Early peek.

[warchild]

It's totally coincidence that i decided to start back in on this project a day before Francois announced the release of their normandy scenery. Craig, of Classic Wings fame has built the model to this point. The FDE is about 90% finished ( maybe 98%) And i've talked with the folks over at Naval Engagement and we're adding operational weapons and animations to it.. Dont ask me how.. I dont know.. There's so much i have to learn and so much to be done that its going to take a while but i promise you i will finish this.
here's me and a friend off the default coast of Cherbourgh..

Attachment 91053

Pam

[MCDesigns]

Looking good, I like it!

[fliger747]

Mmmmm E Boats!

T

[huub vink]

Mmmmm E Boats!

T

Or a late type S-class boat........

H

[warchild]

Or a late type S-class boat........

H

yes, It's an S class. The boat will represent an S-100 class boat of the 9th flotilla out of Cherbourgh in 1944 where it took part in the invasion of Normandy on the axis side.

[huub vink]

These were great sleek ships. Looking forward already!

Cheers,
Huub

[Pips]

Now all that's needed is to (somehow) make the water more rough and turbulent, so we can get some pitch and roll in the boats.

[warchild]

Now all that's needed is to (somehow) make the water more rough and turbulent, so we can get some pitch and roll in the boats.

I couldnt agree more, though i have to admit that one of the juggling acts i'm working on is to get the bow of the ship to come out of the water appropriately without the entire boat doing a back flip.. I have it close, but its not exact..

[trowelmaster]

my research findings as of 7/29/2013

MFC-27/migbait

[warchild]

those look awesome migbait.. I checked out Fracois Normandy Scenery a bit ago and Cherbourgh is there, in its entirety. Le Grande rage, Le petite rage, all the forts, and gun emplacements, even the SBBs..
I have taken on the mysteries of getting xtomdl working right, so i expect to have pulled out my hair by tomorrow :;lol;; With the Normandy 1944 scenery, Naval Engagement, everyones favorite world war two planes, this boat and perhaps some British Torpedo boats, The possibilities become staggering ..

[Francois]

With the Normandy 1944 scenery, Naval Engagement, everyones favorite world war two planes, this boat and perhaps some British Torpedo boats, The possibilities become staggering ..

...... which is EXACTLY what we had in mind...... NOT to provide a ready-made full product, but a basis for recreating history. I myself am working on bunkers, Mulberry harbours and AGL's, but there is so much else that needs to be (and can be) made..... hoping for many to chip in and join us in making the area come to life !

[warchild]

...... which is EXACTLY what we had in mind...... NOT to provide a ready-made full product, but a basis for recreating history. I myself am working on bunkers, Mulberry harbours and AGL's, but there is so much else that needs to be (and can be) made..... hoping for many to chip in and join us in making the area come to life !

Well, right now, i'm pushing my own abilities past anyplace theyve ever been before with this boat. Frankly, I dont know what i'm doing at all with 3Ds Max. Oh, i've been able to straighten out a few bent lines and using procedural textures is babies play but the SDK plugins arent working and i'm at a loss of knowledge as to what to do ( for once ). maybe i'll have to put in 32 bit max instead of 64. The key here though is Naval Engagement. It allows players to have full control over their weapons and radar and use them, regardless of the model being used. You could be sitting in one of those batteries on the hills of Cherbourgh or flying a minicoin and be able to use those weapons in myltiplayer combat. Take part in the English channel raids that the S-boats became infamous for, or participate in the battle of Leyte gulf if you wish. You really are in charge. Your decisions really do have an impact, and your never fighting against some computer generated automatons that will do exactly the same thing the next time. I cant support the guys at Naval Engagement enough. What they do isnt visual, but it adds a layer of reality thats never been experienced or even possible before. hehehe, i havent been this excited since my seventh birthday when i got so excited i made myself sick right there in Mrs. Pickles second grade classroom.. ( yes, that was her real name.. poor woman :;lol:; )

So, like i said. procedural textures are going to be the easiest for me to work with and will eliminate a lot of overhead loading in texture sheets. The only parts of the boat that will need to be mapped are the chart house and transom as those were the only places on the boat where the markings were changed. Everything else is pretty much identical across each class of boats.

Attachment 91122

Attachment 91123

[Francois]

Whatever 'procedural textures' are (I am a real amateur) I think the boat looks great !

[warchild]

Whatever 'procedural textures' are (I am a real amateur) I think the boat looks great !

If you want, i can ship you the model to use as scenery.. Would be happy to do that..

Oh.. procedural textures are materials applied directly to the object ( boat ) that have no bitmaps. they're "hardwired" into the model and are unchangeable except through 3ds max..

[Francois]

You see, my 3DS skills are so far limited to starting the darn thing..........

Roger on the boat model, that would be awesome !! I intend to make my models free for download too (since their quality isn't yet payware standard... *grin*) on the FSClassics website, together with any other add-on for Normandy that pops up !

Thanks Pam !

[warchild]

You see, my 3DS skills are so far limited to starting the darn thing..........

Roger on the boat model, that would be awesome !! I intend to make my models free for download too (since their quality isn't yet payware standard... *grin*) on the FSClassics website, together with any other add-on for Normandy that pops up !

Thanks Pam !

Hey, I'm glad to do it . I cant say that this model is paywre quality either. in fact, in my personal opinion, it isnt even freeware quality yet. I'm having a lot of difficulties with parts of the bow under the Torpedo tube overhang.. those curves are outrageous.. Give me a few days and i'll have them sort of cleaned up enough to work as scenery, and i'll PM you the download link. You might also check with Lazarus as well, as the 4th flotilla was also in The Cherbourgh region and they used the S-14 class Schnellboot's. The 8th flotilla was also there but I dont recall which class boat they used. the 9th used the S-100 class which is what ive got and gained notoriety and fame as being the last flotilla to surrender, at which time, there were only two boats out of a total of 16 left. Five of the sixteen were lost on D Day..Even more notorious. I learned from a documentary on youtube that one night, an S-100 found its way into the head of an allied convoy or task force ( my memory is fuzzy ) and placed itself next to an allied cruiser, which never saw them till they did something i again cant remember and then simply pulled away at flank speed leaving the allied force looking like fools.. hehehe.. high jinks in the English channel.. Also, i believe Donitz's son served on a schnellboot till he was killed when the boat was sunk. I dont remember which flotilla or class of boat it was though..
Topping that all off, 5 boats found their way to the united state. One was commandeered by the forerunner of the CIA and sent back to europe where it was used to plant operatives in various locales. It was finally turned over to the East Germans after the war. A second ended up in california and the other three are missing.
meh.. Apologies.. I'm probably boring everyone with these history tidbits..
Pam

[Francois]

No rush..... we were half a year late with the base product, and I am SOOOOOOOO SLOOOOOOWLY making progress on my modeling skills and scenery.....

History is not boring to me, ever...... no worries :-)

[Paul Domingue]

I'm having a lot of difficulties with parts of the bow under the Torpedo tube overhang.. those curves are outrageous

Pam, use Delftship to make the hull then export it into Max. It will make it so much easier. This is a hull I made with Delftship and it worked great for my Max model.

Attachment 91199

[warchild]

Pam, use Delftship to make the hull then export it into Max. It will make it so much easier. This is a hull I made with Delftship and it worked great for my Max model.

Attachment 91199

Its an excellent idea Paul and a great suggestion, but i've never had any success with delftship outside of creating a standard 12 meter style hull. Also, at this time with attempting to learn how to do more with max than make pictures ( pretty or not ) and the other projects i have , my arms are full. I simply cant take on another learning curve and expect to have any kind of decent results ( i'm smart in some ways, but i certainly aint no genius ). Because i feel a sense of urgency about this, I'm willing to pay for the turbosquid boat and kitbash it ( which i can do in about a day ). it will also provide the community with three major classes of the craft being the S-14, S-20, and S-100 classes. All except the earliest aspects of the war could then be covered, which to me, is the most important thing..
by the way.. fantastic job on the hull. its beautiful. It's very close to the S-1 class, and oddly, to the J-boat class of sailing ships as well.. big monsters that still generate stories of heroism and sheer audacity on behalf of their crews. they were the pride of the Americas cup for till the governing organization standardized on 12 meters.

[Francois]

Delftship? Sounds Dutch :-) Will have a look myself... but like Pam I have too many other things on the burner currently........ then again, once winter comes along again.....