YF-19 Excalibur

[+GrinchWSLG]

Finally, does this aircraft have one of those 'reclined' seats like an F-16? If so, the pilot model maybe just sits too far upright. Unfortunately, there is no way to 'rotate' a pilot model in game. You either have to alter the aircraft, or use a different pilot model. I wonder if the WOI F-16 Netz pilot model is different...

 

Looks good so far!

 

FastCargo

 

Well, I found some F-16 pilots that probably came with the NATO Fighters mod I installed way back. After playing with some of the cockpit dimensions he sits in there pretty good, although he still looks a wee bit large. I may scale the aircraft up slightly to compensate because I just can't agree with the given dimensions.

 

Thanks.

 

I checked the numbers in a couple of canon sources and Isamu Dyson's height is listed as 183 cm or just about 6' even. The YF-19 is officially supposed to be 18.62m long, 14.87m wide, and 3.94m tall. From the picture you posted, what is visible of the pilot from the outside looks nearly right, though the pilot looks a bit too big in comparison to the plane. The cockpit in the YF-19 had a very low floor because of the view system in the floor, the pilot's feet rested on the rudder pedals. I'll try to get some screenshots and lineart later to help check things out.

 

EDIT: Looking superb so far!

 

If Isamu really was 6' (I knew he wasn't a Tom Cruise, but he's has big as me then) then I'm almost positive the canon measurements for the aircraft are wrong. They aren't that wrong, but wrong enough I'll need to smudge the numbers a bit.

 

Thank you.

 

 

 

These are the valkyrie's particular weapons

 

While the gunpod may be different, a lot of the missile weapons may still be in use, or we can just model them and say they're upgraded. Thanks for the pic.

 

EDIT: LOL at the HARM. All these advanced weapons and they still use the AGM-88...

 

@Grinch

I found this lineart diagram in my archives, it shows where the pilot's head should be in relation to the cockpit. It also shows how the two canopy parts hinge and how the aft canopy and seat can be ejected separately. The center-right image shows the interior of the cockpit and how deep it is below the seat, as well as the angle the seat is tilted back.

 

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/6240/yf...gramsbi3.th.gif

 

Holy crap, that completely changes my view on the cockpit. I had no idea it was that deep, that makes things a little easier, especially when I do the virtual cockpit. Thanks!

Edited May 1, 2008 by GrinchWSLG

[Talos]

Glad I could help with the cockpit. I'll keep looking through my lineart archives and see what else I can find. I have some of the second seat installation as well if you want to do a version with that installed too.

 

Most of the missiles used with the YF-19 are shown on this page. http://www.mahq.net/mecha/macross/plus/yf-19.htm

 

What's not shown on that page is the pallets in the leg missiles bays that can carry different missiles instead of the mini-missile installation. Here are the missiles that the VF-19 Custom carried in that lineart I posted earlier. http://www.new-un-spacy.com/macross7/vf-19...tom-missile.gif

[+GrinchWSLG]

Here's a few shots of the F-16 pilot...

 

 

I'm just using this as a dummy to see how the shape of the cockpit works. "Make a new pilot" is at the bottom of the list of things to do for now. After I did this run I went back and refined the cockpit a little further and came up with this...

 

 

Its not the full deal since its just the external view, unless you guys think I should recreate it fully for the external model. I'll definitely do the full pit for the virtual cockpit, or at least, as much as you can see from the player perspective.

 

Aside from that I've finished the animations for the shock and air brakes. I didn't see any air brakes on the YF-19 in the movie so I'm using the rudders like the Super Hornet.

[i90807065]

Still AWESOME!!! Are you planning on making the aircraft capable of flying like it did in Macross? I would love to try to fight that!

 

You fire a missile and it goes to space and flies away, or ambushes you from space at random times

[+GrinchWSLG]

Still AWESOME!!! Are you planning on making the aircraft capable of flying like it did in Macross? I would love to try to fight that!

 

You fire a missile and it goes to space and flies away, or ambushes you from space at random times

 

Well, I think the 48 seconds from sea level to atmospheric ceiling is a bit too much for the sim. Engine thrust wise it will be comparable to 5th generation fighters or better. Manueverability wise, well, lets just say I'm not looking forward to any of the FM work, since most of that data makes absolutely no sense to me. I have no idea where modders are getting all this data.

 

I've got all the control surfaces doing what they should for the most part. I also have the engine nozzles simulating thrust vectoring for pitch. Would like to start texturing tonight or tomorrow. Which raises a question. I'm using UVW mapping plus LithUnwrap for texturing. When placing the UVW maps, you basically have to guess as to where to put it on the map. I was wondering how people got these textures so packed together. Is there something I'm missing or is it really guess and check?

[+FastCargo]

Well, I think the 48 seconds from sea level to atmospheric ceiling is a bit too much for the sim. Engine thrust wise it will be comparable to 5th generation fighters or better. Manueverability wise, well, lets just say I'm not looking forward to any of the FM work, since most of that data makes absolutely no sense to me. I have no idea where modders are getting all this data.

 

I've got all the control surfaces doing what they should for the most part. I also have the engine nozzles simulating thrust vectoring for pitch. Would like to start texturing tonight or tomorrow. Which raises a question. I'm using UVW mapping plus LithUnwrap for texturing. When placing the UVW maps, you basically have to guess as to where to put it on the map. I was wondering how people got these textures so packed together. Is there something I'm missing or is it really guess and check?

 

Well. again, in the things I've tried recently...here are some of my techniques.

 

1) Build the bmp one map at a time. Basically, UVWMap, UnwrapUVW, then export to Lithunwrap, make the BMP, then go back to 3ds max for your next map with your new bmp...this works but takes a LONG time.

 

2) 'Build' the bmp beforehand. In other words, actually make a bmp with the general layout you want, using basic 'blocks' of color to get you close. You then 'layover' the outline in UnwrapUVW. Then use Lithunwrap, and there ya go.

 

3) Similar to number 2, but use parts of original 3-view as a template to lay the UnwrapUVW parts on.

 

4) This next technique I only just discovered, but it works pretty nicely. Take your basic wing (as an example) but BEFORE you cut the ailerons and flaps. UVWMap and UnwrapUVW. Do the Lithunwrap thing. You now have the whole wing mapped. NOW cut the ailerons and flaps out. The polygons that were part of the original wing will still have that same mapping. Any NEW polygons you make to 'close' those parts will now have to be mapped (basically the normally hidden parts of the wing). Then export to Lithunwrap...you'll notice the general shape of the original 'uncut' wing will have the colors of all 3 parts now (wing, aileron, flap) at the appropriate locations...makes it REALLY easy to skin because the lines will automatically match...

 

I've applied the first 3 techniques in this example:

 

 

FastCargo

[+GrinchWSLG]

Ah ha, that makes tons of sense, I can't believe I didn't think of it before. Thanks!

[dast24]

comes this beauty with a build in Gun or only with gunpods?

trying to do some upgraded reallife weapons. have a good amraam so far working now on a asraam. I´m also have some air to air micro missles(lau 10 rocket pod modification) and micro air to ground missles (lau-3 rocket pod modification), but weapon testing an balancig will take a while^^

 

i tried also a kind of tracker mirv missle(a big missle that split up in4 or 8 mini missles), but it doesnt work. for now

[Atreides]

Keep at it Grinch, she looks fantastic. Thanks !

[+GrinchWSLG]

comes this beauty with a build in Gun or only with gunpods?

trying to do some upgraded reallife weapons. have a good amraam so far working now on a asraam. I´m also have some air to air micro missles(lau 10 rocket pod modification) and micro air to ground missles (lau-3 rocket pod modification), but weapon testing an balancig will take a while^^

 

i tried also a kind of tracker mirv missle(a big missle that split up in4 or 8 mini missles), but it doesnt work. for now

 

 

It will come with the two built in guns located in the wing roots. I haven't decided what gun I'll put in there, has I haven't looked at whats available in game. There will be a hardpoint for hanging gunpods in the appropriate place, and I may model the GU-15 once everything else is done.

 

Keep up the work on those weapons, they sound pretty interesting, would love to see them in action.

 

Keep at it Grinch, she looks fantastic. Thanks !

 

Thanks.

Edited May 2, 2008 by GrinchWSLG

[+Julhelm]

While Fastcargo has some things right, he's totally missing that when unwrapping, you want to keep any texture seams to a minimum - this usually means confining them to the least visible places:

 

 

 

Notice here how with the sole exception of the top faces of the fuselage, all "seams" have been confined to 90dgr edges or parts that are not likely to be seen; ie inward-turned faces. Therefore, like a lot of other 3rd party maps here, Fastcargos technique gives him one set of completely unnecessary seams simply because he didn't bother connecting the sides to the top and only keeping the seam to the sharp corner on the bottom where it belongs. Not saying this is always possible, but it is easier with some shapes than others, especially boxy ones like modern fighters.

Edited May 2, 2008 by Julhelm

[dast24]

Okay, i will do a video of the weapon´s any time soon.

[+FastCargo]

While Fastcargo has some things right, he's totally missing that when unwrapping, you want to keep any texture seams to a minimum - this usually means confining them to the least visible places:

 

Notice here how with the sole exception of the top faces of the fuselage, all "seams" have been confined to 90dgr edges or parts that are not likely to be seen; ie inward-turned faces. Therefore, like a lot of other 3rd party maps here, Fastcargos technique gives him one set of completely unnecessary seams simply because he didn't bother connecting the sides to the top and only keeping the seam to the sharp corner on the bottom where it belongs. Not saying this is always possible, but it is easier with some shapes than others, especially boxy ones like modern fighters.

 

Julhelm definitely has a good point here. Seams can be a royal pain to deal with, and usually are visible unless you do what he suggests or do an 'overspray' when doing colorations. Typically, that's what I've done with my models, but can result in 'inefficient' layouts with lots of gaps between areas on the bmp for the overspray (like you saw in my eariler example). For me, since I'm still working on my first aircraft models, of which all have the more classical round tubes and bulges, I've elected to go with a simpler layout to minimize me distorting my UVW maps.

 

Thanks for the tip there Julhelm...I wish someone had mentioned that to me before I started mapping...cause I ain't going back! You would have thought I would have figured that out eariler...

 

FastCargo

[+GrinchWSLG]

Well, I can understand what Julhelm is talking about, but as this is my first time UVW mapping I don't think I'm going to get nearly his level of results. So far though its going okay. I have the outside of the nose and the wings mapped with the rough textures.

[+76.IAP-Blackbird]

The same for me with my project, lets work in a way together and exchange some knowledge?! Would be good!

[+Julhelm]

Btw, why're you all using LithUnwrap? I stopped using that one years ago after figuring out that post max7, all you need is unwrap uvw modifier and the stitch function.

[+GrinchWSLG]

Stitch function? Whats that do?

 

Also, is there a way to mirror the UVW over for duplicate aparts, like rudders? That would make my life a lot easier.

[+FastCargo]

Grinch, couldn't tell ya on the 'stitch' function.

 

However, if you 'instance' mirror copy a part, the duplicate retains the UVW mapping. It just means that for things like wings, twin tails, etc, that the bmp outlines will look the same, but one of the parts is reverse aligned.

 

A good example is look at the Su-27 bitmaps for the wings. Note that the right and left wing outlines look the same. But they have a different scheme. One is simply 'reversed'.

 

FastCargo

 

PS Julhelm...yes, please tell us of this stitch function...I've seen the button but didn't have any idea what it means or does. I used Mustang's tutorials as my base guide.

[+GrinchWSLG]

Hmm, well I was thinking more along the lines of after I created a UVW map for something on the right side, just being able to mirror it for use on the left side. I found I was able to copy paste the UVW unwrap modifier, but the faces are all inverted.

 

EDIT: I decided to experiment with something before I posted. I copied the UVW Map modifier first (after selected the faces) then the UVW Unwrap modifier and it seems to have worked.

 

Ooh, "Valued Member" now.

 

EDIT2: Nope just worked on that one rudder, tried the same thing on the Vertical Stabilizor and it didn't work.

Edited May 3, 2008 by GrinchWSLG

[+Julhelm]

It allows you to attached planar mapped sections of faces to each other while automatically scaling them right.

[+GrinchWSLG]

It allows you to attached planar mapped sections of faces to each other while automatically scaling them right.

 

Ah, I see now Julhelm. I decided to properly learn how to do this instead of just piecing together information. I looked up a UVW mapping tutorial here http://www.waylon-art.com/uvw_tutorial/uvwtut_01.html and realized that Mustang's tutorial is probably not the best way to go about things.

[+FastCargo]

I wish I knew about that tutorial about a year ago...would have saved SO much freaking time! Hell, just that Flatten Mapping tool would have been nice to have used.

 

Well, that'll make future projects easier...nice find!

 

FastCargo

[+GrinchWSLG]

I wish I knew about that tutorial about a year ago...would have saved SO much freaking time! Hell, just that Flatten Mapping tool would have been nice to have used.

 

Well, that'll make future projects easier...nice find!

 

FastCargo

 

I've only just started but I think this is the best way to do it definitely. The only problem is with the flatten method selecting the whole fuselage of the YF-19 creates quite the parts pile thanks to its complex shape. But you can easily select the individual areas and remap or choose a different method. For example, I selected the inside of the intakes and Box Mapped them, which gave me 5 neat pieces. Now to figure out how to keep everything scaled properly...

 

EDIT: Before I forget, thanks so much for the help Julhelm, I was doing it totally wrong before.

Edited May 3, 2008 by GrinchWSLG

[+Julhelm]

Just maximize your perspective window with alt+w and then use that to select your faces for mapping, just in case you're doing it from the unwrap window.

[+76.IAP-Blackbird]

This is a great found will need it too thanks for finding!