[REL] Open Horizons II

[Trevally.]

Ahoy Gap

Wind facing balloons with curve would be nice.
Perhaps only the tethering cable

Have you managed to shorten the tangle ones?

[gap]

Originally Posted by Trevally.

Ahoy Gap

Wind facing balloons with curve would be nice.
Perhaps only the tethering cable

Have you managed to shorten the tangle ones?

The tethering cable should have been pretty tense while the balloons were flow at operation altitude (= no arching; se description in my previous post). If you agree, this is what I will do:

- straightening the tethering cable;
- giving the cable + the balloon a positive pitch angle (3 deg should be enough);
- shortening the picketing lines;
- bending picketing lines toward the rear of the balloon.

Doing the above changes and re-importing the modified model in GR2 Editor should be doable in a few hours and, barring any unforeseen delays, I should be able to finsh with them within the day. I am sorry for the delays, but lately I have been absorbed by a .303 cal Lewis machine gun model that I am creating from scratch:

the real thing:




My model (50% ready):



I am going to test if we can create working GR2 guns. If I succed, it is about time to replace most of the 20mm guns fitted aboard merchant ships with lower caliber guns

I have been also working on better flags for OHII + some new nations, and, most important, on a database of all the ships sunk by u-boats during WWII. For each vessel, I am taking note of any piece of information which might be relevant to the game (ship class, specs and appearance, gun armament, flag state, owner and special/flags markings displayed, date, route followed, convoy/escorts she was sailing with, torpedo/shell hits, sinking time, sinking mechanics, etc.). This is obviously a long therm projects, but I hope it will help us making OHII even more appealing and realistic.

[Silent Steel]

You guys are fabulous

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by gap

This is obviously a long therm projects, but I hope it will help us making OHII even more appealing and realistic.

If you can manage the tinkling sound of the brass hitting the deck it will be 'your finest hour' many thanks in advance.

[gap]

Originally Posted by Silent Steel

You guys are fabulous

If your comment refers to one of the projects I talked about in my previous post, then I must credit the awesome pile of information freely available on the web.

For the lewis gun:

- bluerints:
http://www.arizonamodels.com/manuals/Lewis-Plan.jpg
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/7...ssamplerc7.jpg
http://s9.photobucket.com/user/allan...Lewis.jpg.html

- general information and specs:
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_30cal_MG.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_gun
http://world.guns.ru/machine/usa/lewis-e.html
http://www.allworldwars.com/Lewis-Au...-Gun-1916.html
http://www.canadaatwar.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=2651
http://www.canadiansoldiers.com/weap...s/lewisgun.htm

- scanned manuals:
http://www.fenrir.com/free_stuff/lewis/index.htm#index
http://www.forgottenweapons.com/ligh...t-machine-gun/


For WWII nations and ensigns:

- Sovereign states by year (+ Non-Sovereign Territories):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_o...states_by_year

- historical ensigns:
http://www.fotw.us/
http://www.rbvex.it/
+ various wikipedia articles


For vessels hit by u-boats during WWII:

- hit ships database:
http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/
http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/warships.html
http://uboat.net/allies/warships/war_losses.html
http://home.comcast.net/~cshortridge/site/

- sunk ship specs:
http://www.wrecksite.eu/

- historical house flags of the main world shipping companies:
http://www.fotw.us/
(I am still looking for a good reference for funnel markings, any help by the communiy much appreciated)

- WWII convoys (including escorts):
http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/

P.S: I forgot to mention that I am also taking note of the goods transported on each ship (grouped by categories, i.e: "war supplies", "produce", "general cargo", "bulk cargo", "combustibles", etc.). Rongel might be interested into this

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

If you can manage the tinkling sound of the brass hitting the deck it will be 'your finest hour' many thanks in advance.

We can give each gun its distinguishing sound, if it is that what you mean. The stock game only features two or three muzzle flash sounds IIRC

[Targor Avelany]

Originally Posted by gap

I suppose you want to finish your model by yourlsef, and I won't take away from you the pleasure of doing it, but keep me informed anyway in case you need for help with any of the above tasks.

Re. poly reduction, have you tried using Softimage Mod Tool? Its Polygon Reduction tool is quite powerful. It lets you to customize many options, rendering the results on screen in real time

Yeah, I definitely enjoy it The main reason why I'm working on it by myself is that I need as much practice in modeling as possible. And you can't get it if you don't model.

Originally Posted by Trevally.

Thanks for the update Targor
Take your time

Thank you, Trevally
I'm just trying to make a good bake for normal map with as low amount of polys/verts as possible.


I'm close to being done. Texturing itself is nothing special and easy. It is the UV coordinates and the normal map that I'm currently fighting.

[ET2(SS) Pallak]

My secondary objectives, marked by the yellow icon, given when a mission is selected in the bunker, i.e. "Patrol the specified area", do not actually show the area to be patrolled. In vanilla sh5, these areas were highlighted by a striped gray circle, but this is now gone.

Do these objective work like the "Patrol within 108 nm of designated area" missions in sh4? If so, how close to the objective marker do i have to be, and for how long?

Or am I looking to sink tonnage in these areas? I ask because one went away when I sunk half of a large convoy while near one of these markers, which also completed the main mission objective. So i guess I don't really know whether I completed the secondary objective or it just went away while completing the main objective.

Also, is there any rule of thumb for estimating how much tonnage needs to sunk to complete objectives, because it doesn't list it any more?

My apologies if this has already been covered, I could not find any posts about the objectives that were very specific. (Or maybe not specific enough for a ex nuke like me. Ha!)

BTW, great work by everyone who authors and contributes to these mods. This mod community takes barely playable, incomplete games and turns them into completely immersive masterpieces. Honestly, I don't know why UBISOFT doesn't hire you guys to make their games actually good to start with.


My mod list: (in case im having these issues due to incompatibiliy...)

Accurate German Flags
BMD BG VID
SteelViking's Interior v1.2
SteelViking's Interior v1.2.2 Patch
Equipment Upgrades Fix 1.4 by the beast
Equipment Upgrades Fix 1.4 Patch 1
Equipment Upgrades Fix 1.4 Patch 1 hotfix
EUF_UBoat_FX v0_0_3 by th ebeast
AI sub crew 1_0_2 by TDW
NewUIs_TDC_7_4_2 by TDW
Manos Scopes-patch for 16x9
IRAI_0_0_39 by TDW
R.E.M. by xrundel the beast 1.2
Reworked Morale and Abilities v.1.1
MightyFine Crew Mod 1.2.1 Alt faces
MCCD_1.04_MFCM_1.2.1_compatable
Speech fixes and additions(english version)
OPEN HORIZONS II_full v2.2
Sobers Terrain fix for OH2 v2.2
NOZAURIO'S SKIN (Standard No Emblem) v-1.1.0
TheDarkWraith_DC_Water_Disturbances_2_0_SH5
gap - Alternative Cursors & KM Map Tools v2 - 1. Base Mod
gap - Alternative Cursors & KM Map Tools v2 - 3. Shadowed Cursors

[gap]

Originally Posted by Targor Avelany

Yeah, I definitely enjoy it The main reason why I'm working on it by myself is that I need as much practice in modeling as possible. And you can't get it if you don't model.

I give you a couple of additional reasons for you to keep on your good work: there are not enough 3d modellers focusing on SH5, and the models you have been working on so far, are of outstanding quality

Read my offer of assistance as a sort of moral support more than anything else, but don't forget that I am still in debt with you for all your help on the balloon model

[Targor Avelany]

Originally Posted by gap

I give you a couple of additional reasons for you to keep on your good work: there are not enough 3d modellers focusing on SH5, and the models you have been working on so far, are of outstanding quality

Read my offer of assistance as a sort of moral support more than anything else, but don't forget that I am still in debt with you for all your help on the balloon model

And I appreciate all the support, gap
And believe me, if I can't figure something out - I will ask

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by ET2(SS) Pallak

My secondary objectives, marked by the yellow icon, given when a mission is selected in the bunker, i.e. "Patrol the specified area", do not actually show the area to be patrolled. In vanilla sh5, these areas were highlighted by a striped gray circle, but this is now gone.

Do these objective work like the "Patrol within 108 nm of designated area" missions in sh4? If so, how close to the objective marker do i have to be, and for how long?

Or am I looking to sink tonnage in these areas? I ask because one went away when I sunk half of a large convoy while near one of these markers, which also completed the main mission objective. My apologies if this has already been covered, I could not find any posts about the objectives that were very specific.

You're pretty much on it already; I get within 40 (a 1600 sq. mi. area!)miles of the objective flag and set up a submerged cruise at one knot to allow Benno to do his thing in addition to a 'hidden enemy' report; or sit still (submerged)and really increase the sonar range(100 for convoys/25 for singles) anything sunk will fulfill the objective. The Kapitän's log will reflect mission fulfillment. No need to apologize for asking...that's what its all about! And welcome aboard formally on yer second post...we seem to have missed ya' the first time Herr Kaleun!

[gap]

Originally Posted by Targor Avelany

And I appreciate all the support, gap
And believe me, if I can't figure something out - I will ask

@ gap,
There's the MG 34 I did in the downloads section your are welcome to use if you wish.



It includes the AO mapping also if I recall right.


I still have the 12 pounder also. I was never happy with the texture as useing a mouse to do it was a pain!
So I'm ordering a Graphics Tablet to do better texture work.


It's a VT Realm and I've seen good reviews on it.

[ET2(SS) Pallak]

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

You're pretty much on it already; I get within 40 (a 1600 sq. mi. area!)miles of the objective flag and set up a submerged cruise at one knot to allow Benno to do his thing in addition to a 'hidden enemy' report; or sit still (submerged)and really increase the sonar range(100 for convoys/25 for singles) anything sunk will fulfill the objective. The Kapitän's log will reflect mission fulfillment. No need to apologize for asking...that's what its all about! And welcome aboard formally on yer second post...we seem to have missed ya' the first time Herr Kaleun!

Thanks Aktungbby. It's always easier to complete an objective when you know what it is.

Thank you for the welcome. Good hunting!

[gap]

Originally Posted by privateer

@ gap,
There's the MG 34 I did in the downloads section your are welcome to use if you wish.

It includes the AO mapping also if I recall right.

Wow awesome model

I have just had a look into it, and yes, it comes with a self illumination map. I like especially the work you have done on the diffuse map: makes the model to look much more detailed than it actually is.

On a side note: why didn't you make it serviceable? Given the current granny format limits I doubt we can create working playable gus in SH5 (I am more positive about AI guns, as they don't seem to contain animation data), but I alway thought that things were easier for SHIII.

Originally Posted by privateer

I still have the 12 pounder also. I was never happy with the texture as useing a mouse to do it was a pain!
So I'm ordering a Graphics Tablet to do better texture work.


It's a VT Realm and I've seen good reviews on it.

Never had one (I wish I had though): all my graphis works are done my pointing and clicking, and my right index got a "loser graphic designer's bumb"

They could be made playable in SH3 and SH4. I just have no desire to follow through on that at this time.


I'd think it could be done in SH5 at some point in time.


I just don't have the time to do as much as I did in the past.
I'm more a thinker and find tricks and what might work kind of Guy now.

Just like the animations stuff. I figure out what's going on, explain it, then move on as once I know what's what and why?
It bores me.