WhiteBoySamurai

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

View File CGN-25 USS Bainbridge This model represents the USS Bainbridge, the only ship of her class, in service from 1962 to 1996. She is based on the Leahy class missile cruiser, but modified to use nuclear power. This package contains three versions of the Bainbridge, separated into the major refits the class underwent during its service life: As built in 1962: Equipped with Terrier missiles and two 3" twin turrets AAW refit circa 1976: Terriers replaced with SM-1ER, 3" guns replaced with Harpoon launchers, electronics updated to support new missiles NTU refit circa 1985: New radars, added Phalanx CIWS, SM-1ER replaced with SM-2ER Each version has its own names.ini list, so each variant will appear in task forces in the correct era. Each version of the ship is substantially different in their anti-air and anti-missile capability, which I have attempted to simulate as best as I can. The Harpoons on the AAW and NTU version are fully functional. SRBOC launchers (as on my other USN ships) are included on the model but disabled by default for simplicity's sake. Note: The weapon systems, collision mesh, and decals have been updated for compatibility with SF2: North Atlantic and the March 2012 patch. If you have not installed/do not plan to install either, this model will not work properly. 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 07/01/2011 Category Cruisers

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.

As a side project, I've been working on CGN-25 USS Bainbridge, a cold war era nuclear-powered cruiser. She served all the way up until the Gulf War! I'm doing this ship as a request from colmack, who provided me with the original model. I have something of a cruiser fetish, so saying no wasn't an option. Mostly I did a clean up, rescaling, replacing/modifying some objects, adding all the weapons, doing the uvw and textures, and ini work. I tried replicating JB5's skinning style, and I think it's coming out pretty well. (Still need to do some work on the deck.) I have one sticking point, though, and that's the railings. This is what I want it to look like: But THIS is what it looks like in SF2: See, this is why I don't bother doing railings on my ships... Anyway, the objects are simple rectangular polygons with a wireframe material assigned, which seemed like a great idea to me and it looks good in render. But obviously it's not working in-game. I'd rather not rebuild them from scratch. Is there a quick/easy way to get them looking right?

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

The original photos were fairly decent resolution (mostly around 1200 x something, best I could find), but in the process of using the scaling and perspective tools, plus trying to get the brightness/contrast/color balance even over the ship, the apparent quality went down. Ideally, you're right, hand-painted textures look the best in this game, but as I said I'm not skilled in that area at all. I'll see what I can do to improve the textures, though. As for a Kotlin, I'll definitely consider that. At some point I'm thinking of doing a Krivak or Neustrashimy too. More cold war era targets would be good, after all. I've got some other stuff in the works before that, though, so please be patient.

Yeah, from what I understand, regardless of where the guns are on a ship, the AI "aims" from the center of the model. And unfortunately wherever we put the muzzle flash is where the rounds come out. I thought at first that "ViewportPosition" for each gunner would make a difference, so I've tried placing them near the center of the ship, and I've also tried placing them right near the gun barrel, but I haven't noticed any measurable difference in gun performance either way. Also, I hate to admit it, but I don't know exactly what the "RangeFinder=" and "BallisticComputer=" values do or what units they are. All I know is lowering them makes the guns miss even worse. >_> Anyway, I can see why that bug would affect general accuracy, but I don't know why the rounds always seem to fall so short. Recently I tried a "shore bombardment" mission where I lined up a flotilla of USN ships and had them sail along the desert coast shooting at stationary targets. They couldn't hit jack squat at any reasonable ranges. Even the Iowa had all its rounds fall short until I moved it to just a couple miles from the targets. If anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them.

View File LCS-1 Freedom class Littoral Combat Ship This model represents the first Littoral Combat Ship, USS Freedom, in commission with the US Navy since 2008. These vessels are designed to be fast, stealthy, and highly modular. This package includes decal sets for all current and future ships of the class, plus all necessary sounds, guns, and weapons such as the exclusive RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile. The ship can support two helicopters. See the readme file for full details. A SRBOC countermeasures system has been installed to help defend against anti-ship missiles. This system is still in the beta stages, but if well-received, will be added to my other models as appropriate. The weapon systems, collision mesh, and decals have been updated for compatibility with SF2: North Atlantic and the March 2012 patch. If you have not installed/do not plan to install either, this model will not work properly. When setting up a task force, using the USNgrey texture will allow hull decals based on the ship number. This is bugged in single missions (as the ship number apparently defaults to 90 and can't be changed), so select a specific texture set with the hull number you want. 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 06/25/2011 Category Other

LCS-1 is underway and will be uploaded shortly. It took me just under 20 days from start to finish. I decided to add the .50 cals after all. And here's the RIM-116 RAM being launched. I temporarily changed "ShowMissile=TRUE" so you can see that each missile is in its correct spot in the launcher. Here's a render of the missile. I hope you guys enjoy it. I'm going to get right back to work on yet another project.