Iowa Class Battleships
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Good evening everyone, it has been a very long time since I last visited these forums (been very busy wrapping up a new undergraduate degree in game programming and development). Back in 2008, I built a new Iowa model for the FreeFalcon community with the assistance of WaveyDave.
As part of my capstone project, I am rebuilding the Iowa-class again for a little project in the Unreal 4 engine, and plan to refine and submit the model for use in BMS along with texture maps for all four battleships. The imgur album linked below has some WIP pics for anyone that cares to take a look. There are also a few in-game shots of the “old” model that WaveyDave sent me from FF6 back when he first put it in the sim.
I also have a Ticonderoga class CG that is partially completed, and will probably work on that next after the Iowas. This will likely turn into a complete rebuild of all the ship models in BMS as my time permits.
For those that are active in the modeling community here, I have a few questions:
What tools or plugins do I need for exporting the model out of 3DS Max and into a format compatible with F4-BMS? Are these tools available for Maya?
What sort of polygon count are you looking for as a maximum for a model such as this?
How many LOD layers are supported by F4-BMS?EDIT: What is the size limitation on the texture map? I’m using a 2048^2 for Unreal, but can scale it down if needed for Falcon.
Thanks everyone!
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https://www.benchmarksims.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?36-Community-MODs-WIP
Here u will find allmost all answers.
Export to falcon is done by falcon exporter , a plugin for 3ds max only:
https://www.benchmarksims.org/forum/showthread.php?p=73329Nice job on the model, thanx for offering it to the community.
sent from my mi5 using Tapatalk
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… plan to refine and submit the model for use in BMS along with texture maps for all four battleships.
This is VERY kind of you and THANK you as F4BMS dramatically needs refined models and 3D artists.
However, to be usable in BMS stock install, it will have to be carefully modeled within limitation … if you have worked with Waveydave do not hesitate to contact him, he is still there and can tell you what are the main points to comply with. It would be a pitty if the models can’t be integrated afterword because of optimization.
Some thread which might be helpful:
https://www.benchmarksims.org/forum/showthread.php?7220-Modelling-Organisation
https://www.benchmarksims.org/forum/showthread.php?6670-PLEASE-READ-THIS-BEFORE-MODDING-BMS
…
Thank you again and … see ya around!
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Hello Folrono,
If you are interested, I can guide you step by step to make your models usable to BMS.
If you want, we can discuss by voice on a teamspeak server. If you want, my friend Dee-Jay, you can come also!
Regards,
Radium
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Hey Folrono,
Nice to see you here and nice models you did.As any modeller became famous only counting triangles in here… After talking with Radium and DJ you will see that there are many more important things when optimizing your models.
Regards
EGHI -
Hello Folrono,
If you are interested, I can guide you step by step to make your models usable to BMS.
If you want, we can discuss by voice on a teamspeak server. If you want, my friend Dee-Jay, you can come also!
Regards,
Radium
Radium, thank you for the offer. I will check back in a few weeks from now when my class is nearing completion so we can work on getting this model ready for Falcon. I can then apply what I’ve learned to the other ship models I’m working on, and will hopefully have a nice new Navy mod package for BMS at the end of summer. Below is the Ticonderoga that is temporarily on hold.
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Looking good, thank you for the work
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Good work!!! Bravo… Bms i think will benefit from some new ships in general. Some of the models are too basic and others too old!
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Hey guys, I just wanted to check in and let you know that progress is still being made on the base model. Through my research I’ve come to learn that there are some subtle (and some very not subtle) differences between the four Iowa class ships. Once I have the core of the model down I can start adding in the differences between the ships, and then comes getting them ready for Falcon instead of Unreal Engine 4. Needless to say, there’s still a lot of work to be done but I should have these ready by the end of summer, and then I can begin working on the rest of the neglected models in the fleet.
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The base Iowa model is nearly finished. It currently sits at about 21,000 polys; I believe the Falcon version of the model can be culled down to around 10,000 because of many hidden details, primarily on some of the weapon systems, that simply cannot be simulated in Falcon (like opening Tomahawk armored box launchers, etc). I will also cut the hull at the waterline, so that will eliminate many polygons as well.
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The base Iowa model is nearly finished. It currently sits at about 21,000 polys; I believe the Falcon version of the model can be culled down to around 10,000 because of many hidden details, primarily on some of the weapon systems, that simply cannot be simulated in Falcon (like opening Tomahawk armored box launchers, etc). I will also cut the hull at the waterline, so that will eliminate many polygons as well.
Really nice work there, Folrono.
I suggest to talk to Radium before you cut anything,
especially the hull at the waterline.EDIT: I see the poly- count of your model,
but would be more interrested at the tri- count.Cheers,
LS -
Yeap Mavjp has said that in the past, so dont cut it at the waterline.
sent from my mi5 using Tapatalk
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Wow, I can’t believe nine months have passed since I was last in here working on this project. I apologize for falling off the radar there but in that time I have since graduated (BS in Game Programming and Development), started a Master’s program (MSE in Software Engineering), and landed my dream job of developing high-fidelity flight simulators for one of the major aerospace contractors. That said, I think I am about ready to begin experimenting with importing these models into Falcon; and so if Radium is still available I would love to hear what you have to say. Thanks!
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FYI, I just finished both variants of the Ticonderoga class. Ideally, I should model a dedicated deckhouse for the Mk 26 variant as I made only the Mk 41 one (for now) which I am using for both, maybe later.
But Iowa class battle ship are stil a good candidate :). America Class LHD and Wasp Class LHA would be nice too.
Btw, 40000-50000 triangles is not a problem for watercraft. Just have to be careful at not using many elements for a single object… my guardrails are from one box extruded, looped, duplicate for row and bridged together. That costs triangles but as long as you don’t cut it, it is a single element and is less costly in 3D rendering (less drawcalls).
Congrats on your dream job landing
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@Switch:
FYI, I just finished both variants of the Ticonderoga class. Ideally, I should model a dedicated deckhouse for the Mk 26 variant as I made only the Mk 41 one (for now) which I am using for both, maybe later.
But Iowa class battle ship are stil a good candidate :). America Class LHD and Wasp Class LHA would be nice too.
That’s awesome. I would eventually like to put together a mod with all new models for every ship in the game; but perhaps there are a few I won’t need to work on.
@Switch:
Btw, 40000-50000 triangles is not a problem for watercraft. Just have to be careful at not using many elements for a single object… my guardrails are from one box extruded, looped, duplicate for row and bridged together. That costs triangles but as long as you don’t cut it, it is a single element and is less costly in 3D rendering (less drawcalls).
Congrats on your dream job landing
40-50k tris?! Or do you mean polys? Either way, it sounds like I have some room for more details on the model.
Thank you about the job. After working on a level D simulator for a few months now, I really have an even deeper respect for the developers that made Falcon4:BMS what it is today.
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Nope I meant Triangles, and the Ticonderoga is actually closer to 80000…
So we remade Osa II, Burke Class, Ticonderoga Class, Perry Class, Nimitz Class, Kuznetsov, Kirov, Sovremenny, Liaoning, Osumi, Shirane.
What’s left, we have Wasp class, Spruance Class, Iowa Class, Jangwei. Probably a couple other but I’m not on the PC so I can’t double check…
Jangwei and Wasp/America are on Radium to do list.
I would love to make those new Independence Class littoral ship though
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To make a U.S. Expeditionary Strike Group complete, would be great to have a Harpers Ferry class and San Antonio class also…
Also what we have ATM for ROKN is pretty much outdated.
Cheers
Biker -
@Switch:
Nope I meant Triangles, and the Ticonderoga is actually closer to 80000…
So we remade Osa II, Burke Class, Ticonderoga Class, Perry Class, Nimitz Class, Kuznetsov, Kirov, Sovremenny, Liaoning, Osumi, Shirane.
What’s left, we have Wasp class, Spruance Class, Iowa Class, Jangwei. Probably a couple other but I’m not on the PC so I can’t double check…
Jangwei and Wasp/America are on Radium to do list.
I would love to make those new Independence Class littoral ship though
Well then, it looks like the bulk of the work has already been completed. I will continue to add details to the four Iowas, since the geometry of each ship is a little unique in its own way.