[REL] B-17s over Germany !

[gap]

Originally Posted by Kendras

I just need a little help from a (not necessarily) skilled man in 3D modelling.

What do you need?

Hi gap !

Very happy to see you again !

About this mod, let me explain what I would like to do :

I got the in-game screenshot above by adding one by one some B17 airplanes. But the FPS were reduced to something like 5 ! To avoid this and save ressources, two things have to be done :

1. to make a very simple model of a B17 with a very simple texture, because they will be seen at very high altitude, so details are not required at all. To save you some time, there is a good model in GWX. It just has to be simplified (less polygons, no guns ....) and done in a single part (no child nodes for wings, motors ....). Moreover, I just don't like the texture, and I would prefer two different textures : a plain white and a plain brown.

2. to create a new single air unit which will be in fact an ENTIRE B17 squadron made with your small models. I can easily do that :







Other formations are possible : http://www.battle-fields.com/commsce...hip-formations

[the_frog]

... kendras, you do not need multiple models to create such a formation; one single model, with multiple instances, is enough.

Have a look into the Seafort files done by Jeff, or into the ship models I did. All the files contain repeated instances of individual 3D models.

Cheers

Originally Posted by the_frog

... kendras, you do not need multiple models to create such a formation; one single model, with multiple instances, is enough.

Have a look into the Seafort files done by Jeff, or into the ship models I did. All the files contain repeated instances of individual 3D models.

Cheers

Yes, that's exactly what I want to do : repeated instances of individual and simple 3D models.

[gap]

Hi again Kendras, nice idea

reducing GWX's B-17 model to little more than a silhouette shouldn't pose many problems. The same for tweaking its texture

I have some doubts about your idea of merging an entire squadron into a single air unit though, as this may lead to some weird visual effects giving up the trick when the "super-unit" is going to turn and/or climb around its virtual center or mass. Moreover, you might need to keep wings and rudders separate from the fuselage, as the unit_Airplane controller points to them, and I am not sure what could happen if the relative fields are left blank, or made to point to dummy bones on the model.

Last: how do you think that 20 identical models rendered at once can hang up the game? Sure, reducing model's complexity can help to some degree, but personally I think the contrail particles have a bigger impact on FPS than the rendering of the model itself. Maybe you should consider reducing the number of particles too, though I must agree that the current effect looks very nice

By the way, found this picture on the web:



The caption reads: Large formation of Boeing B-17Fs of the 92nd Bomb Group flying over Germany, 1943 ca.

Originally Posted by gap

I have some doubts about your idea of merging an entire squadron into a single air unit though, as this may lead to some weird visual effects giving up the trick when the "super-unit" is going to turn and/or climb around its virtual center or mass.

Yes, I thought about that too. It won't be a problem, since the squadrons will fly always straight forward.

Originally Posted by gap

Moreover, you might need to keep wings and rudders separate from the fuselage, as the unit_Airplane controller points to them, and I am not sure what could happen if the relative fields are left blank, or made to point to dummy bones on the model.

Some air units have no independent 3D model for the wings.

Originally Posted by gap

Last: how do you think that 20 identical models rendered at once can hang up the game? Sure, reducing model's complexity can help to some degree, but personally I think the contrail particles have a bigger impact on FPS than the rendering of the model itself. Maybe you should consider reducing the number of particles too.

Tests are needed for sure. First, I will reduce number of smoke trails from 4 to 2 per bomber, no difference will be noticed at high altitude.

Originally Posted by gap

Moreover, you might need to keep wings and rudders separate from the fuselage, as the unit_Airplane controller points to them, and I am not sure what could happen if the relative fields are left blank, or made to point to dummy bones on the model.

I think this doesn't prevent airplanes which don't have this kind of tweaks to fly and turn.

It just adds this : a wing can be destroyed. And if the zone relative to the wing is not destroyable, when its hitpoints are all destroyed the airplane falls in the water even if you don't see the wing destroyed.