So I'm working on a bunch of different models in Blender right now. I've got a couple versions of a "realistic" combat spacecraft along the lines of a "destroyer" or "frigate", a couple spaceplanes and some very crude Fractal ships on the go.
First off, what kind of ships do people want? I personally like the realistic designs, assuming a very hard science fiction interplanetary setting, but I can spin out meshes pretty easily if anyone has any ideas. I'm no good at texturing in Blender yet, but I can do plenty with static geometry and materials.
Here's part a spaceplane model... I call it the Goose <img src=' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
I don't know how lights and everything else works in Pioneer, but those red bits are retracted radiator panels, I figure when the landing gear is lowered the radiators would retract and vice versa. The drive flame is enclosed as much as possible for protection and stealth, as well as directing extra gas to the engines in atmosphere for cooling and ramjet thrust with the vertical stabilizers.
Aaand... just found the link to the concept ships page.... sweet!! More models soon!
Looks good I look forward to seeing more of them.
There is Gernot's Texturing and Texture UV tutorial thread here:
http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/topic/2937-potsmokes-texture-uv-tutorial/
He uses Blender and would probably be happy to explain things, even if he can be a bit hard to understand at times <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//wink3.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />
A word of warning, at the moment the animation system is manually scripted in the Lua code. So animations done the traditional way wont work yet. The entire model system is currently getting a big overhaul by Loumo.
There are restrictions on how you should export the model/mesh. You can only have one mesh per ".obj" file but you can load multiple ".obj" file for a single ship, take a look at the wave rider ships Lua file for an example of that. Also Loumo wrote a blender script to help create a ships definition Lua file so that it has all of the thrusters and things in it. I can't remember where it is now but will try to have a look later.
Good work so far!
Ah yes and of course there's the basic modelling guide! <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
http://pioneerspacesim.net/wiki/index.php?title=From_Blender_to_Pioneer
Excellent, thanks for the links!
I didn't intend for the Goose to be imported as is. I've been making planes, sharships, airships and other aerospace related meshes to practice while I teach myself blender... so while I've lost or deleted a TONNE of models that may have worked nicely for Pioneer I can still dig up a pretty good variety. At this point I'm mostly looking for feedback on my designs and seeking requests. Is Pioneer short on any certain kids of ships? Shuttles, freighters, fighters, etc..
I just grabbed The Goose model because it seemed like one of the closest fits to the current aesthetic of Pioneer, as I interpret it... but I can tweak an older mesh or crank out new ones if anyone has any ideas they'd like to see <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
Well there's two routes to getting things into Pioneer but the one that's currently favoured is the mod route.
The basic idea is that you get your ship ready, y'know discuss it on here, fix any issues with whichever Alpha version is current, get help with the Lua scripting & animations etc. Then you zip it up as a "mod" and let people download it on the forum, perhaps. Some people will like it some will hate it, some will even make new textures and help you out! <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//wink3.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />
This lets people play with the ship(s) before they go into the official distribution and makes sure that everything works, you can tweak thruster power and placements or names without worrying about GitHub etc.
Just recently there's been discussion about the actual process of getting the original assets (".blend" files, textures etc) into a separate GitHub repository and getting more of the final ships into the game, again using GitHub - however, that system at the moment is probably going to follow on from the process described above. Get your ships on here, get them into your own 1 ships "mod" and let people play with them.
Feel free to totally spam this thread with your ship and plane designs, the lack of an atmospheric flight model at the moment does mean that aircraft like ships are aesthetic only but they're most welcome!
Andy
PS: 400th post!?!
EDIT: old-wiki modding guide https://github.com/pioneerspacesim/pioneer/wiki/Modding
Still figuring things out... making progress though! I've figured out some blender functions I'd been struggling with for a while because of some pointers and tutorials here, thanks! <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
Anyways, still digging through old models and cranking out new ones... keeping it really simple so far.
Here's a "Bush Ship" that's more ship than bush. It's just a mockup not meant to be animated within or outside Blender... but hopefully it shows what I mean. It's very much like a starfury with thrusters mounted at the tips of a set of arms but far more mobile.
I wanted to check too, when I get to making more involved models (LoD, animations, etc) can I change the size of the collision box during gameplay? I'm thinking about a ship that, rather than extending landing gear, retracts a series of "flight systems" that would be too awkward for tight maneuvers when deployed.
Thruster booms, radiators, solar panels, telescope mirrors... that kind of thing.
With "landing gear down" the ship would be a simple X1 Y2 Z1 box. With the "gear up" it would be an X2 Y1 Z2 box to represent the ship "unfurling" it's various systems. Basically can I make a "transformer" using the landing gear script?
Rear upper view. It's symetrical along the X and Z... I tend to make my actual spaceships that way and only make aero-grade craft bilateral. An easy way to do tailsitters would be nice for BattleTech style spheroid dropships, classic rocketships and some wacked out nanotech inspired designs <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
Aerospace plane with anhedral and downward winglets for a SCRAMjet, though the C may not be the letter to use for a nuclear engine no matter how fast the gas flow is moving <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
oops
Rather than refining the meshes for LoD I figure I'll just add components...
The SCRAMjet/rocket hybrid and a lit cockpit. Anyone know how to set things transparent?
This isn't anything like a ship, but a close range LoD for a fractal combat ship would be a bit like this (partway to the destroyer model above), maybe from a faction like AIs, Transhumans or Aliens.
I'm thinking Uplifts... Squid... Squid made of smaller Squid made of Smaller Squid... with ships that look a bit like them.
Like this but tentacle-ish... creepier and more Alien than actual Aliens <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
http://www.technovelgy.com/graphics/content05/bush-robot-fingers.jp g" target="_blank">
I've been trying to figure out how to build a recursive Spaceship along these lines. Whether it works within Pioneer or not it's still a hobby project of mine <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
Once they're in the engine I figure small turrets on larger turrets would do the trick... with the big turret/arms holding thrusters/mass drivers and the sub-arms holding lasers/radiators.
Depending on how close to nanoscale your recursive little fractal fingers get you can do some REALLY cool tricks...
I don't think there's TOO much room for weird Transhuman Cthulhu-ish stuff in Pioneer but a hint of it here and there couldn't hurt <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
A fractal ship along Squid lines. I can do a properly seperated series of meshes for animation if anyone else thinks it's worthwhile here. Probably build something like it anyways for my practice Blender Game <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
Another Aerofighter. I could make some plain brute force fusion rockets but I like at least pretending aerodynamics matter even without full physics for it yet.
On a different but related note, can we get some fuel tweaks in the engine in one of the next releases?
I love scoopigng hydrogen and just cruising the galaxy, from gas giant to gas giant... checking out moons and planetoids <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
I need water for my reaction mass and hydrogen for my hyperdrive... makes sense... but why can't I also use hydrogen as reaction mass? For deltaV purposes it's about 3 times better (I think) even if it gives you only about a third the thrust. I totally get keeping some water aboard for times you need a decent kick (or emergency coolant?)... but for long range cruising it seems like a waste of energy and oxygen! <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
Maybe use the "reduced thrust" mode to represent a seperate hydrogen tank?
Sorry not been replying for a few days <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
By the way there's also the Pioneer IRC channel if you want to get in touch with most of the other developers: http://pioneerspacesim.net/irc
I don't get on there myself much as I prefer to use the issue system and mailing list.
Just because I wanted to see if I could do it...
Here's a Pseudo-Gundam... in Blender... more or less functional using Bullet Physics
WASD moves you around, sorta. A and D strafe side to side, W and S go "forward and back" according to the feet. The feet are aimed with the arrow keys.
IJKL moves the "cannon" around. It's just a thruster that activates with the spacebar, no projectiles... just recoil <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//wink3.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />
R and F apply fore and aft torso thrusters.
The head is controlled with the numpad arrows...
I think that's it... there isn't much to do, it's just a physics experiment <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-1hUK684APTeU1xQm5MUVNrdDg
Not really Pioneer related directly, except that it's a neat demonstration of why you don't need an RCS for turning <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
A controllable Space Mech in Blender <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-1hUK684APTTC1SSFlMNUY0WWM
I figure once I have the hang of transforming giant robots in space... I should be able to crank out loads of simple ship hulls! <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//wink3.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />
First off, what kind of ships do people want?
Please make Firefly Serenity! I´d do it myself if my scripting didn´t suck... There´s a nice and lightweight 3d model of it here:
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=ea5fff6ad57b53c4bca12f733a6f7c7&prevstart=0
Ha, I'd love to fly around a Flirefly! It's going to need to get to the back of the line, though... and wait for me to get a little better at modelling and texturing! <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
I generally prefer to work on original designs, everything I make for Pioneer is Creative Commons Noncommercial Attribution (if that works, let me know otherwise) and while Joss Whedon seems very cool I would prefer to focus on ship models that can be included in an Open Source project.
So... I guess I'll see what I can do... and actually a Firefly mod with Serenity and a big Quadruple Star System full of terraformed moons would be a LOT of fun, especially since I already tend to prefer Intra-System missions and flying! <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
Wish I'd thought of Serenity first, got the Planet Express Ship next in line for my first Fictional StarShip Adaptation...
Pioneer's art, music and other assets (including Lua model scripts) are
licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0
Unported License. See licenses/CC-BY-SA-3.0.txt for details.
If any model is intended to be a part of the official game, it must be under that license. Unfortunately, the CC-NC license you have chosen is not compatible with Pioneer, and assets using that license will have to remain as separate mods. This is because it places a restriction on commercial use, which is something that Pioneer's licenses allow. Commercial uses for Pioneer could include:
- Selling the game in a box for profit
- Installing the game in a cybercafé for paying customers to play
- Using the game to generate footage for a commercial film
You have to be comfortable releasing your models under a license that allows this sort of thing. Only change it if you're sure that you don't mind others attempting to profit from your work.
Whatever works <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//icon_e_smile.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> I'm just making sure that my own stuff is OK license wise, mainly I don't want to go crazy on a model that can't be included no matter how nice it looks... so, probably won't get around to adapting many existing fictional ships anytime soon. PES and Serenity maybe... but only as a hobby within a hobby <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//wink3.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-1hUK684APTajVDOWtFOGdicFE
Playing around with pseudo-mecha spaceship designs.
The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of modular spacecraft... at least for Capital Ships. I'm a bit biased since it's our Canadian Space Program that has all the coolest robotic arms building things up there <img src="' http://spacesimcentral.com/forum/public/style_emoticons//wink3.gi f"' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />
So anyways, reading about the new model system it sounds like variable geometry will work... later if not right now... deploy airbrakes? Unfurl Radiators? Redirect Solar Concentrator?
[attachment=2050:Frontend.png]
Playing around with Blender again lately and think I've got a general style figured out for a ship, or line of ships. I've done some basic tutorials but I'm generally completely ignorant about texturing... anyone want to give me some pointers and / or help?
I can upload some blends, but I'd rather work up a proper mesh after some critique...
How many objects can I use? I like to have a different blender object for lots of components, but that's largely to make up for my inability to texture... I've seen the guide in the wiki and will be re-reading it later... anything else I should keep in mind?
You might want to PM Zordey, Fish and mikehgentry for advice about UV unwrapping.
Regarding the number of parts though. In general the way you build your model and the way you export them are different.
You can build it in many pieces just fine if that helps, it's how I usually build them, but at some stage you start to bring them together into a single mesh.
That doesn't mean welding vertices together it just means that joining the meshes into a single one ready for exporting.
The ideal is to have one mesh, using one fully opaque texture 😉
That doesn't always work though, you might need a seperate mesh for the cockpit and a separate texture for it that has transparency.
Then another for the landing gears and wheel bay covers/doors.
Yet more for any other animated components (yes, I know we only have wheels right now) so you can see how it quickly adds up.
Just try and keep it reasonable, under 10 as a rule-of-thumb but the goal is always as few as possible for both meshes and textures in the finalised in-game model.
How you get there is up to you 🙂
Also these are guidelines, not hard rules. When you submit a ship with 1000 sub-models made of 2 triangles and 84 textures though I can guess what the answer will be 😀
Latest Post: 6DOF games like Descent Our newest member: Lawchef Recent Posts Unread Posts
