TIE Fighter addons

[Lenyoga 326]

8 hours ago, Macser said:

As for spad's suggestion, I think we are working together, in a way,  just on separate elements of the universe. I've opted not to bother with imperial craft after seeing Lenyoga's work so far. He's doing his thing and I'm doing mine. But the results should work well together. 

 

The economist within me is all for the division of labor. And since I'm pretty shaky with things like animation and anything human-based, I was happy to see how well you were doing with the walkers and ground troops. And now also the rebel vehicles, which I'm not too acquainted with - years of indoctrination via TIE Fighter makes me lean more toward the imperial side, hence I'm no good with the rebel scum starfighters. I'm already working on a hit, armor and speed table for most of the common fighters which would benefit us both for future releases, so we can coordinate things a bit better.

 

And also good news on the space front - simulating battle in the atmosphere of a gas giant is feasible, I will still have to do a few more tests to try the same with space.

[Macser 776]

Well I still have some work to do with the animations. But they'll be universal apart from one or two.So that should make life easier.

 

By Tie fighter I assume you mean the game? That I remember well. One of the best mission oriented games ever made. I actually preferred it to x-wing. Amazing when you think of the technology it was designed to run on originally. 

 

As for armour values, I'd like to keep them balanced too. Not so much in relation to the source material. But to make it interesting for the player.

 

If people are willing to suspend belief and take the limitations into account, I think more unusual mission areas should be possible.

[Lenyoga 326]

1 hour ago, Macser said:

By Tie fighter I assume you mean the game? That I remember well. One of the best mission oriented games ever made. I actually preferred it to x-wing. Amazing when you think of the technology it was designed to run on originally.

That minefield mission with the traitors ... They should remake that game instead of Battlefront (although I liked those too.) I just got it on GOG again, Star Wars day or what that made them reduce the prices a bit.

 

The armor values so far are based on those from other games, but much more even - otherwise the discrepancies between some fighters would be too high.

[Macser 776]

That was actually really well done. The voice acting over the comms made it obvious you were about to get it in the neck. Although you could tell something was coming, it was still a great bit of story telling. X-wing alliance managed to recapture some of that I think.

 

I don't have any problem with more skill based games.  But having some kind of story evolving around you, that you feel you're influencing, makes for a fun experience. At least for me.

[Lenyoga 326]

The TIE Bomber's exterior is now mostly finished (the textures need a finishing touch).

 

 

Next up is the cockpit, the standard TIE cockpit doesn't fit with the elongated pod and hatch anymore.

[Macser 776]

That looks really well done. Textures and geometry are excellent. 

[Lenyoga 326]

I've done a few projectile 3d models (also the proxies, which don't really serve any purpose - realized that too late.)

 

 

That's also a good moment to lay out the current hit/armor stats:

Spoiler

Armor:

TIE Fighter: 72

TIE Interceptor: 128 (will probably downgrade this to around 110)

TIE Bomber: 224 (will probably downgrade this to around 180)

TIE Defender: 380 (~ 320 should be enough)

 

Weapon stats [hit/indirectHit/range - thrust/thrusttime/maneuvrability]:

Ls-1 (T/F, T/B): 100/100/0.05, takes out a T/F in 2-3 shots, should be accurate enough

Ls-9.3 (T/I, T/D): 120/120/0.05

Proton torpedo (T/B version): 400/100/1 - 500/60/2.5, good tracking, but it doesn't hold up against very fast targets, low explosive radius

Concussion missile (T/B, T/D): 300/300/5 - 800/30/3, oversteers a little, but more effective against the faster targets, lower overall hit, higher radius

Proton rocket (T/B): 2500/2000/2 - 300/120/2, only good against slow moving targets, meant for assault on structures or bigger ships

Proton bomb (T/B): 4900/3000/5 - 50/0.25/1, death for anything on the ground

Thermal detonator (T/B version): 280/280/3 - 50/0.25/1, alternate bombs for the T/B, thrust and maneuverability will be decreased a little to make them less accurate and more of a harassment type weapon.

 

[Lenyoga 326]

Non-bad news, my favorite kind.

I've fixed the offset issue of the bullet placement script, it was simply a matter of adding the difference between setPos and the global object position to the final Z value (requirement will now be v1.99). No more exploding below ground or missing targets.

After some tests with the rocket based system, the bullet method along with the scripts is still more performance friendly. And even if it fails due to frame drops, it still looks like at least one laser cannon is working...

I guess I'll keep both options in the PBO on release, so anyone who likes to soldier through messy config files could choose the rocket method by changing two parameters and a script path.

[Lenyoga 326]

The raw 3d and UVs for the TIE Defender are finished, right now I'm doing the final textures. This time I'm utilizing various texture maps in Blender for a clearer (no unrealistically mirrored perspective shadows) and less blurred outcome, so I can have both humane resolutions for OFP with minimum Gimp effort and high res versions for the A3 variants with all their specific maps.

Currently I'm doing the details on the TIE Defender's wings, the rest only has the basic metal textures and shadows so far. The other TIEs will be reworked for a uniform look, too.

 

[Lenyoga 326]

Alrighty, the TIE Defender exterior is done (I guess I'll still polish the low-res interior and add a few details and highlights and shadows.) If the spirits don't leave me, I'll soon begin with refurbishing the interior, too.

I managed to keep the vertex count just below 5000, the various texture maps will be combined into something that looks acceptable as pure 2d file.

 

[Lenyoga 326]

Thanks to full render baking I didn't really need to do a lot of work in Gimp, except for some fake bump mapping. I think the external 3d is good enough for now.

 

[Macser 776]

It really speeds up getting a base texture going. The results are excellent. Nice little effect too, on the missile.

 

Does the shape affect the handling much? I've found the geo can sometimes react oddly depending on the shape.

[Lenyoga 326]

6 minutes ago, Macser said:

It really speeds up getting a base texture going. The results are excellent. Nice little effect too, on the missile.

 

Does the shape affect the handling much? I've found the geo can sometimes react oddly depending on the shape.

 

Yes, geometry is a bit of a problem. I've resolved it by adding small weights where planes would have their wings, nose and tail, this seems to balance oddly shaped ships like that one well enough.

[Lenyoga 326]

I polished the standard TIE's exterior to a level I'm okay with and added a few subtle engine jet animations based on hardcoded elevator and rudder selections. Textures and 3d are a bit better optimized now (added and removed some necessary and unnecessary detail, re-baked the textures to more convenient larger, single files.) I'll take a sort of internet-free vacation for a week, with a bit of luck and cooler weather I'll get some more work done there.

 

 

 

[Lenyoga 326]

All the planned TIE models now have a finished exterior. The cockpit still needs some work and many little details have to be finished, but the toughest parts are done. I'll soon update the first post with non-outdated info. I've even added a little stand-in pilot which doesn't look good at all (it's an older model I've made a few years ago), but it does the job behind the wheel.

Edit: there's different lighting in this picture because I'm using the DXDLL hard light effects again. OFP doesn't translate brightness to screenshots well.

 

[Lenyoga 326]

Since Photobucket is now a part of the rebel alliance and a traitor, I'm switching to imgur. Edit: to undo some of the damage Photobucket's treachery has caused us, I added current screenshots on the first post.

 

TIE Fighter interior with animated flashy lights, mostly based on Star Wars Rebels (the scales in the movies don't make too much sense), with a few extra details that look like they'd make sense in a Star Wars cockpit.

 

[Lenyoga 326]

There goes my whole Sunday - we have TIE pilots now.

 

(they don't seem to understand how fuel stations work)

[Macser 776]

50 quid unleaded please, and a packet of crinkle-cut cheese and onion crisps. 

 

Great work Len.

[Revan9190 132]

I'm completely speechless at the might of the Empire here. While you're there. Some BBQ Pringles and a Coca Cola would be nice!

[Marc13Bautista 56]

This looks bloody amazing! I can imagine trying these out against the BIS Biplanes. 

[Lenyoga 326]

52 minutes ago, Marc13Bautista said:

This looks bloody amazing! I can imagine trying these out against the BIS Biplanes. 

 

The BIS planes don't really appreciate it. I had a group of 7 A-10s, they didn't match one TIE Fighter. Ramming still works, though.

[Revan9190 132]

22 hours ago, Lenyoga said:

 

The BIS planes don't really appreciate it. I had a group of 7 A-10s, they didn't match one TIE Fighter. Ramming still works, though.

In the words of my generation, "Up yourrrrs!" *rams TIE Fighter*

[Lenyoga 326]

Some video material of the current status:

 

 

I guess what's left to do is the TIE Bomber cockpit, ejection seats for those, and LODs for all the objects. I'll also start thinking about some static vehicles/bases with hangars, so we'll have some potential mission targets.

[ProfTournesol 956]

Thats's a hell of a good job 

[Revan9190 132]

Oh man, I'm really anxious to try this out! Would love to make a machinima/trailer with these at some point (attacking/bombing a Rebel base). In addition to Macser's X-wing and A-wings (when he eventually releases them - I wonder if he's going to take the UT-60D U-wing into account from the most recent movie), this is definitely going in my CWA install. The footage is really making me excited! The quality alone is outstanding. The performance really shows you what you can do with CWA. When Macser made the C&C units and buildings for me, it really shows graphically what the engine can handle. And the effects too - such as the Obelisk. With you and him modeling and doing all sorts of amazing Star Wars things, we can probably expect a wide range of Star Wars units at our disposal. With the Hoth addons out, it's been really fun doing the Battle of Hoth, or at least a battle ON Hoth. The way the AT-AT and AT-ST's work is an amazing workaround for the engine and looks amazing to boot! Why I remember flying my T-47 Airspeeder right into the side of an AT-AT and destroyed it, animation of falling down and everything!

 

Not sure if you're eventually going to make the TIE Striker (atmospheric fighter) and TIE Reaper (essentially a TIE line Dropship) from RO? Since I assume you and Macser both are focusing primarily on official 'canon' material, and with the recent movie being 'canon', you guys are working within the confines of that. Of course, there are several other TIE variants from Legends you could probably do, but sticking with the movies only is a bit less overwhelming. You already made a lot of progress with this pack and it looks amazing to boot.

 

OFP/CWA definitely needs more Star Wars addons. It's a shame that Acacyn's GAW units never saw the light of day and are probably lost now. Troop transports would definitely be an essential addition to the game - such as the Lambda-class and Sentinel-class shuttles. But of course you guys want to do it one step at a time and just cross the bridge once you get there. Again, great job!