===[COMMITTED]=== Mauryan light & medium Warships

[Enrique]

Nice, keep it going

I like those horns, nice idea, we should add them to the three sail version also

[Pureon]

Looking good so far!

[Lion.Kanzen]

Nice, keep it going

I like those horns, nice idea, we should add them to the three sail version also

Thanks to Lilstewie for the Horns.

[Gen.Kenobi]

It would be awesome if you could add a few more poligons to the sails or smoth them - if they aren't already smoothed, because with the new shader material it looks square-ish:

Not sure it this was an issue with the old shaders too, but... anyways, if you guys feel that that's okay, I'm fine with it the way it is

It's just happening mostly with the sun around 12'o clock.

[Lion.Kanzen]

its texture border, check it in https://www.dropbox.com/s/jstrkyfyb0j8sq8/mauryan-LargeBoat.png

[Gen.Kenobi]

I dont think so.

I believe it's a mesh issue, since the new shaders doesnt really affect the shadows...Not in that way, anyways...

[Zaggy1024]

It would be awesome if you could add a few more poligons to the sails or smoth them - if they aren't already smoothed, because with the new shader material it looks square-ish:

Not sure it this was an issue with the old shaders too, but... anyways, if you guys feel that that's okay, I'm fine with it the way it is

It's just happening mostly with the sun around 12'o clock.

That appears to be because he forgot to set those faces smooth.

[Enrique]

I'm not sure what you guys mean. If you are referring to shadow artifacts (like sawing shadows) that's probably lack of polygons, and can be caused due to sun's position.

If you refer to the black line along the sails from top to bottom, that could be 1. the shadow of the rope going from the top of the mast, 2.- The black pixels outside the margin of the sail textures "bleed" inside the UV islands and shows the black line (I think it's both)

This second case is more visible when zoomed out. I'll take a look at it when scaling the three sail boat up.

[Gen.Kenobi]

That appears to be because he forgot to set those faces smooth.

My thought exactly

[Lion.Kanzen]

Thein first Sail the symbol is weird. i suggest use a non Geometrical for that.

[ndragu]

Probably the sail needs more geometry and to be on the safe side the texture needs some padding (on top of the 2 pixel padding it already has). I'll take care of it

[ndragu]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/e96orfydl4g7v56/mauryan-LargeBoat-2.zip

I tweaked the texture for the large boat by adding more padding to remove bleeding. I also added a bit more geometry to the sails to remove that awkward shading. The collada file contains the texture and the model with the proprs.

@Enrique: I think I figured out why the pivot of the model changes upon exporting. It seems that whenever I export the main mesh (in this case the boat) along with those prop points (helpers), the pivot point assumes the average position of the boat and the helpers. That's why the water appears above the hull when you import it in the game engine. At this point I don't know how to prevent the pivot point to move when exporting, but I'll try to find a solution.

-nick

[ndragu]

As for the smaller boat, I'm not sure what's wrong with it. It should have smoothing groups and shade correctly. I just looked at my model in 3ds max and it's fine. Perhaps there's something in the collada export options that is causing this. I'll look into it and come back later with any updates

[ndragu]

Here's a small update for the two sail boat. Texture size is 256x256

[Enrique]

Nice start Ndragu.

I don't know if it's the camera angle but the ship looks too wide now. I imagine the warships being narrower and the merchant ship about the wide of your last picture.

Another thing is that I think the deck should be a little lower, it looks too close to the edge of the ship now.

Keep it up!

[ndragu]

The boat is just shorter now, that's why it looks wide, but I'll make it slightly narrower and I'll lower the deck

-nick

[ndragu]

Here's the boat with the two changes: slightly narrower and lower deck

[Enrique]

Hello Ndragu,

Sorry for replying so late. I've updated the warship with your last model and replaced with the texture you provided. I've scaled the ship to fit other's triremes scales. The shadow thing in the sails is fixed It's looking good.

Please proceed finishing details with this light warship and let's get it in-game!

[ndragu]

Thanks Enrique,

I made some small changes, but nothing major overall. I focused mainly on the texture, making it less noisy in some places and I reduced the triangle count slightly to ~1300.

-nick

[Enrique]

Nice. I'm just going to ask to fix the interior hull (the texture looks too low-res compared with the outside) and put the shields along the sides of the deck. After that I think it's ready to be zipped and posted

[ndragu]

Ok, thanks for the feedback. I'll post an update tomorrow morning

[ndragu]

I tried making the texture a bit sharper in some places, especially the hull area, but I can't tell if it looks better than before. The texture size is 256x256 so it's hard to make everything look sharp and clean.

[Enrique]

Ok, don't worry

I think it looks good enough! Zip it up and let's add it to the game!

(remember to add a file with the props names to make the process easier please )

[ndragu]

Here's the file: https://www.dropbox....mBoat-2sail.zip

It has the collada file, the texture with player color and a txt file with the prop names. Unfortunately, I don't know how to make the pivot point of the boat to stay the same when exporting. It always assumes the average distance between the boat and the prop points, thus probably making the water go above the boat's deck. Also, the scale of the boat is off. Sorry about that, I'm not sure how to fix those issues.

-nick

edit- also, is there anything else that needs to be modeled in the meantime? I looked a bit through the forum, but it seems that every task is taken care of by somebody.

Edited February 25, 2013 by ndragu

[Enrique]

Hello Ndragu!

I'm in the process of getting your new ship into the game. The ship it's centered! but a little below the waterplane. Easy fix

I'm scaling it like other light warships. I'll post in-game screens soon and mention problems if any

Regarding your next task... I've asked paperkat about the status of the merchant ship. He hasn't posted in a while and maybe he has no fee time to finish it. It would be great if he can post his model and if you're ok with it, you could texture it. I think there aren't any more high priority tasks for this alpha release (speaking of modelling).

-In the meantime you can try your hand at unit texturing if you're in the mood

-If you prefer modelling, you can try some non-priority tasks like a generic african mini-faction. (see last spoiler of this first post http://www.wildfiregames.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=16220)

-Or if you prefer other tasks than texture/model you could make some research about the next official faction: Ptolemies. Finding references, information, sketching, drawing some concepts...