Project Orbiter Battle Simulation Project Needs Developers!

[Quick_Nick]

N_Molson :rofl:

I know your pain. :lol:
(Well, of the underscore)

 

[N_Molson]

Ask Urumpwe... uhhh Urmwupe.... uhhh Ur-wum-pe ! :lol:

 

[RisingFury]

Then fine them! :lol:

I think what M-Nolson was refering to was that the AI could have some great application outside combat, but still inside orbiter.

Ah yes!

In fact, OBSP has a modular structure. If you don't want a particular part of OBSP to be online, you can turn it off. More than that, if you don't want a particular part of OBSP to apply to any particular vessel, you can turn it off.

For example, if you build a new vessel and would like to exclude it from combat, you can do so. AI vessels will ignore it. Humans can ignore it or not - you can fire at it if you want. Then you have another option - you can turn off the damage model for the vessel, so even if the weapon hits, it won't affect the vessel.


If you only want to use the autopilots and AI, you can do so without any problems. OBSP doesn't have a mind of its own. If you don't actually provide a script with some basic instructions like what weapons to load to what vessel, how to group vessels into teams and what the targets / objectives are, OBSP won't just command your vessels and destroy everything in sight.


It's a kinder, gentler AI for a new era :lol:

 

[Raven]

It's good to know that OBSP is still under development! I think you guys are taking the right approach with the modular structure. Even though many orbinauts are against the idea of combat, there are two undeniable factors to consider:
(1) Much like the real world, a lot of great advances come from military-related R&D. Just look at the autopilots/AI that are coming from this project. Orbiter will definitely feel more 'alive', even if it's simply catching sight of an AI vessel's contrail in the distance or watching while it taxis to or from a runway.
(2) It's fun to blow stuff up when no one really gets hurt! Some of my favorite flights involved AAMissile and BombMFD. Nothing relieves the frustration of a botched formation practice quite like shooting down the flight leader...
Does the project still need any modelling done? Now that I have a better understanding of Blender and how to make it work with .msh, I'd like to contribute. Just PM me if you need mesh/textures done and I'll see what I can come up with.

 

[RisingFury]

Does the project still need any modelling done?

YES!

Me and ETF are both programmers and I have some limited 2D and 3D design experience. I've been working on Nellis AFB, but it's nowhere near the quality that dedicated 2D and 3D artists can put out. It also takes a lot of time that could have been spent on the code. And time is limited as is...

Anyone that volunteers their work for OBSP would get full credit for it, of course, but it is essential that OBSP comes with a dedicated airfield, some planes and weapons.

It's not enough to just write thousands of lines of code, but not release any other content.

 

[Raven]

I haven't done surface bases before, but modelling is modelling. Static models are relatively simple. BaseMaker should make it easy to assemble the buildings into the right arrangements and do surface tiles. All I need is reference pictures for appearance and scaling. Same with weapon meshes, give me a reference picture or technical drawing and it's as good as done. Planes may take a bit longer. Basic animations like control surfaces or landing gear are easy, but I've been bogged down for 2 weeks on my current project because of issues with animating multiple joints. Then again, I'm not a programmer yet. Do you want advanced textures for D3D9 client too? I can do normal/specular/reflection maps. Haven't tried other effects, but the internet can show me how to do that.

 

[BruceJohnJennerLawso]

YES!

Me and ETF are both programmers and I have some limited 2D and 3D design experience. I've been working on Nellis AFB, but it's nowhere near the quality that dedicated 2D and 3D artists can put out. It also takes a lot of time that could have been spent on the code. And time is limited as is...

Anyone that volunteers their work for OBSP would get full credit for it, of course, but it is essential that OBSP comes with a dedicated airfield, some planes and weapons.

It's not enough to just write thousands of lines of code, but not release any other content.

I, ehh...

I still dont think OBSP has a real bright future unfortunately. The whole concept would seem to be more like a strategy game to me, so it might just be easier to do it as a stand-alone application. That being said, I wouldn't want it to fail for lack of support, so is there a modest contribution I can make in the modelling area of things?

 

[RisingFury]

I haven't done surface bases before, but modelling is modelling. Static models are relatively simple. BaseMaker should make it easy to assemble the buildings into the right arrangements and do surface tiles. All I need is reference pictures for appearance and scaling. Same with weapon meshes, give me a reference picture or technical drawing and it's as good as done. Planes may take a bit longer. Basic animations like control surfaces or landing gear are easy, but I've been bogged down for 2 weeks on my current project because of issues with animating multiple joints. Then again, I'm not a programmer yet. Do you want advanced textures for D3D9 client too? I can do normal/specular/reflection maps. Haven't tried other effects, but the internet can show me how to do that.

I, ehh...

I still dont think OBSP has a real bright future unfortunately. The whole concept would seem to be more like a strategy game to me, so it might just be easier to do it as a stand-alone application. That being said, I wouldn't want it to fail for lack of support, so is there a modest contribution I can make in the modelling area of things?

It wouldn't be easier to build a stand alone game. Orbiter already gives me a lot of functionality. If I wanted to build a stand alone game, I'd have to rebuild everything Orbiter gives me. That takes a lot of time...

OBSP is a long term project. Me and ETF knew that from the start, but after the initial release, it'll become easier to start pushing out versions more often.

As far as modelling goes... the biggest area of concern is the Nellis Air Force Base. I started modelling it, but I pretty much rebuilt it for Orbiter. All the hangars and shacks are much larger, to accommodate Orbiter vessels (standard 20 m wingspan instead of ~10 on fighter jets).


Don't volunteer for it if you're not willing to put in considerable time and effort. We don't just want a slap-it-together base with Orbiter Base Maker. We want something that at least begins to approach the old WIN.

However, if you're willing to do it, I can give you the files I have. This is the current state from quite a few months back:

As you can see, a lot has to be done. The shack texture has to be remade in higher resolution, the large untextured hangar - Thunderbirds hangar - is about 90% UV unwrapped and has to be textured, the tower mesh was my first ever finished mesh and needs to be rebuilt from scratch, the pavement might be kept or might have to be retextured. At least some better blending and more effects have to be done on it, the tiles are currently ones downloaded by OBM, but for the area right around the base, higher res tiles have to be found and blended in and some basic surroundings have to be applied. Simple structures to indicate that this is indeed a city...


EDIT:

This is some of the behind the scenes work that is difficult to showcase:

OBSP autopilots knew how to fly in formation for years now, but what's happening here is that the squadron which consists of these 7 planes was given the order to move to a certain place on Earth. When that happened, the squadron leader called the other squadron members and created a formation. In this case, the V formation. The AI takes into account the size of vessels, so that if you mix smaller and larger vessels, they don't bump into each other.

Implementing these specific formations isn't difficult, but it's tedious. The difficult job ahead of me now is the communication between vessels. For example, if the squadron is given the order to attack a target or a target area, the squadron leader first has to assemble formation so that the entire squadron flies to the target area, then once they get there, the leader has to break off certain members of the formation to attack targets.

Same with landing. If a squadron is given the order to land, it needs to fly to the airfield, then break formation and land one by one. That's where two way communication comes in...

 

[Hielor]

Same with landing. If a squadron is given the order to land, it needs to fly to the airfield, then break formation and land one by one. That's where two way communication comes in...

Bonus points if you have them do an overhead break.

 

[RisingFury]

Bonus points if you have them do an overhead break.

Haha! You're on! :lol:

 

[Raven]

Slight misunderstanding: I would only use BaseMaker to arrange the meshes and start the.cfg file. All buildings would be custom-modelled in Blender then imported. There will probably be some manual tweaking after that. Orbiter's basic meshes are fine for simple stuff, but not for realism. I'll take a look at what you have, compare them to whatever reference shots I can find, and go from there. When and where can I pick up the files?