Sofu Gan revisited

[aanker]

I haven't lost interest in seeing Sufu Gan in SH4. Right now the best I have seen is the RSRD mod adds it as a place name on the chart which is nice.

Wiki says, it is approximately 84 meters east-west and 56 meters north-south, with a summit height of 99 meters. (plus the 60' water depth at that location in SH4)

325' = 99 meters above sea level (sea level is 60' above seabed at that location)
385' = 117 meters tall if placed on seabed
276' = 84 meters east-west
184' = 56 meters north-south

Since Sofu Gan was an important navigational landmark during WW II used by submarines and aircraft I for one would still like to see it added to SH4. I pass that location on many of my patrols (and I would bet that others do too) so it wouldn't be wasted effort to build it.

I'm not sure how to do it though plus I don't think I have the right software. I have built 3ds meshes and textured them for an astronomy program but my past efforts with SH4 have not worked.

- need to build a rough mesh 84m x 56m x 117m high and maybe texture it using the actual Sofu Gan picture from Wiki, edited and converted to tga(?) for a texture (complete with bird droppings - on the Sofu Gan basalt pillar ;-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofu_Gan

Or here is a rock that is roughly the correct shape. Does anyone know how it could be enlarged... lol - I am desperate!



- (please don't beat me up for starting a new topic on this... I reviewed the old topics but they mostly focused on Truk)

Happy Hunting!

Art

[Armistead]

As stated it's in RSRD. I'm not sure if you could texture it right or not, but interesting. I'll look it myself, would be cool for SS's. Bet a few here could do it.

[DarkFish]

If you supply me with a model + textures i could import it into the game if you wish

[Jten]

Correct me if I'm wrong (need i ask?) but isn't the SH4 land in the sim generated from a height map and the problem is to render Sofu Gan to proper size it would only be 1 or 2 pixels on the height map and it would not be created?

[aanker]

You're right - the land or sea is relatively easy to do using Ref's Terrain Editor and Photoshop, however rather than have a lump of squares stacked up to approx 300' ( it is 60' below sea level there now) I thought building a model would be easier and look better.

Then add it to SH4 at the same location RSRD uses (they have the place name location correct) like you would place a large, medium, or small port etc.

Sure would be cool ......

Happy Hunting!

Art

[aanker]

Here is the 3d model - so far. According to Wiki It is suppose to be about 325' above sea level, 385' tall if placed on seabed at that location, 276' east-west, and 184' north-south.

What I did was import a Gato class submarine model which should be about 312' in length and used that as a scale to get the Sofu Gan model size approximately right and hopefully orientated correctly on the x, y, z axis. These programs import and export models differently.

It is close but certainly not perfect and I am no 3d modeling guru. It is intended to be a representation of Sofu Gan, not an exact duplicate my crew can climb and measure.

So, I exported it as 3ds and obj. Now to figure out how to get it into the game.

- - then, watch it be upside down and balancing on a corner or floating on a side etc.... lol

Happy Hunting!

Art

[Bubblehead1980]

cool, hope to see this in RSRD soon.

[aanker]

Funny thing. Keep in mind that this should be a simple project.....

S3D is fired up and ready to go..

And NOW for the moment of truth,

the countdown to Import begins.....

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, "Import"

"It's a dud, Sir"

"That's right, the sign says you must use triangles, not polygons (you idiot), Sir!"

So, I am making triangles out of polygons in my "spare time". - lol

Happy Hunting!

Art

[Bubblehead1980]

lol that sucks, well keep up the work, will be ready before long.

[cgjimeneza]

go, Art, go!!!!!!!!!

your friendly BuPers boss, the one with the keys to the boats!

C

[aanker]

Hey Carlos! It's a lot of work toteing concrete and plaster 385' up there by myself.... lol

I just can't get my head around S3D enough to import this into SH4. Arrgh!

Happy Hunting! - mister with keys to all the boats .... and don't forget what nice boats I used to give you either ;-) ..... ha!

Art

[cgjimeneza]

You going asiatic or PH?

I have many S boats and a few newer ones for old friends

and should have some pull with the subron CO´s

C

[aanker]

Originally Posted by cgjimeneza

You going asiatic or PH?

Funny thing, in SHCE I preferred to start in sowespac/asiattic with "my" old gal S-39 (SS-144) but in SH4 I am beginning to appreciate Pacflt more and more....

So, to give you a straight answer, Pearl please. Allen and I have talked - should be a fun campaign!

Happy Hunting!

Art

[aanker]

Thanks to Nisgeis & DarkFish who really helped a lot in getting this model into SH4.

After playing with the settings in Campaign_LOC a couple of times and seeing nothing, I was delighted to see my Sofu Gan 3ds model when I went up on the bridge for a look the 3rd time. All I can say is Wow! (and of course thanks to Nisgeis & DarkFish).

My first sighting of Sofu Gan in SH4



Here are some more screen shots:





Even went diving:







I'm so happy!

I'll put a link to dl this if anyone is interested - I guess after I discuss it with a couple people because of the Campaign_LOC edit.

Happy Hunting!

Art

[virtualpender]

That looks amazing! Great job on recognizing the need and getting it into the game. Please post this as a mod!