[WIP] Ship Silhouettes - Modder's Resource

[Jeff-Groves]

At one time, I had a program that you could use to set the XYZ of an object file as you wanted it.
I may have even been the one that wrote the program I used.
Been so long I don't remember.

I just got use to the way objects are exported then import to Max that it's just automatic to me.

As an example of things I don't think about?
Doing work on SH3 objects, one needs to flip the TGA on a horizontal axis to show properly when UV mapping things in Max.

I can also fool S3D when importing objects with AO mapping that throws an error of wrong faces count. But I've been doing this for WAY TOO MANY years!


The Object file is just a text file. So one CAN do what they want provided you understand it!

[DanielCoffey]

I am struggling to get an embedded texture out of a DAT. The one I am looking for is...NSS_AI_Uboat9D2_Turm_T01.tga and it is supposed to be in Data \ Objects \ Turm_AI_9d2_1.dat.


I can see Node 75 which has the correct name but there doesn't seem to be any way to export the texture. How do I get it out?


Oh, and has anyone ever sanity checked the number of triangles in the models? The Uboat5d2 has well over quarter of a million triangles (and that is only counting parts above the waterline - I left the planes, rudder and propeller off as they are not needed for a silhouette)... WAY more than really needed.

[Jeff-Groves]

data-textures-TNormal-tex folder

[DanielCoffey]

Got it, thanks. I had been searching for the TGA but the folder held the DDS so I missed it.

[propbeanie]

Originally Posted by DanielCoffey

... Oh, and has anyone ever sanity checked the number of triangles in the models? The Uboat5d2 has well over quarter of a million triangles (and that is only counting parts above the waterline - I left the planes, rudder and propeller off as they are not needed for a silhouette)... WAY more than really needed.

Ah-Haa!!! that explains the hitch when displaying in the Museum... I wonder how much that affects the game... ??

btw, thanks DanielCoffey to doing this project. Besides generating some much needed sil files that everyone has been afraid to touch, we are finding issues with ships since you are doing your work this way!

[DanielCoffey]

That Uboat even has grilles and non-slip cutouts in the deck modelled in the mesh. Normally that sort of thing would be handled in the textures. There are even speaking tubes with curved pipes fully modelled.


I think most Merchantmen come in at 20-30k triangles but the subs seem to be MUCH higher. I have encountered it in the Uboat and the NSS_A1 so far.


I also discovered the NSS_A1 was inside out like the W-19 and the last NCVS carrier but at least i know what to do now (although it does waste a lot of time).

[propbeanie]

My guess is that since most, if not all of the AI subs are made from Human-Playable vessels, that is the reason behind all of the detail on them. I would most likely entail more than it is worth to "fix".

[DanielCoffey]

I am not familiar with how the whole process of exporting from objects from S3D, putting them through a tool such as 3D Max or Blender then re-importing the model into S3D without losing position and properties is but the actual simplification of an object (in Blender at least) is very simple.


In the case of Blender it simply requires an object to be Imported, change to Edit mode, apply a Decimate modifier to the entire OBJ and drop the ratio down to somewhere around 10-20% of the original then re-exporting the OBJ.


The trick will probably be preserving orientation and texture mapping and I don't really know enough about Blender to understand the nuances.

[propbeanie]

You ain't the only one brother! you probably know 100 times more than I do in that realm!

[DanielCoffey]

I am working my way through the IJN surface submarines and have a couple of questions about their silhouettes.

Several of the vessels have a float plane available to them and the old silhouettes show the plane assembled out of its hangar and on the fore deck. How often was this done because I would assume the subs would run on the surface without the float plane on deck. I am considering making the silhouettes with just the guns and conning tower visible.

Next, with subs running on the surface, are the periscopes visible on the model of the conning tower or are they fully retracted?

Finally I have a time-saving tip for folks using Blender who encounter the dreaded "object is inside out" problem when exporting objects from S3D. There is a simple tool to sort that out with a single operation without having to exit Blender.

Select the offending object then click Edit Mode - Mesh - Normals - Reset Vectors.

I did try the "Flip" and "Recalculate Outside" tools first but they didn't seem to help.

This gets round the problem of exporting all the parts of a model, putting them into place and then discovering that you should have deselected Flip Face Winding back when you were exporting from S3D. No more time wasting!

[propbeanie]

Try this for their images:

FotRSU_Subs.7z

which has a pdf inside, recently revised

I would say to leave the airplanes off of the four IJN subs, even though that is the way the player will "normally" encounter them, but that is planned to change in the near future... given time, of course... If there is a way to "draw" them in a little side-box to signify that they can launch planes, fantastic, but not necessary...

[DanielCoffey]

Cheers - I do need to add some of the conning sensors then but that should be simple enough. There were the odd "material not found" errors when trying to export the sensors but I will try to build up a list.

[propbeanie]

Some of them might be in the Texture folders...

[DanielCoffey]

A choice for the Sub Carriers such as the A1...




or



Thoughts?

[s7rikeback]

Originally Posted by DanielCoffey

A choice for the Sub Carriers such as the A1...




or



Thoughts?

Number two get my thumbs up..