Learning as i'm going, Here is WIP on Pegasus Inter-System transport.

Basic model is now built, will be texturing over the next few days, then i'll build the mod pack.

Learning as i'm going, Here is WIP on Pegasus Inter-System transport.

Its a sort of inspired by the ship potsmoke found here..

Basic model is now built, will be texturing over the next few days, then i'll build the mod pack.

..sorry for the duplicate - something went wrong.

Nicely modelling Dave!

I've been hoping that someone could go through the conceptships links I keep posting and model a few of them up <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_biggrin.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />

Looking good this.

Mike.

Above is the 'kestral' i've added the object for download for those interested.

I really want to add light sources and landing gear animations now, but am rather stumped on how to achive this. Can anyone give me any pointers?

Thanks,

Dave

If you search for the string "get_animation_position" within the "data\models\ships" you'll find it being used in a bunch of the Lua files that define the way the ships work.

Not all of the scripts work the same way, or do the same thing but the basic idea is that you change the position of models to animate them according the animation time.

This is where Pioneers load_obj(...) function is a bit weak in my opinion as it can't handle having multiple models within a single OBJ file. It sort of works but really it just merges them into a single mesh which often loses a lot of information and you can't access the individual models to animate them in the scripts.

To get around this you must separately export every object that you've modelled, for (totally made up) example: ship-body, ship-glass, landing-gear-front, landing-gear-rear-left, landing-gear-rear-right. Each of those would be exported to a separate ".obj" file which you would then load up in the ships lua file (eg: "kestrel.lua"). Once they're loaded separately you can move/position them individually.

I think I'm making this sound more complicated than it is! Sorry about that.

Short version:

1) export each mesh as a separate ".obj" file,

2) create a folder called "kestrel" containing the file "kestral.lua" (attached as a zip)

3) Modify the attached "kestral.lua" file.

Take a look at the "Wave" fighter in the "data/models/ships" folder as it's a good example of what you're working towards.

Ask any questions you need answering on here <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

Hope I haven't made it sound too daunting!

Andy

[background=rgb(33, 47, 58)]"Ask any questions you need answering on here"[/background] <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//fan_1.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':fan:' />

This I liked. Many can learn here.

@DaveAngel

that's a nice ship, i think. shouldn't it be named "Kestrel"? (a Falcon who actually conquers our cities again)

but it's up to you!

something in advance, you will have to give the meshes a UV mapping, even if you won't have a textured model maybe, then just "reset" (relaxed) UV's. means at least a default UV mapping where all tri's have simply the same UV value, else (if that's still the case) the meshes won't get loaded in pioneer.

i took a brief look into it and of course, nervous and impatient as i am, i have to lay hands on it.

if you don't mind i (re)assamble it and setup a little LUA script for you.

that won't cost a lot time to do so.

i wil post the result as a PM to you <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//wink3.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' /> it's your model.

expect some changes to the meshes, but i guess it will only help you to understand what's needed for a model in Pioneer.

i like the cockpit! i like the ship overall, sleek design.

am i allowed to place some Pilots in it?

i will keep the objects of the model and color each different, because i'm ot sure what your intention was, you can still change it later on.

i will add also a simple made LOD1 mesh, to grant it will run smooth in Pioneer.

expect the PM today at 20:00 GMT (roundabout).

edit:

i noticed on the picture above textures? how are they applied, projection in wings3d?

i guess i will keep the colors as they are on the picture, perhaps the topside will have colorvariable material, while the bottom will stay grey.

also the picture will be my guideline to combine the meshes, to have a minimum of .obj to load.

yet something else you should keep in mind:

Pioneer uses single sided material!

Pioneer's model are oriented in a righthanded coordinate system.

you have two possibilities to model lefthanded (as usual) and make the model appearing proper oriented in Pioneer.

method 1, which is preferred by most, simply model the ships with the tip in direction of back, or turn the ship after you are finished 180°, anyway simply the tip has to face rear.

method 2, the "proper" but less used method, model it lefthanded and invert coordinates with the matrix.new command.

issues of both i won't roll up again here, it has leaded to a lot misunderstandings...

so best take method 1, because we respected this most in pioneer even when it's "wrong" (just guess it's the fault of potsmoke66, i don't mind).

---

centering,

your ship has actually only mainthrust as i noticed, now if ever wanted by you to have working thrusters in all directions, i recommend to center the model at the estimated centre of all thrusters, this will make most sense and the ship will rotate then almost as it would in "reality".

of course you can do this still in the script and move the ship with a matrix.translate to it's estimated center, but i recommend to do all in the CAD you use, size, translation (centering), and proper alignment to the righthanded coordinate system, it makes only easier for you.

---

size/scale,

in general 1 unit = 1 meter, could be you have a different "scale" in your CAD, but i didn't think so.

if you have a cockpit like your ship has actually and you are not sure how it will be sized, take my dummy pilot (my dummy pilot, not what we have actually in pioneer, this one has no proper scale since it's a scripted geometry which i made 2 years ago), import it to your model and place it on the seat, this gives you then the right idea. it should still be to find here on "p66 models one by one" if you download the submodels alpha23.

you can instead to use the submodel (and i recommend this actually) use the pilot .obj & texture to place it "fixed" to your ship.

i will do so for the model i will PM to you.

hmm, actually i had to scale the ship 5 times up to make it fit to the pioneer scale.

the kestrel,

"kestral" v0.1

[attachment=1371:Bildschirmfoto 2012-08-27 um 19.48.15.png]

[attachment=1372:Bildschirmfoto 2012-08-27 um 19.49.01.png]

[attachment=1373:Bildschirmfoto 2012-08-27 um 19.50.08.png]

daveangel, like it?

i like the tuomas' ship (has no name yet, so named it by the artists name)

you got a idea of the size it will be, actually it could have any, of course it's somehow given by the original painting, i hope it won't turn out to large to use.

anyway if my large wheelstation will be once finished we will have space for ships in it up to 300m, more will be to large and already i will have to check if it's buld that large, but it won't matter to scale the station up twice.

also i'm thinking about to make the sealed spaceport as large as once planned, (also ~300m diameter), but the thing is it will look a bit to large compared to the buildings or i really have to bury it in the ground. i have started once in that size but i felt it's to large.

i'm also thinking right now about a dock, similar as the ones in startrek, but i'm not sure how to couple it with a common station yet.

but this would be great, a spacestation with a dock or two orbiting around it, i will see...

first the enterprise(s) have to be completed.