Parallels Release Project

[Majestic]

Thanks guys, right now I'm working on this annoying issue that is really starting to make me frustrated.

The darn lighting on the textures, to make them black when there is no lights.

The Galactica hasn't been touched while the standard Columbia has.

Spoiler: Galactica/Columbia

Spoiler: Galactica/Columbia

As you can see my success has only been marginal. If anyone could assist me here it would really help as until I can find a solution here I have decided to hold off releasing any more models, this I don't like doing.

 

[Dan1025]

What settings do you have on the materials when you export them? (ambient, diffuse, specular & emissive). The ambient and specular should be completely black, while the diffuse and emissive should be completely white.

Also, what tags are you using on the material names? (!ambert, !phong e.t.c)

Other than the material settings being slightly off I'm not sure what would cause it. If you can't fix it you could try deleting your SOD exporter files from your MS3D directory and installing a new downloaded version. Beyond that there's the final option of having someone else export them for you, but obviously that's not the ideal solution.

 

[Majestic]

I use the following:

Material Name:

!phong_texturename_!default

Material Settings:

Ambient: Hue: 160 Lum: 0
Diffuse: Hue: 160 Lum: 240
Specular: Hue: 160 Lum: 0
Emissive: Hue: 160 Lum: 240

Also the warzone map only has the directional light in the one spot doesn't it? Two directional lights, both at the same area facing in opposite directions?

Update: Jumpstar is now complete model and texture wise. Now I need to decide which ship to work on next.

 

[Majestic]

Thanks to some help from Jetfreak, the texture issue has been sorted and now I will have to look into doing a v1.1 for the previous ships I have released.

Spoiler: Image

Now onto the next Colonial ship. Yeah I have got a think for the Colonials for the moment.

 

[Borg_Queen]

Thanks to some help from Jetfreak, the texture issue has been sorted and now I will have to look into doing a v1.1 for the previous ships I have released.

Spoiler: Image

Now onto the next Colonial ship. Yeah I have got a think for the Colonials for the moment.

Nice pics in this thread, including this one. I know you are into Colonials at the moment, but in this pick I just can't take my eyes of that beautiful Sovereign. Nice Battlestar as well (yes, I spotted it).

Keep up the great work.

 

[Majestic]

The image is actually by Jetfreak, that Sovereign I believe is in our downloads section.

 

[Borg_Queen]

The image is actually by Jetfreak, that Sovereign I believe is in our downloads section.

Ah, I see. Then I'll say this to Jetfreak; Great pic. there.

Now onto the download section to look for that Sovereign.

 

[Majestic]

Well I have started on my next Colonial vessel.

She stands at a poly count of currently 2191. I have almost completely re-built this mesh, considering she started at around 6000 pollies.

I hereby introduce the Cygnus Support Cruiser.

Spoiler: Cygnus

Spoiler: Cygnus

Spoiler: Cygnus

The Cygnus, a design by Backstep a staff member of SFM, is a Cylon War design vessel. The mesh is originally by Kreeargh for Starfleet Command.

Built during the Cylon War, the Cygnus was built along side the Columbia Class Battlestar and Olympia class Jumpstar in response to the Cylon thread. Early on in the war the Battlestar's which originally started out as 12, one for each colony had suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Cylons. IN more than one engagement the Battlestar's Viper compliment had been drawn off by Cylon raiders which left the Battlestar undefended and at the mercy of the Cylon Baseships which were better equipped for ship to ship combat.

The Cygnus was designed to solve this problem with her main focus being on ship to ship combat, so much so that she has no Viper compliment and only a handful of Raptors which were used mainly for scouting and transport missions.

Unlike the Columbia class however, the Cygnus has remained in active service and while newer ships have been produced to fulfil the same role as the Cygnus, there has been no discussion on retiring the class.

I plan on painting this beauty with the same texture as the Columbia class, so yes she'll match the mighty Battlestar and the small and nimble Jumpstar.

 

[Katala]

looking good, last time I saw you working on that it wasn't that far complete yet, I guess I got a bit hooked on my Sims 3 and lost track of time

Well done

 

[Dan1025]

Thanks to some help from Jetfreak, the texture issue has been sorted and now I will have to look into doing a v1.1 for the previous ships I have released.

Glad to hear it, out of interest, what was the problem/solution in the end?

Nice to see you starting on the Cygnus, I always loved that design so I can't wait to see what you do with it

 

[Jetfreak]

Those Colonial models are looking and shaping up pretty nicely. Such quality with that polys? I am impressed.

Oh, and BQ, I've placed much work into that Sovereign model. I can make a custom registry if you want.

 

[Majestic]

Glad to hear it, out of interest, what was the problem/solution in the end?

Those material settings, I got Jet to test it out for me. They worked so I am very happy. Once I get a few models done I am going to go back and release a v1.1 of the ships.

Those Colonial models are looking and shaping up pretty nicely. Such quality with that polys? I am impressed.

Yes in fact I was hoping for a bit lower, you know about 2000. By we can't always get what we want. I think people will like this beasty when she is all nicely painted in the Galactica colours.

 

[Muad'Dib]

Really nice Cignus. Though listed as a Cylon War design, the mesh still looks really sleek. I can't wait to see it textured!

 

[Jetfreak]

Oh, and as a bit of a side note, do you have some specs regarding your self made vessels. Have you ever come up with an official length for all of them?

Would be very useful for scaling.

 

[Majestic]

If you want Jetfreak, in all v1.1 and future releases I can include something that you have in the past done yourself. A spec sheet that has images, specs and the like.

I don't mind doing it, I just originally thought people may not be interested in it.

 

[Jetfreak]

Yeah, thanks for the heads up. I currently have the Solaria scaled slightly larger than the Valhalla. With all the new stuff about to come out, I figured it'd be very helpful.

 

[Majestic]

The Solaria was originally designed to be roughly the size of the Galactica which is slightly smaller than the Pegasus.

However people can scale them to whatever size they want. So you would like the spec sheets them I assume?

An update on the Cygnus. She is taking a while, that's for sure. However I am getting there.

Spoiler: Cygnus

Spoiler: Cygnus

I still need to line up the ribbing from the wing to the main hull, a job I am not looking forward to, the main hull was a nightmare, however a little cheating and it turned out pretty well.

The engine(s) are still needing texturing, along with the entire lower hull, front of the ship (including those indent boxes) and the back of the ship. However I am hoping to this this model complete in the next few days, being it is my last day off there are no guarantees I will meet that estimate.

This model has roughly taken me 16 hours (approx) already, not that I am counting.

 

[Jetfreak]

So you would like the spec sheets them I assume?

Of course, every little bit of info helps, you are the designer after all.


And as usual, the Cygnus is looking better than ever.

 

[Majestic]

Thank Jet, I finally got the engines textured. That look a fair few hours. It's astounding how long it's taking to do this model. :Y

I'm glad I am only texturing it and not actually making the model as well.

I'll add the style sheets from now on too for you.

 

[Majestic]

Okay, it's been a few days since I posted here. Well the Cygnus I finally completed yesterday. Boy was it tricky, I even had to edit the texture so the model uses two 1024x1024 textures. Not something I wanted to do, but we do what we must at times.

I also fixed up some texture errors I discovered on the Jumpstar. Today I completed another ship, so that's now three new BSG ships completed. A fleet is coming together so all BSG fans should be happy when I release these beasties.

I've also been working on the spec sheets as well.

 

[Jetfreak]

Good to here, will be waiting for her.

 

[Muad'Dib]

Thanks for the update Majestic, now if only the Colonials had this fleet available when the Cylons pulled their plan!

 

[Majestic]

You're welcome Muad'Dib.

Currently on my to do the hardpoint for or completing the texturing list are:

• Battlestar Valkyrie, Valkyrie class Battlestar
• Battlestar Vahalla, Valkyrie class Battlestar Variant
• Battlestar Aegir, Valkyrie class Battlestar Variant (type 2)
• Strikestar Cygnus, Cygnus class Strikestar
• Gunstar Sentinel, Defender class Gunstar
• Firestar Titan, Titan class Firestar

Green = Complete
Red = WIP
Blue = Not started but scheduled to.

After that I need to model the designs, which is going to take some time. I have quite a few designs I want to make. Yeah I've gone Colonial crazy of late, however I think before I do that I will hardpoint and release the Babylon 5 Sagittarius and Avenger models.

On another note, people might be wondering what the obsession with the star prefix is?

Well I read on another site and thought it made sence that for the military star stands for FTL capable for a capital ship, so I thought that using that made quite some sense.

Now the difference between the different titles are:

• Battlestar: Carrier/Battleship Hybrid. Only good against other capital ships when facing them and able to use her high calibre rail guns. The main assault force is her compliment of Vipers. She has good anti-fighter abilities however. Battlestars come in various sizes from the Valkyrie to as large as the Mercury and Nova class Battlestars.
  
• Strikestar: Small cruiser vessel geared more towards capital ship combat. Not as large as a Battlestar, but much better equipped to handle Cylon basestars. Also rather fast, used for quick surgical strikes.
  
• Firestar: Frigate sized missile platform. Her main arsenal is her nuclear missiles and standard ordnance missiles. Easy pickings for Raiders and other fighters and light capital ships.
  
• Gunstar: Screening ship, basically a destroyer that fits somewhere between a Firestar and Strikestar.
  
• Jumpstar: Small corvette type vessel, used for scouting and anti-fighter duties.

 

[StarBlade]

people might be wondering what the obsession with the star prefix is

I'd read a less-complete definition of the "star" suffix on another site and now this all makes sense. I'm glad you explained all that.

I can't wait for the next round of Colonial releases-- and the B5 stuff, too.

 

[Dan1025]

Sounds great, can't wait for the next batch of BSG material

 

[Majestic]

After some work yesterday there is an update on the list.

• 
  [*]Battlestar Valkyrie, Valkyrie class Battlestar
  [*]Battlestar Vahalla, Valkyrie class Battlestar Variant
  [*]Battlestar Aegir, Valkyrie class Battlestar Variant (type 2)
  [*]Gunstar Cygnus, Cygnus class Strikestar
  [*]Strikestar Sentinel, Defender class Gunstar
  [*] Firestar Titan, Titan class Firestar

Green = Complete
Red = WIP
Blue = Not started but scheduled to.

You may have noticed I switched the Sentinel and Cygnus around. I discovered after some scaling and research that the Sentinel is actually a fair bit larger than the Cygnus and can carry approx 12 Vipers and several Raptors while the Cygnus can also carry a few Raptors and no Vipers.

Also three cheers for Jet, he is kind enough to do some pretty screenshots for the models to go with the download file for me, considering I am no good with action pics this should be a welcome change.

 

[Majestic]

Okay I just finished the Titan, how I have too looking into hardpointing these models, something I never look forward to but must be done at some point right?

I'll see about getting some in game screenshots well maybe tomorrow, could be today, who knows.

Looking back at all the models for the Colonials I have here is the list, complete list thus far:

• Olympia Jumpstar
• Titan Firestar
• Cygnus Gunstar
• Defender Strikestar
• Valkyrie Battlestar (x3)
• Columbia Battlestar
• Solaria Battlestar
• Mercury Battlestar

Again I will call anyone who can make textures and wants to help to PM me, as I have a station and want to do some (as I have a few designs) but I have no textures for them.

 

[Chiletrek]

Hello:
It is awesome that you have so many BSG ships. I have some of my own too, like Iosys' Battlestar Talos and both versions of the Valkyrie too. And I also like that your Cygnus is Galactica-reated, as mine is more Pegasus' related.
I like that you have so many ships in production, it surely shows that interest in BSG is always there.

 

[Majestic]

Thanks Chile, I have in fact in the past hour exported the Jumpstar, Defender and Cygnus. I only have the Titan, Valkyries and to re-do the Solaria and Mercury and hero Galactica then all my models are up to date.

Yes I've found there is always interest in BSG and Babylon 5. Hence one of a few reason I am releasing all this stuff, so people here can have more models as there is always a fair lack of models for those shows. I have also got permission to release the Cygnus by Kreeargh. He has also asked me if he can use it in his Sins of a Solar Empire mod as well requested that I re-texture quite a few of his other BSG models, so I am in negotiations with him at the moment on SFM.

Well to get the last couple of ships done then I'll see about posting some screen shots.

 

[Chiletrek]

Hello:
And keep it up with your releases . With some luck I'll be able to make BSG releases on my own, but I need wireframes, and those are not my specialty, funny since I can make my own textures :x . But maybe I'll manage somehow.
Well, as I said, keep it up!