[WIP] Japanese Merchant Marine

[tater]

My suggestion would be to cut the ventilators off completely (don;t worry, I can do it). Then I'll place them in the dat.

Also, if variants had different ventilator set ups, they can be changed (or a random axis rotation put on them, since they turned to face the breeze in RL).

[Hitman]

it's easier if you add details nodes in s3d with parts of the ship like the cranes etc.. which can then allow for a separate texture/AO map than having it all in one piece.

Yes, but I have just kept more or less the details that were in one of Sh4's stock ships ... there are still nodes for many objects like lifeboats, masts, funnel, etc.

How in the world did you do that so quickly, Hitman?

Basically it's constructed using parts of other SH4 ships. The hulls is from Hakusika, reshaped to look properly, the superstructures are a combination of Hakusika and Biyo, and so on. I look for what I need, isolate the part by deleting the rest of the model, and then combine and reshape them. Makes for easy and quick modelling, much more than starting from scratch.

If you are open to comment, I believe the intakes amidships are a little too tall. I think they should be just slightly higher than the bridge. Also, I think the bow could be just a bit more vertical and less raked. Or you could just leave her exactly as is and she would be fantastic!

I also think that, but this is more or less what the plans show. It's because teh funnel is missing that you see them so tall, when the funnel and the cranes are in place you'll see the ship's line much better.

Another thing to consider is that even ships of the same class have some differences. My model is more or less a combination of several of the ships, so it serves better for representing the whole class.

My suggestion would be to cut the ventilators off completely (don;t worry, I can do it). Then I'll place them in the dat.

Also, if variants had different ventilator set ups, they can be changed (or a random axis rotation put on them, since they turned to face the breeze in RL).

Sure, no problem. I can isolate all the ventilators in a separate model, so you can simply link it to a node and have the arrangement change easily.

But I don't want to further hijack the thread, the teaser was about showing that this mod might even stretch more than originally expected

[virtualpender]

I'm still in awe of how quickly you turned that out. Not knowing a thing about 3d modelling, it seems you are part-magician, part-artist.

Found another great photo which may be helpful:

@Hitman,
Nice! I see you like Misfit also.


@tater,
Looking a something else for SH4 right now so I'll test a thought or 2 out
while I'm messing about.
The visual part you'd see in Game is easy enuff.
And I have a candidate for a trigger in mind to start with.

[tater]

For the DCs? Yeah, that is easy. The trick is getting a merchant ship to drop a DC—ideally for this theater, totally unaimed.

[iambecomelife]

This is a very interesting thread for me. I have both ONI-208J and the equivalent wartime manual for Japanese small craft, so if you guys need pictures of any specific units let me know.

[tater]

I have both of those as well, IABL. Thank you, though.

If you have any bright ideas, or feel like making something, by all means, join in the conversation.

I've looked at the MFM mod you made, with the idea of figuring out which might be appropriate for Japan, but there were so many to look at it was daunting

A sea truck would still be cool...

[Hitman]

A sea truck would still be cool...

Hmmmm looks easy to do with my technique of reworking existing ship parts

The only thing that worries me so far is texturing the models I reowrk; if that turns out to be a nightmare it could be even less time consuming to start models from scratch for someone who knows his job. But if the texturing problem is solved, I might start Ada Maru and/or the Sea Trucks when I finish Aden Maru. Now I've got the hang of it and am going quick (Which should be very telling about the poor quality of my work but oh well it's better than not having the ships at all)

@Hitman,
Nice! I see you like Misfit also.

Cheers mate it was you who pointed me to it, and it is really easy to use Again thanks!

I'm still in awe of how quickly you turned that out. Not knowing a thing about 3d modelling, it seems you are part-magician, part-artist.

Nope, I'm part butcherer (Ripping off existing models) and part Dr. Frankenstein (Combining parts previosly ripped off)

Thanks for the picture

I have added the cranes, lowered the ventilator, cleaned some unnecessary stuff and added the stern superstructure. Only the two cabins on the rear are missing. When I do them, I'll send the model to Tater and Sergei so they can evaluate it and look at the texturing problem.

[tater]

Looking nice. Between us I think we can get her going.

[virtualpender]

Dang, Hitman! Looks great!

Did you have to rework the stern at all? It looks perfect.

Can't wait for your sea truck

[Hitman]

Stern is a bit reworked, yes. (All the hull has been, in fact. I had to curve the bow upwards, resize it and revise the stern)

We are having some trouble with the materials of the model, as they dissapear when I merge parts from different models in Misfit 3D. Anyone has any suggestion on how to keep them?

I'm not sure what's causeing this for you but I have a few ideas.
I've noticed problems with the mtl stuff the way S3D states them in some programs.

This is not a problem with S3D!
Just some programs are weird that way.
I always edit the mtl file and obj file to eliminate the long path to the textures.
Then place the textures in my working folder.

Example:
From the .mtl file,

newmtl 8_-_Default_facb71f954e29491
Ka 0.5773502588 0.5773502588 0.5773502588
Kd 0.5773502588 0.5773502588 0.5773502588
Ks 0.5773502588 0.5773502588 0.5773502588
d 1.0
Ns 0.4509803951
illum 2
map_Kd C:\Program Files\Ubisoft\SilentHunterIII\data\Air\ALB_B17Fort ress\fortressmk2.tga

changed to,

newmtl anyname
Ka 0.5773502588 0.5773502588 0.5773502588
Kd 0.5773502588 0.5773502588 0.5773502588
Ks 0.5773502588 0.5773502588 0.5773502588
d 1.0
Ns 0.4509803951
illum 2
map_Kd fortressmk2.tga

Example:
From the matching obj file,

# 2419 texture coordinates
usemtl 8_-_Default_facb71f954e29491

changed to,

# 2419 texture coordinates
usemtl anyname


IF the usemtl statement is still in the obj?
You can edit the existing mtl file and obj file to re-attach the missing textures.

I can look at your files if you wish.

[Hitman]

Thanks for the help Privateer. I've found that my problem doesn't just appear when merging. What I do is make changes in the model and then save with a new name in .obj extension, and it normally generates automatically a paralell .mat file with the same name. But at some step, I'm not sure if it's after merging or not, the materials file does no longer appear when saving. Puzzles me why

My ignorance is such that I also still have no idea of what that material file contains, I suspect it's reference to a texture that has to be applied on the different polygon faces, but I simply have no idea.

I know I can make a mesh that looks OK, but if it doesn't any longer have mat file, will it be too complicated to retexture? I used to retexture modified models in Zanoza Zmodeller, but that program does not open files in the same format as S3D outputs them, so I'm stuck with my inability to retexture the models I create.

EDIT:

OK me idiot opened with Notepad the mtl file and looked inside, now I know what you meant Jeff ... *sigh*

[tater]

What about wings3d, also free? I can make UV maps in that.

BTW, I got it in the dat to have a look (missed turning off one vent for the screenie, lol):




Hitman, one issue, her fo'csle is raised. It needs to be flush.

[tater]

Looks like you used hakusika as the base model.