WhiteBoySamurai

I really hate to criticize, but I wouldn't even say this model is game-ready at all, much less SF2-ready. It's 300,000 polygons and doesn't look it; no labeling or hierarchy of components. A good start would be to remove the parked aircraft like Wrench said. Then get rid of the terrible railings to save another 64000 polygons or so.

Yeah, I intend to do the as-built (1944) and the SBC-27C conversion (1954). I think I'll be able to bring the polygon count down to a reasonable level in any case. Sorry, I really prefer to do ships that fall into at least two of these categories: Modern and/or pretty Heavily-armed Relatively easy to model Ubiquitous in a particular era/theater Anyway, I'm now working on textures for the Murasame. Weapons and decals are finished. The model is just barely over 28000 polygons, the same level of complexity and detail as my Aegis ships. When it's finished I think this will actually be one of my best works so far.

You can send it my way. I have my reservations about a mod like this, though, since it may have adverse effects (i.e. guns not behaving as they should for anti-air work, or when the game calculates damage from momentum), and it would require re-packaging and re-uploading every single ship model.

You're right, the normal lod -> collision lod method doesn't work for some ships. It could be an issue of too much complexity (for models with lots of wires, railings, and radar dish stuff) or gaps in the mesh (the Kynda had this issue for me). The Slava works for me as far as I can tell (my missiles can hit it), though to be honest I've never tried strafing the ship. The box experiment might be able to work. For one thing, try setting the center point for the "hull" box at 0,0,0. That's what I set it for the hull of all my ships, and maybe Thirdwire has the same idea. If that doesn't work, we should probably assume that the collision mesh needs at least a superstructure (linked to the hull in the hierarchy, of course) and probably the other components listed in the data file.

The game engine doesn't seem to treat ground objects as truly solid objects like terrain (or flight decks) for purposes of crashing into them. I've damaged the main rotor of a helicopter on many occasions by flying through a ship's superstructure, but other than that I rarely see the sort of catastrophic damage you'd expect from such an event. Regardless of those issues, the stock ships and any designed with proper collision meshes will properly take hits from missiles and gunfire. When it comes to third-party ships released before SF2:NA, missiles and bullets will pass right through. The only thing we've been able to get to work is to copy the ship's LOD (preferably the lowest-poly one if there are more than one) and assign that as the collision LOD. This is very inefficient, though, because like you said the game engine has to do more work because of all the extra polygons. Gerwin, I've tried something similar to what you did: Export a boxy collision LOD roughly the same size as the third party ship. I couldn't get it to work either. I'm pretty sure the reason is that the model's pivot points (and maybe min-max extents) have to be the same as the collision model. Because we have no way of knowing where those points are in the original model, this is nearly impossible. I've tried making helo decks for stock and third party ships too, but ran into the same problem for the same reasons. Without the original file, we can't know precisely how everything is supposed to line up. More experimentation is required in any case. Edit: Just noticed that the stock Knox also does not have node names assigned for its components. Strange... [Hull] ModelNodeName= <= This is kind of important >_> EffectSize=1.0 MinExtentPosition=-6.81,-67.43,-3.87 MaxExtentPosition= 6.81, 65.32, 9.70

Thanks for the support, everyone. I've focusing on the Murasame lately, one of the most important warships in the JMSDF. I decided to do a brief pictorial to give you an idea of how my ships come together. I just need to do railings and riggings and she'll be ready for a paintjob. The long-hull Essex is proceeding slowly; working on weapons now. Here is the ubiquitous quad Bofors. Small concern: Just one of these mounts is 1500 polygons, and there are supposed to be up to a dozen of them around the ship. That's more than most third party aircraft (and almost as much as a single missile made by a certain dedicated modder). I'll try to cut back and optimize the performance as much as possible, but I may have to skip the 20mm guns just in case.

The color drawing above is for a different version of the Patriot (the proposed version for MEADS), but I was able to find proper diagrams and photos for the the more current baseline weapon. This should be close enough for government work: Here is the missile and launcher. It properly integrates with the existing Patriot network (which you must have already). Needs testing though. Patriot PAC3.rar Warhead weight is set at 73kg as per official sources. However this is a hit-to-kill missile and a large portion of its lethality comes from the force of impact. A 312kg object travelling at Mach 3+ will impart over 150 megajoules of energy, which is equivalent to 40kg of TNT. So feel free to increase the warhead to 113kg or more.

Just the missile, right? I can cook one up if someone else doesn't finish it first. I have the exact dimensions, but a good diagram (side view) would be extremely useful.

Rant incoming. The "journalist" in the first half of the video sites an email by Peter Goon. He is the co-founder of the infamous Air Power Australia website, a moonbat sky-is-falling scare-mongering nuthouse masquerading as a "military think-tank." They are well-known for spreading misinformation about Western weapon systems and proclaiming any and all Russian/Chinese gear as invincible. This whole thing has zero credibility, made by someone with a profound misunderstanding of military exercises (or anything military related, really) and is essentially free propaganda for Russian defense contractors. Most people misunderstand stealth. It's not a simple trick. It is a force multiplier that reduces the ability (the range and the likelihood overall) that an enemy can detect and engage the friendly unit. Historically the vast majority of air-to-air kills occurred when the target did not become aware of his attacker in time. That is to say, if you see the enemy before they see you, you will more often than not kill them first. If you discount the value of stealth, you must logically then discount the value of camouflage, cover and concealment, attacking in the dark with night vision goggles, and so on. I'm sure the enemy would love it if we marched toward them in large formations in broad daylight, but that's not how war works anymore. Further, stealth is not a binary value of "completely invisible" vs. "clear as day." It always remains an advantage. There is no magic radar system that will come out one day and completely negate the ability of stealth. You can't get around the laws of physics. Certain countries and weapon manufacturers sometimes make hand-waving claims that their systems can detect and defeat stealth, but if that were true, why is every world power racing to catch up with the US in stealth aircraft?

How to sink a ship in style: Step 1) Launch advanced anti-ship cruise missile* from well beyond the enemy's weapon range. Step 2) Pause simulation 0.1 seconds before impact. Step 3) Rotate camera angles and pretend you're filming a scene from the Matrix or something. Step 4) Enjoy fireworks. [*This is a slight update to my ASM-2 model with a translucent glass seeker that better matches the real thing.]

Laying down some new hulls. I wish I could concentrate on and finish one model at a time, but the mind wanders. Kidd class, and later the Kee Lung class that will lead Taiwan's task forces. I've got a big project planned for Japan, but I think more escorts are needed first. Tachikaze Murasame

Likewise, your terrains are the main reason I'm doing these vehicles, Wrench! Having a beautiful playground makes me want to bring in more toys. In case you want to smash some of those toys, I have some People's Liberation Army units in the works, and I'll do some North Korean tanks/artillery too once I have enough reference material.

I don't have an iPhone/iPad, but I'd love to play that game. Looks outstanding.

View File Republic of Korea Army Vehicle Pack This is a package of 12 ground objects for the Republic of Korea Army, representing many of the significant combat vehicles from the 1970s to present. Several new guns and missiles are included. Note that these are all new models and not stand-ins or re-skins of existing ones. While they are relatively low-poly and low-res, if there is sufficient demand, I will update these models with more detail and improved textures at some point in the future. Featured South Korean vehicles include: M48A5K tank: Cold war era tank upgraded with a 105mm L7 gun K1 MBT: Modern tank based on the M1 Abrams (though smaller) with a 105mm L7 gun K1A1 MBT: Upgraded version of the K1 with a 120mm L44 smoothbore gun K2 Black Panther MBT: Advanced (and extremely expensive) battle tank with indigenous technologies and a 120mm L55 gun KM900 APC: Cold war era wheeled APC based on the Italian Fiat 6614 K200A1 IFV: Modern tracked fighting vehicle based on the US-designed AIFV K21 IFV: Advanced fighting vehicle with a 40mm autocannon and anti-tank missiles K9 Thunder SPA: Modern 155mm mobile howitzer K136 Kooryong MRL: Modern wheeled 130mm rocket launcher K263 Vulcan AAA: Mobile anti-aircraft vehicle based on the M163 Vulcan Air Defense System K30 Biho AAA: Mobile anti-aircraft vehicle with twin 30mm guns K-SAM Chonma: Mobile tracked short-range SAM based on the modern Crotale system These ground objects are recommended for use with Wrench's latest Korea terrain. Please see the readme for full details. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or constructive criticisms regarding this package, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you! Submitter WhiteBoySamurai Submitted 09/23/2013 Category Ground Object Mods

You're not doing anything wrong-- The thing with the guns is a long-standing issue. The game engine doesn't calculate air resistance for bullets properly so they slow down too much over distance. The gunner AI doesn't "know" this, so gun rounds fall short over long distances. If ships aren't firing their cruise missiles, they're usually either out of range or out of arc. Because of game engine limitations, ground objects just can't detect each other past a certain distance, so even if a missile has a hundred mile range, they won't shoot until they're somewhere between 10 to 30 nautical miles from the target. And those Russian ships also have to be facing their target (+/-30 degrees for the Sovrmenney). And even then, sometimes the AI just has a brain fart and refuses to launch. I'm taking a short break from ship-building to make some South Korean vehicles. These will be part of a big pack like the Japan Self Defense Force one I released a while back.

View File DDG-1000 Zumwalt class destroyer This model represents the Zumwalt class, the United States Navy's newest and most advanced warship, currently under construction and scheduled to enter service in 2015. Originally intended to replace the retired Spruance class, due to excessive costs the DDG-1000 order was eventually cut back to only three ships. While still touted as multi-role vessels, the Zumwalt's primary role will be naval fire support. As such it will be a long overdue replacement for the Iowa class. The game data for this model has been designed to reflect this mission. I did my best to make this ship as unique and revolutionary in-game as it is in real life. In addition to its heavy missile armament (with four data.ini files for different loadouts included), the Zumwalt is armed with an advanced gun system which can hit targets further away than any other ground object ever released for the Strike Fighters series. The model also features a spacious helicopter deck, original sound effects, and a few cosmetic easter eggs. 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! Submitter WhiteBoySamurai Submitted 09/07/2013 Category Destroyers

That's a good point. And the ability to strike first is why I'm such a big advocate of stealth: This is the Zumwalt class, a secret project I've been working on for quite a while. The ship is huge (15000 tons), but also geometrically simple and symmetrical. That made it much easier for me to build, though I didn't skimp on the details. The Zumwalt will be the most advanced ship afloat, both in the real world when it's commissioned circa 2015, and in-game once I release it this weekend. I've even been able to properly simulate its 155mm Advanced Gun System. Thanks to countless hours of calculating, tweaking, and testing, the Zumwalt is able to hit targets beyond visual range with its guns. A demonstration is in order. Here I am, sitting like a lazy bum on the deck. This is so I can confirm range to target from the ship. Missiles are disabled for this test. Target is a Yukan landing ship 16nm away. (The Zumwalt can start shooting from up to 24nm away, but it tends to miss anything smaller than an aircraft carrier.) Zumwalt commences fire. To be clear, the AGS is an actual gun system in-game and not a fake missile launcher. Note that the guns remain concealed in their mounts until they are ready. The landing ship begins to suffer endless bombardment from an enemy it cannot hope to detect. The target is methodically gutted and eventually sunk. I know that the game engine usually puts opposing fleets many hundreds of kilometers apart so all this might seem moot, but I think it's cool nonetheless.

Nukes are fun until the enemy starts shooting them back: These are going on the Kirovs once I'm finished overhauling them.

Er, uh, no, that's just a weather balloon. And this one is just swamp gas:

View File DDG-79 Arleigh Burke class Aegis destroyer (Flight IIA) This model represents the Arleigh Burke class destroyers Flight IIA (DDG-79~DDG-88) and Flight IIA+ (DDG-89~112), in service from 2000 to present. They are among the largest and most heavily armed destroyers in the world. This package is intended as a companion piece to my original Flight I Arleigh Burkes, thus completing the entire class of ships. As with my previous Aegis vessels, I've included name and hull number decals for each ship of the class, plus the necessary sounds, guns, and weapons. An optional data file allowing multiple simultaneous engagements is included. See the readme file for full details. 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! Submitter WhiteBoySamurai Submitted 09/02/2013 Category Destroyers

Arleigh Burke Flight IIA is going up tonight. And watch out for a surprise sometime next week.