Majestic's BSG Modelling and Co

[Majestic]

Heya all,

Well I finally saw the conclusion of BSG, well what a blast. If you haven't seen it yet, it's something you have to do. It will not disappoint.

Anyway I have been playing around with the models Coxxon did and I decided I wanted the BSG Armada playable.

The Battlestar Galactica was originally like 15-20k in pollies. I removed the junk that wasn't needed in A2 (cannons, antennas etc) and then with some poly reduction I have gotten here down to 3119. While a tad high for mass producing it would work well as a hero ship, big gun that few are produced etc.



I also as you can see through the images, I changed the engines to give them a more glow look to them as seen in the show. I also removed the museum windows in the hangar bay though it's just a hidden group so can be put on the model rather easily.

Comments? Suggestions? Opinions? Complaints?

Now time to look at the Valkyrie, Mercury and Cygnus that were done by EAS_Intrepid for the late Parallels mod.

 

[Dan1025]

Excellent work Majestic, always great to see BSG content for A2

Looking forward to seeing this in A2, as well as seeing the BSG stuff you made for Parallels

 

[Majestic]

Thanks Dan. In fact I am also looking at the Berserk and Cygnus available at A2Files, converted by MikeMckeon007.

The Berserk I will use better textures from the high poly model that the textures originally came from and the Cygnus, I will fully re-texture due to the fact I don't like the textures that MikeMckeon has on them. I want to use the ones Galactica uses to have them match better.

I am also using this new Cygnus due to the fact it will look better along side the Galactica I am using and due to looking closer to Backstep's original design from SFM's.

I do however plan on using the Parallels Mercury and Valkyrie and will release the Parallels models of the Galactica and Cygnus, even if it has to be just meshes.

 

[Dan1025]

Sounds cool, I always liked the Cygnus design so I can't wait to see what you put together for it

 

[Aerilon]

I think you've done a commendable job on the Galactica Class Battlestar (if it is even known as a Galactica Class); I never did know. I am shocked you've only just got around to watching the final, I was it ages ago, I keep forgetting you Australian folk have to wait for the episodes to get to you. Unfair I'd say.

I look forward to seeing what else you put together for this little project of yours.

 

[Majestic]

Sounds cool, I always liked the Cygnus design so I can't wait to see what you put together for it

Thanks Dan, I'll try not to disappoint.

I think you've done a commendable job on the Galactica Class Battlestar (if it is even known as a Galactica Class); I never did know. I am shocked you've only just got around to watching the final, I was it ages ago, I keep forgetting you Australian folk have to wait for the episodes to get to you. Unfair I'd say.

I look forward to seeing what else you put together for this little project of yours.

Thanks Ash, I call her the Columbia Class as based off the TOS of BSG, while never mentioned on screen is was the adopted name by the fans and I believe the production crew as well.

Yeah we are far behind on all series, BSG, Atlantis etc. Its a necessary evil we and many other smaller countries have to live with.

I am hoping/considering just to do a small Colonial fleet with this and release it. Would anyone be interested in that at all by any chance? If so are there any designs that people would like to see?

 

[Dan1025]

I am hoping/considering just to do a small Colonial fleet with this and release it. Would anyone be interested in that at all by any chance? If so are there any designs that people would like to see?

You bet I'm interested lol, it'd be great to see a mod like that put together. If I think of any designs you havn't already set to be included I'll let you know

 

[Jetfreak]

Looks superb majestic, the reduction and conversion turned out really great, and the detail is still spot on.

Any ETA on the release? Or will this be for a ship pack?

 

[Majestic]

Looks superb majestic, the reduction and conversion turned out really great, and the detail is still spot on.

Thanks JetFreak, I was aiming for 3000 so I got pretty close and didn't want to go any lower and risk loosing the quality. Being a Battlestar I thought, well they wouldn't be massed produced more like only a few and would be at the heart of a fleet.

You bet I'm interested lol, it'd be great to see a mod like that put together. If I think of any designs you haven't already set to be included I'll let you know

I'm still working out a fleet list so to speak, many models I have and many more I don't have. I have been wanting to release a race pack or something for a while due to a couple of reasons, the first being YY is taking a long time and to be honest working on it alone atm is quite dull and not much fun and secondly I have been in the Armada Modding Community since mid-late 2000, in all that time I have only released small things and I felt it was time to release something of significant size to give back to the community.

As far as the possible mod goes my plans are to start off with building Cylon war designs (Galactica, Cygnus etc) and then after researching you the player can build more advanced designs like Valkyrie, Pegasus etc.

Basically a timeline modification where you progress through the era/ages/timeline etc.

I am also considering modding FleetOps for this, I know that they have no issues with it, but from my understanding it's a real pain to do with so many odf files per ship, weapon etc.

Any ETA on the release? Or will this be for a ship pack?

No ETA, no doubt it will be part of this Colonial race if I go ahead with it. The model herself requires hardpointing, and light-mapping (something that doesn't seem to work for me) first in any regard and I need to transfer MSFC to a new host before I can release anything of any particular file size anyway.

 

[Majestic]

Well the Pegasus is here.



She still needs a bit of texture and mesh fixes but she is basically done. She also stands at 2938.

 

[Hellkite]

Looks really good Maj

 

[Jetfreak]

The Pegasus looks equally slick, the 2000+ poly work is just perfect.

and light-mapping (something that doesn't seem to work for me)

That's quite a let down. What kind of problems do you get?



As a bit of a side note, the "F" in my username doesnt need to be capitalized lol. It's just one word.

 

[Majestic]

Looks really good Maj

Thanks mate, I may come to you a little later about gaining some of that fighter squadron information experience you have.

The Pegasus looks equally slick, the 2000+ poly work is just perfect.

Well as you know, well everyone knows I am more a low poly modeller, 2000 and under. But for non Trek ships I do believe a little bit of leeway is in order as obviously non-trek designs (B5, BSG etc) use more pollies than a Trek ship.

That's quite a let down. What kind of problems do you get?

They seem to be all grainy. I had thunderfoot look at the textures I have done in the past and he said that my lightmapping was fine so it has to do with the texture ambient, diffuse, emissive and specular settings. If I could get it right these models would of course be lightmapped.

As a bit of a side note, the "F" in my username doesnt need to be capitalized lol. It's just one word.

No worries, sorry about the error.

 

[Jetfreak]

They seem to be all grainy.

Ah, that's actually quite normal. And it isn't really that noticeable in-game. It's an inherent trait of the game engine.

Take your Dominion ship pack for example, the look a bit grainy close up but from a fair distance, they look pretty good.

 

[Majestic]

They were quite noticeable on my TOS ships, could possibly have something to do with the white textures.

Anyway, I have a new ship. The Colonial Raptor (Combat version).



She isn't 100% accurate but for the poly size (1594) it's the best I could get. It's even larger in poly size than I was hoping (1000-1200) but it isn't a perfect world and one does sometimes have to settle for what they can get. I may at a later date rebuild the engines and fin domes to lower the poly count a bit more.

 

[Dan1025]

Outstanding work there Majestic, I've been looking for a decent poly Raptor for a long while now and you've done an excellent job with it.

Well done

 

[Majestic]

Thanks Dan, I am leaving it for now and will look into another model. Eventually I'll have to hardpoint the models and get the ready for a release after the upgrade or at least the host transfer is complete.

 

[thunderfoot]

These look really good! As we discussed elsewhere you are free to use my weapons pack for them in any way you'd like to. I use the Assault version of the Raptor as well. Any plans on doing that one?

EDIT BY: me, of course!
I almost forgot. I have a complete set of A2 physics worked up for most if not all of the BSG ships released for A2. If you'd like these as well, I'll bundle them up and send them along to you. My Jump Drive stuff is still a little wonky, but everything else works.

 

[Majestic]

Thanks Thunderfoot, any and all mods are welcome on MSFC. I lost some of the stuff you sent me a while ago so if you could re-send them I would appreciate it and get it up asap.

P.S. Screenshots would also be helpful for the submitted files.

 

[thunderfoot]

Thanks Thunderfoot, any and all mods are welcome on MSFC. I lost some of the stuff you sent me a while ago so if you could re-send them I would appreciate it and get it up asap.

P.S. Screenshots would also be helpful for the submitted files.

Okay, I'll do that. I also have been working on some new maps which I've released a first run of. Some of these I've since tweaked. I'll package them as one release rather than two or three. I should be able to send in everything by next weekend, I hope.

 

[Majestic]

Awesome, thanks!

 

[Ryderstorm]

I am also considering modding FleetOps for this, I know that they have no issues with it, but from my understanding it's a real pain to do with so many odf files per ship, weapon etc.

I would be happy to help you mod FleetOps for this mod if you like. Its not really that bad and I have some ideas with some of the weapon class labels that Doca has been able to code into Flops that might lend a battlestar a more battlestary firing behavior.

 

[Majestic]

As part of the Parallels Release Project, the models seen here will be getting released over the next month, so stay tuned and keep an eye on MSFC's download section.

 

[Jetfreak]

Sounds cool man, I think I speak for everyone here when I say...

"Can't Wait!"

Are they going to be lightmapped though?

 

[Majestic]

I am going to do my best at having all models that are part of the Parallels Release Project to be as complete as possible, this includes lightmaps.

In fact right now I am creating a test installed based off COE, to test the models out as I complete them.

 

[Dan1025]

Can't wait to start downloading them

 

[Majestic]

I got one PAR model completed and ready last night, however I want to get one or two more done before uploading them.

 

[Ryderstorm]

Cant wait! So now Im gonna have 4 dif models of the mercury class lol.....Mikes...thunderfoots/Dan1025s....mine....and the par version....wheeeeeeee!!

 

[Majestic]

Yeah, well you'll sure have the choice of which to use for what huh?

Oh and a request here, I know many of you use Coxxon's BSG meshes and textures, and by reading the thread you know that I have poly reduced the BSG Coxxon made to just over 3,000 pollies.

Now does anyone have a lightmapped version of the textures? If you do could I use them rather than having to lightmap them myself? If so could you contact me via PM and we'll sort out the permissions and all that.

EDIT: Same goes with the Pegasus textures by Coxxon, as I could use the lightmaps from that to apply to my edited textures.

Thanks.

 

[Majestic]

All further discussion on this can be done here. This is all part of the Parallels Release Project.

Thread is now closed.