I feel compelled to respond to some of these posts...I don't yet have a passable update, but hopefully will at the latest be posting the final version by next Monday.
powell99: Thanks
Wedge009: Yes, attachments. My apologies.
Kuhuna: Thanks
Deathsnake: Thanks. I have yet to make that ship - but I suspect that certain people would have my head if I did that before I did the Concordia. She is pretty, though.
Iceblade:....The logistics of that must be horrifying.
Haliwali: Let's see it!
Bar-None: Thanks - I think it will all truely come together when she does have paint...
Vinman, Chris Reid: Love sometimes leads to kids!
Mace: Not entirely sure what your point is here, but OK.
Ptarmigan: Thanks
Michelle D: That's a good question. I definitely plan on putting the side belly hatch in there, with a small amount of interior detail, but other than that, I can promise nothing.
onecrazymofo: Thanks, but no. This is not a True Wing Commander game. I'm not EA, this is not official, and we
don't have a game yet... We've got some sorta pretty artwork, a lot of it, and some code. the two have not really met in the middle yet.
Toast: Thanks. I know what you mean about the front landing gear, but if you look at the references I provided in the first post, that's the level of the landing gear visible in the game.
Deacan: Yeah, but you'd have to crawl on your belly to get under the guns.
Aginor: Mostly well said - I agree that we're not making a true WC game, but not for the all reason you listed. The reason this is not a true WC game is this: We're not EA, or the current holder of the WC license, we're fans. And being fans, and not a company out to create a profit or a strong standing franchise, we will make certain game design decisions that a real game company might or probably wouldn't make. The final quality of the game will not be at the level of a real game company doing a real game - we're 2-3 people, for crying out loud - there's just no way we'll be able to cover that many bases. In fact, that's one of the reasons we're looking to cut-down most of out game ideas - we've come to realize that we're just too strapped for time to truly do the idea we originally had any justice. We still want to do
something, but we've got to look at it realistically.
Bottom line: it doesn't matter how good we are - we'll never be able to manage the scope, depth, and quality of a True Wing Commander Game. We've come to peace with that.
Sylvester: Thanks for your support, but we're under no illusions - We're making a fan game.
Wedge009: Heheh, it's pretty impressive looking, no matter what the angle.
c0mc0: Well, it's not just a matter of changing colors, but changing designs, patterns, and text, to a certain degree. So right now here's what we're doing:
4 sets of generalized textures:
1 Big panels, 1024x1024 - 3 images, Color, Spec, Normal ( the vast majority of the ship is covered by these)
http://www.hedfiles.net/texture1.png
1 Small panels, 512x512 - 3 images, Color, Spec, Normal (corners, edges, tiny panels, and other small detail)
http://www.hedfiles.net/texture2.png
1 detail and interior panels, 512x512 - 4 images, Color, Spec, Normal, Glow
(Leading, and trailing edges of wings and fins, cockpit and landing gear compartments, landing gear itself)
http://www.hedfiles.net/texture3.png
1 Engine, 512x512 - 4 images, Color, Spec, Normal, Glow (used on the engines, and anywhere that needs random pipe-y detail. Those insets inboard of the engines to the rear of the Broadsword are an excellent example.)
http://www.hedfiles.net/texture4.png
All of these use the 1st UV channel on the ship. The uvs for these textures are not clamped to 0,0-1,1 uv space, and are designed to tile either in all directions, or vertically, in the v direction.
http://www.hedfiles.net/uvs1.png
http://www.hedfiles.net/uvs2.png
http://www.hedfiles.net/uvs3.png
http://www.hedfiles.net/uvs4.png
Now here's the cool part: We take the first 3 of these texture sets, and apply another texture as a multiplicative overlay on the 2nd UV channel. This is mapped to the 0,0-1,1 uv space and covers every inch of the ship. This is what we back our ambient occlusion ( the thing that makes the corners darker than the open flat spaces) and the colors of whatever squadron we want this particular ship to be.
I hope to show you guys the finished product here very soon.
As for the turrets, I was going for literal accuracy this time around - there's also the fact that this is a military ship, and they (in the WC universe) weren't known for having a lot of diversity when it comes to gun loadouts, ship-to-ship.
Anyhow, thanks for the deluge of feedback. You guys have me all guilty for not having finished this thing already.
Would be nice if i see it in Pioneer
