[WIP] Simian Endeavors v0.3.2, May-23

[CaptainKipard]

That one engine is fine. I just want to see how you set it up. I'm don't know about changing the colour. I don't think that's possible, is it?

[TK421d]

its the actual emissive texture that is animated, with the RGB values each their own key, it is set over a 2 second animation and can adjust as many points on it as you like. time mark 0 is basically 0% thrust, time mark 0:02:00 is 100%.

currently its just a slope with 2 values of dark blue to bright, i'll do a couple tests and see what happens.

[CaptainKipard]

WRT the brightness, have you tried a curved slope? That might be a workaround for the full brightness problem.

[TK421d]

WRT the brightness, have you tried a curved slope? That might be a workaround for the full brightness problem.

i'm trying to get it to an on/off, so that the baseline will come on when the engine is engaged/disengaged

was able to add in the reddening easily, but its a little overdramatic imo.

also, i'm hating the exhaust on the regular engines. going to go back to stock blue/yellow on them eventually.

[CaptainKipard]

This video is private.

[TK421d]

This video is private.

whoops.

i dont upload to youtube very often, missed that. it should be viewable now

[CaptainKipard]

If you're happy with the brightness then I'm happy. If not then one other thing you could try is decrease the brightness of the texture itself. If you do that then test it and post the one you use here so I can make everything else look the same.

[TK421d]

Well, the only way i've been able to solve the "always on" problem was to set the starting 0:00:00 rgb key value to 0,0,0 black.

Unfortunately that means that there's no ambient glow for 0% throttle; for the time being though, i'm willing to settle for this.

I began working on getting the HotRockets! fx going today also, its going to look awesome once thats working! i'm excited.

just about to open up your Intrepid file now, i'll post another vid with the working on/off emissive tonite or tomorrow.

[CaptainKipard]

Well, the only way i've been able to solve the "always on" problem was to set the starting 0:00:00 rgb key value to 0,0,0 black.

Unfortunately that means that there's no ambient glow for 0% throttle; for the time being though, i'm willing to settle for this.

This sounds entirely appropriate to me. Why not leave it like that?

[TK421d]

This sounds entirely appropriate to me. Why not leave it like that?

for now, i think i will. and the way you split the Voyager engine was perfect. i may animate the bussard part too with a super-short curve so it will turn off as well, but for now:

this is with the HotRockets! ion fx too looks great to my eye.

looks like i will probably need to be brighten up the smaller engines glow a bit, fewer pixels to emit when compared to the Excelsiors.

[CaptainKipard]

That looks perfect! Except for one thing. I noticed you made the exhaust grill red. Was that intentional? I just checked my model and I hadn't divided that part. In hindsight I should have made it part of the blue mesh on the sides so it lights up together with those stripes and the fx.

[TK421d]

no, it wasnt me. also, in the VAB the part icon also has its sides appear red untill you click it and add it to a craft.

i added the red bit before i did the blue sides so maybe thats why? idk. i'll play around with it.

Edited May 14, 2014 by BobsYerUncle

[TK421d]

Luckily i keep getting more and more problems checked off the list.

First, the problem with the bump maps is solved.

Also no more red bits leaking into the Voyager engine.

Exhaust is now sized and placed appropriately for both.

we reworked the color curves for a more bluish glow that kind of "blinks-on" then ramps up in brightness.

However i am still bewildered by the red bussard part. it is set up to work just like the blue bits on the sides, but i dont know how to reference it in the .cfg?

i tried to do 2 throttle keys, the red bit is the second "BuAnim"

but apparently this wont work, the bussard is on at max brightness by default, even in the VAB

MODULE
{
	name = FXModuleAnimateThrottle
	animationName = ThAnim
	dependOnEngineState = True
	responseSpeed = 0.5
}
MODULE
{
	name = FXModuleAnimateThrottle
	animationName = BuAnim
	dependOnEngineState = True
	responseSpeed = 0.5
}

anyone have any advice for this?

[CaptainKipard]

Firespitter FSanimateThrottle module is apparently designed to enable you to have more than one animation on a part, but it also has an option for engine on/off states. Afaik Trek engines go completely dark when disabled, so if I was doing it I'd have the red animation there as a visual indication of the engine state instead of throttle state. What do you think?

On a separate note, I'm learning new things as I texture this, so I think by the time I finish the last engine I'll have things to add/change/fix for the previous ones. When I'm all done I'll give you everything in one go, if you'd like to do one final re-compile for all engines before releasing.

Edited May 15, 2014 by Cpt. Kipard

[TK421d]

i have the bussard done in a similar way to the blue sides, it just goes from off to about 90% right away, so i did give it a little bit of keying to the throttle, just not much. but yes, it is my intention to get it "off" when the engine is powered down.

i was trying to avoid more dependancies, but i tried the firespitter module anyway, and in testing discovered there's something wrong with the bussard part coming from unity, its not just the module messing up. i will have to track this down tomorrow...

and i'm in no hurry, i am having fun working with them though i'm on a bit of a learning curve myself.

[TK421d]

Working as intended finally I decided to parent them differently so i took the mesh apart and imported the components separately, then it allowed me to do both animation curves in the same file.

Viola:

edit: (video seems to be in processing limbo, so just try later if it isnt working yet)

now that that is put to bed, its back to balancing.

In my own game i had removed the "impulse" monoprop resource engines, but i like the idea of them as short term use transfer or orbital engines. i'm going to reduce the power of the Voyager Ion engine to be in-line with the others, and work the Impulse engines to be an intermediary in power between the Ion and Liquid engines, still using Monoprop and Electrical resourses.

also the Sovereign and Thunderfighter engines are almost ready i'll take a stab at preliminary textures on those and when its done i'll release another intermediary beta with Kips first two texture sets included.

[CaptainKipard]

What happens when you shut down the engine (right-click menu) while throttle is > 0?

Did you end up using the individual objects in the blend file or did you do your own thing?

Edited May 16, 2014 by Cpt. Kipard

[TK421d]

What happens when you shut down the engine (right-click menu) while throttle is > 0?

Did you end up using the individual objects in the blend file or did you do your own thing?

it goes dark when shut down, just as it is at 0% throttle.

and all i did was separate your mesh into separate objects then in unity parented them like:

>gameobject

. >Main engine

.. >side ribbing

... >bussard

then created the animation at the ribbing layer, and it imported the bussard and let me key that one in the same animation.

i did just notice i have had the exhaust grill unanimated, i'll fix that too.

also, since i've been using the Ion engine meshes/textures for the Impulse variants too, a 2nd texture with some kind of differentiation somewhere to denote its a variation would be good too, an extra stripe or something somewhere so its recognizable.

[CaptainKipard]

and all i did was separate your mesh into separate objects ...

I'm confused. My mesh was already divided into separate objects.

Also it looks like you didn't include the edges around the bright parts. I thought I'd make them emissive as well to make it seem as if the light is slightly being reflected from the coloured parts, but they don't change their colour in that clip.

Are you importing directly from blender or, exporting then importing?

If you place the blend file in Assets, you can drag and drop individual objects from the blend file into your hierarchy.

also, since i've been using the Ion engine meshes/textures for the Impulse variants too, a 2nd texture with some kind of differentiation somewhere to denote its a variation would be good too, an extra stripe or something somewhere so its recognizable.

I'm open to suggestions. I was thinking that since there are standard colours among modders for the stock resources I could make the bussard collectors yellowish orange for the engines that use monopropellant.

LFO engines could stay red, and xenon engines could be blue.

I think a stripe would not be visible enough.

Edited May 16, 2014 by Cpt. Kipard

[TK421d]

i work in MAX, so i convert the your blender files to .fbx's to import them, and it imports your blender scenes as an object, the different pieces, the colliders and object meshes as one when i get it into MAX. a weird quirk of blender/max, it even will turn the default blender scene light and camera into polygon objects...

I do like that idea for using the bussards to identify them. red for LFO, maybe orange for the Impule and bluish for the Ions.

also, i'm close to getting the exhaust FX finished. here's how the 3 types look at the moment:

[Captain Sierra]

If that middle one is meant as a nuclear engine (judging by the red glow) then it should not have smoke effects with it. Only gripe. Aside, these are looking fantastic. Excellent textuing skills here.

[TK421d]

If that middle one is meant as a nuclear engine (judging by the red glow) then it should not have smoke effects with it. Only gripe. Aside, these are looking fantastic. Excellent textuing skills here.

not really nuclear, it uses electricity like ion engines, but burns monoprop instead of xenon, and at a much higher ratio. im trying to use them as an intermediary betwen ion and liquid engines, mainly for satellites or orbital corrections.

they arent really strong enough for atmospheric use, so the smoke wont really be an issue anyway

[CaptainKipard]

Your license forbids distribution of derivative works, so I've deleted both the redone models from my mediafire account, and I can't redo any more of your engines until you change that license.

[TK421d]

Your license forbids distribution of derivative works, so I've deleted both the redone models from my mediafire account, and I can't redo any more of your engines until you change that license.

hmm. i think i copied the text before the flash window updated it, because i had meant to choose a more open license. It should have been: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

sorry for the confusion.

i was going to go ahead and remove the spaceport link and update with the new rocket FX soon anyway, so i will try and get it done by this afternoon and replace the license while i'm at it.

[TK421d]

These are the HotrocketsFX i'm picking from.

this is just the default settings on them, scale and strength can be adjusted.

any favorites?