WhiteBoySamurai

That cockpit is amazing, Dels! And the detail on the aircraft itself is outstanding.

Thank you for your support. I got a lot done this weekend: I still need to do the distance .lods, collision mesh, helicopter deck, refit (956A) variant, PLAN variant, and all the non-sequential (nonsensical) hull numbers.

There have been a lot of great uploads recently, so in case you missed them, please check out my Type 051 Luda class destroyer pack and Type 072 Yukan / Yuting class landing ship pack for the People's Liberation Army Navy. With these models installed, you'll be able to have full task forces appear as targets automatically on Taiwan terrain (and any others with China as a primary faction). Finally finished unwrapping and started skinning the Sovremenny. Please give me another week or so. The USN will be getting a new destroyer or two after that. This ship is still in the works, but it will take forever to arm and even longer to skin.

File Name: Yukan and Yuting class landing ships File Submitter: WhiteBoySamurai File Submitted: 17 August 2013 File Category: Cargo and Transports These models represent two major landing ships in service with the People's Liberation Army Navy: Type 072 Yukan class, introduced in 1978, China's first indigenous large landing ship Type 072II Yuting class, introduced in 1992, an improved version of the Yukan These classes form the backbone of China's amphibious assault force. Each can carry 10 tanks, or 200 to 250 troops, or 500 tons of cargo, and feature a bow ramp and stern gate. They are desgined to be fast enough to reach Taiwan from the mainland in a single night. Each ship is armed with medium-caliber AAA guns. Some Yuting hulls were apparently equipped with a pair of 40-tube 122mm rocket launchers for naval fire support. As there is not enough information about them, this variant is not included in the package, but is available on request. Important note: Once these ships are installed, the game can automatically generate task forces on naval maps featuring China as the primary opposing faction (i.e. Taiwan straits/Formosa and so on). You may be tasked to sink these landing ships as a naval strike mission so plan accordingly. I recommend that you install the Luda, Jianghu, and Jiangwei models (as well as any PLAN ships I create in the future) so that a full escort force is available. http://combatace.com/files/file/14189-luda-class-destroyers/ http://combatace.com/files/file/13041-jianghu-class-frigates/ http://combatace.com/files/file/12346-jiangwei-class-frigates/ See the readme for full details. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or constructive criticisms regarding this model, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you! Click here to download this file

I tried to convert models from sketchup before, and it was a nightmare. I highly recommend you get gmax instead (a free version of 3ds Max specifically for making game models) because files can be ported over the Max easily and then exported. Blender is also a popular free alternative, but personally I could never get used to it after using Max for all this time. Anyway, your model looks really sharp, but as others have said, be very careful of the polygon count. Remember, this is a tiny (relative to military aircraft) ground object that will mostly be seen from very high up. Even when we're mashing F7 and browsing ground objects, we can only zoom in so much, so that complexity will be wasted. For example, instead of a multi-segmented 24+ sided tube for each barrel, use an 8-sided cylinder (with a closed end). That change alone will bring the polycount down by orders of magnitude and it will look almost exactly the same in the end. Remember, you can add a tremendous amount of detail in the textures alone. And the more geometrically complex you make the mesh, the harder it will be to add good-looking textures. Good luck!

File Name: Luda class destroyers File Submitter: WhiteBoySamurai File Submitted: 13 August 2013 File Category: Destroyers These models represent the Luda class destroyers, in service with the People's Liberation Army Navy since 1971. They are the first surface warfare vessels designed and built in China. Three different variants of the ship are included: Type 051 Luda class: Initial version, armed with Silkworm missiles, two twin 130mm guns, and a large number of manually operated anti-aircraft guns. Type 051G1 Luda-III: Improved version with upgraded radar, missiles, and automatic guns. Type 051G2 Luda-III: Modern refit with upgraded sensors and weapons. Silkworms replaced with 4x4 YJ-8 missiles, and aft AAA turret replaced with HQ-7 SAM system. (An additional variant refitted with a helicopter hangar, the Luda-II, is not included since only a single example was produced.) See the readme for full details. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or constructive criticisms regarding this model, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you! Click here to download this file

That's the Hyuga, commissioned in 2009. She and her sister ship, Ise, are named after the Ise class battleships (which were given a flight deck and converted to hybrid battle-carriers). I'm sure those names are enough to rile some people up. So yeah, that's pretty damn big for a "destroyer" right? Well just a few days ago (August 6th), Japan launched an even BIGGER destroyer, the Izumo! She is 250 meters long, a bit bigger than Italy's flagship the Cavour, and about the same length as a Tarawa or Wasp LHD. According to many sources she's specifically designed to handle the V-22 and F-35B in addition to conventional helicopters. But don't worry, China, she's actually just a simple destroyer. Just like how the Kiev and Kuznetsov are cruisers.

F-4EJ did indeed carry the Sparrow and Sidewinders prior to 1981. There's also the AAM-1, which is easily mistaken for a Sidewinder because it was developed from the AIM-9E and looks identical. I can try and get you the service dates for specific model weapons if necessary, but the loadouts included under the optional files from the F-4EJ skin pack should be fine as long as the export years on the weapons user-side are correct. I'll also ask Nengajyou, who is a real Phantom Phanatic, if he has pictures of the J/ALQ-6 and ALE-41 pods. This is a common misconception. Because there's always the possibility of needing to repel a land invasion, the JASDF operates A2G ordnance from dumb bombs and rockets to guided bombs and even JDAM more recently. For whatever reason they don't have any stocks of LGBs or Mavericks, though. The F-4EJ was technically capable of carrying iron bombs including the Mk82 and M117. However, until they got the F-15J in 1981, the F-4EJ was still the JASDF's primary air superiority aircraft, so in practice they rarely -if ever- carried bombs (as far as I'm aware). By the way, Ravenclaw, will your new F-4EJ be compatible with the older and stock skins? The screenshots sure look wonderful in any case!

Do you happen to know where the formation data for naval task forces is kept? I'd like to take a look at it, but I don't see any mention of it in the formations.ini file.

Thanks for those drawings, mikeg_65! The Keelung (ex-Kidd) is on my to-do list, and models are so much easier to make with good diagrams. It's the 4th of July over here, so happy Independence Day to my friends back in my country of birth. Here are some "fireworks" for you. All the weapons are working now. The Sunburns are really nasty since she launches them two at a time and they quickly go supersonic. I still have a lot of work to do optimizing the model. (It's currently more than 60000 polygons, which is higher than my Tico, and a bit too much for a ship of this size.) And after that, the uvw and skinning. I have some PLAN ships in the works, including their most numerous destroyer type, the Luda: And the Yuting class LST, which will allow the game to spawn PLAN task forces:

File Name: Nanuchka I & II class corvettes File Submitter: WhiteBoySamurai File Submitted: 01 June 2013 File Category: Other This model represents the Nanuchka class corvette, a Cold War era missile boat used by the Soviet Union and several export customers. Three different versions of the ship are provided: Nanuchka I class corvette (Soviet version; classified as a frigate in game so that it can appear in Soviet task forces) Nanuchka I class missile boat (Soviet version; classified as a patrol boat) Nanuchka II class missile boat (export version for India, Algeria, and Libya; classified as a patrol boat) All three versions may be installed together with no conflicts or other issues. The Nanuchka series are quite heavily armed for their size, with a 57mm twin gun, SA-N-4 Gecko launcher, and either six SS-N-9 Siren missiles (Nanuchka I) or four SS-N-2C Styx missiles (Nanuchka II). Naturally, all of these weapons are fully functional on the models. See the readme for full details. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or constructive criticisms regarding this model, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you! Click here to download this file

I find myself making a lot of ordnance lately. Expect an update to the Cruise Missile Pack sometime in the near future, and some other surprises.

Really looking forward to those P-3s, Florian! Obligatory screenshot:

New missile for an old ship: Testing guns on Sovremenny: I still have a lot of work to do on this one. Thank you for your patience.

That would be cool, but I don't think we have a terrain with that base yet. Uploading tonight: I figured out how to do self-illumination, so this ship has a working spotlight and a small signal in back to help land helicopters.

Tranquil flightline

I think I'll leave the Newport for someone else to do. Sorry, I know it would be a good addition, but... it's just such an ugly ship! What with that big ramp thing on the bow and all. I don't think I could take the project seriously. To generate a task force in a random single mission, the country needs at least one capital ship: an aircraft carrier, battleship, amphibious assault ship, or cruiser. The JMSDF doesn't have any battleships or cruisers, but I fully intend to provide an LST and DDH, plus as many escorts as I have time for. Still need to do the decklines, decals, and bump-mapping on one of those escorts, anyway.

Thanks for the upload, colmack. I hope you continue to work on it and give us updates like I often do with my ships. Just a quick fix if you're using my weapons pack: Make sure the Tartar launchers point to RIM-24B, as that was the model available when the class was commissioned. I think the data.ini just has "RIM-24" at the moment. Detailing on Asagiri is done, skinning in progress. (I started with weapons because my priorities are skewed :P)

Testing out the Asagiri. She's now ready for a paint job. Weapons are fully functional already. One 76mm gun, Sea Sparrows, anti-ship missiles (RGM-84C or SSM-1B), Phalanx, ASROC and torpedoes (non-functional). The Asagiri class is one of Japan's most numerous and modern destroyer designs. Commissioned in the late 80s/early 90s, they are about the size of an Oliver Hazard Perry, and similar in role and capabilities. I think this ship will actually be done before the Sovremenny, because A) I have more and better reference photos, and B) I took a lazy route when doing the Sovy mesh so unwrapping it is an absolute nightmare. They'll be finished by summer in any case.

Dels and ace888's recent release has inspired me to get off my lazy butt and back to work. Currently testing for shadow issues before I start final detailing and skinning: And we need more Japanese ships, so I'm putting this together as a side project: