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Topic: Pitch an idea: Community-driven / "Open-Source" Bash Kit  (Read 13638 times)

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Offline FoaS_XC

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Pitch an idea: Community-driven / "Open-Source" Bash Kit
« on: October 08, 2010, 12:03:55 am »
[youtube]yf3nyO8Vz6o[/youtube]

So thats my idea. What do you guys think?
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Offline Anthony Scott

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Re: Pitch an idea: Community-driven / "Open-Source" Bash Kit
« Reply #1 on: October 08, 2010, 12:37:07 am »
Good idea. Are the parts going to be compatible with Blender?
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Offline Starfox1701

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Re: Pitch an idea: Community-driven / "Open-Source" Bash Kit
« Reply #2 on: October 08, 2010, 12:47:05 am »
Sounds good what about MS3D?
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Offline FoaS_XC

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Re: Pitch an idea: Community-driven / "Open-Source" Bash Kit
« Reply #3 on: October 08, 2010, 12:49:01 am »
I don't know blender that well, but I'm sure we can work something out.

MS3d would be much harder to work with because it is very limited. for one MS3d has no boolean or render to texture capabilities - Something which I think will be necessary to get the full benefit of what I have in mind.
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"When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment and I told them they didn’t understand life."

Offline Bonk

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Re: Pitch an idea: Community-driven / "Open-Source" Bash Kit
« Reply #4 on: October 08, 2010, 01:42:32 am »
I like it.

Standards and standard operating procedures are good. So long as what they say makes sense. And I think you're making sense.

Major coding projects have coding style guides, as do major writing projects. Why not a SFC/Dynaverse.net model style/standards guide? Which I expect will come about as a result of what you have proposed if it takes off.

Define classes properties and methods, make it code ready.

By class in this context I mean low poly, standard, enhanced, artistic, and pestalence's gaming machine grade.  ;D Properties such as, isLODed, isHardPointed, Model/PartVersion, ShipClass, GameRace... Those sorts of ideas. Perhaps I jump the gun, but perhaps an xml def... for the parts/models, something to help sort them before they proliferate as I suspect they might. (hang on... would it even be possible to pre-hardpoint? ... I think so, they'd just need renumbering after assembly?)

In general I like the concept. But artists are a wild bunch so we can't be offended if people want to go their own way, and we should do our best to find ways of including as much variety in style as possible so long as minimum standards are met. (?)

I'm thinking associated web app repository already, akin to the battleclinic community docks, but where you can select a bunch of parts and have the server zip them all together and send as one file package for you. Ideally with a thumbnail preview of eaech part for the browser, or better yet a collada version of the part in the package for display on a canvas element in the parts package builder ;) ...just brainstormin...
« Last Edit: October 08, 2010, 01:53:47 am by Bonk »
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Offline Adonis

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Re: Pitch an idea: Community-driven / "Open-Source" Bash Kit
« Reply #5 on: October 08, 2010, 09:12:49 am »
Now, a problem I see with this is that it won't be as easy as just booleaning everything together and merging the psd's into textures. You'd have to have a pretty good idea of how to fix up booleans (because they are messy after all), mapping and working in Photoshop. Not everyone tried something along the lines of me with the Luxor fleet, where you have 24 ships with a total of 8 textures, with one ship using a max total of 6 (4 main (2048x2048 rez) and two (256x64 rez) identical ones for the inner and outer plasma grid pair - the mapping setup I've been using since, with the exception that with SFC's engine, you can safely drop the two grid textures and throw the grid onto the nacelle texture), or 5 ones (ships without a secondary hull). It's not an easy job, you'd have to think through a LOT of things, and here I'm thinking about the guy doing the bashing. You would have to teach each and every one of them how to do it properly.
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Offline FoaS_XC

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Re: Pitch an idea: Community-driven / "Open-Source" Bash Kit
« Reply #6 on: October 08, 2010, 10:45:50 am »
The fixing of booleans is not as hard a problem as I once though. Basically all you need to do is select all the verts that only link 2 edges (I have a maxscript that does this) and remove them.

As far as textures - I think you are right. That will be the biggest hurtle. I'm inclined to think that an auto map on the second channel, then render to texture (like I describe in one of my videos) is not a bad idea. this way it uses just the textures it needs.

Bonk - I love what you are thinking.
Obviously not everyone will want to walk to the same drum, and that's perfectly fine. I think a web-service that lets you pick and choose your parts would be neat, but the person would have to assemble the parts and do all the post work themselves. I do think that if we were to do this we do need a "standard of modelling" though
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Robinomicon
"When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment and I told them they didn’t understand life."

Offline FoaS_XC

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Re: Pitch an idea: Community-driven / "Open-Source" Bash Kit
« Reply #7 on: October 08, 2010, 12:02:37 pm »
Just farting around with new shapes.



These aren't final versions as they still need to be finished up, mapped, etc.
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Robinomicon
"When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment and I told them they didn’t understand life."

intermech

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Re: Pitch an idea: Community-driven / "Open-Source" Bash Kit
« Reply #8 on: October 08, 2010, 12:10:35 pm »
ONLY 3800 TRIANGLES?!?!?!?!? I've got to get out of the stone age.

I think this is a good idea. In a way, I sorta do this already with my stuff. On the Boolean, wouldn't it keep the polies down and the design of parts simple if you had each piece as a single-void solid instead of the whole vessel a single-void solid? As far as I can tell, SFC3 is the only one of the four that has fits with that.

For sure, a directory of pre-textured parts that are all to scale would be a huge contribution!
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Offline FoaS_XC

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Re: Pitch an idea: Community-driven / "Open-Source" Bash Kit
« Reply #9 on: October 08, 2010, 12:15:48 pm »
Having a watertight vessel does have its advantages. For one, when you zoom out far enough, you don't get overlapping triangle errors. For another the break models are much easier to make. The increase in polycount isn't really that bad. In some cases its actually decreased my polycount (because you don't have the occluded faces anymore).

Edit: also, a watertight mesh makes that GI-baking I do easier, but I know that that's not everyone's cup of tea.
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Robinomicon
"When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment and I told them they didn’t understand life."

intermech

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Re: Pitch an idea: Community-driven / "Open-Source" Bash Kit
« Reply #10 on: October 08, 2010, 01:47:31 pm »
GI-baking? Do teach!
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Offline FoaS_XC

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Re: Pitch an idea: Community-driven / "Open-Source" Bash Kit
« Reply #11 on: October 08, 2010, 01:48:15 pm »
A link to the video tutorial series I did on it.

http://www.robinomicon.com/c/articles.php?article_id=5
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Robinomicon
"When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment and I told them they didn’t understand life."

Offline Centurus

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Re: Pitch an idea: Community-driven / "Open-Source" Bash Kit
« Reply #12 on: October 08, 2010, 07:33:20 pm »
Quote from: FoaS_XC on October 08, 2010, 12:02:37 pm
Just farting around with new shapes.



These aren't final versions as they still need to be finished up, mapped, etc.


Mind if I get a copy?  I'd love to see how you've made yours, and also take a closer look at their designs.  For my next ship, I'm thinking of doing a Constellation refit.
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Offline FoaS_XC

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Re: Pitch an idea: Community-driven / "Open-Source" Bash Kit
« Reply #13 on: October 09, 2010, 10:24:56 am »
Sure - but let me get a bit further along the process of getting the kit out.
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Robinomicon
"When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment and I told them they didn’t understand life."

Offline FoaS_XC

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Re: Pitch an idea: Community-driven / "Open-Source" Bash Kit
« Reply #14 on: October 09, 2010, 10:07:02 pm »
Nacelle Texture test.

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Robinomicon
"When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment and I told them they didn’t understand life."

Offline Adonis

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Re: Pitch an idea: Community-driven / "Open-Source" Bash Kit
« Reply #15 on: October 10, 2010, 11:31:25 am »
Nice, teal FTW!  :D
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Offline FoaS_XC

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Re: Pitch an idea: Community-driven / "Open-Source" Bash Kit
« Reply #16 on: October 10, 2010, 12:43:43 pm »
Yeah, thought you'd like that.

The way that I'm setting up the textures a person can change the trim color fairly easily. and reuse the same texture for most of their nacelle variants. I still am going to recommend that bake their textures, though.

Here's a texture "guide" that will be part of the PSD that is to be released. There are pre-made areas that people can map to consistently, so this way a person using this kit can use a texture made by me, or by KF, or by whoever. Then if they need to there are open areas that they can make their own additions with, if need be.

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Robinomicon
"When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment and I told them they didn’t understand life."

Offline Starfox1701

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Re: Pitch an idea: Community-driven / "Open-Source" Bash Kit
« Reply #17 on: October 10, 2010, 02:24:28 pm »
Looking good; cant wait
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Offline FoaS_XC

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Re: Pitch an idea: Community-driven / "Open-Source" Bash Kit
« Reply #18 on: October 10, 2010, 02:49:08 pm »
Well, I found a solution to a problem that I felt coming a little while back - it has to do with the alignment of UVWs. If you have the front of Nacelle A, the middle of Nacelle B, and the end of Nacelle F - you want the UVs of those to be aligned as best as humanly possible. The way that Max handles UVs its a little harder than you'd think. But, I have a solution. Included in all the nacelles that I will be released is a single plane object use to align the UVs. I'll post a video on how it works in a bit.
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Robinomicon
"When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment and I told them they didn’t understand life."

Offline FoaS_XC

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Re: Pitch an idea: Community-driven / "Open-Source" Bash Kit
« Reply #19 on: October 11, 2010, 06:55:25 am »
Here's a bit of the workflow that I've had to come up with when working with these parts.

[youtube]JVhlGnWOpfM[/youtube]

[youtube]a421aHVQS8g[/youtube]
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Robinomicon
"When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment and I told them they didn’t understand life."
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