My Somewhat Random Low Poly Stuff

[Amateur]

Hey all

In here, I'll be dropping in all of the assorted WIP's and whatnot as and when I do them. I've decided to flit about with modelling for a bit to get more experience with areas I feel lacking in. So, enjoy.

Oh, and I'll try to get these ships done up for A2 as well. Maybe even Homeworld down the line but I can't find my disk at the mo' .

Anyways, to start. Intrepid put me into a Trek mood yesterday for modelling, a pre-TOS mood at least. The result?

Spoiler: Conqueror Front 3/4

Spoiler: Conqueror Back

Credits to Masao Okazaki (The Starfleet Museum - Conqueror Class) for the original design and colourscheme. I though I'd try a TOS livery as well; looks pretty good I think

 

[Dan1025]

Very nice models Amatuer! I hope you'll do some Stargate material at some point, with the BSG and SW mods being worked on now we need other universes like Stargate to get some attention

Either way I look forward to whatever you put together

 

[EAS_Intrepid]

Quite good, Amateur!

I like that UFP design you did. But what is the large yellow spot for?

I think those designs are great for trying more "streamlined" shapes. I use Milkshape and more organic shapes are a pain in the butt to do with that program.

 

[Amateur]

Quite good, Amateur!

I like that UFP design you did. But what is the large yellow spot for?

I think those designs are great for trying more "streamlined" shapes. I use Milkshape and more organic shapes are a pain in the butt to do with that program.

Thank you

Well, the TOS Connie had a similar yellow spot on the underside of engineering. Needed something to fill the gap

Aye, smooth shapes can be a pain - but its good practice for low poly stuff .

Stargate ships may come soon, Dan - think I've got a couple of meshes laying about somewhere.

 

[Majestic]

Great work Amateur, looking good. I look forward to seeing more.

 

[Hellkite]

the yellow spot one the Cony is were the antimatter containment unit would eject out off the hull to prevent a warp core breach So say if the TOS manual

 

[Starfox1701]

Nice Conquer

 

[Chiletrek]

Hello:
I agree, the mesh seems very nice and the texture, while might not look as elegant as TNG hulls might, it looks like it fits the TOS era very well.

Keep it up!

 

[Amateur]

Thanks all

Another little thing. This one took all day for the simple reason that I had to keep stopping and starting (distractions, distractions!). Glad to get her finished though. Wonder if anyone can spot what universe it belongs to...

Spoiler: Piccy

 

[Terra_Inc]

Let me guess... a proto-Daedalus? SGA?

EDIT: I would wonder... if you hadn't named the picture "Stargate Ship 1"

 

[Majestic]

Thanks all Wonder if anyone can spot what universe it belongs to...

Spoiler: Piccy

Ummm, Battlestar Galactica?

Great looking ship and you've done a wonderful job on the textures.

 

[Dan1025]

Awesome stuff Amateur, great to see some of your SG stuff again

 

[swilson0907]

Thanks all

Another little thing. This one took all day for the simple reason that I had to keep stopping and starting (distractions, distractions!). Glad to get her finished though. Wonder if anyone can spot what universe it belongs to...

Spoiler: Piccy

Let me guess, Prometheus (303) from StarGate SG-1, like the one the Ori Satellite destroyed and the survivors landed in Calodonia because Ran (Rand?) was the country that did the attack.

It doesn't have the tower of the Prometheus more like a smaller off-shoot of the design a frigate or destroyer rather than a cruiser.

Hey Majestic, I was just reading the post that Amateur put in my post about StarGate mods and well reading it I starting thinking that this ship is actually different than the Prometheus (303). It might be a design before or at the same time created by the USAF. If it comes out as a completed for in game use (or even as an MS3D file) I think it will become a Frigate in for my StarGate race ingame.

 

[Majestic]

It doesn't have the tower of the Prometheus more like a smaller off-shoot of the design a frigate or destroyer rather than a cruiser.

 

[Amateur]

Thanks all

To end speculation, this was one of the possible designs for the Daedalus type (early on in the Prometheus program), which was originally envisioned to be a small support vessel rather than a flagship. Needless to say, the original idea changed, and this design was deemed unsuitable.

Fast forward to the introduction of the BC-304 line and their continued production. Despite universal co-operation (of a sort) these were large, costly endeavours that were slow to be mass produced. As a result, the old plans for this thing were taken out of storage, updated with the technology gained in that time, and put into production.

 

[swilson0907]

Thanks all

To end speculation, this was one of the possible designs for the Daedalus type (early on in the Prometheus program), which was originally envisioned to be a small support vessel rather than a flagship. Needless to say, the original idea changed, and this design was deemed unsuitable.

Fast forward to the introduction of the BC-304 line and their continued production. Despite universal co-operation (of a sort) these were large, costly endeavours that were slow to be mass produced. As a result, the old plans for this thing were taken out of storage, updated with the technology gained in that time, and put into production.

By any chance, will the ship be available for download in the future (in MS3D or as a complete game ready file)? It would possibly make a good scout or cruiser in my mod for the Ta'uri.

 

[Amateur]

By any chance, will the ship be available for download in the future (in MS3D or as a complete game ready file)? It would possibly make a good scout or cruiser in my mod for the Ta'uri.

Already sent in . I'd imagine it'll be up for download sometime in the very near future. It's game ready in as much as it'll be there and fly about; but you'll need to tweak the .odf for it to play properly.

.ms3d files is included as well, so feel free to have a play

Just a note that the next ship I'm working on is about 1/3 done. Model's sorted, and texture is in progress.

Seeing as how I like pictures:

Spoiler: Ancient Cruiser

I'm testing a new unwrapping method with this one. So far, it's made the big details easier - but we'll see how it goes. Earlier start and long day tomorrow though, so I doubt I'll get much done to it. Tuesday should see it finished however. Then I'll start another one. This is really good practice for texturing .

 

[Majestic]

Beautiful work on the Ancient cruiser Amateur. Really nicely done.

 

[Dan1025]

Indeed gorgeous work Amateur!

Really excited to see more, the A2 community is sorely in need of high quality SG material, so many mods have started and failed over the years, it's great to see something actually released

 

[Huet]

Wow, that's an amazing ancient cruiser you've done there :Y

 

[dinosaurJR]

Interesting... a new unwrapping method you say?

Is it the break up the model and take renders method (Achilles Style), or is it the map the faces to a blank texture and then use it as a mask method (Fahres Style)??

Im just curious, is all... Always out to learn new processes and tricks...

Also - real nice hull detailing you got there!

 

[Majestic]

I personally use the Fahres style, as it suits me the best. I am curious as well Dino on what Amateur uses. I have always loved Amateur's texture style.

 

[Amateur]

Thanks everyone . I still need to add in a smaller layer of panelling as well, but that's the last step.

Hmm... I think the best way I could describe the method is quick & easy. Not sure if it can be used in anything save Max, but:

Slice the mesh in half (if symmetrical), removing either the left or right side. This is useful to ensure that the ship looks the same on both sides, but at the same time things like registries and whatnot need a bit of thinking about.

Apply a very basic base texture (in this case, Hull.psd) to the ship and then apply a 'box' uvw unwrap modifier. After turning off the normalize function, the ship is effectively laid out according to top, front, back and sides.

From this, I isolated specific areas (engines for instance) and just generally fiddled about. LEaving it as a box looks tempting, but it doesn't allow for a lot of detail work.

Render this as a UV template and flatten the stack.

As I say, I don't know if it will translate to another program that well. If at all, saying that.

 

[dinosaurJR]

That is a method I have not though of...

Im not sure how that would work out in Milkshape... I guess we milkshape users are limited to the good old fashioned way...

The Fahres method does have a lot going for it - it allows for pin point accuracy of the texture map - making details soooo much easier...

But it does take a little more time to do...

 

[Amateur]

Yeah, Fahres' method is by far the best I've found. Only drawback is having the time to apply it. Plus for very complex shapes it can get a little complicated.

 

[Majestic]

Yeah I think us Milkshapers are stuck doing it the only fashion way. Boy I would love to get enough money to buy 3D max. I know it's by far one of the better programs out there and that having used MS3D for so long there is a smaller learning curve compared to Lightwave and Blender.

 

[dinosaurJR]

A wee bit off topic, I know, but is it true that the exporter for Max doesnt work for the newer versions, and hasnt for several?

Amateur, what version of Max do you use...?

 

[Amateur]

Yeah I think us Milkshapers are stuck doing it the only fashion way. Boy I would love to get enough money to buy 3D max. I know it's by far one of the better programs out there and that having used MS3D for so long there is a smaller learning curve compared to Lightwave and Blender.

Aye, it's almost ridiculously expensive. I was lucky enough to get mine as a Christmas present a while back. To be honest, I would never spend that amount of money on a hobby. If I wanted to enter the industry then I might consider it, but not for the sake of getting access to a few of the higher level tools. It doesn't do everything well either - export and import often mess up a model or its smoothing, and I've had it crash more than once.

Lightwave, from what I hear, is as - if not more - powerful than 3ds max, but the interface and seperate programs for different aspects confused me. Same with Blender, the interface seems awfully clunky and over-complicated.

Dino, I use Max 8. I'm forced to export via .nif from max; then import that into .ms3d for conversion.

 

[K_merse]

I'm using Max 9 time to time (I got it from a company as a payment for my services ), but it's too complex for me. I'm using it for about a year and still can't use it properly
For making models for Armada or BC, Milkshape is more than enough. The only minor problem is that it lack certain modeling methods, like cutting the mesh alongside of a line and by adding new vertexes (the most painful for me, but there are some others as well). Still, with some experience, you can manage to do anything you need in MS3D.

 

[Majestic]

I heard Max 10 has a lot of problems too, I heard 9 was pretty good.