Star Wars: The Mod - Unit requests

[jobiwan7]

Thanks! Blackhand, what exactly do you want to know?

 

[BlackHand]

Ha, I wouldn't know where to begin! I'll ask specific questions in my e-mail I'll send along with all those models you requested, if that wouldn't be a problem.

 

[odintheking]

That looks awesome! It would nicer a little bit bigger, though.

 

[jobiwan7]

That looks awesome! It would nicer a little bit bigger, though.

Really? It's already bigger than the Republic Assault Ship (I think). Should it really be any bigger?

Thanks for the comments everybody. I may need pallette assistance in the future, but hoplefully I won't. I'm might try a Trade Federation battleship, some KOTOR units, or some starfighters. Stay tuned for updates!

And a big thank you to BlackHand, who has provided many useful models!

 

[Bjornlo]

Well, I've been practicing in OpenFX a little, and I'm TRYING to do the Banking Clan Frigate. What do you think?

Looks nice. There is a flash as the firing begins as one of the beams rises too high from the firing point.

I don't know the size of this unit, so I can't comment on scale. But it looks nicely detailed and well textured. I would not make it larger or smaller except to make it fit better with the size of similar ships.

 

[BlackHand]

The scale looks just about right, although we'll have to see it alongside a Venator for a good comparison. It should be just smaller than the Venator, if I'm recalling the opening from Episode III correctly (hell, I've seen it enough times...). I know the Venator model I have is in scale with it, but I don't know about yours, Bjornlo. Other than that, I think it looks just awesome!

 

[odintheking]

Oh, ok. I just thought it looked a little small with my naked eyes, and no comporable units,

 

[Bjornlo]

The scale looks just about right, although we'll have to see it alongside a Venator for a good comparison. It should be just smaller than the Venator, if I'm recalling the opening from Episode III correctly (hell, I've seen it enough times...). I know the Venator model I have is in scale with it, but I don't know about yours, Bjornlo. Other than that, I think it looks just awesome!

Mesh scale is not related to unit scale. The venerator mesh I have mostly ready to animate is detailed enough so I could make it any scale. I could take the same 1million polygons and make a 100x100 unit and a 240x240 unit.
I always adjust the scale of the final unit to fit with other similar units. And when possible, Firaxis units. For example, my A-Wing and JSF both are scaled to each other and the Firaxis Jet fighter. They have similar enough cockpits that I could use this to determine what the exact final unit size should be. Similar steps were taken with my Death Glider and F-302.
My IS/JS-3m tank was scaled off of several firaxis tanks.

Since there are no other capital space ships in the game I will probably scale the venerator to sort of match the firaxis carrier and battleship. This leaves room for death, attacks, and the possible inclusion of REALLY large ships. (SSD, Death Star, etc).
Scale of a unit should not be based on the size of the model. The more detailed models just make for more detailed units (assuming the same quality of texture and animation detailing on both).

For me, unit creation is all about attention to detail. If I pay attention to all the little things, it will add up to a better unit.
Here is an example of a fun little bit of mystery. Look close at the JS-3m. Look at the death. The commander pops out of the hatch with a white flag and waves frantically to surrender... sadly he waited too long and quickly succums to the flames.

I know goofy. I always include animation details that are most there for ambiance. I think some of the details, even those not immediately seen. On my current project, the Rolf Krakke, I am adding quite alot of precise detail that could only be seen on an extreme closeup. But to me, this still makes for a better unit for the exact same reason a high-quality mesh + a decent texture is always better then the opposite. Real details just look better then pseudo details.

Back on the venator. I will post screen shots of the unit side by side with ships of everyone's choosing when I am setting the scale for this unit.

 

[Darth Bob]

The banking clan frigate looks great.

 

[BlackHand]

Bah. Too confusing That's probably why your units are top-notch, though. I agree with the scaling to battleships/carriers in game, and that's kinda what I've done already with my Providence I'm trying to hammer out. And with that scale in mind, I still think that the frigate here is a good scale. Just my two cents.

Anxious to see that Venator, too. My favorite ship in the whole saga, hands down.

 

[BlackHand]

[edit:] Removed in favor of last post

 

[BlackHand]

Actually, scratch that last post. I think this scale works better. What do y'all think?

 

[Chris85]

Wow, you guys went on a post-a-thon yesterday!

@Jobiwan - The Banking Clan Frigate looks pretty good at that size, but I think it looks a little too dark. Could you brighten it up a bit?

On the lines of what Bjornlo said, the Civ3 Battleship and Destroyer should be about the size we're looking for in a capital ship. To help you guys out, here are the sizes of the ships:

Banking Clan Frigate
Length: 825m
Width: 426m
Height: 243m

Venator-class Star Destroyer
Length: 1,137m
Width: 548m
Height: 268m

Providence-class Destroyer
Length: 1,088m
Width: 198m
Height: 347m


@Blackhand - I'd make it just a little bit smaller, but other than that it looks good. When you do the attack animation, the ship should rotate to its side when it attacks (like the Civ3 Battleship), because almost all of the guns on the Providence Destroyer are on the sides.

 

[Chris85]

The Tank Droid is complete. I'm almost done with the Hailfire Droid's attack animation, all I have to do is add thrust to the missiles and some smoke streams. Then I have to give the Hailfire sounds and I'm done with that. As for the Homing Spider Droid, I haven't started on the attack animation for that yet. Hopefully I'll have them all finished and uploaded soon.


Here's a couple of previews of my own.

(Everyone should know by now that Flc2Gif has a limited sucky palette so they actually look better than this.)

 

[Quinzy]

lookin good chris.
keep up the good work.

 

[odintheking]

Wow! Looks like the Confederacy is getting spoiled! Awesome job everyone.
@Black Hand - The Invisible hand should be a lot smaller. As is, it probably won't fit in the 240x240 maximum storyboard size, and even then, it takes up three squares in-game!

 

[BlackHand]

Fair enough. I'll downsize it a bit. I'm still realllllllly new with the whole modeling/unit making thing and just trying to get my bearings, so I really appreciate all the feedback and input you guys are giving me.

Chris85- I really want to do the rotating attack, it'll just take me forever to figure out how. I don't think it'll look good with any other type of attack, though, so it definitely needs to get done.

 

[BlackHand]

Toyed with the scale a bit, using Jobiwan's scale for his Banking Clan Frigate. I think this is a bit more accurate, or at least it will be until we get to see the Venator we're using. I'll start trying to work on that attack tonight.

 

[SheepMonster]

for the hailfire droid, i know i may just seem pedantc, but in the films the missiles spiralled all over the place (same as for the tri-fighter)... i know its a bit late now, but isnt this the kinda thing that might be seen as important?

 

[Chris85]

@Blackhand - That size is much better.

@Sheepmonster - Keep in mind that it is a Cut'n'Paste animation from a converted SW:GB unit, so it would be impossible to do the spiraling missiles by hand and make it look good. If it was a 3-d model I could pull it off.