Chap in a dinghy?

ndicki

ndicki

Charter Member 2016
Have we got a model of a chap in a dinghy anywhere? I can't find one, but it might be quite fun for a little idea I've got...

Edit - I've found a dinghy, which they've caslled a raft, so it's no wonder I couldn't find the thing. And it wouldn't show up in the mission builder, so I've used the model to make a new one, called a dinghy this time, that shows as a ship.

Except there's no chap in it. We need one with a chap in, who'll jump up and down like Robinson Crusoe, and perhaps fire off a Verey light so we can actually find him. Dinghies are bloody hard to spot...

Anyway, I've got this one pretty well bracketed!

w0taRnp.jpg
 
That smells remarkably like an idea I posted almost a decade ago :biggrin-new:. Tried to find the thread but failed miserably.
However, I started a gmax model of a dinghy and added one of the pilots from the aircraft included in the gamepack. I still have those files, never finished them, but they're yours if you want them!
By now I know a bit more about 3D modelling than back in 2010 but character modeling is still beyond my capabilities :sorrow:.

My idea was something along these lines: model a pilot with an inflated maywest floating in the sea as an enemy object with a 'gun' node. That way he'll fire the Very gun when you are close enough. You 'bomb' him with a dinghy container. If you 'hit him', the damage/destroyed model is the 'pilot in dinghy'-model which replaces the 'pilot-in-maywest' -model and you fulfill the mission parameters. You have saved your pilot. Instead of a smoke flare, I was thinking of a coloured dye effect on the surface of the water.

The 'pilot-as-enemy' -object could be coded as a ship model. That way you can give the floating pilot some speed to simulate drift; When the mission starts, a call comes in about a downed pilot at appr. coordinates (X.Y). Wind and currents are (U) and (Q), so you have to find the unfortunate pilot not at (X,Y) but a little futher downstream and downwind... Might make it more fun, as you have to fly a real search pattern based on his Last Point Seen (X,Y) and not fly a straight line to the target on your Tactical Display and just 'bomb' something. It might even be possible to add some oil slick effect to mark where his plane crashed to mark (X,Y) and the start of your search... Just my 2 cents :loyal:.

BTW1, I know I also had an idea about picking him up with a seaplane/amphibian and still meeting mission damage parameters but I can't remember exactly how at the moment. Maybe it'll come back later.
BTW2, it should be possible to add a 3D model to an effect. Maybe that is also of use - in case you are thinking along way different lines than I assumed.
 
Some very clever ideas there - I've already got the stock dinghy set up as a ship, so it will drift a bit, and can be placed properly in MB, but I hadn't thought of setting it up as enemy and target... I wonder... Lots of things to look at. I'd be very glad to get hold of the GMAX model, even if I have no idea how to make anything more than a teapot...
 
Here it is.

I have cleaned up the third version (*_c.gmax) a little and added two gun turret nodes. Main job is to play around with the vertices of the pilot model to make him look like a human being barely saved from drowning by his little inflatable and separate the arm holding the Very pistol (and add a model of one). Basically, he should be turned into the dinghy's turret. Constrain his movements (we don't want him starring in "The Exorcist XVII") and the number of Very cartridges available through the dinghy's .xdp (read: ship's), weapon and gun files.

View attachment Pilot-in-Dinghy.zip
 
Frosty said:
Here it is.

I have cleaned up the third version (*_c.gmax) a little and added two gun turret nodes. Main job is to play around with the vertices of the pilot model to make him look like a human being barely saved from drowning by his little inflatable and separate the arm holding the Very pistol (and add a model of one). Basically, he should be turned into the dinghy's turret. Constrain his movements (we don't want him starring in "The Exorcist XVII") and the number of Very cartridges available through the dinghy's .xdp (read: ship's), weapon and gun files.

View attachment 68952
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'll see what we can do...
 
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