Uncle Thunder's Side Projects Thread

[thunderfoot]

Hiya, peeps! Ever D/L a mod and get to thinking, 'Ya know, if the modder would have done _____ instead of doing it that way, the whole thing would be much nicer." Or, "Jeez! Great ship but it should also be able to do ____." Or, " I really like this but I think I'll just add ____ to it to make it more complete."

This is how I started my modest career as a modder. I actually have had one original idea, the Physics Project. Most of my released stuff is where I just took what someone else did and either added more things to it or made it slightly better. This is why I wanted to start a thread for these sorts of projects. These types of releases are usually not full blown mods or they need another mod installed into the game to get the full effect. They take very little time to do once the ideas are in place and thinking about what effects I am trying to create in the game takes up the bulk of my modding time.

Case in point. Pizza the Hutt just released a whole fleet of AR ships based upon TOS ships. They are more of his usual excellent kitbash techniques which he shares with the fortunate rest of us. But the textures he used were not the best ones available. So, I decided to take care of this little detail for him. The models came out much nicer looking and I am very happy with the results.

Then I realized his Ptolemy class ship could be improved yet again. The key point of the original Franz Joseph design was the pod, which replaced the Engineering hull. Multiple pod types meant a multi mission platform. Next, I looked hard at the ODFs he made up. Again, not bad. But they lacked Jetfreak's excellent STXI weapons and they were missing a few other things as well. So I added in the phasers and physics. Now what started as a good addition to the Alternate Reality Starfleet had turned into a great addition. This a ship I have very much wanted in A2 for a very, very long time. So I did it.

Jetfreak has Version 1.0 of this. After I sent it to him was when all the other things came together. I'll be sending him Version 1.5 later on this week to play test and I cannot begin to imagine the look on his face when he installs this and fires it up. Hooo Boyy!

I am nearly finished with this. All that remains is to do some BBs and WFRs and a little more playtesting. You'll still need PTH's mod for this to work, but when you install both you will be more than halfway towards a full race AR Starfleet. I am going to post a vid here later on this week. So, you'll just have to wait.

If anyone else has something they're working on which meets the above criteria, please feel free to use this thread as your own to show us what you're working up.

 

[Terra_Inc]

If anyone else has something they're working on which meets the above criteria, please feel free to use this thread as your own to show us what you're working up.

Boy, have I...

From the first moment, I've been in love with some of R5D5's work. Many of his designs are really great. His ships are not the shiny Sovereigns or Akiras, they are workhorses that were built for a certain task. Anyone who is really involved in the A2 modding community knows the Starchaser. Horribly bulky engineering section, a deflector dish that is just gigantic, and an edged saucer that looks kind of lo-poly. The good thing about all that is that it totally fits together and forms a solid, rugged design.

The only thing about his work that I didn't like were the textures. They are mostly lo-res and look a bit comic-like. His newer ships, the TOS Terrans for example, are much better, but his early work... whatever. Every one has to start somewhere. It's not like I could do it better. But at least I can improve his work a little with all of those graphic tricks I've learned over the time.
My plan is to polish those jewels up and put them in a little concept mod, where all of those workhorses can shine. Concept is mostly worked out. Now all I need is a little bit of time to implement it.

 

[Adm_Z]

Well, Myself, I am working on that BSG project. Though It is nerely complete, I fear it will never be done. After that race mod, I am gonna be re-working my ship pack for FO. I have actually had a few people recently asking me about it, so I may end up doing that sooner than later.

I have been really inspired by the recent fighter that was released, and a while back I had started a fighter TC for a2 with patch 2.5. I had been considering starting that again, and adding an avatar like system that is in FO, but just as a way to select a carrier with a specific wing of fighters. Not sure yet, but I was considering it.

 

[thunderfoot]

Okay, it is now officially later in the week. hahaha! What I've been working up is based on PizzatheHutt's recent Alternate Reality (2009) Ship Pack. You'll still need to D/L his mod. You'll also need SciFan's AR Miranda. When I am done, nearly all the above ships will be retextured using Jetfreak's awesome stuff. I will also use Jet's STXI 2009 Weapons Pack as a basis for the weapons. I'm hoping I can get Jetfreak to collaborate on this with me! I will also include a modified version of the ODF I use for Fahres' STXI Space Dock. This ODF allows Space Dock to build all of the STXI ships except the heroShips. Again, you'll need Fahres' mod for this to work completely. Provision will be made for the Kelvin based types by Amateur as well.

This has a working title of Improved AR Fleet Add On. Some of these ships are quite beautiful and the retextures only add to this. Please note this addon pack will not include any of the above mods except maybe for the ones which Jetfreak and I released. I did promise a vid and here it is. Grab some popcorn or Earl Grey from the replicator, sit back and enjoy!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEcHS29a7KQNOTE: Spoiler is for those of you whom have watched the vid already. Won't make any sense until you do.

Spoiler

I left the cinematic window open on purpose. As a hint. So those of you whom are really observant could see what was going on before it was going on, lol.

 

[Jetfreak]

Oh sweet, I've already been enjoying the beta you've sent me man, nice to see work is progressing nicely. I'm also fine with others using my work, giving credit is pretty much SOP round' here.

I also have another side project I plan to release myself, it's a re-texture of Atlantis' Eagle Class (still in the WIP stage as of today), does anybody here know where or how to contact him?

 

[Majestic]

Beauty work Thunderfoot, you are sure doing some great work here. I would however check the material settings of the Hermes it seems to glow a bit like it has either no lightmaps and doesn't have the _!noalpha tag added or the material settings are incorrect.

Looking forward to seeing a STXI Starfleet full race.

I also have another side project I plan to release myself, it's a re-texture of Atlantis' Eagle Class (still in the WIP stage as of today), does anybody here know where or how to contact him?

I love the Eagle, I recommend Pming him here and on the Filefront forums. Those are the best suggestions I have. If I see him online I'll be sure to let you know.

 

[thunderfoot]

Just checked the Hermes SOD. All the textures are tagged !lambert_name_!default. Placed her onto a map and set all the lighting to 0,0,0. She turned black like she is supposed to. I made the vid using the Resource Tutorial map which uses far too much lighting and it is possible this is the cause of her being a little too shiny. I have a couple other things I want to check, but I think this may be a case of too much lighting placed into the map.

 

[Majestic]

It's all good, just thought I might mention it just in case.

 

[StarBlade]

I also have another side project I plan to release myself, it's a re-texture of Atlantis' Eagle Class (still in the WIP stage as of today), does anybody here know where or how to contact him?

I had a few weeks' wait to hear from him when seeking permission for the compmod. He has an e-mail address-- 'atlantis shipyards' at something. That worked for me. Also, I think he's on at AFC from time to time. But try that first.

On another note, I cannot wait to see some of these 'side projects' in-game. The Eagle and Starchaser are two of my favourite Lost Era designs for the Federation. And that video looks awesome, too.

 

[Adm_Z]

Well, Myself, I am working on that BSG project. Though It is nerely complete, I fear it will never be done. After that race mod, I am gonna be re-working my ship pack for FO. I have actually had a few people recently asking me about it, so I may end up doing that sooner than later.

I have been really inspired by the recent fighter that was released, and a while back I had started a fighter TC for a2 with patch 2.5. I had been considering starting that again, and adding an avatar like system that is in FO, but just as a way to select a carrier with a specific wing of fighters. Not sure yet, but I was considering it.

I have to apologize for this^^ T-foot. I posted this when I was very sleepy, and missed the entire point of the thread. One of those times when your mind is drifting through cool mods you could make, that would take forever and never really be what you envisioned in the first place.

That being said, your vid, and new ships makes me want to do something AR related. I had never installed any of the ships at ff because there wasn't enough for a full race, but if somebody does make a full race of AR ships... I will be one happy little fan-boy

 

[thunderfoot]

Me other side project, lol. And it is coming along nicely, thanks to kjc733!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQcut04xVDs

 

[Adm_Z]

Gasp!! TOS cylon fighters!!! I hope you release them!

 

[Ryderstorm]

Me other side project, lol. And it is coming along nicely, thanks to kjc733!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQcut04xVDs

Thats some nice work u have shaping up. I allmost felt just a tad sad that my cylons were decimated by the colonials. Note I said allmost lol

Nice stuff again

 

[Chiletrek]

Hello:
After watching this video I could finally understand why my Resurrection Ships were so frakking busy .
Very cool video, I want to learn how to make videos like this one, I might include a Baseship that can make a Battlestar to think twice before attacking it in a 1on1 .
Keep it up Thunderfoot!.

 

[Starfox1701]

Sweet vid Thunderfoot

 

[thunderfoot]

Gasp!! TOS Cylon fighters!!! I hope you release them!

These are Chiletrek's as well. So I hope he releases them. Unless I find another one out there, his is the one I'd really like to use.

That's some nice work you have shaping up. I allmost felt just a tad sad my Cylons were decimated by the Colonials. Note I said, "almost".
Nice stuff again.

Well, she's a beautiful ship to start! You did a very fine job on her. I'd very much like permission to include her because she's just too pretty to sit around gathering mold on a HDD waiting for 'someday'. Here is the list of the things I did for this version.

- Made A2 compatible ODFs for the ship, weapons, and physics.
- Gave the textures the Akira Treatment and added alpha channels to them.
- Tweaked the SOD from _!no alpha to _!default. Ought to see her on a shadowy map. It will give you shivers, lol.

Build button and wireframe, along with Admiral's Log pic, will be done soon!

If you will PM me your email address, I will send you the additional materials I've done.

Hello:
After watching this video I could finally understand why my Resurrection Ships were so frakking busy .
Very cool video. I want to learn how to make videos like this one. I might include a Baseship that can make a Battlestar to think twice before attacking it in a 1on1 .
Keep it up Thunderfoot!.

What I'd like very much is permission to include the TOS Raider into this version of Half Race Mod. I understand your reluctance to do so and if you've plans for her, I'd hate to steal your thunder(no pun intended). I also am beginning to think about doing a PreFall/First Cylon War Colonial Fleet. This would be more in line with the Stock A2 races. The Colombia class would be the tech pinnacle for the Colonials in this case. I wonder if anyone has a Colombia class which looks like it has just left the shipyards? One with all the Hull Plating in place and such.

Sweet vid Thunderfoot

Thank you, Bro. It is a very fine thing to have good friends such as you. A lot of this BSG material would not be possible at all without you showing me how to hardpoint models better. So from a certain point of view, all of this hoopla is your fault now isn't it?

All of this goes to show just what happens when someone is lucky enough to have the right modding partner for a project. Thanks, kjc733! The chats and PMs provide me with stuff to think about which leads to other stuff which makes the BSG stuff better. Really kjc733 has all the good ideas. I just fetch for him, lol. One of the things I've enjoyed most about doing the BSG ships is people have told me for years and years a lot of this was not possible. That A2 wouldn't allow it because of, "Insert mindless technobabble here". How enjoyable for me to prove them wrong in such a fashion. How pleasant to share with all of you who've wanted BSG ships in A2 for so very long. How gratifying to see the way the Community has received them. How delightful to be my friend Chiletrek's herald. If you like my ships, well then you'll simply 'splode! over his when he releases them. How fun to discover even though A2 is old, creaky, full of flaws and looked at as broken and unworthy by some, she still has a few tricks left which her younger siblings may not be able to duplicate without a great deal of effort. I am nearer the end of my A2 modding career than the beginning. And for the most part my work has been well received by the Community. I can only hope all of you who've said all those nice things over the years are actually using my mods! rofl!

I normally do not display ego about my work because I've always felt there is a little too much of "Look At Me! Look At MY Mod! Now Look At Yours! Now Look At Me Again!" already rampant throughout the modder's part of this Community. But daayyuumm! I've had a pretty impressive run when I look back at all the things I've done so far. And it is all thanks to you, Gentle Game Player. lol

 

[Majestic]

I also am beginning to think about doing a PreFall/First Cylon War Colonial Fleet. This would be more in line with the Stock A2 races. The Colombia class would be the tech pinnacle for the Colonials in this case. I wonder if anyone has a Colombia class which looks like it has just left the shipyards? One with all the Hull Plating in place and such.

I too had thought about that in the past, however with so much on I never got to do it. The Olympia, Sentinel and Titan of the PRP are actually Cylon war designs, and not in much use by the time of the holocaust.

If you like my ships, well then you'll simply 'splode! over his when he releases them.

I hope that doesn't me the work I've done will go the way of the dinosaur. I remember how long it took me to get some of those ships right, the Cygnus for example took me close to a full 24 hours just to texture right.

Anyway nice video Thunderfoot, I really liked seeing the PRP Valkyrie in action.

 

[thunderfoot]

I hope that doesn't mean the work I've done will go the way of the dinosaur. I remember how long it took me to get some of those ships right, the Cygnus for example took me close to a full 24 hours just to texture right.

It does not. I've got a great deal of time and effort into getting the PRP Colonials just right as well. You were gracious enough to release them to me and pretty much let me do what I wanted with them. They are very playable and look good as well. Rare qualities these days with all the, ahem, "People wanting BC quality ships placed into A2", lol. I will continue to use them in the Half Race Mod until somone tells me I cannot.

 

[Majestic]

That makes me very happy, plus you'll always be able to use them mate, that's why I released them.

In fact your mod gave me the motivation to fix the Valkyrie and get it released, without that it would probably still be sitting on my hard drive. So would the others like the Cygnus, Sentinel and Titan.

 

[Chiletrek]

Hello:

My version of Cygnus is the MKII designed by Ice-Dragon based on Backstep's original design, so my version is there to accompanies Mercuries and Valkyries while the one Majestic did accompanies Columbias and other ships of that time.

@Thunderfoot: since the Cylon-war era Colonial Galleon was made by me with a bit of help from you, I have no problem giving you that design for your mod if you want. What do you think?

 

[Majestic]

Hello:

My version of Cygnus is the MKII designed by Ice-Dragon based on Backstep's original design, so my version is there to accompanies Mercuries and Valkyries while the one Majestic did accompanies Columbias and other ships of that time.

@Thunderfoot: since the Cylon-war era Colonial Galleon was made by me with a bit of help from you, I have no problem giving you that design for your mod if you want. What do you think?

I think you might have made his day Chile.

I based my Cygnus off Backstept's as his original was more in line with the Columbia and if I recall correctly was from the Cylon war. Yours is like a refitted version of the one I did, like the Constitution Refit is to the original Constitution from Star Trek.

 

[Chiletrek]

I think you might have made his day Chile.

I based my Cygnus off Backstept's as his original was more in line with the Columbia and if I recall correctly was from the Cylon war. Yours is like a refitted version of the one I did, like the Constitution Refit is to the original Constitution from Star Trek.

Hello:
You are correct, my version is a refit of the version you did, that's why I use the MKII, but I used Ice-Dragon's pics to make my model from scratch so there will be differences between our models .

And I hope you are correct about Thunderfoot, hehehe, I'll wait for his reply so I can send him the model (all three versions: no turrets, with low-poly turrets and with poly-reduced Coxxon's turrets).

 

[thunderfoot]

I think a 1st Cylon War project is quite doable. We already have the ships and other things in place or we can extrapolate the additional ships and materials from existing ones. I see no reason we should not at least try something really grand in scope and size like this. MSFC is currently the leading edge of the A2 Community for things BSG. I am competitive enough in a friendly sort of way I'd like to keep us out front. A 1st Cylon War Mod with two fully functional sides which is playable from either viewpoint would be an excellent way to do this. FF has the A2 Upgrade. SB34 has the Fed Comp Mod. AFC has BI:VR. Past time MSFC has something which can stand alongside those equally. And slightly ahead of them if I can help it.

However, individually we all have a pretty full plate right now, with Real Life and the various things we are working at the moment. This idea merits further discussion though. What say we take a look at doing something like this as a collaborative effort say, after the beginning of the New Year? This will give us plenty of time to finish up whatever we have going at the moment, not interfere with Real Life until we are ready for it to, and give us time to come up with basic ideas to base this upon. This would be a compilation mod of sorts since most of the hard work is already done. About all I can see us needing to finish out are stations, special weapons for both sides, and resource gathering for the Cylons.

Please understand this is strictly an idea right now. No one need feel compelled to answer or commit to anything at all. And if someone is feeling overwhelmed by looking at and working on yet another major mod, they need not participate until they are good and ready to and at a level they feel comfortable with. I especially do not want someone to feel they are being press ganged into this. If you can't then you can't. No big deal.

So, waddya say? Worth thinking and talking about? And then maybe later on giving the whole thing to Adm_Z and TUN to convert over to FO?

 

[kjc733]

So, waddya say? Worth thinking and talking about?

Most deferably. Quite willing to continue monkeying with the odfs and generating ideas.

From previous conversations one of the big headaches with the cylons is a lack of models. Now I know it's relatively common to convert meshes across from BC - but this won't help here as I don't think there is much BSG stuff there either. Is it possible to convert models from Homeworld 2? Cos there's a full scale BSG mod for that.

 

[Majestic]

I would be willing to do some modelling here, some stations and even a few Cylons. Making textures is my draw back. I actually have a Rangar station that Syf made for Parallels that just needs a texture. Plus it would be fairly easy to do Colonial stations.

So yeah I would be willing to help in this endeavour, only in a modelling area however. I've lost my skills with odfs over the last few years since I started modelling.

 

[Terra_Inc]

If you need me, I'm here. I'll be done with Wastelands by the time we start this, so if you want me, you can have me.

 

[thunderfoot]

Okay! Thanks guys! I feel I have to add something very important here. One of the reasons I've always shied away from large numbers of people involved in something like this is there invariably seems to be personality conflicts. There also invariably seems to be someone who decides he/she is the leader of said group and his/her opinions and such become "The Way Things Are Going To Be!".

We've no need at all for any nonsense of this sort. Gets in the way of the modding. And the modding is what this project is all about. There will be disagreement about what gets included or whom does what. Nature of the beast. There should not be any nastiness with each other about these things. We members of MSFC should have A LOT more respect for each other than this. It is beneath all of us to behave in such a fashion. It is a reason why so many of these large projects take so very long to successfully complete. I am only mentioning this at the beginning to remind us of what could happen if we become self centered. Not because I think it will happen.

Like I posted earlier, all I'd like to do for now is simply discuss this. We can wait until the turn of the year to actually begin the modding process.

Here is a more specific breakdown of the things I see this project needs for successful completeion and release. It is not all inclusive, nor is it intended to be. Once again, hack this to bits or add to it as needed.

- Special weapons for both sides, probably not more than four apiece. I'd like to stay away from "science" ships proper, I think. But both sides should get nukes.

- Stations for both sides. Bases, yards, one research facility each, a trade station for the colonials, mining facilities for both. Mining ships for both. At this point, I think we should stay away from latinum. The Twelve Colonies certainly have money and the Cylons obviously do not. But trade should not be something which makes up any more than a tiny fraction of each side's economy. We can always add it in later if needed.

- Colony ships for both sides. Something I'd like to explore is this. An ODF adjustment which makes colonies produce more than just crew. As a planet becomes fully populated, allow it to start producing other resources as well, up to the limits imposed by the game engine.

- A better sprite for the Jump drive effect which is closer to canon.

- RyderStorm did a great job making a very good TOS Cylon Basestar. I'd like to include a TOS Colonial Battlestar. As well as a TOS Viper. All of the TOS Battlestars and Vipers currently available for A2 suck, to put it mildly. I was looking at some BC ships and they look nice but there are poly count issues as with all BC materials imported into A2. But surely with this much talent available we can find someone to model these? *crosses fingers and wishes really, really hard*

- AI. I'd like very much for the Cylons to be ruthless and cold and nearly unstoppable. I'd also like for there to be lots of them when someone plays the Colonial side. I'd like a Cylon player to face an opponent who is dangerously unpredictable as well. Not really sure how close we can come to this with the A2 engine but based on things I've done in the past we ought to be able to accomplish something here.

- Maps. I've no idea at all if there is anything available on the topography of the Twelve Colonies. I do not think there is anything available on the history of the 1st Cylon War except for the sketchiest of references. Glenn Larson and Ronald D. Moore have both been purposely vague about all of this. We may get away with making it up as we go along, but I'd like to have some connection if it is available.

- Although I see this as an A2 mod, I'd also like there to be a possibility for this to be imported to Fleet Ops at some point. If we are going to be leading edge, then let us lead along all of the edge, lol. Adm_Z's BSG Fleet Ops Add On and TUN's Sigma make them very good candidates for heading up something like this. What I am thinking here is this would be a really good opportunity for those MSFC members interested in learning how to mod for FO with a couple of old hands to guide and help them.

This is all I have right now. Feel free to add to this or shoot it down as needed. Please note this is still the thinking/ planning stage. We've no need at all to start today on making ships and weapons and play testing. Let's get all of the thinking/ planning out of the way before we ever place the the first pixel on the first polygon, please.

One last thing, the project does need someone to head it up. Simply as a collection point for information and materials if for no other reason. If we get the right person for this task, it makes everything else go much smoother and the entire project will be the better for it. I suggest someone other than myself. People will propose me as coordinator for no reason other than this is my idea. Kinda hard to mod and coordinate the activities of a group of people at the same time. Do we have someone with the required people skills(Modders?! Buncha prima donnas! rofl) and organizational skills who would be interested in doing little more than coordination duties? This is not an empty title at all. Whomever this is will be one of the key players in ensuring this gets done to the high standard we all want for it. Just as important as any modeller or texture artist, IMO.


(Note to self: Speak with an Admin about moving this and the related posts to a new thread. Hardly a "side project" is it? lol)

 

[Majestic]

I am only interested in doing some models for the mod, so don't even think about nominating me, I have YY to worry about.

Just ask me what to model, and if I can do it and the time I will certainly be happy to do it.

As for the Colonial system, I found some user made ones online that actually have the system as a binary system, one has it that several of the colonies rotated gas giants, however I prefer the binary system version over it, see attachments.

 

[thunderfoot]

The first two make a lot more sense than the third. Not sure if the physics would support more than one habitable planet in the same orbital path.

Thanks Maj! I can now begin thinking about maps!

As to nominating you for Coordinator, the thought did cross my mind. For exactly one nanosecond,
YY has once again after a long time become important to you. More important to complete a work in progress than to start anew on yet another project which will remain unfinished.

 

[Adm_Z]

I"m all for a group effort! This sounds like it could be a great mod. I will even help with the stock a2 part if you want. I need to make a concept video for you so you can see some of my effects like my FTL flash you might like for your mod. I am perfectly willing to share anything from my mod you might like.

One thing you might consider is making a campaign. There is a new tool in development which is supposed to allow you to make full campaigns. i haven't used it yet, but it would be really cool to recreate Razor or other things we saw. We could even recreate the fall of the 12 Colonies.

Like I said, i don't know how to use it yet, but if you are interested, I"ll see if I can't find a way to get its Author to maybe start a thread here or something.

Any help you need with this, I"ll try to do my best to accomplish what you might ask.