of commitment to a project. The mesh will be a separate mod released in the upcoming weeks when I finish it. But I was thinking if separating the project into phases and adding more.
Phase 1 will be the current one, external mesh
Phase 2 will be a VC
And maybe ill add a long term phase 3 that will try to introduce some systems modelling to the shuttle a (like an apu, heat, etc). Ill see about that one when I finish these

If you decide not to finish, please at least release your excellent mesh as a resource for another dev to make into something great.

Yeah from the start, I planned to release the mod alongside the .fbx/.blend and .spp file on sketchfab or smth like that so people can use them whatever way they want, as long as they credit/

I wish I had your skills (and patience) for 3D modelling!

And I wish I had yours for "codey stuff" as a friend put it ;-)

 

[OvalDreamX]

Update, finished modelling (I think) and uv packing. That means that now I can focus on the fun part, texturing and detailing the model. So what changes have been made to the model? Well, I wasnt happy with how the structure cover looked. It had sharp edges that didnt bode to the overall smooth design of the hull. So this is how it looks now:

The most obvious change is to the union with the "wings". Does it make too much of a difference? Nope. Will I still implement changes to it in the future? Absolutely.

Then I finished the docking port mechanism. Itll be fairly simple:



(That If I manage to animate it through code)

And this is how the final model looks like in render:




And heres how it looks ingame (with golden UV grid)

Hope you guys like it!

 

[OvalDreamX]

Another Update. Preliminary texturing work (still have to add details, radiators, decals and panel lines) and ignore the shiny nozzle interiors, thats because Im using the metalness map as specular until I figure out what sufix d3d9 looks for in metalness maps.




(And yes, the cover and cabin material takes a STRONG inspiration from Homeworld, I love those games too much hah)

 

[predattak]

Man i love the shuttleA and it's awesome that you didn't stray too much from it's main shape.
Glad you are doing this awesome upgrade to it, the model rocks.

 

[OvalDreamX]

These days I havent been able to make as much progress as the past weeks, but heres how the work is going so far. First detail pass on the body and second on the cabin:






I still have to fix some issues with the normal map, I think I have to convert it to OpenGL normal to work correctly in d3d9. And also need to adust the roughness effect more so ir pops out more with this lighter color

 

[OvalDreamX]

Nvm mind about that last part about adjusting the roughness effect. For some reason, roughness is inverted in d3d9 so I just had to invert the grayscale




Still have to make the windows look more like, well, windows. They look okish when perpendicular to them, butat an angle they look like a piece of plastic painted yellow



(And yes, when I finish the external model Ill redo the cargo pods too)

 

[OvalDreamX]

And I promse this will be the last post of the day, but look at that front profile. She looks mean! I have new pfp I think ;-)

(also windows look good with proper shading)