Knight26-77
Rear Admiral
Loving this progress, and the idea of drawing in more of the fighter closeups.
Confederation
- Thread starter AllTinker
- Start date
AllTinker
1st Lieutenant
Just thought I'd drop a quick update - I'm still working on the extended side views for the hangar sequence, but I've at least made a start on all five WC1 ships. The closest to being finished is the Raptor:
Original art for reference:
After pondering my wrap-around cockpits I've decided the best way to properly support ultrawide without the awkward (lack of) perspective is to bite the bullet and go 3D. This will just be another option. The wraparound 2D cockpits don't look so bad at 16:9, but really start to break down quickly beyond that. 3D cockpits also allow things like padlock view (something I've always wanted in a WC game), and perhaps someday VR support.
It's very much work-in-progress (especially everything outside the cockpit), but this is how the Hornet looks so far:
I've had to mutate it a little from the 2D original just to make a little more physical sense, but I've done my best to keep it as faithful as I can though (with my terrible modelling/texturing
). It directly uses as much of the original art as possible.
Here's a still image at higher resolution:
Hopefully later someone who knows what the heck they're doing makes something better.
The 3D cockpits will delay things a bit but I think they'll be worth it. The day job is also pretty busy at the moment, but progress continues.
Original art for reference:
After pondering my wrap-around cockpits I've decided the best way to properly support ultrawide without the awkward (lack of) perspective is to bite the bullet and go 3D. This will just be another option. The wraparound 2D cockpits don't look so bad at 16:9, but really start to break down quickly beyond that. 3D cockpits also allow things like padlock view (something I've always wanted in a WC game), and perhaps someday VR support.
It's very much work-in-progress (especially everything outside the cockpit), but this is how the Hornet looks so far:
I've had to mutate it a little from the 2D original just to make a little more physical sense, but I've done my best to keep it as faithful as I can though (with my terrible modelling/texturing
). It directly uses as much of the original art as possible.Here's a still image at higher resolution:
Hopefully later someone who knows what the heck they're doing makes something better.
The 3D cockpits will delay things a bit but I think they'll be worth it. The day job is also pretty busy at the moment, but progress continues.
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EmuMusicFan
Captain
Awesome!Just thought I'd drop a quick update - I'm still working on the extended side views for the hangar sequence, but I've at least made a start on all five WC1 ships. The closest to being finished is the Raptor:
View attachment 13741
Original art for reference:
View attachment 13740
After pondering my wrap-around cockpits I've decided the best way to properly support ultrawide without the awkward (lack of) perspective is to bite the bullet and go 3D. This will just be another option. The wraparound 2D cockpits don't look so bad at 16:9, but really start to break down quickly beyond that. 3D cockpits also allow things like padlock view (something I've always wanted in a WC game), and perhaps someday VR support.
It's very much work-in-progress (especially everything outside the cockpit), but this is how the Hornet looks so far:
View attachment 13742
I've had to mutate it a little from the 2D original just to make a little more physical sense, but I've done my best to keep it as faithful as I can though (with my terrible modelling/texturing
Here's a still image at higher resolution:
View attachment 13739
Hopefully later someone who knows what the heck they're doing makes something better.
The 3D cockpits will delay things a bit but I think they'll be worth it. The day job is also pretty busy at the moment, but progress continues.
And... What is a padlock view?
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EmuMusicFan
Captain
Also, what is your plan on the 3D cockpits? Refine the current one before moving on to the next?
AllTinker
1st Lieutenant
It's pretty common in combat flight simulators, where your view always faces your currently-locked target. Very useful for dogfighting if you aren't using a head-tracking setup (e.g. TrackIR) or VR!
I'll finish the current exterior texturing for the Hornet (only the minimum visible surfaces are represented in the model), then I'm planning on doing a pass on the other four WC1 ships... By the time I'm finished that, I may be able to improve the earlier ones like the Hornet. I'm hoping some parts can be shared between the cockpits - including the pilot if I do end up having a go at modelling one... They'd just be a headless stand-in with moving arms/legs; matching the original art/style as closely as I can, which is pretty much my aim with everything here.
It's all extremely low-poly; down the track I'd love to see some proper high-detail cockpits (and ships, etc.) done, but this is about all I can manage myself.
I'm not even properly thinking about updated WC2 art yet (let alone Privateer, which I'd also love to support); we'll see what happens... 3D cockpits actually seem like one of the easier things to tackle on that front though, for what it's worth.EmuMusicFan
Captain
What if the currently-locked target goes under your ship? You see your legs?
I assume pilot model will consume much more polygons, right?
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AllTinker
1st Lieutenant
Yep, that's how it generally works. Some simulators do limit the possible head positions/angles for padlock, e.g. you don't look directly behind, but over your shoulder, and so on. I'm not sure yet what I'll do there.
In Confederation you can (optionally!) set things up for X axis = Roll, so if a target is below you, you'd roll to get them above and then pull positive G's to converge... Without simulating G-forces (or more specifically redout/blackout) it doesn't mean much, but it's certainly more grounded in reality. The ships and cockpits are clearly designed for it too.
AllTinker
1st Lieutenant
The ancient software I'm using is only capable of low-poly modelling anyway, so it should be fine.
Even older Raspberry Pis should have zero issue with these (cockpit+outside should end up around ~250 triangles once I finish optimising it, maybe ~500 or so including the pilot at a rough guess).
Rylex
Rear Admiral
I would improve the above graphic a little. The gray "staircase" on the top left should be removed by placing some darker gray values in between.
I understood, that the graphics are not yet ready... so I'm sure you are already working on it.
The new cockpits however, with the 360 degree view just look awesome! AWESOME!!! ... did I say awesome?
Aeronautico
Rear Admiral
Oh my gosh, that new Raptor launch frame looks beautiful! I can't wait to see what may be next.