Oolite Bulletins

So do I Dizzy, I 'd hate to have made it just for myself

Since I am adding subentities, I might as well go for destructable ones like Eric's version of Griff's Krait. (http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Griff_Krait)

I'll post some pictures within a few days.

Ta

Some good news.. (hat-tip to Zireael, for finding and linking it)

Zireael wrote:

A few things I've noticed:
1) using [E:D's] assets/ideas for non-commercial projects is allowed provided they are attributed.

Details:
http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5349


This should also apply to the recent set of alternate E:D BGS backgrounds that were posted.. with appropriate attribution, it should be ok to release, according to the above.

TBH having read that linked thread I don't remember seeing anything about lifting material from the E:D game for use in other games, so I would still urge caution. The impression I got was they were OK-ing use of images (eg screenshots or even Frontier Dev commercial artwork) or text etc in the context of fan-sites, blogs etc.
Things like the screen backgrounds might be OK, but modeling ships/stations etc should still be viewed as controversial, unless as discussed elsewhere the E:D version could be inspirational, but the final product sufficiently different as to clearly be a different object.

I believe dertien's already said that the E:D station is only to be an inspiration, not a wholesale lift.

Yes he has, very wisely. I felt it convenient to mention the principle here, though, as I get the sense that this document is being viewed as permitting a free-for-all on using Fontier's stuff, and I don't think it is that at all.

<nods>

<speaks with the voice of Darth Vader> See to it personally commander, there will be no one to stop us now...

Zireael is indeed the powerful expert, as the Emperor has forseen, and maybe he now too can share a more optimistic appraisal of the situation



Dizzy, thanks for sharing and indeed hat tip to Zireael for linking it; Let's not start bickering or splitting hairs again here, as I said, I will send FD an email, with screenshots of the station (first in its unaltered state) and see what they have to say. Since I am a firm believer of giving credit where due, I was going to add them to the credits list in the readme file even before this tirade started. The difference is that I now know what to write in the readme.

Then there are three options following this email:

1:) Either they don't give a toss about it, and will not reply, which will be viewed by me as an approval from them to release it, which I will. (putting a disclaimer to remove it at their wish) which is more than reasonable since the station creation idea is taken from the Orbis, but the intellectual property is mine. (see scifimeshes.com where people model Millenium Falcons to sell these models for their OWN profit and do not get bothered by lawyers)
2:) They respond with the fact that they are ok with it, then see point above.
3:) They respond and deny the release (unless I change it that much, that it differs enough from the Orbis, visually distinguishing mine from theirs.

However, I would like that their decision and letters will be stickied here somewhere on the forum as a future reference for anyone who wishes to use ED's fan fiction as an inspirational for their work and release it in Oolite.

As a message to any other doomsday scenario speculators about ED closing down Oolite; I refer to Disembodied's post earlier, which exactly reflects my idea on the matter, he only used a more colorful tone to get his point across.

[thumbs up]

More detail is added to the Cobra:



1. Detailed view of the bottom with UOD (Universal Ordnance Dispenser aka missile launcher), the STB landing/take-off thruster and the main cargo lift. In the background the LT-O thruster for the installed large cargo bay.
2. Stb and Prt shield boosters
3. Cockpit view with deployed gimballed pulse lasers (yes, with rotating nozzles), Adv. Nav array and Passenger Berth module, followed by 2 empty slots for additional equipment.
4. Same as above but facing forward.
5. General top view
6. General bottom view.

Updated post on first page,

Enjoy.

Love the pics, waiting for more like this (so far only this and a version of Krait have detailed systems).

dertien wrote:

Updated post on first page,

Enjoy.

Wow!

Wow indeed.

Of course it seems wrong to only have one awesomely detailed ship

Question: assuming all ships could be giving this level of loving detail, how much would that up the processor requirements?

mossfoot wrote:

Wow indeed.

Of course it seems wrong to only have one awesomely detailed ship

Question: assuming all ships could be giving this level of loving detail, how much would that up the processor requirements?

Dunno, I assume it would be an OXP(s) and I've ran several ships with subentities with no problems.

Thank you gentlemen,

About processor requirements, I am not really sure, and since I am running Oolite on a pretty heavy machine, I am not really the one suited to benchmark framerates. I have however dissasembled the ship (and some of the hi-poly subentities) so I could reuse them on future upcoming ships and significantly reducing the time required to make a detailed ship. I modeled this Cobra off of the BBS pack one. Needless to say that reusing even 1 simple subentity made of 10 polys on port and starboard wing on 30 ships will reduce the poly per ship significantly. 10 Poly's x 2 x 30 = 600 Polys - 10 Polys = 590 polys saved per 1 x spawning of every ship in the game.

This would basically mean that every ship would have a unique hull, rear side and cockpit but that the equipment subentities would be frangible, and some of the detail subentities you would find on all ships (like the docking hook and the shieldgenerator housing to just name two) would not be frangible.

I am now in the process of deconstructing the Cobra to a less polyhungry mesh, and seperating the detail-subentities. Some could be reused on all ships, and others (like the engine exhausts are modeled symmetrically in order to just having to load one dat file into Oolite and rotating the other 90°. Some exhausts could even be reused twice on different ships if possible.

Some screenshots of the wip here: (note the polycount of the basic hull and the detached subents)



Also something to keep into account. Since I will be using Griff's BBS shader, the texturesize in kb will be practically nil.

Rest assured that I am really thinking about all you players out there with more basic machines..., I can only do so much however.

And finally to tease you all, some early ingame screenshots before the "cut":



Later