Wing Commander Flat Universe

For this week's screenshots we have some cool weapons.
To be more precise these are the confederation conventional anti cap torpedoes you may encounter in combat:

flat_2016-07-4b.jpg


flat_2016-07-4a.jpg


flat_2016-07-4c.jpg


For anyone interested they are the following types (from top to bottom):
  • Valliant LT (light torpedo)
  • Firestorm (heavy torpedo)
  • Lance MK1 (fired only from capships)
Speed, range, lock time and damage potential are different for each type along with the platforms that can carry them.

The only things they have in common is that they punch through phase shields and they create some great explosions - when they find the right target off course!

P.S.: Don't accidentally bump into one of those... You won't like it.
 
For the first week of this month we decided to give you something from the inside development of FlatUniverse.

flat_2016-08-1a.jpg


This snapshot was taken during the benchmarking/debugging phase of the navigation and formation AI of Flat Universe. As a matter of fact, this is what my displays are showing for the past few days.:confused:

Enjoy!
 
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For this week a message is send to you from outer space.
Something is Coming...


Ladies and Gentlemen. On keyboards...
Mister Cory Fujimori.

Late Edit:
Did you get Cory's message?

VGhpcyBpcyBhIHByZXZpZXcgb2YgdGhlIG5ldyBzb3VuZHRyYWNrIGZvciBXaW5nIENvbW1hbmRlcjogRmxhdCBVbml2ZXJzZS4gRmVhdHVyaW5nIHRoZW1lcyBmcm9tIHRoZSBvcmlnaW5hbCBXaW5nIENvbW1hbmRlciBnYW1lIG5ld2x5IGFycmFuZ2VkIGJ5IG9yaWdpbmFsIGNvbXBvc2VyLCBEYXZlIEdvdmV0dCwgYXMgd2VsbCBhcyBhZGRpdGlvbmFsIHdvcmsgYnkgY29tcG9zZXIgQ29yeSBGdWppbW9yaS4NCg0KSG93IG1hbnkgcGVvcGxlIGhlcmUga25vdyBhYm91dCB0aGUgTWFuaWFjPw==
 
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Maslas said:
For this week a message is send to you from outer space.
Late Edit:
Did you get Cory's message?

VGhpcyBpcyBhIHByZXZpZXcgb2YgdGhlIG5ldyBzb3VuZHRyYWNrIGZvciBXaW5nIENvbW1hbmRlcjogRmxhdCBVbml2ZXJzZS4gRmVhdHVyaW5nIHRoZW1lcyBmcm9tIHRoZSBvcmlnaW5hbCBXaW5nIENvbW1hbmRlciBnYW1lIG5ld2x5IGFycmFuZ2VkIGJ5IG9yaWdpbmFsIGNvbXBvc2VyLCBEYXZlIEdvdmV0dCwgYXMgd2VsbCBhcyBhZGRpdGlvbmFsIHdvcmsgYnkgY29tcG9zZXIgQ29yeSBGdWppbW9yaS4NCg0KSG93IG1hbnkgcGVvcGxlIGhlcmUga25vdyBhYm91dCB0aGUgTWFuaWFjPw==
Click to expand...

Any ideas? Anyone?
 
Wedge009 said:
Nice. Did Dave Govett really get involved?

Have fun at the party, those of you who can make it.
Click to expand...

Hi Wedge,
Really, it doesn't feel right to show Cory's cards on this poker table. He has, by the way, a full house:cool:. I could give you a link and a clue that you might have postponed.
It is five months old but is genuine:

David Govvet
Reboot of some WC-I music will start after April when MOO is complete and tweaked. Probably put together a suite of several themes. I will say that the version I hear on this game is very well done though. One of the best I have heard so far. Cory's re imagining of the old music is sounding great too. Can't wait to get on it. Dave.


Have fun with the party, hopefully one of us might make it tonight and good luck with the riddle!
 
~sigh~ I'm sorry if I announced anything prematurely. But I don't follow these threads as often as I used to. If the information was announced - even 'encoded' - then I thought it was being made public. Again, sorry for being a party pooper.
 
Wedge009 said:
~sigh~ I'm sorry if I announced anything prematurely. But I don't follow these threads as often as I used to. If the information was announced - even 'encoded' - then I thought it was being made public. Again, sorry for being a party pooper.
Click to expand...

Hey! Don't worry nothing serious happened. Don't forget that what ever happens in this forum including our project is for one and only purpose. Fun. :)
Have fun!
 
Hey guys we are back after a small break and continue with our regular updates.

For this week we want to show off a little bit! We have made several improvements on the graphics department:
  • Full level of detail system so we could use high res models without sacrificing performance
  • A new lighting, reflection and material/texturing system
  • A new procedural system for damaging and aging spacecraft
  • A redesigned game system that uses the same models both for gameplay and cutscenes
So just to get an idea the following screenshots show the same Raptor in different stages of its life and at different damage levels:

The Raptor just out of the factory line:

flat_2016-09-5a.jpg



When it has been flown for some time:

flat_2016-09-5b.jpg



And finally the battle worn veteran (or one that hasn't been maintained properly):

flat_2016-09-5c.jpg


And of course these are not pre-rendered screenshots or mock-ups. They are real time from the game engine. When you zoom in during gameplay that's what you see!
 
An extremely cool functionality! However, based on the current implementation in the Raptor, I think the system is going to be confusing: there is a visual overlap between greater age and greater damage, with a high probability that one will be confused for the other.
 
Quarto said:
An extremely cool functionality! However, based on the current implementation in the Raptor, I think the system is going to be confusing: there is a visual overlap between greater age and greater damage, with a high probability that one will be confused for the other.
Click to expand...

Don't worry. Although the age/rust textures are ready the damage textures are not finalized yet. In the final version it will be far more obvious along with the usual spark/smoke effects.
 
The graphical quality here is superb, and you're not the first to deploy really fantastic worn textures lately, but I would caution projects not to go overboard with the rust/corrosion. These aren't sitting around in salt water somewhere. It seems like many artists use old sea ships as their inspiration, when medium-age airplanes would be a better source. The wear and tear does not happen uniformly across the vessel. Large smooth panels should have relatively few adverse effects (and are the most easily repainted over time!). Slightly noticeable areas would be around seams and rivets, and it should be much more pronounced wherever there's moving parts (control surfaces, canopies, fueling ports, weapon pylons, etc) or energy (engine exhausts, gun muzzles, etc).
 
ChrisReid said:
... but I would caution projects not to go overboard with the rust/corrosion. These aren't sitting around in salt water somewhere
Click to expand...

It's always good to get feedback both from fans and directly from inside the industry (and in this case the aircraft industry no less!).

So except from the damage textures based on Quarto's observations we will alter a bit the algorithm to add more detail textures (probably less "rust/corrosion" like and more "burn" like) at the edges and not at the flat areas. We will be back soon...

Thanks guys
 
One other thought... in the case of wartime service, one of the characteristics of well-worn fighters would actually be the presence of new, entirely unworn parts. If an armour panel gets replaced between missions, the new one obviously won't be rusted or anything like that. On some rare occasions, these parts might actually be shiny brand new steel, if the repair crew did not have time to paint over the replaced panels.

Elsewhere on the ship, though, you might see exposed glue and duct tape and things like this. I recently saw some photos of a an AH-64 Apache that Boeing, much to their shame (sorry, Chris!) sent to a defence industries show in Poland, and it had all kinds of gunk like that. Not sure what Boeing was thinking, sending a piece of junk like that at a time when the Polish government is talking about buying new combat helicopters, but that's not at all relevant to this discussion :).
 
Might even have something cannibalized from another craft (say, something from a Ferret grafted on a Sabre or some junk, like they did in End Run). I don't exactly know how you'd show that in a texture file, though.
 
Well both are very cool ideas!

However we would have to cut Klavs' models to logical pieces and then "compile" them back inside the game engine. Even further we would have, based on Capi's idea, to cut "generic" pieces from one aircraft and fit them to others. Although it would not hit much performance wise since we would use the same map for all parts of a certain vintage, however it does require a significant amount of modelling time and some additional work inside the game.

Obviously it is not for the next release... but for the future who knows?
 
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