Wing Commander Prophecy: Secret Ops Model Update Pack

Adm_maverick said:
That was the part that I was more curious about all told. Also how much work is it to create a new mesh? Like are we talking an hour or a day? Could it be done in photoshop or would a different set of tools be needed?
Click to expand...

Basically you'd need to follow the steps in my tutorial, and create and/or modify a new piranha mesh. In my case its a bit easier since I own the original blender and texture files, but the steps are roughly the same. You'd have to create a new model (or convert the asset in your MUP install), draw up a new texture, and then export the mesh to .IFF and convert the new texture to MAT.

Alternatively you could use the Texture Conversion tool to convert the original MAT (00022000) to a BMP, edit it, and then resave it as a MAT. That would solve the problem but it mean that you couldn't have two piranhas from different squadrons in the same scene.

As to how much work that equates to...not sure really depends on your proficiency honestly. But soup to nuts it usually takes me 3-5 days to hammer out a new mesh and texture depending on how much free time I have.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
DefianceIndustries said:
Basically you'd need to follow the steps in my tutorial, and create and/or modify a new piranha mesh. In my case its a bit easier since I own the original blender and texture files, but the steps are roughly the same. You'd have to create a new model (or convert the asset in your MUP install), draw up a new texture, and then export the mesh to .IFF and convert the new texture to MAT.

Alternatively you could use the Texture Conversion tool to convert the original MAT (00022000) to a BMP, edit it, and then resave it as a MAT. That would solve the problem but it mean that you couldn't have two piranhas from different squadrons in the same scene.
Click to expand...

He he I was wondering if someone else was going to make that connection, the differing paint jobs for the different squadrons and such. Though since you brought it up, has anyone else wondered if the Devastator was intended to be a Black Widow Squadron ship as well since it has the Black Widow Squadron paint job?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Adm_maverick said:
He he I was wondering if someone else was going to make that connection, the differing paint jobs for the different squadrons and such. Though since you brought it up, has anyone else wondered if the Devastator was intended to be a Black Widow Squadron ship as well since it has the Black Widow Squadron paint job?
Click to expand...

It's actually not specifically a Black Widow paint job in the MUP, I replaced the red hourglass with the Confed star on purpose for SO since they aren't the same squadrons (not sure why a fresh delivery of Black Ops variant fighters to Cerberus would show up with Black Widow paint anyway, but they did!). However the Panther, Shrike, and Devastator are Black Widow, the Piranha and Tigershark are Diamondback, and the Vampire is Wolfpack in WCP, the paint gives it away.
 
@DefianceIndustries and @gr1mre4per - this upgrade pack is absolutely amazing!

Beautifully rendered fighters in proper 60 FPS (this monitor can only do up to that anyway)! I have one question to help with testing the models. Does anyone have a full history file for the Flight History terminal? That will help tons in seeing all the different craft to look in the F6 Object Viewer. Wish Secret Ops had a trainsim.

I just do not have the time right now to play through the entire game to unlock missions but I can squeeze in the time to seriously put a critical eye over all the models.

Any suggestions how to take a screenshot? My Steam overlay appears to not function and hitting print screen just captured the Cerberus splash screen.
 
Whistler said:
@DefianceIndustries and @gr1mre4per - this upgrade pack is absolutely amazing!

Beautifully rendered fighters in proper 60 FPS (this monitor can only do up to that anyway)! I have one question to help with testing the models. Does anyone have a full history file for the Flight History terminal? That will help tons in seeing all the different craft to look in the F6 Object Viewer. Wish Secret Ops had a trainsim.

I just do not have the time right now to play through the entire game to unlock missions but I can squeeze in the time to seriously put a critical eye over all the models.

Any suggestions how to take a screenshot? My Steam overlay appears to not function and hitting print screen just captured the Cerberus splash screen.
Click to expand...

I grab screen caps using CTRL + PrintScreen (on Win 10), it drops a .PNG file into the root directory of whatever game you're in. If you want to use a model viewer, go grab one of Lt. Overload's modified room files, it will have one. And the next release will have an upgraded .ROM file included with sim and model viewer.
 
Secret_Ops_2017_01_21_09_41_04_65.jpg

xwAuxly

https://postimg.org/image/tl52o57o9/
Looks pretty good. And it plays really smooth. Fraps was reporting 150 fps though.
 
Last edited:
The number in the far left was the fps (I'm assuming) reported by prophecy unlimited? Fraps was giving me a number twice that. I had the fps limit set to 75 though the config (my monitor's refresh rate) and I have a global fps cap of 75 through my driver (the max freesync range of my monitor). I was just wondering if my setup is doing something different from what others are seeing. My desktop is somewhat atypical.
 
Quick update: I'm doing some fixes to the early MUP models that were built using PART chunks. I've revised both the Piranha and Excalibur meshes, rounding edges, adding vents, punching in recessed panels and the like, not really planning on redoing them unless they look particularly dated. Thus far they look pretty good.

F-103ver2.jpg

Also - The return of the Stormfire!

StormfireReturns.jpg

I'm also goofing around with some procedural textures in Blender to find a suitable base for Nephilim fighters and cap-ships. The plan is to bake them out and touch up the colors in PS, but I wanted to try and get that iridescent quality.

Stingray_Temp.jpg leatherback_test.jpg
 
Last edited:
Looks like a good start for the bugs, but there's something off about the normal maps you've created for them. They kind of give the impression of being made out of that kind of faux-leather that's used on couches. I wonder if scales would work better? Or perhaps a mix of this stuff and scales?
 
Quarto said:
Looks like a good start for the bugs, but there's something off about the normal maps you've created for them. They kind of give the impression of being made out of that kind of faux-leather that's used on couches. I wonder if scales would work better? Or perhaps a mix of this stuff and scales?
Click to expand...

And now I have the mental image of a hostile alien race of space faring couches engaged in a war with the Confederation...

This should be an amusing mental trip.
 
Quarto said:
Looks like a good start for the bugs, but there's something off about the normal maps you've created for them. They kind of give the impression of being made out of that kind of faux-leather that's used on couches. I wonder if scales would work better? Or perhaps a mix of this stuff and scales?
Click to expand...

Fear the Naugahyde Nephilim! :D

As I said it's kind of a work in progress, I'll try goofing around with some other textures and see what I can dig up.
 
Triple-B said:
@DefianceIndustries while you are at redesigning, take a deeper look at the Panther.

The nose is quite edgy compared to the original model. What do you thin?
Click to expand...

Adm_maverick said:
I'm curious as to what you mean by 'edgy'. The MUP model seems a great deal more rounded out and less edgy then the original in-game model.
Click to expand...

I think what @Triple-B might be referencing (and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) is that there actually is a discrepancy between the in-game model and the original high-poly render. The original in-game model has a different cockpit shape especially on the underside, it's bulged out. The high-poly model has the bottom of the cockpit flush with the underside of the fuselage. I used the HP renders as the source material. The cockpit and nose aren't perfectly round either, it's flat on the bottom in the HP version as opposed to a more rounded appearance in the in-game model.

Also, the panther model was the last model that was built initially as a model to be split up. I'll look at smoothing some edges out and see if I can correct some of the more obvious edges on the nose.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The nose,cockpit and canopy needs to be "sharper"

compare:
 

Attachments

  • 250px-Panther-hires-1.png
    250px-Panther-hires-1.png
    33.4 KB · Views: 169
  • Unbenannt.JPG
    Unbenannt.JPG
    20 KB · Views: 533
exactly, the nose is currently cylindric,while it should be tapered ( more aggressive design so to say).

The canopy looks "long and flat". Know what I mean?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top