Released Privateer Lugger

[Rider88]

Hi all,

It's been a while since I posted here last time. Personal life got in the way. Needed a bit of a distraction and began modeling again.

Here is my latest little work. Currently preparing the model for exporting.

More updates to follow.

Cheers

Rider88

 

[Rider88]

Sorry guys, having real issues with this project at the moment. Unfortunately, part of the models I am exporting from maya (main mast, mizzen mast and both topmasts) get "model could not be read" in TOOL so I cannot create locators for them. I tried different techniques like splitting meshes into separate objects, retriangulating them etc but to no avail. Even created a WinXP virtual machine with Net Framework 2.0 but TOOL still refuses to read the same models.

Blender is not an option either as export_gm plug-ins refuse to work on my system despite trying a ton of possible fixes and 5 or 6 different version of Blender.

This is as far as I could get and to be honest unsure if I'll be able to progress any further.

 

[Hammie]

If you can share a blend file, I can try and see if I can get it exported (or how to fix it).

 

[Rider88]

Hi @Hammie ,

Here they are as well as the texture used by them. If you could please export them so they could be read in TOOL, I could do the rest.

Many thanks!

 

[Rider88]

Btw, I managed to make some progress on the rest of the vessel.

Walkfiles are done and locators for everything up to top masts are done as well. Looks decent to me.

 

[Rider88]

Hey @Hammie ,

Actually hold off on this for now. I just realised the scaling of the model is a bit off. I'll fix that and will send you new files.

Thank you!

 

[Rider88]

Finally she si ready and I am more or less happy with the result. The only thing which frustrates me is how the fal-type ropes appear in game. They look quite a bit thinner than repe-type and some of them are even thinner then others. Is there a way to adjust the thickness with XY, XZ or YZ parameters of the corresponding locator? If yes, then can someone please some guidance on the process? I tried experimenting with different values but haven't noticed any changes...

 

[Grey Roger]

As far as I know, the XY, XZ and YZ values (along with all the others such as XX, YY, YX, ZX etc.) change the direction in which the locator points. They're useful for locators on the ground - if you see a soldier standing by a gate, for example, he's standing on a locator and those values will determine which way he faces. I don't know if they do anything to rope locators as the rope will be drawn between a "ropeb" locator and its corresponding "ropee". Or between a "falb" and its corresponding "fale". The relative positions of the pair of locators should determine which way the rope points, so XY, XZ, YZ etc. probably have no effect.

One of the ropes leading from the mizzen mast near the flag down to the main mast seems incomplete - it doesn't lead all the way to either mast.

If the ship is ready for use, perhaps you'd like to upload the files for it? If you don't mind, I'd like to put it into PoTC. (Which means "fal" ropes won't be an issue because PoTC doesn't recognise them, so I'd need to change them all into "rope" locators for the PoTC version. )

 

[Rider88]

Hi @Gray Roger,
That rope going from the mizzen topmast to the mainmast is complete but that's a good example of the issue I am facing. It is in fact so thin that when I zoom-out a bit it looks as if it is incomplete in the 1080p res. See below, with a little zoom-in it shows complete. Unfortunately, I don't know how to fix this issue.

I converted a Lyon hoy from PTBS to COAS long time ago and it doesn't have this issue though the locators a set up the same way as on the lugger model. The ropeb/ropee type rigging looks not as thick either on it. Really weird

I'll share the files shortly, just need to setup a drop-box account

 

[Rider88]

Here is the link to the files Lugger.zip

 

[Grey Roger]

Thanks! Do you also have "ships_init.c" with an entry for it? I'd need to play around with the privateer lugger's entry to put it into PoTC's version of the file, but the original version should contain some stats which I can use as a starting point. Otherwise, how does it compare in performance to the basic "lugger"? What are its normal cannons?

 

[Rider88]

Thanks! Do you also have "ships_init.c" with an entry for it? I'd need to play around with the privateer lugger's entry to put it into PoTC's version of the file, but the original version should contain some stats which I can use as a starting point. Otherwise, how does it compare in performance to the basic "lugger"? What are its normal cannons?

Here it is mate!

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//// Lugger
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
makeref(refShip,ShipsTypes[SHIP_LUGGER]);
refShip.Name = "Lugger";
refship.Soundtype = "lugger";
refShip.Class = 5;
refShip.Cannon = CANNON_TYPE_CANNON_LBS3;
refShip.MaxCaliber = 6;
refShip.Weight = Tonnes2CWT(150);
refShip.Capacity = 670;
refShip.CannonsQuantity = 12; //2,2,4,4 2,2,3,3
refShip.CannonsQuantityMin = 10;
refShip.rcannon = 4;
refShip.lcannon = 4;
refShip.fcannon = 2;
refShip.bcannon = 2;
refShip.MaxCrew = 50;
refShip.OptCrew = 40;
refShip.MinCrew = 8;
refShip.SpeedRate = 15.0;
refShip.TurnRate = 60.0;
refShip.Price = 10600;
refShip.HP = 600;
refShip.SP = 100;

refship.Type.Merchant = false;
refship.Type.War = true;
refShip.lowpolycrew = 8;

refship.Rocking.y = 0.5;
refship.Rocking.az = 0.035;

refship.WaterLine = 0.2;
refship.SpeedDependWeight = 0.2;
refship.SubSeaDependWeight = 0.6;
refship.TurnDependWeight = 0.2;
refship.WindAgainstSpeed = 1.50;

refship.InertiaAccelerationX = 10.0; refship.InertiaBrakingX = 10.0;
refship.InertiaAccelerationY = 10; refship.InertiaBrakingY = 10;
refship.InertiaAccelerationZ = 10.0; refship.InertiaBrakingZ = 10.0;

refShip.Height.Bombs.Y = 2.1; refShip.Height.Bombs.DY = 1.0;
refShip.Height.Grapes.Y = 3.1; refShip.Height.Grapes.DY = 1.5;
refShip.Height.Knippels.Y = 10.5; refShip.Height.Knippels.DY = 8.5;
refShip.Height.Balls.Y = 2.1; refShip.Height.Balls.DY = 1.0;

refship.Track.Enable = true;
refship.Track1.ZStart = 0.20;
refship.Track1.LifeTime = 9;
refship.Track1.Width = "2.0, 3.0";
refship.Track1.Speed = "8.0, 10.0";

refship.Track2.ZStart = -0.15;
refship.Track2.LifeTime = 7;
refship.Track2.Width = "3.0, 4.5";
refship.Track2.Speed = "0.15, 0.25";

refship.nation.england = true;
refship.nation.france = true;
refship.nation.spain = true;
refship.nation.holland = true;
refship.nation.pirate = true;

 

[Grey Roger]

Thanks! I've had to do a bit of rearranging to fit PoTC's format, and PoTC's performance figures aren't the same as those of later games. Those "InertiaAcceleration" and "InertiaBraking" values seem to match those of GoF's version of the "Nonsuch" ketch, so I've copied PoTC's figures for the same ship.

There's still a bit of work to do to get this into PoTC but I'm looking forward to seeing it in action...

 

[Grey Roger]

Finally she si ready and I am more or less happy with the result. The only thing which frustrates me is how the fal-type ropes appear in game. They look quite a bit thinner than repe-type and some of them are even thinner then others. Is there a way to adjust the thickness with XY, XZ or YZ parameters of the corresponding locator?

As far as I know, "fal" ropes should be thicker than "rope" ropes, and it's the game engine which should handle that. PoTC:NH doesn't recognise "fal" locators so those ropes wouldn't show up in NH at all. I therefore converted the whole lot to "rope", adding 1000 to the number to prevent conflicts with existing "rope" locators. "falb1" became "ropeb1001", for example. You could try doing the same. (Do any other ships with "fal" ropes show them correctly as thick in your game?)

But first, check "rey_b3", locator "ropeb60". Probably due to a typo, this is in group "sailf60" while all other locators associated with that sail are in "sailf6". So the rope doesn't bind to the sail and when the topsails are furled, the rope is just a short stub sticking up at an angle from the yardarm. I wouldn't expect that to mess up the "fal" locators which have nothing to do with the sail, but I'm no expert on how the engine works - it could have odd side-effects. Correct it, see whether the "fal" problem is fixed, and if not, then change the "fal" locators to "rope".

 

[Grey Roger]

Done! PoTC doesn't have separate texture file folders for different models, let alone sub-folders for differently coloured variants. Each variant requires its own model, which means I can assign each one to specific nations - though, since these are privateers rather than navy, the owning nation gets a higher value for its 'refship.nation' but everyone else, including pirates, gets a lower value. For no reason other than it's my favourite of the four textures, I started with the black hulled version. Black hulls often appear on Spanish ships in PoTC (including the Spanish version of another of your models, the Castell Friedrichsburg). And so, here's the Spanish version of the privateer lugger:


There's a slight problem with the sails. Viewed from above, here's how it looks when the wind blows from the side:


For comparison, here's "luggerVML":


The privateer lugger's yardarms don't move far enough, so the sails don't look right for the wind direction. Possibly all the rigging tying the yardarms to the main hull are restricting their movement?

Edit: on further inspection, the privateer lugger's yardarms may indeed move as far as those of "luggerVML". But the yardarms on "luggerVML" (and other PoTC:NH luggers) are set at an angle by default. I'm going to try using the XX, XZ, ZX and ZZ values for the "geometry" locators on the masts to rotate the yardarms similarly to how they're set on the other luggers (whose "rey" models are set at an angle rather than straight fore/aft, so their XX, XZ, ZX and ZZ are just the normal values). Also, other luggers use sail type "saild" rather than "sailf", the effect being that the sails billow out. They can conflict with rigging. On the other hand, the "sailf" locators on the privateer lugger make the sails hang vertically, they flutter, and they then can conflict with the masts.

In any case, the next one I've finished is the yellow-hulled one with green decoration, which are the hallmarks of a Dutch ship in PoTC, therefore this is the Dutch version:

 

[Rider88]

Really unsure why the sails position would be different as I never worked on POTC. My suggestion would be that the default yard position is different.

Thanks for letting me know about the locator issue! Fixed it and reuploaded the file.

Cheers

 

[Grey Roger]

The problem with the sails is not confined to PoTC; I only spotted it there because PoTC is what I play and mod. Your own screenshots show the sails doing the same.

I think I've solved it, mostly. In "mast2.gm", "mast3.gm", "mast201.gm" and "mast301.gm", change the "geometry" locators:
X: 0.2 XX:0.866 XZ: 0.5 ZX: -0.5 ZZ: 0.866
In "mast4.gm", leave X alone but change XX, XZ, ZX and ZZ to the same. Changing X to 0.2 shifts the yardarm slightly to starboard so it looks as though it's stuck to the side of the mast. Changing XX, XZ, ZX and ZZ rotates the locator 30 degrees. Because of the way "rey_a4.gm" is modelled, shifting it to the side does silly things when the wind is from the side and the mizzen yardarm moves, but it can still be set 30 degrees round like the others.

The other thing I noticed is that the sails still billow slightly even when they're "sailf", but they billow the wrong way relative to the wind. I swapped the locators round on all the "rey" files. "sail1" became "sail2" and "sail2" became "sail1"; "sail3" became "sail4" and "sail4" became "sail3". I've also made a fifth version. Your original blue-hulled version is going into PoTC as mainly French, the white one can be mainly Portuguese, and this new one is for the British:

With the yardarms shifted slightly and angled, and the sails reversed, the sails almost never flutter across the foremast and mainmast, and don't do it as often across the mizzen.

If you're interested, I can upload the texture files for this version.