michael davies
Charter Member 2012
If there is a question of voiding previous payware agreements, I can help you turn wrenches. We can use my virtual shipyard workers to give you a hand. This way you can still get the ship done faster for your friend... and you don't have to make the ship available to a bunch of people.
With the acceleration features I can help you get setup. I would prefer we get a real nice artist though. I'm good... but this one deserves the best!
Just have the people who work with you sign an NDA and this protects your work from those not working on the project specifically.
Maybe we can setup another time to talk via Skype... much faster way of working together.
Colin,
Initially I just want it as a moving carrier you can land on in FSx, I already can do this and sent the files, I've sent them to others and they have it installed and landable.
What I need initially is a simple clickable exe that installs it and sets a flight up or what ever one needs, so the guy can find it, no files here, files there, cut this paste that crap, one click and go, I'm prepared to send what ever I have now to achieve that one singular aim.
Just that alone will be a massive boost to the guys enjoyment in FSx, once that is established I can work on the rest.
Basically I need a moving carrier on a track with a schedule that the guy can use and work easily, many of us here have time and patience to work through any issues and get an end result, I want and need something packaged that is water tight that for example my twelve yr old could install and work, I dont have the experiance, skills or time to explore / learn whats needed to do this.
I've seen others post paths and moving ships and this and that, which tooke them mere moments to achieve, just getting mine to sail around North Wales took days to work out.
Regarding the rest of the model, I'll work on that in my own pace, your right texturing needs to be perfect and I'll work through that as and when, it will really benifit from baked textures with shadows and such, especially on things like masts, fittings and weapons, that will throw them into sharp 3D, painting is easy, its the mapping and variant mapping and the tight control on the draw calls and the amount of textures required thats the hard part.
For example, the Quad 40s need to be in a three or four colors, this depends on their location and the paint scheme, you cant just paint one quad 40 in grey and leave it there, simplest thing is to map one and clone with each paint scheme, problem is, that will make four or five distinct seperate textures where the only difference is the base color, it would be smarter to use one large 1024 with a Quad mapped four times on it, each quarter in a different color, easy enough but I'm only just scraping by mapping and baking one item per texture, cloning it and mapping four times on one texture has me lost at the moment. I know whats needed but not the skills to achieve it, or to be frank the stomach to learn long hard winded inner depths of Max to get the result.
Doing baked textures isnt so hard for say aircraft or even a landing gear, but a decent Quad 40 model is another story, then duplicate four times into one texture is another task, setting Max to simple bake is easy, but you end up with a mish mash of polys all over the place, you need to start grouping them into some sort of cohesive form so its not just a map of 450 seperate polys. Indeed some parts can be replicated in model form from one map, examples would be the seats, magazines, sights or barrels, you only need map and bake one, then clone across when done to replicate the duplicate parts.
Sound crazy ?, oh brother is it crazy, it takes me weeks to work out the best method LOL, true, I could just set Max to auto bake and map, but on the Essex you'd end up with nearly 100 textures, some from 128x128 others upto 2048x2048. Its not a problem if you just want to make one model, say USS Intrepid in 1944, but I dont, I want others, long hulls and short hulls, flag bridge modified or standard, all that has to be figured into the equation.
What I'm saying is, if I gave this to anyone else to paint or map they'd have a seizure LOL, I dont want simple grey bland textures for anything, it would be so easy to do that, I want a full 3D mapped and baked model, and that is going to take an inordinate amount of time and effort.
To summise, initially I want to get what I have right now into a simple one click package for one of our esteemed elderly SOH members to use, if FSx Accel cat and trap is easy to add I'll add that, if not then this other freeware stuff, threewire ?, sorry, really out of touch with all that stuff right now....( its a need to know basis and whilst attempting to map the model....I dont need to know LOL )....will need to be added.
If anyone can help then jump in, contact myself or Colin and help us make it happen, its not for me, its for someone else here who I think needs a leg up right now.
Kindest
Michael
Addendum, Colin, sorry, not saying no to any help, just babbling and trying to get something sorted in short time, re-assesing priorities and schedules.
(great historical imagery)
, saves me digging pics up , the Midway class , CVA41-42-43 , I must get over to San Diego , the Midway being the most modified carrier till its retirement , oh no not another scale model :woot: