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Shipyard

Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 6:08 am
by pd
This thread documents the process of building star ship models for freeOrion's combat
If you have any comments, please use this thread.

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This is something I've been working on for a couple of days. It's still a rather early WIP, but I thought it might be a good idea to share this. It's (very) loosely based on one of Josh's concepts, so I'm not sure if it still qualifies as Gyisache.

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design notes:
  • compact shape - can take some hits but isn't too strong on the offensive side
    FTL engines at the back and maneuver engines at the sides - fast and agile
    curvy graphics = non-aggressive
    sensor array in the front(still needs some work) - those guys are supposed to be afraid and sheepish, right?
I still need to detail some parts and then decide for the cutline layout. I'll create a lowpoly version and bake out the normal bump maps afterwards.

Happy new year.

Re: Shipyard

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 4:14 am
by pd
Some more things done. The underside will probably never be seen much, if at all, but I can't leave it unfinished, can I? I hope to finish this little sucker until weekend. I've done some testing with normal maps and it seems that transferring all detail to a lowpoly mesh will work without any problems.

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Re: Shipyard

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2009 6:31 am
by pd
I've reworked most of the bottom side details I had done yesterday. It's less chaotic now.

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Re: Shipyard

Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 5:17 am
by pd
Just some minor additions for today. I consider the underside done now though.

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Re: Shipyard

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 10:41 pm
by pd
I'm working on the low poly model now. Shown here is: high poly mesh (part of it), low poly mesh(wip, will be cut down more), normal mapped low poly mesh.
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As you can see, all the details carry over very well. I'll paint in more of it once the baking process is done.

Re: Shipyard

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 9:43 am
by pd
I've completeted the low poly mesh and rendered out an initial normal map(needs fixing/rebaking) and an ao pass(base for color map).
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Re: Shipyard

Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 1:05 am
by pd
I've started the texturing process and will finish this before continuing working on Trith concept art.

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Because this doesn't fit with the Gysache concept art Josh has done and because I can't say when I will create more ships with a similar design language again(the Trith will be my priority for quite a while), this ship will most likely end up as a universal hull - used as a filler, wherever it's needed. Could later perhaps be used as "The Guardian"?

Re: Shipyard

Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2009 1:32 am
by pd
It's finally finished and can be seen in the Ogre thread.
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(click image)

Not counting the huge breaks in between, this took me about 4 weeks. However, the highpoly model was done in Rhino, which was new to me at the time and an intense learning process. The design process was done on the fly - slowing things down as well.

Working from a concept I could probably pull something similar off in 2 weeks. I'll see if this proves true, once I build the Trith ships.

Re: Shipyard

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 4:01 am
by pd
Based on one of these concepts, here is a high poly trith fighter/drone:

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There are are no textures yet - I'll do those only on the lowpoly model.

Re: Shipyard

Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 2:55 am
by pd
Here is the lowpoly version, currently at 512 polygons(triangles). I was hoping to not go above 300 when starting, but this will be hard to do. I'm going to cut the polygon count down, but I don't see this getting close to even 400.

This is also still just the initial UV layout, about half of the texture space is wasted, I'll optimize this. Here is a basic color map(ambient occlusion bake + lights + stripes) and normal bump map applied

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Re: Shipyard

Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 3:08 am
by pd
I managed to cut down the polygoncount to 344. The UV layout is finalized and I basically just need to finish painting the color map.

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Re: Shipyard

Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 11:05 pm
by pd
I'm nearly done. It needs some more dirt, scratches and maybe ornamentation. Also, it looks like plastic at this moment, because there is no specular map, breaking up the clean highlights. There's a glow map now and the mesh is setup in a simple 2 point setup, similar to what we are aiming for in combat.

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Re: Shipyard

Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 12:19 pm
by pd
It's done, click to go to the Ogre thread.

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Re: Shipyard

Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 12:54 am
by pd
I've started working on the first Trith ship of the line. This is still the base mesh, which is going to be smoothed. Any suggestions about how the hull should be named?

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Re: Shipyard

Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 4:51 pm
by pd
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Highpoly mesh is nearly done. It needs some more detailing and of course the core.