THIS is amazing! 

Yeah, this is 20 seconds work :

so what would the process to create some random ships and then get them into game, that would help with the modelling side of things if we wanted to create some ships for some of the outlying - random factions ill go fiddle with it

Yep I've brought it up a couple of times 🙂

http://spacesimcentral.com/ssc/topic/2234-auto-creation-algorithms-spaceships-and-cities/page-2#entry22325

and here

http://spacesimcentral.com/ssc/topic/3064-my-biggest-fear/page-2#entry32107

Instead of a polygon soup I'd prefer if it gave you the basic building blocks assembled into a ship, then you could edit them more easily. They're great for inspiration though!

Andy

@Ollobrain,

Process would be something like this:

1. Create a ship using  http://ship.shapewright.com/ ,
2. export as VRML,
3. convert to OBJ ( http://www.cs.prince.../~min/meshconv/ ),
4. import into your favourite 3D editor (Blender/3DsMAX/etc)
5. UV unwrap it,
6. texture it,
7. create different LODs of it (optional if you're just wanting to test the process),
8. create collision mesh (optional if you're just wanting to test the process),
9. position thrusters/decals/etc,
10. export all in preferred format (DAE recommended),
11. create the ".model" file describing it all (here and here),
12. create the Lua file which loads it (guide here).

That should be everything, with tweaking required of course 🙂

Andy

If you make a procedural generation of ships in the game, the - you can't help thinking about porting models in the game, and the players will be additional stimulus to continue the old game, not starting it again.

Procedural ships are hard to do well, the ones above are very simply thrown together, most of them are rubbish.

The advantage is that you can quickly go through and find a cool shape / style. Then you can take that and build on it to get what you are looking for by removing bits and adding details.

I don't think we'll have procedural ships in the game anytime soon... unless someone wants to write it 😉 I think everyone else is too busy at the moment.

@Shadmar,

That 2nd ships look pretty cool, with the front looking like a huge cannon or something 🙂

Could be a good basis for something.

But, in-game editor ships, cities, and other objects, all the same need. It's my opinion.)

Here is a windows program which lets you assemble spaceship from hundeds of parts ( Exports directx )

DOGA L1 : http://www.doga.co.jp/english/top.html

Even if you don't end up using these actual models, they are still great because you can edit upon them and thus you have a good start for your project, instead of starting from a plain 3d box. 

There was me thinking that concept art was the way these things got done.

There was me thinking that concept art was the way these things got done.

It's just another tool to use as a base, sometimes you get inspired by one of the shapes it throws out.

Plus it's based on a Blender script, so you could just take the models, and in some building blocks of your own and watch as it iterates through hundreds of your design pieces much faster than you could ever make.

Having said that, some Pioneer concept art would be very welcome!!!!!!

probably one shouldn't start with a box at all, solcommand,

my most loved one was made of a "few" manually positioned vertices,

personally i feel the box is the reason why most will look so similar and have little dynamic in the shape.

not to guess what you get out of it if you start with a bezier body instead of a box.

(indians hate boxes 😉 )

would it be to imagine to generate that out of bezier stuff instead of primitives? (it is to imagine...)

besides i have big problems to start with a box like it's shown in any x tutorial, i don't know, it must be a personal dislike for boxes.

the "perfect body" is a sphere, maybe not the perfect to start a model, but the perfect one overall.

circles, spheres, curves, that's biological design, boxes are "artificial", you won't find many in nature with exception for crystal structures.

no wonder how we react subconciously on these different shapes.

edit: prob. enjoy some psychedelic arts, they target exactly on this, "what feeling can i release with it"

"how do we react subconciously on certain colors and shapes",

"what is this key to a inter-tribal language in arts".

besides your motorcycle solcommand, won't look that good if it would be made of boxes 😉

apart from the fact that it would be very hard to ride, lol.

you hardly will see a box in one of my paintings/drawings, ok it's hard to create a female body of boxes ;).

not that i wouldn't like pure geometrical abstract art.

what is good to combine are circles and triangles, both are present everywhere in nature.

that's why one when he looks at it would at least say "nice".

my mother has started a new patchwork, again she was aking me how to combine the colors and shapes.

the foreward lean was made in general of circles and to contrast them some quads (oops contradiction? let's see).

but first wen i looked at it i said "hmm... i would leave it right this way, it's good it doesn't need to show any concrete"

but the thematic is spring, though some flowery blooming stuff should be to see,

so i said ok, replace those flowers which look so displaced on the either pure geometrical design with simple circles and triangles,

arrange them like flowers are arranged, that will be super.

edit2: we should leave the trail which is given by media like TV or movies, prob. revert to something very old.

i know otherwise you will get most reputation, of course.

there are rules behind everything, but if you over exceed them you blow the life out of it.

it's to think about to use natures principles, e.g. how are insects "build", not really a new thought, i know.

but if i strongly dislike something, then it's this "precalculated" art (what doesn't means procedural generated, to clarify this), it leaves no room for real new things,.

just because this and that works so well with this and that amount of people which we know from this and that statistic.

it's something i made "anime" responsible for, just because the lowest level of human instincts work so well they abuse it up to

nausea.

that's really mean and evil, it's a sort of disrespect of human, in my eyes.

it leaves no room for real beauty, it's a reflection of the animal instincts in us and nothing that can please me really.