Oolite Bulletins

Wolfwood wrote:

Not really knowing what the original writer meant, but I think "internal glow" would really require support for transparent textures - you could make the texture slightly transparent (or some parts more transparent than others) and then place a light source inside the model and, voila, internal glow is here! :)

Oh, only that… a complete rewrite of every part of the graphics engine, in other words. (Light sources don’t come cheap; Oolite currently uses exactly one at any given time.)

Wayhay! I notice that the oxp file has been downloaded 31 times! Thanks for your interest, and I hope you are enjoying the show.

Cobra 3 was nearly done, but I went over the top and made it about 600 polys. Oops. Redoing it now.

Make that 32! Wooow!

Just had a look at them on Demoships! Off to cause some trouble to see them in the wild!

Only sugestion. Could you change the keys and .dat names to replace the native ones?

I agree with the idea of keeping the basic game low spec so anybody can enjoy Oolite regardless of their system's power. But this is an OXP, so the player has a choice whether to install it. And I'd like all the classic elite ships I encounter to look this good!

I could make a separate install that would replace the original files. Mind you, it's easy enough to do that yourself. Just copy the dat and texture files into the main app's models folder then edit the shipdata.plist to point to the new models.

By the way, work on the team has been a bit slack the last few days - some hacker blitzed all of my sites and I've been working like a bugger to get it all fixed and try to secure it a bit better. As a result my Elite site (Before the Frontier) has ben totally redeveloped. Check it at http://hughesd.co.uk/elite if you're curious. Add to that the fact that things at work have become a bit hectic too, and I haven't had a lot of time for the old models. The Cobra 3 is nearly ready and just needs textured, I've drawn a nice Adder to be printed out as a paper model, and I'm going to try and learn Java in an attempt to do a version of Elite for mobile phones.

Ah, the quiet life.

Selezen wrote:

I'm going to try and learn Java in an attempt to do a version of Elite for mobile phones.

Mobile Elite? Cool!

Captain Hesperus

Don't get too excited. I'm calling it Dreamware at the moment, because the whole idea is a bit ambitious.

3D models are the priority for any Elite developments these days though.

Selezen wrote:

I'm going to try and learn Java in an attempt to do a version of Elite for mobile phones.

Careful, we don't want to upset the breadbin!

I won't - I don't intend to ask for any money for it.

Selezen wrote:

I won't - I don't intend to ask for any money for it.

Have you got something in your eye?

Great work so far.

Are there any plans to do the ArcElite ships as well, or will this only cover the standard Elite ships?

I'm concentrating on the standard ships for the moment, but once they are done I might look at the other popular ships like the Wolf and the ArcElite ships.

P.S. Now texturing the Cobra 3 when I get a chance - work and home have gone a bit hectic, but work is continuing slowly... I'm actually not 100% happy with the model but I'll show it here and see what you guys think soon...

Arise from the dead, ye topic!

It took a while, but the Cobra 3 is done. I abandoned two versions cos they looked crap, then worked out that with the Cobra, less is more.

I settled on basically very few changes...ah, look for yerself...

Superb as usual, WD. I quite agree that less is more in this case

This is possibly the best model so far - although the previous ones were awesome, on this case I can even 'see' that bottom gangplank extended...
As for the cockpit, there's yet another achievement. The full body advanced piloting position should give a spectacular view of the starry backdrop, even though it may be somewhat vulnerable to collisions and laser fire. Still, a secondary command or a thick collapsible blast shield would solve, or at least minimize the problem.

And here it is in-game:



So what have I done to it? Well, there are two versions, with slightly different textures (as there are two variants in Oolite already). Only one is player-usable.

The model has a new hi-vis cockpit area, integrated fuel/cargo scoop area, recessed laser mounting and planed and flared underside. It has protective rims on the engines too. the mnodel has been squished a little in the Y axis to give a leaner, meaner profile.

Other than that, the stats for it are exactly the same as the standard versions.