[REL] Captain Class Frigates

[astradeus]

hello kapuhy ,do you think it's possible to adapt world of warships ships for sh5?

[kapuhy]

Originally Posted by astradeus

hello kapuhy ,do you think it's possible to adapt world of warships ships for sh5?

Possible? Sure. At a glance, WoW models have higher vertice count but not by that much (SH5 VW destroyer: 53 k, WoW G-class destroyer: 98 k, so almost twice as much - still within limits of SH5 engine should handle).

Legal? Well, not really. So unless you somehow convince WoW devs to agree to share their assets for SH5 mod, it won't happen.

[astradeus]

Originally Posted by kapuhy

Possible? Sure. At a glance, WoW models have higher vertice count but not by that much (SH5 VW destroyer: 53 k, WoW G-class destroyer: 98 k, so almost twice as much - still within limits of SH5 engine should handle).

Legal? Well, not really. So unless you somehow convince WoW devs to agree to share their assets for SH5 mod, it won't happen.

thank you for your reply . so there aren't really any technical barriers. it is probably possible to reduce the number of vertices, so as not to have any impact on performance? I imagine that it would also be necessary to adapt the management of the damages (3model + textures). Regarding copyright law, there is a difference between using models for free modding or for selling. I did not seek more information on this subject. I don't like the world of warships game, but it has a very rich library and maybe one day it will be possible.

[gap]

Besides the ship models ripped from WoW and made available on Pack 3d Models, many WoW ships have been uploaded to Sketchfab by the user maxromash who is probably one of the main Wargaming 3D modellers.
In the past, those models could be downloaded freely (I don't remember their licensing though). Now they are for preview only, but I have many of them on my HD already.

As already said by kapuhy WoW models are pretty well done. Though a bit too high poly for SH5 standards (but not so high that they game can't handle them anyway), they have the advantage to be optimized for videogame usage, so they have much of what would be needed to make a good SH5 unit (main hull textures in one file, AO maps, normal maps, crack lines modelled, etc.).

Using them in a SH5 mod might be tolerated though not fully legal, but for sure they will provide an excellent 3D template if we want to create our own version of the same ships, especially for those ships whose plans are not easily found.

Another excellent alternative are the models by the Sketchfab user Thomas Beerens. They might not be as optimized for video-game usage as the WoW models, but they very well done and most of them are available for download under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial licence. I have talked to the guy, and he has not problems with his models being used in free projects as far as he is credited for his work. We have never discussed the topic, but he might also accept his models being reworked a bit for game optimization, as far as the changes won't alter drastically his creations.

[kapuhy]

Originally Posted by gap

As already said by kapuhy WoW models are pretty well done. Though a bit too high poly for SH5 standards (but not so high that they game can't handle them anyway), they have the advantage to be optimized for videogame usage, so they have much of what would be needed to make a good SH5 unit (main hull textures in one file, AO maps, normal maps, crack lines modelled, etc.).

Sh5 engine seems capable of handling models with way higher polycount than stock ones:

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/sho...ostcount=13419

Originally Posted by gap

Another excellent alternative are the models by the Sketchfab user Thomas Beerens. They might not be as optimized for video-game usage as the WoW models, but they very well done and most of them are available for download under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial licence. I have talked to the guy, and he has not problems with his models being used in free projects as far as he is credited for his work.

Nice find! Bookmarking this.

Originally Posted by gap

We have never discussed the topic, but he might also accept his models being reworked a bit for game optimization, as far as the changes won't alter drastically his creations.

Isn't that (reworking for non-commercial uses) already a part of CC Attribution license?

[gap]

Originally Posted by kapuhy

Sh5 engine seems capable of handling models with way higher polycount than stock ones:

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/sho...ostcount=13419

Yes sure. A few WoW models have already been imported into SHIII, and they are rendered smoothly. If SHIII's engine can handle them, SH5 can as well.

Originally Posted by kapuhy

Nice find! Bookmarking this.

Originally Posted by kapuhy

Isn't that (reworking for non-commercial uses) already a part of CC Attribution license?

I suppose so, though not all the CC licenses are equal. In any case, getting in touch with Thomas is easy, so I would rather ask him before processing one of his models for game-import.

[kapuhy]

Originally Posted by gap

In any case, getting in touch with Thomas is easy, so I would rather ask him before processing one of his models for game-import.

Good point. I guess I'd better contact manilov.ap too regarding his Whitley, Ventura and Beaufighter

Speaking of getting in touch - the fastest and most efficient way to bring missing units to SH5 would be to import some really awesome ships/planes that were modeled by other subsimmers for SH3 or SH4. These are created for similar engine and often way better models than stock SH5 ones ( I could import SH4 plane or ship in a week/two, and boy I'd gladly sink my teeth into some of models relased on Subsim in the past), and I think their authors would allow their use more often than not. The problem is getting in touch with people who often have not been active on Subsim for some time...

[gap]

Originally Posted by kapuhy

Good point. I guess I'd better contact manilov.ap too regarding his Whitley, Ventura and Beaufighter

Yes, that's a good idea. I doubt he will refuse permission to use his models, and on the contrary he will be pleased that someone appreciated them. Some in-game screenshots or video captures, showing his creations taking life, might provide extra motivation

Originally Posted by kapuhy

Speaking of getting in touch - the fastest and most efficient way to bring missing units to SH5 would be to import some really awesome ships/planes that were modeled by other subsimmers for SH3 or SH4. These are created for similar engine and often way better models than stock SH5 ones

That depends. Some custom 3D models made for SHIII/SHIV are up to the par with stock SH5 ones or even better. Some others are rather crude and/or they contain topological errors that might make their conversion to SH5/GR2 format more complicated than it is worth. Take the Wildcat model which was imported for OHII and which is now part of TWoS. I seem to remember that the original model was created for Flight Simulator and later imported into a SH .dat file using an hex editor (before a proper importer/exporter was available). The result is that it contains many duplicated faces, wrong normals and smoothing errors. You will notice them as soon as you export the model in S3d and you try to import it back in S3d or Gr2Editor

Originally Posted by kapuhy

( I could import SH4 plane or ship in a week/two, and boy I'd gladly sink my teeth into some of models relased on Subsim in the past), and I think their authors would allow their use more often than not. The problem is getting in touch with people who often have not been active on Subsim for some time...

My rule of thumb is:

- I Always try getting in touch with the original autor.

- If the author is no longer an active member and I can't find his private contacts, I check if the model was included in some mega-mod.

- If yes, I try getting in touch with the person in charge of the mega-mod, in the hope that he can give permissions in behalf of the model author, or that he can provide his private contacts.

- If that fails too, and if the author has not expressly forbidden further usage of his own work (which rarely happens), I might still use the model, by stating in release notes that I was not able to get written consent for its usage and by being ready to give it up if asked to do so in future.

- The point above might also apply to models ripped from other games, though I understand that in this case the matter is a bit more controversial.

- In any case, I always put extreme care in acknowledging other's work. Being an amateur 3d modeller/modder I know how much time and attention is required even by the tiniest mod. Full credits are the least reward we can tribute to people who decided to share the result of hours and days of hard work free of charge.