Oolite Bulletins

Simon B wrote:

These are good comments - questioning my assumptions is important.

Thanks! I feel like I complain a lot and do not produce anything, so I am happy to hear that the complaining is at least useful .

best wishes,
Oscar

SB: The archive on your site doesn't have the newer models in it. The FDL is NOT THERE!

Will you be including it in the archive at some point?

Adder [done] - other colors?
Anaconda [done] - turreted version?
Asp [done]
Asp-cloaked [done]
Constrictor [done]
Fer de Lance [final model before the board]
Gecko [done]
Krait [done]
Mamba
- std [done]
- escort [in the paint shop]
Python
- std [done]
-blackdog [done]
-player [done]
Shuttle [done]
Sidewinder
- std [finishing painting]
-escort [to be painted]
Viper
- std [done]
- interceptor [done]
- pursuit [done]

Need Work:
Boa (+ skiff) [done - need skiff script]
Escape capsule [in progress]
Transporter
- std [in progress]
- miner [in progress
Worm
- std [concept done - not finalized]
- miner

Still Coming:
Boa-mk2
Cobra 3
- alternate
- pirate
- trader
Cobra mk1
- std
- alt
- miner
Moray Star Boat
Moray Medical Boat

So I'm actually more than half way through the ships.

Not Canon - but interesting
Viper Renegade
Namu Patrolcraft
- std
- flight leader
Salamander

Oh .. and that gun model.

Do we want to see the Oldships oxp also converted?
As an expansion pack or included?
(I'll draw the line at doing any other oxps, but I'll help people who want to convert theirs... the very large number of oxps based on the standard ships will be the main trouble with neolite ships becoming the standard build.)

Stations - dockable objects - there are already lots of good ones.
HUDs - is the standard fine, or do we want to have a special collection?

Other objects? I think the asteroids are fine with the asteroid-storm oxp. What did I miss?

Right - lets get those ships done:

In the current oxp (today) is all the discussed ships except the FDL CM1 and the latest sidewinder (the salamander model is there instead - scarecrow wanted a look at the sidewinder skin, so I'm dying to see what he makes of it. Probably will put the obj through maya and increase the poly count by an order of magnitude!)

Selezen wrote:

SB: The archive on your site doesn't have the newer models in it. The FDL is NOT THERE!

Will you be including it in the archive at some point?

I can, I will, I'm putting the obj-only archive together as you read this.
Anyone who wants a model, like now, can squirt me a PM with their email and I'll send them one.

The rookspook did this and we've been happily trading models.

I have that little man - weeee... now I can make an ejector seat model (maybe some alien ones too?)

But right now the FDL does not exist as an obj file. I'm doing a hi-res texture for the smoothed body. (Well, it's special!)

Simon B wrote:

Do we want to see the Oldships oxp also converted?
As an expansion pack or included?

For me, included would be fine...but I'm already very happy to see what you've done already!!!

Simon B wrote:

What did I miss?

Have you ever encountered the Cougar on C64? From some viewpoints, the cat model looks similar, but it isn't properly resembling it. I'd like to see what you would do with that ship!

The bad thing is, that I only have photos from distance, the closeups were lost when I gave my schoolbooks back My mother gave me pretty many negatives of my images before she died and I've been looking them through, but I haven't found any of the Cougar-shots yet. I'm afraid they are somewhere between her many other negatives. Maybe someone else has a better image of that ship?

I tried google image search, but it has the same bug as google: it uses OR instead of AND for searches, thus every additional search term increases the result size instead of reducing it. 90K images are a bit too much to browse through

Anyway...if I read your webpage correctly, you're not single. Hope you don't get into trouble for "spending too much time on modelling"! I'd rather have fewer ships than you getting into trouble because of trying to make all of us happy!

Screet

Hi Simon, I'll be a bit freer in a week and a halfs time, if when you're satisfied with the textures I would gladly rust them up if someone does decide to follow that up, here's an example of one of the sleds I fiddled with..

She looks grand in space!

EDIT Actually is it just a case of replacing the models? I can do that, I feel like I'm missing out sitting on the sides of all this activity

ZygoUgo wrote:

Hi Simon, I'll be a bit freer in a week and a halfs time, if when you're satisfied with the textures I would gladly rust them up if someone does decide to follow that up,

[snip] is it just a case of replacing the models? I can do that, I feel like I'm missing out sitting on the sides of all this activity :D

There is a rusty-ships oxp so there would be no coding to do - just swapping the Models and Textures folder over, and adding your rust to, or instead of, the existing textures.

Following the "preloved" feel, perhaps a script could make the (to be added) lights flicker a bit - like failing neon?

Feel free to experiment with the ships and textures as they get posted.

Screet wrote:

Simon B wrote:

I tried google image search, but it has the same bug as google: it uses OR instead of AND for searches, thus every additional search term increases the result size instead of reducing it. 90K images are a bit too much to browse through :(

Advanced search allows you to search for pages which contain all the words.

eg.
35,700,000 for elite
89,200 for elite commodor
12,200 for elite commodor cougar
126 for elite commodor cougar screenshot
... none are the shot you want.

Ooohhh... must.... share.... link....
http://www.x-speed.de/computer/elite/commodore64.html
... you want to see how far the game has come?

Anyway...if I read your webpage correctly, you're not single. Hope you don't get into trouble for "spending too much time on modelling"! I'd rather have fewer ships than you getting into trouble because of trying to make all of us happy!

My Wife (note caps) and I have an understanding - I turn up for meals and bedtimes, and I don't get poked ... often.

Simon B wrote:

There is a rusty-ships oxp so there would be no coding to do - just swapping the Models and Textures folder over, and adding your rust to, or instead of, the existing textures.

Following the "preloved" feel, perhaps a script could make the (to be added) lights flicker a bit - like failing neon?

Feel free to experiment with the ships and textures as they get posted.

You don't even need new models, just new textures and a little bit of coding in the shipdata.plist. That's exactly the trick I used in Second Wave (except I changed the AIs there too, but that's not necessary in this case).

I palyed the C64 version for all my teenage life and I don't remember encountering the Cougar until my Amiga Elite days...

However, Amiga Elite Cougar does not throw anything more helpful up in either Google, Yahoo or Ask - although "Destroy Cougar" was one of the cheat codes in the Amiga version!

Thargoid wrote:

You don't even need new models, just new textures and a little bit of coding in the shipdata.plist. That's exactly the trick I used in Second Wave (except I changed the AIs there too, but that's not necessary in this case).

However - for backwards compatability, it is useful to have a dat file for each skin. They are not very big.

BTW: The sidewinder and FDL models are available in a neolite concepts archive (fingers crossed).

Fer de Lance
Final version - not counting tweeks. (I already have 5 screenshots ... perhaps I should see about someone else hosting these pics...?)



For clarification - the "nacelles" are lower-hull extensions enclosing the engines and quirium containment. This allows good access to all engine components in situ just by removing hull-plates.

The big holes in the front are ram-scoops - the FDL has quite good energy recharge and this is (partly) why. The vanes can be closed off - and they are designed to work with the regular fuel-scoop modification.

The drive itself is quite small, in the bulge at the aft end.

The sockets in the nose (3 - count em) are weapons and instrument mounts.

The dark panels on the back are heat exchangers - overheating is, paradoxically, a concern in space. This is also the reason for the exposed components behind a grill on the engine enclosures.

The CEO wanted a closer look - so we suited up and stepped outside. Here's a snap of our CEO getting minor radiation burns through his faceplate as he inspects a scoop.

Very nice, Simon.

Especially like the EVA picture!

Captain Hesperus

Simon B wrote:

Advanced search allows you to search for pages which contain all the words.

eg.
35,700,000 for elite
89,200 for elite commodor
12,200 for elite commodor cougar
126 for elite commodor cougar screenshot
... none are the shot you want.

Yeah, I've tried such things too...and always the amount of results increases, which says they use OR instead of AND, regardless what they say. For "elite cougar" I get several K images and 1,5million websites. If that problem doesn't exist for you, maybe it's because I live in germany and google uses different search in different places of the world?

Concerning that link, yeah that brings memories back. On the Atari ST I took an image editor and changed the colors as well as the drawing of the main view (to what I knew from C64).

Simon B wrote:

My Wife (note caps) and I have an understanding - I turn up for meals and bedtimes, and I don't get poked ... often.

Now that's good! I was engaged some years ago, but luckily I noticed the upcoming trouble in time. Poor guy who has now to deal with her...but it took quite some time to get over it, although the problems were immense before.

Screet

Simon B wrote:

The CEO wanted a closer look - so we suited up and stepped outside. Here's a snap of our CEO getting minor radiation burns through his faceplate as he inspects a scoop.

That is a great way of giving people an idea of relative ship size. This is you.....This is you next to a cobby mk2...... ain't you small?