Hello and welcome to MSFC. We are a small and close knitted community who specialises in modding the game Star Trek Armada 2 and the Fleet Operations modification, however we have an open field for discussing a number of topics including movies, real life events and everything in-between.
Being such a close community, we do have some restrictions, including all users required to be registered before being able to post as well as all members requiring to have participated in the community for sometime before being able to download our modding files to name the main ones. This is done for both the protection of our members and to encourage new members to get involved with the community. We also require all new registrations to first be authorised by an Administrator and to also have an active and confirmed email account.
We have a policy of fairness and a non harassment environment, with the staff quick to act on the rare occasion of when this policy is breached. Feel free to register and join our community.
I personally would like to see people using the rep system more here on MSFC. I feel it's an important part of community interaction and it's more a thank you find of thing than a anything else.
I look forward to seeing more pics Thunderfoot... They look great.
These are some I took earlier in my pic making days. They were taken during the tweaking/testing of A2PP v1.1. I was working on how far I wanted ships to bank when they turned and got lucky with B'Rels almost right off the bat. I've always really enjoyed the combat sequences near the end of The Undiscovered Country or any film which featured a Klingon Bird of Prey. I've also always had a fondness for K7A's A2 ships. The details may be off sometimes, the models may have a high poly count, and the textures always seem far too bright on his Starfleet ships, but he's always managed to capture the essence of a ship perfectly.
This is something I posted over at the other A2 site which I'd like to share here as well. Nothing tells a potential downloader more about your ship or mod than a good quality screenshot can. Some of the following is Armada-specific but I suppose most of it could be used as a way to get good quality screenies from any PC game.
Taking good quality screen shots in A2 is not "voodoo witchcraft." I use Freyr's Blank Fonts Mod, so all the writing is gone. I also have the Map Editor installed so I can CTRL-I the GUI out of the way. Next, I take a great many pics at one time. Sometimes as many as thirty to forty. With this many shots to choose from, it is easy to to find three or four which are pretty good. These I import to my graphics app. I resize the pic to 2048 x 1536 pixels and save it. I then re import it and sharpen the image. It is too simple to get carried away with doing this. Go easy with trying to enhance the details of the pic. Eventually, they will become white lines which are about five pixels across. I save it again. Re import one more time and remove the jagged edges. I use an ancient version of Corel PhotoPaint which does not have directional smoothing tools. For me, removing anti aliasing is about reduction, not removal. What I have now is pretty decent and looks fairly okay. At this point I adjust the gamma upwards or downwards in 5% increments, if I need to. Save one more time. You do not need to save between steps, I just do this so I do not miss something which I'd like to keep in the pic. The final step is to reduce the resolution back to 1024x768 pixels. I find this takes care of removing anything which I've missed.
The important thing to remember, people, is this: Less really is more. Don't get carried away with adjusting things in the pic unless you are trying for a very specific effect, such as lighting for a specific mood or maybe trying for a "dream sequence". When you adjust something and you want to "tweak it just a little more", refrain from doing so. At least until you get very comfortable with your abilities. At this point, anything you want to do, go for it! People will become so accustomed to the stunning beauty of your screenshots you can fool 'em into thinking a horrifying mistake was a deliberate attempt at a change of lighting. One last thing, do not be so picky about your own work you never send anything in to share with us.
Gotta run, fellas. Jetfreak is gonna kill me for giving away state secrets! If he catches me. "Artistic temperament" and all that, you know. (Kidding, JF. Only kidding.)
To recap before I enter Witness Protection Status:
1) Take lots of pics to make sure you get three or four you really like.
2) Double the size of the pic and then make all your adjustments.
3) Less is more. Don't get carried away with tweaking the pic.
4) Return the pic to normal size to remove anything you may have missed.
5) Share the pic with your adoring fans here. Please?
A couple of mine to illustrate what not[/] to do,
This pic is a pretty good example of trying to show off too many things at once. K7, FahreS' TOS Ent, the TOS D-7 I did and the MU2.0 lens flare would each make a pretty nice centerpiece for a pic all by themselves. Trying to place all of them into a single shot guarantees they all upstage one another. The letterbox effect is just one more element to ensure the confusion is complete.
"Scotty where, exactly, did you beam the tribbles to?"
"Why, I transported them all to the Klingon's engine room, Sair. And it was no tribble, err trouble, at all."
This is a decent beauty shot of FahreS' TOS Ent. Too bad this is not what I was really trying for. Poor object placement can wreck a great concept. The Enterprise partially obscures K7 and the D-7 is too far away to make out most of the details on her. Placing the D-7 closer to center stage as well as closer to the viewer would have greatly improved the humor of this shot.
I hope this helps and I look forward to seeing what others send in as screen shots.
Just a preview of something I've been working on this week. EAS_Intrepid gave me the perfect sound effect. He will receive credit for doing so. Chiletrek and Avon gave me an essential redirect when I was stumbling along in the dark. Their name will appear in anything I release as well. Thank you all!
It works as advertised. On all the ships. I have been able to recreate some scenes from the episode "33" fairly accurately. My Cylons can jump faster with a quicker recharge time between Jumps. Why, you ask? Because I am EBIL! Do not act surprised. You already knew I am not right. This will be included in BSG Add On Pack Version 2.0. No specific time for this yet. I'd like to tinker with a few other things beforehand. I am going to work up a small vid to show this off along with the rest.
This is something I hope to have finished shortly and sent in to MSFC.
When I did the TOS Adversary Pack I was unable to include one ship. It was the one I really wanted to include but I did not have the skills needed.
This has been rectified. Ladies and Gentlemen! I proudly present...
The Romulan KR-7 Stormbird!
She's nearly done. All I need do is make a BB and wireframe for her and she will be fully in game.
Some screenshots of a WIP before I am off to work today. I wanted a bird motif for this one and I had something else in mind at first. Then I remembered Majestic's TMP Romulan Pack and thought, "Perfect!" I asked and he very graciously allowed me to lift (literally ) some of his textures from this mod to apply to mine. It is not pure canon, but then, I've never treated Star Trek as the religion some seem to. I also adjusted a few things on the textures to differentiate the Stormbird from her Klingon sibling. I think I am pretty close to just about right here. I am planning on sending this one in this weekend to MSFC. I am unsure of my status around A2Files so I may not send this in to there. Of course, comments are most welcome.
"Sulu! FIRE!"
"This is the last time you will thwart the rightful advance of the Empire, Starfleet!"
Ever notice how an MU2.0 setting can make any ship look spectacular? Even spectacular ones? lol
"After twenty years in the Fleet, I had become a little jaded about what lay beyond the next star. All of that stopped about twenty minutes ago."
"Commodore, scans indicate these ships are an amalgram of cybernetic and organic sytems and materials.
However, they are not Borg in origin."
"Further, they are apparently in some sort of hibernation mode. It is almost as if someone placed them here and then switched them off."
"Well, no sense in alerting Starfleet with a message like 'Hey! We found something!' until we can answer some questions.
Science Away Teams Three, Five, and Nine, report to Transporter Two at once."
If they get all googly-eyed and silly over something like Seven of Nine, I really wonder what they will do when they find an entire Base Ship full of Number Sixes.
More pics. Aerilon's Klingon Frigate replacement is another ship which always finds its way into my current A2 install. The Cylon Base Ship, Valkyrie and Viper MkIIs are by Mike McKeon.
Thank you all for the kind words. I really do appreciate them. This pic is to honor my friend, Jetfreak. He may very well be the most devotedly fanatical aviation buff I have ever run across. He recently posted a pic which stunned everyone with how magnificent it looked. And it was all blurry! So I decided to follow his lead and do some experimenting. As usual, Jetfreak makes the complex look far easier than it is. Some of you will get the reference in the pic. But if you do not, do not worry yourself over it. It is just me trying to be amusing. Again.
I cannot refuse a request from a fellow member of the "Really Old Guys Who Still Play PC Games" Club.
Glamour Shots
Modding Shots. Before
After
Lighting Shots. Before
After
Stealth Shot
Humor Shot
What the...? Shot
HaterAde Shot
Aaahh! The sound of overly Emo FanBoys everywhere cursing my name because I like STXI enough to defile A2 by putting things in it from the movie. Music to my ears! ROFL!!
Sorry TF, I know that pic was posted a while ago, but, please, allow me a moment of madness...
"I feel the need, the need for speed!"
"Lets turn and burn!"
"We were keeping up international relations"
"You know giving him the bird?"
"You know, the finger, oh jeez, Im sorry, I hate it when it does that..."
"YEE HAAA Jesters dead!"
and relax...
sorry mate, I just love that film... got it on DVD not too long ago - even got the girlfriend watching it... although that may have been the beach volleyball scene...
Oh, amazing pics by the way - what war bird is that in the latest batch? I dont recognise it... Very nice - you have a gift for narration too, I must say.
Sorry TF, I know that pic was posted a while ago, but, please, allow me a moment of madness...
"I feel the need, the need for speed!"
"Lets turn and burn!"
"We were keeping up international relations"
"You know giving him the bird?"
"You know, the finger, oh jeez, Im sorry, I hate it when it does that..."
"YEE HAAA Jesters dead!"
and relax...
sorry mate, I just love that film... got it on DVD not too long ago - even got the girlfriend watching it... although that may have been the beach volleyball scene...
Oh, amazing pics by the way - what war bird is that in the latest batch? I don't recognise it... Very nice - you have a gift for narration too, I must say.
The D'deridex class in the pics is Neon's. With Jetfreak's updated textures. Until I did this fight, I thought this particular ship was a timeless classic which could not be made any better. How pleasant to discover Jetfreak proves me wrong once again. Besides, I cannot fight your Covenant ships with shabby looking second line material. Not after seeing Dan's pics of your work.
(Kidding, JF. Only kidding.)
) some of his textures from this mod to apply to mine. It is not pure canon, but then, I've never treated Star Trek as the religion some seem to. I also adjusted a few things on the textures to differentiate the Stormbird from her Klingon sibling. I think I am pretty close to just about right here. I am planning on sending this one in this weekend to MSFC. I am unsure of my status around A2Files so I may not send this in to there. Of course, comments are most welcome.
So I decided to follow his lead and do some experimenting. As usual, Jetfreak makes the complex look far easier than it is. Some of you will get the reference in the pic. But if you do not, do not worry yourself over it. It is just me trying to be amusing. Again.
