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sakura_chan

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Posts posted by sakura_chan

  1. Posted

    In response to wheels not touching the ground, if I remember correctly the solution is to move the wheel_x_x_bound points to the INSIDE of the tire. The actual tire height is determined by the distance between the wheel_x_x_bound point and, I think, the posun wheel_x_x points. Just scale the _bound points inward until it sits correctly. I'm sorry, I actually did put together a fully working example model that had everything that an A3 vehicle could have, including visually damageable wheels, but I didn't quite finish it or post it. I stopped because I thought the A3 sample model would be sufficient.

  2. Posted

    Is the pilot in the squad's group? Either way he may be trying to land to pick them up again, I've seen this before. It usually means that the soldiers weren't properly separated from the plane, like there is a command telling the game that the soldiers should still try to get back in the plane causing the pilot to return to the nearest airfield.

  3. Posted

    But it doesnt work that way, its not rendering two different points, it is simply warping the red and blue channels of the rendered image. The 3d effect is just an illusion caused by the separate channels when viewed with 3d glasses. There is no way to actually make it work, it is just a coincidental illusion

  6. Posted

    oh look an update worthy of April Fools day

    I spent a few free hours on the hardest to draw, most difficult to animate thing on almost any model: windshield wipers

    wipers.jpg

    (still missing a few details like the pivot arms and wiper rests)

    What makes them so difficult is that they are always "off axis" ie rotated at some arbitrary angle. Lining them up on the model is difficult in and of itself, but it is a real pain to animate them for 2 reasons. One, because they are off axis you pretty much have to guess where the axises go and "walk it in" to get them to rotate correctly. Two, wipers move in three axis: the rotating "motor" axis as it goes up and down; the arm's vertical spring loaded axis as the arm follows the uneven curved surface of the wind screen; the wiper blade pivot axis as the actual wiper conforms to the window. It is pretty finicky to line everything up, but ArmA's animation system is pretty robust and I was able to get a fairly decent result. There is a great command in o2 called "look at face" that rotates the view to look directly at a face, which can then be used to rotate an object along its relative axis even if it is off axis in the model. It made lining up the wiper downright easy compared to the repeated trial and error technique.

    I've been doing a lot of reading and researching on the Osprey, and I have changed or removed almost every detail and animation on the original model at this point. I've also got trackIR working well with it, it is neat to lean over and look down the cargo area behind you, especially when you have a troop load. More later!

    bee tee dubs:

    Check out this article, it gives a great impression of what flying an Osprey would feel like.

    http://breakingdefense.com/2012/09/flying-the-osprey-is-not-dangerous-just-different-veteran-pilo/

    Its really interesting about how the center of gravity changes as it switches flight modes.

    I applied some of the techniques from the article to my flying, and it really helped with my crashing and slow takeoff. basically the trick is to keep the nose up when you accelerate in flight mode, otherwise it just sinks or slows down. Using a rolling landing also makes it easier, if you have the room of course. The Osprey has a plane-based cockpit so there isn't any visibility beneath you. If you have trackIR you can look to the side,there is a small window by your feet that gives you a little better view, but generally I just use the flir.

  8. Posted · Edited by Sakura_Chan

    Glad everyone likes it so far. I have run into a rather nasty problem with the co-pilot seat though. There is some sort of bug that removes engine control from the copilot when the stupid thing is not moving. This means the copilot cannot take off, but if given control mid-flight, everything works. You can still start the engines, so the throttle still works but there seems to be a throttle limit that prevents it from getting enough power to lift off. This is only using "airplaneX" class, switching to "airplane" class fixes the problem. So I am torn between the two simulation classes:

    AirplaneX class

    ----------------

    Pros

    -less bouncy ground movement

    -physics always active so it can be moved by other vehicles and sits correctly on the ground

    -the 'flaps' act as huge airbrakes that slow down the Osprey due to airplaneX specific flapsFrictionCoef variable

    Cons

    -severe stuttering in certain situations, it looks like MP lag. Maybe caused by BIS's separation of the simulated and visual models. After the switch to PhysX this system seems to be broken and causes jumpiness on all 'X' class vehicles

    -unusable copilot

    Airplane class

    ----------------

    Pros

    -always appears to move smoothly

    -seems slightly more responsive and can ascend more quickly in hover mode

    -copilot works perfectly

    -improved ground turning capabilities, it can rotate 360º on the ground without forward speed

    Cons

    -fairly bad ground control: bouncy, looks like an RC toy when it lands on an uneven or sloped surface. It seems to have no weight to it. When the rear wheels make contact first, the nose comes down and bounces like a lowrider.

    -physics are only working when the engines are on or if it is hit with a weapon. Due to the way the landing gear is set up, this means the front wheel is 1/2 ft off the ground at start up.

    To address some of the above posts:

    -rotor mounted lights are YES

    -door window is fixed, as is the whole door system. The osprey's upper door does not open outwards like a hatch, it retracts inwards and then slides upwards, bringing it to the roof behind the cockpit bulkhead

    -packing animation has been preserved and improved, but there probably won't be a built in option to pack it, due to trolls, AI not being able to use it and the fact that it only works on a Osprey that hasn't had its engine turn. The script will be included for manual use though.

    -armed version is not impossible but not planned and won't be in the first release for sure.

  9. Posted

    Here are some pics of it in A3 with mostly finalized materials. The first skin will be "Lady Ace" from VMM-165 the "White Knights"

    ladyace02.jpg

    ladyace01.jpg

    ladyace03.jpg

    The Osprey is SOOO curvy and sexy :)

    I've made a lot of changes to the model, adding or moving antennas, adding missing parts to match more recent models. I've added a lot of detail into the shadow lod as well so all the little details pop out more now that they have shadows.

  10. Posted

    Update! I moved the Osprey over to its own addon folder, which is a HUGE hassle. Because this is going to be an open source addon I took the time to convert everything I could into #define texture paths, so you only have to change one path per file instead of having to change it for each entry. Well the Osprey was actually further along than I realized. I spent some of today working on it and all it really needs is the co-pilot instruments and controls, some damage textures, some config tweaks, and a few missing sounds. I fixed the annoying bug that most ArmA vehicles have that causes the ocean and sky to disappear when viewed through the cockpit windows. Any ideas what liveries I should make? I would like to include the USMC (default), USAF and a 2035 NATO skins. I would like suggestions on actual FGs that I should use.

  11. Posted

    Haven't touched it in months...maybe I will hand it off to someone else I don't know. Its a pretty boring project at this point, not much motivation to finish it up. It is far enough along though, I may man up and release it. I am really just stuck for sounds and only have tedious little details to work on like animating the co-pilot controls and debugging the cargo ejection. All the lighting and animations are fairly complete, the textures are somewhat ready for reskinning as well. One major annoyance is that I used another one of my mods to quickly get these in-game, but that means I will have to make a new config and re-path the textures to get them to work as a separate addon. I'll keep you guys updated

  12. Posted · Edited by Sakura_Chan

    I did occasionally have trouble getting the inventory from a dead soldier, it has something to do with the ragdoll positioning I believe. Sometimes you would have to find the right angle or position in order to get the command. I might replace the default inventory system with a scripted one at some point. As a temporary solution I could add an option in-game that would give you the option of turning the inventory action on/off. Also, I will add the controls changes in its own addon for the next version.

    Also, two teaser pics of whats coming in the next version :)

    teaser01.jpg

    teaser02.jpg

    teaser03.jpg

  14. Posted

    I got the JATO script working, I just used an existing afterburner script and added some vertical lift to it. Somehow the AI has absolutely no trouble with it?! This is ArmA, a trouble free feature just isn't right ;) The AI actually goes nose up and then levels out like in the videos. There was definitely some Thunderstuck blaring in the background on my first JATO heh.

  15. Posted

    I hate the ArmA2 sounds, and it would be hard to adapt flightsim sounds to arma due to the difference in how they get played. As for the runways, the C-130 has great braking force, it slows down as though it was using reverse thrust. It has no trouble stopping on the smallest grass airfields on Altis. I think the shortest one is in the north-west of Altis just below Ammolofi Bay. If you are careful you only need about 75% of the runway to stop, but you need 200% or more runway to take off at full flaps. Right now, with flaps down, it rotates at 180kph (100 knots). I've read that it is capable of rotating around 75ish knots, and sometimes as fast as 122 knots (225kph). I don't want to make it BF4 instant liftoff, but I don't want it to be unusable on dirt runways without using the JATO every time. The shortest runway only lets me reach 130pkh (70kts), so thats even cutting it close for the JATO.

  16. Posted

    I did check the dimensions... the length is perfect, the wingspan is about 0.5 - 1 m short. I will fix the inside door as well. I have the JATO effects almost done, I was able to do everything without scripting so far. I configured the system as a rear-facing eight barrel gun, so at launch the player or AI just has to fire the JATO "weapon" once. The main advantage of this is that you don't need any fancy scripting to arm or disarm the JATO, you simply add or remove the ammo. You could also refit the rockets from a supply vehicle or point. It shoots a 500 round burst of ammo, and the neat thing is that it easily handles all the smoke and spark effects because each barrel shoots and can have its own particle effects. The "ammo" will actually hit the ground during takeoff, so it simulates the smoke, sparks and dust that hits the runway. The ammo only "lives" for about 0.1 second so the liftoff effect has a realistic range. I haven't worked on the actual script that will increase the thrust though.

    One MAJOR problem I'm having is the lack of good sounds. I can "get by" with chopping up youtube audio and I can make loops and stuff, but I don't have any talent* for it and I am somewhat baffled by the sound code. Perhaps some kind soul would like to help out? I just need the sounds for the MV-22, the C-130, the JATO rockets, and the powered ramps and landing gear. Right now the osprey has most of the sounds, the C-130 is completely silent though. If you want to give it a shot just PM me. I would like to capture the bass of the c-130, while the osprey sounds pretty unique and sort of quiet at a distance.

    *by talent I mean I know what I like, but I don't have the experience or software to modify sounds to my liking.

  19. Posted

    Just a personal observation...AirplaneX is JUNK. It causes major stuttering in flight, it looks like multiplayer lag almost. Take the buzzard out, do some maneuvers and you will see the wing vapor trail make "dashes" instead of a smooth line. This is because the model is actually jumping around! Also, drop a bomb and watch it fall, it will appear to jerk back and forth all over the place. The bomb is actually doing just fine, it is the plane that is twitching around. It is really bad, if you try to fly in formation in singleplayer the other plane will be clunking and jerking along horribly. The first thing I did in A3 was switch the buzzard back to airplane class.

  20. Posted

    In case anyone looks this thread up again, I thought I would post this. The stuff above does not change the color in A3. It will change the 'reflection' color of the shallow water near the shore, but the main deep water will be largely unaffected. It does have some effect, mostly when you are looking straight down at it, but even then it doesn't affect the hue or brightness of the water. The real trick is in the island's weather class:

    		class Overcast : Overcast
		{
			class Weather1 : Weather1
			{
				sky = "A3\Map_Stratis\Data\sky_veryclear_sky.paa";
				skyR = "A3\Map_Stratis\Data\sky_veryclear_lco.paa";
				horizon = "A3\Map_Stratis\Data\sky_veryclear_horizont_sky.paa";
			};
		};

    there are 7 levels of weather, and each uses it's own texture for the ocean, namely the SkyR texture. It is a reflection map of sorts that is used to determine the color of the ocean. These get blended as the weather changes, and it allows the ocean to change color when the weather changes. For some reason the game does not use the "veryclear" weather set. To change the color of the ocean, just edit the textures to your liking.

  21. Posted · Edited by Sakura_Chan

    Here are a few pics of the C-130 exterior, the original textures are alright for detail, but due to the size of the thing getting up really close resulted in a bland appearance. I am trying out some tiled, colored detail maps to help give it a little more detail up close. The model itself is relatively low poly, but it gets the job done I think. The model itself is about 8000 points * 13000 polys.

    pics too big to img link:

    http://sakumods.armaholic.com/Arma3/c130mv22/c13001.png

    http://sakumods.armaholic.com/Arma3/c130mv22/c13002.png

    http://sakumods.armaholic.com/Arma3/c130mv22/c13003.png

    left and right sides are different colors due to WIP repainting, and I haven't keyed the markings out of the reflection maps just yet, but I will.

  22. Posted · Edited by Sakura_Chan

    yeah they will be open source with available mlod models and blank unmarked layered textures for easy reskins. One little bug I found with the c-130 and Alive is that the hurc gets spawned inside of the aircraft hangers, so the wingtips are sticking out 15ft on each side lol. I'll post that in the alive thread.

  23. Posted

    Congrats on release! I see you have trouble with the slammer. From what I can see it can only be damaged using the armorStructural variable. Increasing it makes the thing unstoppable. Perhaps the slammer has incorrect armor because even the heaviest piercing rounds dont damage the hull, and they should according to the armor values. I noticed that tanks also dont have the hitfuel class, so there is no chance of an internal explosion. The only way to really destroy it is to blow up the hull. I'll work on it a bit and see what I can find.

  24. Posted · Edited by Sakura_Chan

    The AI can be tweaked for much better pathfinding, I've done it for every ArmA game. However, you really need to 'tune' it based on the performance of the vehicle, so you can't just adjust the pathfinding and then change the handling of a vehicle. BTW, I found a grip value of 6 to be about right. It really does make a 100% night and day difference. Also, I noticed a severe reduction in stuttering while turning, I guess it was caused by the tank sideslipping. Now that it doesn't slide it is graphically smoother. I'm playing with the turnCoef right now, checking to see if it makes a difference.

    *edit*

    Tanks don't use turnCoef from what I've seen. 0.15 -> 15 makes no difference

  25. Posted

    Well I think I may have fixed my main problem with the handling! The problem was that tanks couldn't maneuver in towns without 'spinning out' at high speeds. The solution seems to be the frictionVsSlipGraph variable. I tried changing the grip on each wheel, but it didn't help and it caused huge problems with traction. Then it occurred to me : in frictionVsSlipGraph, you can use variables GREATER THAN 1. I used frictionVsSlipGraph[] = {{0, 5}, {0.5, 5}, {1, 5}} for each wheel, and bumped the tankTurnForce up by 150-160%, and the result is a decently maneuverable tank! probably not related, but my mod also pushed the torque curve to come on a lot earlier. I can now follow roads, and I can make 90 degree turns without having it oversteer. Its a pretty simple solution, the tank was loosing grip so I just gave it more grip. I didn't change anything else to do with the wheels. Confirm?

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