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#1 Phoenix Rising

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Posted 18 June 2007 - 08:39 PM

This week's update is focused on a series of unrelated changes that I've made to improve the general quality of the mod since the release. While nothing really is "new" per se, some of the changes are quite significant. I'll start with the ships.

Both the CR90 Corvette and EF76 Nebulon-B Escort Frigate have received new models. While their stats remain the same, the addition of individual firing bones has noticeably improved their effectiveness, especially for the Nebulon-B. Instead of the four bones it used in the mini-mod, it now has a proper 24 - six turbolasers on each of the forward flanks, ten lasers in pods along the top, and two on the aft section - which gives it a nice turbolaser broadside and ability to pick off fighters.

As for the CR90, all of its weapons have been done as moveable turrets. While the turret code seems to be a little rough, it does look much more realistic this way, and I will eventually get around to replacing all of the fixed turrets on the other models now that this one works. Despite the somewhat inconsistent tracking, I'll make sure that ships with turrets don't end up worse off than those without them, because that just doesn't seem right.

Stats for a few ships have also changed. In a cleaner conversion from Rebellion's stats, the CC-9600 now has 8 more turbolasers, bringing its weapon compliment up to 20 turbolasers and 8 turboions; certainly more inline for an advanced warship. I also revisited the hull conversion for the Independence-class while I was working on the Praetor, so it loses around 1000 RU, but should be a little more realistic and fair now, especially with those Mon Calamari shields.

I've gone back and fixed smoothing groups, patched up holes in shadow meshes, and added custom collision meshes to almost all of the models as well. A lot of the default collision meshes were smaller than they should have been and I just left them for the mini-mod due to time constraints. I'm sure players have noticed that sometimes a shot that should have hit didn't, or that the damage effect didn't show up when it did (it was actually showing up inside of the main mesh), but most of that has been taken care of now, so whatever looks like a hit actually is a hit.

Finally, I have to give a huge thanks to Mike.nl for fixing a shader problem that has plagued the models for over half a year. Yes, ships now have lights that actually light up - go to the Units page and see for yourself! Now it looks like they're actually alive instead of just being forged durasteel.

Once turrets are done, I've basically reached the limit with as far I can push the graphics for ships; so much of the art for them already is release-quality, which leaves more time for other things.

#2 Theempirewins

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Posted 19 June 2007 - 08:35 AM

These chips/models look indeed very impressive !

This is, considering my use and testing of several mod's, by far the best conversion of these quality models!

Wow, turrets, lights, better looking, actual gun emplacements, moveable turrets, I simply cannot find a mod that overclasses this Phoenix mod, i'm impressed !

:p

If you can modify all fixed turrets with moveable turrets, that would be even more impressive, the guys from Petroglyph can learn from you ;-)

Looking forward to see more updates.

Keep up this great work.Very very nice !

:xcahik_:











This week's update is focused on a series of unrelated changes that I've made to improve the general quality of the mod since the release. While nothing really is "new" per se, some of the changes are quite significant. I'll start with the ships.

Both the CR90 Corvette and EF76 Nebulon-B Escort Frigate have received new models. While their stats remain the same, the addition of individual firing bones has noticeably improved their effectiveness, especially for the Nebulon-B. Instead of the four bones it used in the mini-mod, it now has a proper 24 - six turbolasers on each of the forward flanks, ten lasers in pods along the top, and two on the aft section - which gives it a nice turbolaser broadside and ability to pick off fighters.

As for the CR90, all of its weapons have been done as moveable turrets. While the turret code seems to be a little rough, it does look much more realistic this way, and I will eventually get around to replacing all of the fixed turrets on the other models now that this one works. Despite the somewhat inconsistent tracking, I'll make sure that ships with turrets don't end up worse off than those without them, because that just doesn't seem right.

Stats for a few ships have also changed. In a cleaner conversion from Rebellion's stats, the CC-9600 now has 8 more turbolasers, bringing its weapon compliment up to 20 turbolasers and 8 turboions; certainly more inline for an advanced warship. I also revisited the hull conversion for the Independence-class while I was working on the Praetor, so it loses around 1000 RU, but should be a little more realistic and fair now, especially with those Mon Calamari shields.

I've gone back and fixed smoothing groups, patched up holes in shadow meshes, and added custom collision meshes to almost all of the models as well. A lot of the default collision meshes were smaller than they should have been and I just left them for the mini-mod due to time constraints. I'm sure players have noticed that sometimes a shot that should have hit didn't, or that the damage effect didn't show up when it did (it was actually showing up inside of the main mesh), but most of that has been taken care of now, so whatever looks like a hit actually is a hit.

Finally, I have to give a huge thanks to Mike.nl for fixing a shader problem that has plagued the models for over half a year. Yes, ships now have lights that actually light up - go to the Units page and see for yourself! Now it looks like they're actually alive instead of just being forged durasteel.

Once turrets are done, I've basically reached the limit with as far I can push the graphics for ships; so much of the art for them already is release-quality, which leaves more time for other things.



#3 slornie

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Posted 19 June 2007 - 09:10 AM

wow, sounds great, i like the upgrades to the units, and the models
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#4 OOM-911

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Posted 19 June 2007 - 04:48 PM

very promising!

#5 Timius

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Posted 20 June 2007 - 10:25 AM

Looking good Phoenix, this mod just keeps getting better :sad2:

Keep it up, we all appreciate the huge effort your putting in!

#6 RebelScum

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Posted 20 June 2007 - 11:34 AM

Nice idea, phoenix. Just goes to show you don't new ships to make a great mod. :p I also had an idea where if a ship got hit with a full salvo of shots, its lights would flicker, as seen in the beginning of Episode IV. :sad2: Well, I'm not sure if the lights flickered, but it would show that the ship was suffering. What would be very funny if u blew up the ship, u'd see all these stormies flying out of the blown-up ship, watching them scream. :sad2:

#7 Phoenix Rising

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Posted 21 June 2007 - 01:42 AM

If you can modify all fixed turrets with moveable turrets, that would be even more impressive, the guys from Petroglyph can learn from you ;-)

I think so, now that I know what I'm doing. They just aren't always great at tracking enemies I've found. For example, if you are targeting a ship to the port, the port turrets will engage and fire, but the starboard ones will tend to just try to rotate to the port - which they're restricted from doing - even if there are threats within their arcs. Also if targets are out of range or you're simply moving ships around without targeting, the turrets tend to get lazy. So for now, I've made the firing cones larger than they should be, but I suspect that the turret code is somewhat rudimentary for EaW... so I'm not sure if there's much I can do about it. It's basically a choice between turrets sitting idle in a fight or lasers occasionally clipping through the hull, and I'm going with the latter.

I also had an idea where if a ship got hit with a full salvo of shots, its lights would flicker, as seen in the beginning of Episode IV. :p Well, I'm not sure if the lights flickered, but it would show that the ship was suffering. What would be very funny if u blew up the ship, u'd see all these stormies flying out of the blown-up ship, watching them scream. :thumbsupsmiley:

Haha, I think that's beyond the capabilities of what can be done with XML. They hit the reactor, so that would definitely make the lights flicker as it switched to backup power.

I think Stormtroopers have an hour of emergency oxygen, so they would probably survive for a little bit, assuming the body glove could deal with the cold, which would make it even funnier.

#8 RebelScum

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Posted 21 June 2007 - 12:39 PM

20 minutes to be precise.

So, is the stormie idea a possible one, or is it beyond XML?

#9 Phoenix Rising

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Posted 21 June 2007 - 01:30 PM

Yeah, you're right. I thought WotC said an hour, but I couldn't find it (probably was fanon).

It would be possible, yes, probably more so with an importer as it would require a new animation, although I'm not sure if I want to just for performance reasons. I guess I'll wait until the next release and see how people do with that first before completely ruling it out, because the system requirements have definitely changed a bit and I'm not sure how it's going to affect everyone.

#10 Guest_Guest_*

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Posted 22 June 2007 - 08:56 AM

I think Stormtroopers have an hour of emergency oxygen, so they would probably survive for a little bit, assuming the body glove could deal with the cold, which would make it even funnier.


I doubt they would be able to withstand the coldness of space or the warmness of space(depending on what the temperture is at the time) but they probably could withstand easier tempertures. The reason why I doubt they would be able to withstand the coldness of space is because they needed snowtrooper outfits for Hoth, which had extra heating and stuff for cold weather and snow, ice, ect. But I don't know for sure about the tempertures on Hoth at the time of day they were attacking at, but it must of been at least withstandable to have the doors to Hoth Base open and to have the Rebel Troopers outside, since they couldn't do that in night which they stated in the movie. So if stormtroopers can't really withstand that, I don't know if they could withstand space lol(but it could be possible they used snowtroopers just as a precaution though, dunno I don't feel like looking it up right now)

Edited by Phoenix Rising, 22 June 2007 - 09:06 AM.


#11 Guest_Guest_*

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Posted 22 June 2007 - 08:57 AM

Ugh, the quote above didn't work, anyways it was quoting Phoenix.

#12 Phoenix Rising

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Posted 22 June 2007 - 09:09 AM

I fixed the quote.

I'm pretty sure space is close to absolute zero almost all the time, but anyways, it's a moot point because I'm not worrying about the floating bodies just yet.

#13 RebelScum

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Posted 22 June 2007 - 12:56 PM

This is a cartoon about the possible "stormie" idea:

Rogue 6: "There's too many Carrack Cruisers for us to get through!"

Rogue Leader: "I hear ya, Rogue 5. Admiral, I don't suppose you could take out a few of those Carrack Cruisers? Then our fighters can get through to their capital ships."

Admiral Ackbar: "Excellent idea, Commander."

*5 minutes later*

Rogue Leader: "Thanks, Admiral. Alright Rogues, let's head through the breach. Watch out for enemy fighters. They'll probably try to fill in the gap we blew open."

Rogue 2: "Wait a minute...SIR!!! I'm detecting massive lifeforms in the wreckage of those cruisers, and....they're alive!"

Rogue Leader: "That can't be. Unless...oh no. This is the Phoenix Rising Mod's Fleet!!!"

Rogue 5: "The Phoenix what?"

Rogue Leader: "Cut the chatter, Rogue 5. Let's head into that wreckage and see what we can find...GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Rogue 5: "Rogue Leader? Rogue Leader, come in, Rogue Leader!! ROGUE LEADER!!!!!1!!1"

Admiral Ackbar: "F**k. We lost Rogue Leader to THAT?!!!"

*later after the battle*

*Admiral Ackbar has a private meeting with the remaining members of Rogue Squadron*

Admiral Ackbar: "Gentlemen, we suffered a tragedy today."

Rogue 9: "Oh, sure. When'd u figure that out, Grandpa?!"

Admiral Ackbar: "We have lost Rogue Leader to a very strange tactic seen by the Zann Consortium. Although, the Imperials seem to have adopted this tactic. Very strange, indeed."

Rogue 5: "What tactic is that, sir?"

Admiral Ackbar: "We lost Commander Antilles to.....a stormtrooper."

*silence for about a minute*

Rogue 5: "hehehehe...hahahaha...HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!" *has a seizure for some reason*

Rogue 11: "A stormtrooper killed him?! How?"

Admiral Ackbar: ".......Flying debris."

*more silence*

*Rogue 5 goes into a coma*

Rogue 2: "From what?"

Admiral Ackbar: "We believe it was from those Carrack Cruisers we destroyed earlier. Their stormtroopers flew out of the ship when it was destroyed. One of them must have flown astray and took out Commander Antilles."

Rogue 2: "Wait a minute...didn't YOU fire on those ships, Admiral?"

*all the Rogues stare at the Admiral*

Admiral Ackbar: "Yes, but it was Commander Antilles' idea to fire on the Carracks."

*Rogues seem to ignore the Admiral's last statement*

Rogue 2: "So...because of u, we lost ROGUE LEADER!!"

*Rogue 5 farts then dies*

*Rogue 13 checks on Rogue 5*

Rogue 13: "D**mit!!! He's dead!"

Rogue 2: "Well duh, of course he's........OMG!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! ROGUE 5!!"

Rogue 9: "You know, I'm starting to realize that the Admiral here is the reason 2 of our boys died today."

Rogue 2: "Yeah, I noticed that, too."

*Admiral is taken aback*

Rogue 2: "Whaddaya say, boys? Shall we dish out a bit of hard justice here?" *draws his DL-44*

*Admiral is worried*

Rogue Squadron: "Yeah!!!!" *more pistols are drawn*

Admiral Ackbar: "W-Wait now, there's no need to do anything rash....wait Rogues, we can still end this...peacefully as possible..."

*Admiral Ackbar gets shot multiple times*

Rogue : "Hey!! Now we lost three people today cuz of the Admiral."

*silence*

Personal note: It was my intention to have funny things in this cartoon. If it was a bit longwinded, I apologize. The reference to the 'strange tactic seen by the Zann Consortium' is a reference to the Buzz Droid ability in FoC., for those who didn't understand. Hope u all like it. :p

#14 Phoenix Rising

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Posted 22 June 2007 - 01:00 PM

Heh, yeah, Stormtroopers with T21s in space... Aren't comics supposed to have pictures though? I'm just kidding, that was pretty funny.



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