WIP - HMS Ontario

[Captain Murphy]

One of the models that I have been working on lately. Flannery made the model, I am just finishing up the textures and rigging. The rigging has been interesting as I am testing out the ability to draw the rigging using a line renderer so that it can be broken into running and standing versions.

Here is a screenshot of it without any post process, just a reflection probe and the new textures. My goal is to get the rigging working correctly, with lifts that drop the appropriate yards rather than the typical sails only dropping.

Here is a shot with the sails furled and the yards all turned to show that the braces and sheets follow the rigging. There are a few more tweaks to be made, and a couple more lines to add but it is starting to look pretty good.

Here is an editor view of just the running rigging highlighted.

I am planning to implement this system onto all of our ships in the future, and retrofit the ones previously built with it.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Now that I've been learning about ship rigging, this sounds especially interesting!

 

[Captain Murphy]

Here is the latest version. The lifts are now dynamic as well, so they can stretch and allow the yards to drop.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Wow, that's some realism right there!!!

 

[Captain Murphy]

Here is an updated shot highlighting the running lines. I am using a book about ship models as the main reference as I cannot find much in the way of rigging info for brigs, and even less for snows. If someone has a reference for the mizzen rigging that would be appreciated so I can see if I did it mostly right.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Here is an updated shot highlighting the running lines. I am using a book about ship models as the main reference as I cannot find much in the way of rigging info for brigs, and even less for snows. If someone has a reference for the mizzen rigging that would be appreciated so I can see if I did it mostly right.

I got all sorts of documentation from my recent Sailing Endorsement course, but I'd be surprised if it has what you really need.
Maybe a friend and old colleague of mine has something in one of his books, but he's at sea for the next three months...

 

[Captain Murphy]

Any feedback would be appreciated, I am working on little to no info for this model, and what info I can find on brigs is only for/of models. I have used references from larger ships for the lifts, sheets, and tacks as those are pretty much the same. The braces are not quite right, I can bet. I can find two different references where the braces go to the upper yard of the other mast and another that goes to the lower yard, so top yards would go to the main course cross tree, and another reference shows it goes from the top yard to the main top cross tree. I am trying different ones to see what looks 'right' and doesn't show signs of fouling under different angles, so this has become somewhat artistic in nature, lol.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Could you remind me again in a while?
Once I've got Internet in my new apartment, I can move my computer there, scan what I can find and send it your way.
But at the moment I'm not in a position yet to do that...

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Yeah, brigs can be problematical and it is more of an art than a science. That looks fairly similar to what I ended up with for the POTC brigs. I couldn't find any documentation so just relied on my 41 years of construction rigging experience and said: "That oughtta work."

 

[Pieter Boelen]

41 years of construction rigging experience

What did you do in those 41 years?
I'm curious now!

 

[Captain Murphy]

A bit more life added to them now. They are still static when not required to move, but they bend based on the length of the line. The longer the line, the more segments it adds to the line renderer, as well. The next step will be to add a tension factor so the lines will look more natural for their usage.

 

[Bava]

That´s a contemporary shipyard drawing of the rigging of the danish brig Lolland (1810). Hope it´s an useful reference for you, CM

 

[Captain Murphy]

@Bava that is fantastic! It gives me a reference for line slack as well. I am currently redoing the points so that it can set the target of the rope generator as well as the slack that the line would have. This way sail sheets can slack more than braces, which slack more than lifts, etc.

 

[Captain Murphy]

I reworked the targets and tried to match that reference picture a bit better, thanks @Bava . I think that it looks sufficiently complex now, haha!

Looking up from the helm station it is a pretty good bit of lines now.

 

[Captain Murphy]

and... finally.... added a detail function to increase the number of verts on the lines for LOD purposes so that the player ship can look smoother when up close.

So, now into how it works:
The ship model has been set up with specific hierarchy and layout of the objects so that the yards and masts are able to be rotated, damaged, removed in certain orders. As such there are now points added to those objects that have 'names' on them that is where the ropes are created from. Each name has 3 parts to it, the first is the type of line item (target only, sail, brace, lift) which tells it how much slack to place in the line, the second is the name of the object, the third are any targets it aims at. So, when it start the game the ship model has no running lines, only the standing rigging. The script runs through the collection of objects and finds only the objects that have Line in the name, builds a collection of a custom class of line objects, instantiates the the lines at the specific detail needed, then plots the number of points that are necessary for the line to render. Here is a look at the bowsprit yard object. You can see all 4 kinds of objects in the hierarchy.

Each object can create lines going from/to any other target of the current line type of the object. It cuts down on the number of objects that need to be created and is a clean way to create the items. When the yards are moved, or the sails are requested to change their current 'wind status' then it runs an update script on the objects in the collection of points for as long as is necessary to reach the next static position. So far it is rather performant. I think my next goal is to add in automatic LOD for the lines to up their width at certain distances so they are a bit more prominent further away before being culled.

 

[Bava]

Glad I could help

And I just noticed I uploaded the small version of the drawing, if you need the 7500 pixel original, let me know. This pic is a pretty awesome reference and I gonna use it myself as I'm also working on a brig at the moment
It saved me around 100 bucks, as I faced the same rigging problems as you and Flannery and the only solution would have been Petrejus' monograph about the 'Irene', a Cruizer-class vessel.

And keep the pics and details coming, awesome work on the Ontario so far!

 

[Captain Murphy]

My eventual goal is to make a simulator similar to the HMS Surprise one but with newer graphics. I have like 99% of the code from the old Tides of War physics, as it was WAAAAY more complicated than it needed to be, almost on par with the surprise game.

I am going to try and get a video done tonight to show the lines moving around, the yards moving/dropping, etc.

 

[Bava]

God, I loved that sim, although it drove me crazy most of the time Trying to make the perfect tack....again and again and again...

A simulation like that with modern graphics would be a dream come true. Really looking forward to the video!!

Edit: I've been trying to find some rigging reference pics for snows in my lib but - surprise, surprise - came up with next to nothing. A couple of paintings and a small pic in the Architectura Navalis >.<

 

[Pieter Boelen]

My eventual goal is to make a simulator similar to the HMS Surprise one but with newer graphics.

I feel like I'm missing something. What is that?

Is it a simulator where you can adjust all sails and masts individually?
And with the lateral point and sailing point changing accordingly?
And with the effect of rudder angle being considered as well?
After the past few months, I'm finally beginning to understand that and it's sounds doable in a simulation.
I could probably find a whole bunch of people now who would be very interested!

 

[Bava]

I feel like I'm missing something. What is that?

Is it a simulator where you can adjust all sails and masts individually?
And with the lateral point and sailing point changing accordingly?
And with the effect of rudder angle being considered as well?
After the past few months, I'm finally beginning to understand that and it's sounds doable in a simulation.
I could probably find a whole bunch of people now who would be very interested!

HMS Surprise