[Release] gsagostinho's Cobra Mk. IV

[gsagostinho]

gsagostinho's Cobra Mk. IV
=====================================

Version: 1.5
Required Oolite Version: 1.80
Author: Gilberto Agostinho (gsagostinho), Griff
Credits: based on Griff's Cobra Mk. III Alternative model. See Griff's original credits below.
License: CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0

About
=====

The Cobra Mk. IV is the successor of the extremely popular Cobra Mk. III. This is the heavier of all Cobra ships, and a fine choice for a trader due to its increased cargo capacity, larger energy banks as well as faster energy recharge rate, all of which should make up for its somewhat slower velocity and manoeuvring speeds. This ship is available for both the player and the NPCs. This work is based on Griff's Cobra Mk. III Alternative model.

I recommend NOT using Griff's original Cobra Mk. III Alt OXP, so that this alternative model is only used as the Cobra Mk. IV, making this ship visually different than any Mk. III (though there is of course no conflict between these two OXPs).

Download
======

Available in the extension manager in-game.

Screenies
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Credits for the original Cobra Mk. III Alt
==========================================

Detachable subentity missile concept & script - Thargoid
Bugfixing and scripting technical help - Eric Walch
OXP testing & feedback - Cody
Models & Textures - Griff

Version history
===============

22/07/2018 - Version 1.5:
- small code improvement (thanks, phkb!).

02/12/2017 - Version 1.4:
- tweaked the ship roles.
- reformatting of shipdata.plist (thanks, Rustem!).

22/08/2017 - Version 1.3:
- added ship library entry.

09/08/2017 - Version 1.2:
- enlarged the model to 1.2x.

09/08/2017 - Version 1.1:
- fixed some typos in the README and manifest files.
- improved all textures.
- improved specular lightning.
- diminished cargo bay size to 45t (and 60t with extension).
- lowered base price to 190000 Cr.

08/08/2017 - Version 1.0:
- initial release.

[gsagostinho]

Version 1.1 is available at the extension manager, including much better textures (at least I hope so). Also:

- fixed some typos in the README and manifest files.
- improved all textures.
- improved specular lightning.
- diminished cargo bay size to 45t (and 60t with extension).
- lowered base price to 190000 Cr.

I am really looking forward to all feedback

[Griff]

these look great! really fantastic design and paint work. I love the design on the orange one, at first glance it looks a bit like a crafty pirate has painted their ship to look like a smaller one, a sidewinder or something

[gsagostinho]

Thanks a lot, Griff! Really appreciate it

I love the design on the orange one, at first glance it looks a bit like a crafty pirate has painted their ship to look like a smaller one, a sidewinder or something

Haha, that's true, did not think of that

[phkb]

These are looking really cool!

One small suggestion, though. Is the MkIV intended to be a slightly larger version of the MkIII? If so, you might consider adding this item to the shipdata.plist definitions:

Code: Select all

		model_scale_factor = 1.3; // 1.3 is noticeably larger, but 1.2 might be worth trying. At 1.1 is too fine an enlargement to notice

That way, you get a slightly larger ship, without needing any additional modelling or texturing work!

[gsagostinho]

Thanks a lot, phkb!

One small suggestion, though. Is the MkIV intended to be a slightly larger version of the MkIII? If so, you might consider adding this item to the shipdata.plist definitions:

Code: Select all

		model_scale_factor = 1.3; // 1.3 is noticeably larger, but 1.2 might be worth trying. At 1.1 is too fine an enlargement to notice

That way, you get a slightly larger ship, without needing any additional modelling or texturing work!

I think this is a very good idea. Indeed my intention was to have the Mk. IV being a bit larger than the Mk. III, large enough to explain the larger cargo, larger energy banks and slower speeds, but still being a small multi-purpose ship. I will try using a factor of 1.2 or 1.3 and see how it goes, do you know how would be the best way of comparing them?

And by the way, does anyone know how do I "measure" the ships in Oolite? I created a wiki page for this ship based on the wiki page of the Cobra Mk. III, and the first field in the righthand panel is size, measured in meters.

[Cody]

And by the way, does anyone know how do I "measure" the ships in Oolite?

I've probably misunderstood, but each ship's .dat file contains its dimensions. My Griff alt-Cobra Mk III is actually 130.500 x 30.333 x 75.139 (in metres).

[gsagostinho]

Thanks a lot Cody, that's exactly what I was looking for Wings3D has no real unit like meters, and I wasn't sure how the size of a ship gets defined in Oolite. So I will use those sizes in the wiki, and multiply them by whatever scaling factor I might use in the next release.

[Cody]

I believe the original Elite ship models were sized in feet, not metres.

[Norby]

how do I "measure" the ships in Oolite?

Gallery display sizes based on boundingBox. The size in .dat file is smaller than the real box if a ship contain external subentities, like guns or turrets.

[gsagostinho]

Thanks Norby, I will check that out as well.

[gsagostinho]

One small suggestion, though. Is the MkIV intended to be a slightly larger version of the MkIII?

So I tested some values and I think a scaling factor of 1.2x did the trick of making the ship visually larger while not making it a beast when compared to the Mk. III and Mk. I. This is how it visually compares to the Mk. III, before and after:



A new version of this OXP (version 1.2) is now available in the manager. Thanks a lot for the suggestion!

[UK_Eliter]

The graphics in this OXP look really good, judging by the screenshots. Well done. However, I have a vague feeling that some other OXP already gave us a Cobra Mark IV - or is it a recent version of Oolite (i.e. the core game) that does that?

[gsagostinho]

The graphics in this OXP look really good, judging by the screenshots. Well done.

Thanks.

However, I have a vague feeling that some other OXP already gave us a Cobra Mark IV - or is it a recent version of Oolite (i.e. the core game) that does that?

Would you happen to know which OXP is that then? I don't see any on the list of OXPs nor on the extension manager, which is why I felt free to create one. And I am quite sure that the core game does not include a Cobra Mk. IV.

[Norby]

Killer Wolf made it in Isis Interstellar as a predecessor of King Cobra. Unfortunately both KW and the official homepage are missing long time ago, moreover there is no license in the package.