WhiteBoySamurai

Wow! "Conquest" is right, 'cause your Apache Longbow owns.

Humanity's last truly reusable spacecraft... It makes me really sad to see her go, especially without a replacement. I still remember watching the shuttle launches growing up. Just to put things in perspective... NASA's total annual budget in 2011: $18.7 billion (*1) Annual costs of air conditioning for US forces in the Middle East: $20.2 billion (*2) ಠ_ಠ Sources *1 National Library of Congress, bill S.3729 *2 retired general Rachel Martin, former chief logistician in Iraq

Here's my new Phalanx model I just completed and installed on the Burke. I spent a lot of time on it so I hope you guys like it. It'll be retrofitted to my Ticonderogas as well along with other visual improvements at some point in the future. Quick question: Is it possible to do weapon animations for ground objects? It would be cool to make the barrels spin when it shoots like the GAU-8 on the A-10.

Yeah, I'm really excited about doing the Japanese Aegis ships. I'm probably the only person on this board who's actually been aboard a Kongo, so I like to think that makes me uniquely qualified. Here's a render of the new Mk41 VLS hatch I made for the high-detail LODs of the Burke and Tico. Each one is a modest 68 polygons, but of course that means they'll add thousands to the completed model. (96 and 128 cells) I think it might be worth it for anyone who likes to zoom in real close to the ships (or fly helos off of them, for that matter).

Thanks for the support, everyone. Just an FYI, I eventually intend to do the following variants, complete with decals for each ship (because I'm a masochist): Arleigh Burke FltI (DDG-51~71) Arleigh Burke FLtII (DDG-72~78) Arleigh Burke FLtIIA (DDG-79~90) Arleigh Burke FltIIA+ (DDG-91~115) Kongo (DDG-173~176) Atago (DDG-177~178) Sejong the Great (KDX-III) (...maybe) These won't just be copy-pasta jobs, mind you. There are significant structural differences in the ships and they will be properly represented. I tried to message you, but your inbox is still full I guess. Could you send me a PM explaining this and how to use it, please? I love learning new tricks!

Nope, I didn't forget about this topic. As soon as I took a close look at the model, I can see why Fubar sent it to a 3D guru-- I'll have to play that role for now. No disrespect to the model's author, but this model needed SERIOUS clean-up before it could be remotely usable in the sim. I'm talking BP oil spill level of clean-up (but with less environmental damage). Here's the condition I got the model in: The polygon count was extremely high (roughly 40,000) in comparison to the relative amount of detail. It turns out the entire model had duplicate faces, which had to be removed by hand for it to even render properly. Furthermore, nearly everything that ought to have been a texture was instead a separate object cut into the mesh. This includes all of the deck lines on the bow and helo deck, every single door, vent, panel, and even the railing posts. SO many railing posts... Basically, I tore down much of the deck and nearly the entire superstructure (which needed to be reshaped anyway) and rebuilt them. The hull was overall the right size and shape and a good starting point. But, there was some serious misshaping issues (perhaps from the conversion process) that couldn't be fixed with smooth modifiers. With that and the aforementioned gaps in the mesh, I just said "screw it," deleted the bow and large chunks of the hull, and rebuilt those sections myself. It still needs a little tweaking IMO. Lastly, the hierarchy was an absolute disaster. Over 500 separate objects, hardly any of which needed to be separate entities, and none logically labelled. "Group058" and "Object739" and so on. After angrily mashing the delete key, I ended up replacing everything except the mast and antennas. I intend to use some parts I had been working on for a big Ticonderoga overhaul, but other parts I made/am making specifically for this ship. I may be able to salvage the original railings, but I haven't decided if it's worth it. Again, to be clear, I don't mean to bash the original modeller. Overall it was a good-looking ship that served as a time-saving starting point. But modelling in Sketchup is obviously done quite differently, and to much different standards than models intended for use in a sim, and all the parts worth salvaging required lots of menial work. I thought it would be useful for others to know what sort of stuff I had to do. So, here's what I have currently. There's still a lot I need to add, but she's sailing just fine. Lastly, while the fourth of July has come and gone in my timezone, I thought some of you might appreciate some fireworks.

Actually the Long Beach and Enterprise are from the A-team site. I think they all look pretty good together. Anyway, here are alternate LODs for anyone who can't get the ship to appear in the first gen games. CGN-25 alternate LODs.rar

Got it, thanks! I was a little put-off by having to install spyware a "download client" to get the model, but it's totally worth it to get a nifty pre-release, especially of this aircraft.

Uploading tonight. Enjoy, everyone! Say, did I hear "Operation Sea Orbit?" ...I bet someone could make an interesting "what if" mission out of that.

Looks great! I'm sure the huge load of cruise missiles the Blackjack carries will be complete overkill for any conceivable strike mission, but I really don't have a problem with that.

DO WANT. GIB NAW PLZ!!! ... ...Sorry. Uh, let me try that again. "Spinners, kind sir, the PAK-FA you have displayed in your post has captured my fancy, particularly as the service markings are relevant to my interests. Would you be so kind as to provide details of how one might acquire this virtual aircraft?"

Thanks, I got it working with tga's! She's just about ready to go. I'll do some final testing on the radar/weapons and put together an archive for upload by sometime tomorrow.

I realize that this may be a controversial choice, given the polarized opinions about this vessel, but I've decided to do the LCS-1 as my second project here. My main reason for choosing the Freedom class is a selfish one: She's stealthy! The low-RCS shaping means the vessel is geometrically simple, with an uncluttered deck and superstructure, and in turn, low polygon requirement. So, just like the real thing, I'll be able to go from drawing board to launch in much less time than it would take to build some other ship. The early (very, VERY early) render you see below is a mere 600 polygons. My second reason is also selfish: I happen to think the ship is pretty cool looking. The initial release of this vessel will be armed with a 57mm rapid fire gun, two 30mm autocannons, and a RAM missile launcher. As more info about the different mission modules becomes available, other weapons and systems will be added in the future. In the mean time, I think she'll make a decent escort for other task elements against threats that get too close for Standard Missiles. Plus, she's FAST! The disproportionately large flight deck should be able to support two helicopters, providing for some potentially interesting rotary wing operations. If you have any comments, questions, or feature requests, let me know.

New version is uploaded with new textures and the missile fix. I hope you guys like it! I feel like I'm learning a lot from the feedback. ...Especially when that feedback requires me to google stuff like "ambient occlusion." Yes, that's basically the idea. The LCS should be able to use its radar to cue the missile, just like when we slave a heatseeker to the radar in a fighter. I tried a different configuration early on (with the gun as the main weapon and the RAM as a separate weapon entry) but it didn't seem as effective. However, I don't actually need the separate launcher entry for the CG-47. Because it's the ship's main weapon and is directly tied to the radar, the WeaponData is all it needs. I had hoped to get both twin-arm launchers working, which is why there are separate entries for them still in the data file.

I know there's more of a demand for cold war era ships, but would anyone be interested in seeing this in game someday? (Courtesy of LockMart) There's also a proposed variant for Israel: It wouldn't be too difficult for me to do. I left enough room on the texture sheet to map all the new equipment. What do you think?

I have a feeling Fubar is right about ground objects requiring line-of-sight to other ground objects. If that's true, though, it's a real shame for simulated artillery as well as big gun ships. I wonder if there's a workaround, though, like placing the object's ViewportPosition up really high so it can see further over the horizon...?

dsawan: I can't seem to find the Neustrashimy in the downloads section. If it's still in there somewhere, can you give me a link please? I just tested the ship against a large variety of aircraft using different flight profiles, and I did notice that the missile fails to fire under some circumstances. I deduced that the seeker isn't functioning properly. I changed ShowMissile=TRUE and now they're shooting perfectly against all targets. I'm not sure why the missile needs to be visible for it to see targets, but... Hey, if it's stupid but it works, then it isn't stupid! Julhelm, thanks for letting me know about cgtextures. I had no idea there were sites like that. I spent a lot of time today redoing the texture for the LCS. I found some better aligned and crisper photos, and I think it looks better now. I hope this is more satisfactory. I did the vents above the bridge by hand and got almost exactly the effect I wanted. Unless there are any more suggestions, I'll upload the new textures and missile issue fix as an update. Lastly, I'm attaching alternate .LODs for SF1 users who aren't seeing the model properly. (Only use these if the original ones don't work!) LCS-1 alternate LODs.rar