Afterburner Project - by DizzyRox

DizzyRox · Post by **DizzyRox** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 9:37 pm

Hey whats goin one you all..
Sorry Ive been out for abit. Ive been making a website and definatly taking longer than anticipated.
Im almost finished with the fan and a couple other textures,Ill get them up as soon as I get something good.

Tempest, thanks much man ,I sure appreciate it.Its been a blast seeing the game begin to evolve abit.
Thank goodness we have D2X-XL

Dynamite, Im not sure what the prob is/was, I Dled it and it worked ok for me, maybe the server had issues or somethin.Hopefully the one from Diedels site will work.sorry man

on a creation note.
Im hopin to get some stuff up to check out over the weekend.

I almost forgot

Novacron wrote:Wow man, you really have some good things going here. I like how you created a gradient for the alien panels imitating a glass refelection, makes it stand out a lot more. I am also enjoying your power ups! I just wish I had more time...

Also, if you guys are willing to send me your finished texutures, I will add them to my texture pack and give proper credit/add you to the team on my site.

EDIT: Never mind, didn't realise you had your own site. Carry on

DUDE!! Novacron, hey man thanks for the game textures and the inspiration along with it, sweet work..

and for the prop on the gradient, aw ya know, twernt nuttin

,
you take it easy man, and good luck with the music

Dynamite · Post by **Dynamite** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 10:36 pm

Diedel,

I don't understand. I looked at your links page, but the only relevant thing I could find was a link to DizzyRox's Afterburner page, which is the one in which my computer says the energy powerup file within the downloaded ZIP (which I got off of the site) is corrupted. Where do you have the energy powerup file mirrored?

BTW, DizzyRox, your other textures are amazing!

:D:D:D:D I especially like the Box1 texture you did. Heck, looks better than Novacron's!

Hope that all made sense.

-Dynamite

Aus-RED-5 · Post by **Aus-RED-5** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 11:43 pm

Dynamite wrote:Diedel,

I don't understand. I looked at your links page, but the only relevant thing I could find was a link to DizzyRox's Afterburner page, which is the one in which my computer says the energy powerup file within the downloaded ZIP (which I got off of the site) is corrupted. Where do you have the energy powerup file mirrored?

BTW, DizzyRox, your other textures are amazing! :D:D:D:D I especially like the Box1 texture you did. Heck, looks better than Novacron's!

Hope that all made sense.

-Dynamite

You didn't look very hard did you??

http://www.descent2.de/downloads.html

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 2:44 am

Dynamite,

the links page only has links to other sites.

The downloads page has links to all addon data except missions and D2X-XL + DLE-XP.

I admit it may be a little hard to find between all the other entries in the side scrolling main menu. I think I will remove some D2X-XL related menu entries to tidy it up a little.

Dynamite · Post by **Dynamite** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 9:23 am

Oh, I see.

Well, I found the link and the textures are downloading right now. Hope they work. :p

DizzyRox · Post by **DizzyRox** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 12:43 am

Hey all ,I finally got it done, The fan from down under

,Not exactly a replica and most likly from Walmart,but hey its a fan

http://webpages.charter.net/ericengland/d2fan.zip

hope you all like, Ive got a couple/few more I should have later in the weekend

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 2:00 am

OOooooooOOOOOOooooOOOO°°°°°OOOooooh - Great!

Edit: Just checked it in D2X-XL. Superb.

Thanks for your efforts, man.

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 2:22 am

Excellent job, but do you think it's possible to do something about the aliasing around the blades and the angled portions?

Aus-RED-5 · Post by **Aus-RED-5** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 5:32 am

Nice job Dizzy!

DizzyRox · Post by **DizzyRox** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 9:51 pm

Cool Ani Aus, thanks fellas ..
Ill try Dcrazy, its quite an deal those seams are,some textures it works well with, and others not, while not having specific continuity as to what exactly to fix, the rail edges are perfectly non-aliased 45s and still you can see texture edge under some circumstances,its weird deal

Here's my first weapon ,Ive been working on, Im no modeler, but its a start, nose and swing need some help, but as Aus put it ,its a W.I.P.
http://webpages.charter.net/ericengland/concussion.zip

simX · Post by **simX** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 10:50 pm

DizzyRox wrote:Here's my first weapon ,Ive been working on, Im no modeler, but its a start, nose and swing need some help, but as Aus put it ,its a W.I.P.

Awesome, Dizzy! Doesn't look like a crayon.

3 suggestions: first, the bottom of the missile would look better black, IMHO, like the original. Second, the top of the missile seems a little bit too long to me. And third, the shadows made by the indentations in the missile look more like gray stripes than shadows. I'm no modeling expert so I wouldn't know how to make it look more like a realistic shadow, though.

Besides those things, though, it really does look good. A substantial improvement over the standard low-res texture.

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 1:13 am

simX: I think those gray stripes are intentional... after all, the gray versus blue is how I always differentiated between homers and concs. Maybe in the original they're just artifacts of the rendering process, but I kind of like them being obvious.

simX · Post by **simX** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 1:22 am

DCrazy wrote:simX: I think those gray stripes are intentional... after all, the gray versus blue is how I always differentiated between homers and concs. Maybe in the original they're just artifacts of the rendering process, but I kind of like them being obvious.

No, the gray stripes are shadows. The concussion mission has a white stripe that differentiates it from the other missiles, like flash (red), homing (blue), and guided (green). Concussion and flash only have one colored stripe (on the head of the missile), while homing and guided have two colored stripes (one on the head, one in place of the bottom shadow). Homing and guided missiles can also be distinguished by the fact that they are generally white-colored, not gray-colored as with flash and concussion, and they have 4 little fins near the head of the missile.

If you look at the flash missile, you'll notice it still has the two gray "stripes" (shadows), and the homing and guided missiles have the upper stripe (shadow).

Look at the low-res versions, and you'll see what I'm talking about.

[EDIT: Errr... it's been pointed out to me that both of those gray stripes can't possibly be shadows because it would be physically impossible to generate that effect. The reason I thought they were shadows at first was because in the cockpit version of the conc missile, the upper gray stripe does not have any highlights, leading me to believe it was a shadow. (Or, in proper terms, shading, as my friend claims.) In the in-game texture, though, both "shadows" get highlights, so they both seem to actually be gray stripes rather than shadows.]

Sirius · Post by **Sirius** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 3:37 am

The usual way people handle omnidirectional shadowing on models is with ambient occlusion, but when there is little obstruction of light, such as in this case, it may not do very much.

Aus-RED-5 · Post by **Aus-RED-5** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 4:25 am

I love it sofar! Looks great!

But like simX, I think the bottom of the missile need to be black or maybe have engine blades kinda like the hires pyro.

Either way.. Its great!

Nice work Dizzy!

Keep up the good work bro.

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 6:18 am

Engine blades would be awesome. You may be able to rip those from the hires pyro and resize them.

DizzyRox · Post by **DizzyRox** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 11:27 am

Very cool ideas and critiques..
The engine blades sound really cool ,ill definatly work that out.Which brings this question.Which missles do you all think I should do that to? Like just the smaller ones/just conncusion/or ALL of them maybe.
Here's a screen of the homer I got coming down the pipe.I figure it would save me some time to show it before animating.I just slapped a back drop in for reference. Do you guys think the wings should be beveled on top side?

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 12:18 pm

Hot damn, Dizzy, that fan is great.

The homer in the forground I don't like. Looks too smooth to me, and the blue isn't quite blue enough. By too smooth I mean the difference in the diameter between the sections isn't noticible enough.

I like the gray strip around the concussions, but the missle seems too long (and looks too similar to the homer) The strip color is perfect. If you can shade that to blue, that would be the best color for the homer's strip. The difference in the diameter between the sections on the conc looks about right to me.

Oh, I know what's bothering me about the length. The nosecone is too sharp. I'd suggest rounding it off a bit, losing a little length to make it more snub-nosed.

Lastly, the winglets on the homer, the edge is perpendicular to the shaft. Knock it back a few degrees, 'swept wing' style. Or is that what you meant by the bevel?

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 2:53 pm

Dizzy,

what missiles? All, ofc!

You can ask questions ...

hehe.

Aus-RED-5 · Post by **Aus-RED-5** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 8:59 pm

All mate.. all of them.

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 6:47 am

Well ... actually it occurred to me that a rocket doesn't have engine blades ... it has exhaust ports ... but they would look great anyway.

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 7:54 am

You could nick the exhaust ports a bit, kinda like the exhaust ports on the D4 GX that Eagle made.

DizzyRox · Post by **DizzyRox** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:44 am

here's another set to critque, I think I got all that you guys mentioned, got some blades started,rounded and shortened nose,downed the shaft radius of the homer,changed color of homer,and made bottom black, thicker blue stripe. Hmm that exhaust thing sounds good ,maybe smaller wdth blades with a fairly large exhaust nozzle in the middle?

edit: oh yeah almost forgot,I also put angle on the homer wings

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 12:22 pm

drool.

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 12:58 pm

Testiculese wrote:...I mean the difference in the diameter between the sections isn't noticible enough....

...The difference in the diameter between the sections on the conc looks about right to me....

Sorry Dizzy, I scattered my thoughts. I think if you set the homer to the same difference as the conc, it'd be great.

Looks like you only shortened the homer's nose? It looks about right, now. In reality, production methods would dictate similar designs. I think the concs nose set the same would look great.

One more thing on the sizing...the length of the conc exhaust looks beter than the homer's. The homer looks too short. (The part after the colored strip angles up to the exhaust tube)

Blades? Why are there blades in the exhaust of a jet thruster? It's supposed to be expelling very high temperature gas, it would melt any little blades that were in there, and it would also reduce thrust. It's not an engine. You'll not see something like that on any rocket ever, unless one was designed with an electric motor for underwater travel or something.

My one thought about the exhaust flange was more in line with the laser gun's tips on the GX:
http://nfz.v8web.com/content/logos/PyroGXAnimate.gif
Hit escape when the ship is facing 45 degrees to the side, and look at the two hemisphere's split in the middle at the end of each barrel. that *might* look good as the exhaust on the missles.

simX · Post by **simX** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 1:25 pm

Yeah, I'm not digging the exhaust blades so much. I think basic black would still do very nicely.

The newer missiles are better, but still a few things, at least IMHO -- feel free to ignore them:

-- in the second conc image (first of homer), you have a conc facing towards you, and it has too much perspective; have you changed that in the newest ones?
-- the newer missiles seem too... shiny, I guess. Maybe the highlight needs to be a bit more muted?

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 2:28 pm

Too much perspective? What does that mean? I'm an art failure, use small words

Shiny, yes, too much (But unimportant for now, better to view the model while tinkering)

DizzyRox · Post by **DizzyRox** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 3:18 pm

I believe the deal with the perspective is that the animation angle maybe too steep eruummm flat and/or the pivot center is abit off (low or high), easy nuff to fix that one... On the specularity (shiny) part..I agree and further,,as I look at the smaller 3 missles , Concussion/homer/and flash it appears to be ,, flash/shiny ,concussion/abit less shiny and finally the homer almost looks flat to me,Ill work toward that end ,if you guys concur.
On the blades , Im thinking to open up the center hub to a nozzle and make the blades appear to be a part of the missle structure abit (possibly giving it a fold back air intakes,, in premise ,,LOL) lower keyed yet still give that cool look maybe..
Ill have something to check out later tonight.
This modeling thing may take me a few times to get right, bare with me, Im trully glad for all your help.

DizzyRox · Post by **DizzyRox** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 5:39 am

gotta go to work

heres some to check out,,

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 7:51 am

I think if you thicken the homer's middle diameter, and make the exhaust the same height as the conc (thereby making the midle shaft shorter), you're gold.

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 9:00 am

Hm. I don't think they have to look 100% like the original, as long as they look good, which they do.

Dizzy,

could you eventually rebuild the shield orb, not just making it dark blue, but add some swirling half transparent shades to its insides to make it more look like condensed energy?

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 9:37 am

I'm not paying attention to the originals, I'm just paying attention to proportions. The homer is the only one out of proportion.

d3jake · Post by **d3jake** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 11:11 am

Is there anyway you could dirty them up a bit? I think that they'd be like the dorrs...they are floating in a mine, so they're not always gunna be squeaky clean..maybe if a robot just dropped them it would be, but then again, you never know what's really inside them bots...

simX · Post by **simX** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 1:42 pm

Diedel wrote:Hm. I don't think they have to look 100% like the original, as long as they look good, which they do.

I dunno, I prefer them to be as faithful to the original as possible.

Dizzy: the latest ones look good. I would agree that the homer and guided's middle diameter needs to be thickened a tad. Also, the nose of the flash and conc should be identical -- the only diff I think should be the red strip. Merc looks great.

I'm not sure how I feel about the bottom thing -- I think I'd have to see it in action before I could decide.

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 2:06 pm

Flash missle has to pack extra, so it can be a little bigger.

DizzyRox · Post by **DizzyRox** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 4:09 pm

Diedel wrote:Dizzy,

could you eventually rebuild the shield orb, not just making it dark blue, but add some swirling half transparent shades to its insides to make it more look like condensed energy?

Oh yes

I hoping as I learn more about this modeling thing ,to create them as models, (I love how smooth the ani is on the concussion, key framing/exporting these is awesome) some gasous stuff going on in the orb would be so cool

Im with you guys on the diemeter of the homer/guided, seems i went too far there
On the bulb of the flash missle ,Im not sure I agree
that its the same as the concussion, I do agree its the same missle up to the bulb, but notice, It seems more pointed on top than the concussion, considering per request I rounded the concussion off abit already.In this screen you see a clear point happening at the top.

the one only point that seems could be a (Who knows really) is,on the flash, there may not be a shelf happening at just above the bulbs base like on the concussion.it almost looks like its bulbed with no shelf, with a gradient instead of a definate grey stripe.Since I dont really know how to gradient a section in a model yet, i left a stripe since it could be questionable anyway.

I agree on the dirt thing,(I also think Descenters everywhere have a strange fetish for dirt,,hehe

)
but not sure if I have the abuilty as of yet, Ill look around for answers and try though

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 4:45 pm

simX,

I wasn't shooting for something totally different from the original, but spiced up, yet still true to the original. Like e.g. my idea with some plasma cloud effect inside the shield orb.

DizzyRox · Post by **DizzyRox** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 11:24 pm

Ive finished all but the Smart missle in this single missles pack includes 7 of 8 missles.I was hoping to finish all but ,not enough time, the up side is they spruce things up pretty nice.But I cant wait to get the 4 packs of them done..

http://webpages.charter.net/ericengland/misslepack.rar

simX · Post by **simX** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 2:05 am

Dizzy: those look really, really good! Surprisingly, I don't think I actually have any complaints about them!

Awesome work!

I can't wait for the hi-res smart missile and the 4-packs!

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 2:16 am

The missiles look great - but they are all having a thin jagged white edge ... and I think that is because you have used a white background, Dizzy. You have to use a black background, because that doesn't interfere with OpenGL's AA functions. The same goes for all other textures containing transparency: Use a black image color for transparent areas.

I don't know whether it's just my stupid Paintshop Pro again, but I can also see artifacts in some animation frames:

Earth Shaker:

I guess that artifact gets hidden due to the zero alpha in that area, but may still interfere with the visible image edges in the game due to the way OpenGL handles AA.

Looks like a fin is missing here:

Door #35 (last frame, lower left corner):

Actually the entire door doesn't look quite finished, but then may have been a preliminary version you had sent me to check the supertransparency problem with this door (you remember?).

Edit:

Looks like the missing fin is caused by PSP.

I have changed D2X-XL a little to replace all color in transparent image areas with black. Now the missiles look just plain great.