Old Ship Suggestions

[lint]

Can anyone suggest any BC ships that are in need of some tender loving care and a new texture or two?,
You know those ships that have been sitting on bcfiles for a few years gathering dust?
recommend a ship here and ill pick a couple to fix up a bit,
There are alot of them floating around and the textures are a bit outdated, im having trouble deciding which ones to fix up.
i would prefer ships that are atleast a few years old and i would love some suggestions ,
Thanks!

[Jb06]

Well im sure Jimmy would have suggested this later on but how about the nova class? that also could do with a new model aswell as textures, but it would be cool if someone could redo the equinox *hint hint*

~Jb06

JLS

[intrepid90]

Well im sure Jimmy would have suggested this later on but how about the nova class? that also could do with a new model aswell as textures, but it would be cool if someone could redo the equinox *hint hint*

~Jb06

JLS

definately needed!
The textures that are available are not the standart we have, though it's a nice ship

[lint]

there's a few versions floating around, which one are you guys referring too? 

[Vortex]

The NSEA Protector

http://bridgecommander.filefront.com/file/NSEA_Protector;15067

[lint]

i've never actually seen that movie, but the ship looks kind of alright,  :lol:

[1DeadlySAMURAI]

The good ol' Montana.

http://bridgecommander.filefront.com/file/Montana_Class;2677

[intrepid90]

there's a few versions floating around, which one are you guys referring too? 

there is actually no acceptable one...
I think the one from KM 1.0 is ptobably the best

[lint]

perhaps this nova would be sufficent? , i have so many Star Trek models in .Max and .3ds on my HD i have been collecting since 2002 (the last count was about 104 ships and stations) and more than half of them dont exist in bc and if they do they are low quality ones,
I would love nothing more than to spend all my free time making these available for people but the problem is i hav'nt found out how to convert them properly, i have 3d max 9 and 5, Gmax, Lightwave, Niftools, Nifscope, Full version of milkshape and photoshop 7 so i have all the applications i would need but cant find any relevant information that explains in depth how to convert .max or .3ds into .nif, so if anyone wants to take 30 mins to an hour out of there day to explain to me the steps that need to be taken to accomplish this you will see an enormous amount of new versions of high quality Canon and non-canon ships 

[Vortex]

i've never actually seen that movie, but the ship looks kind of alright,  :lol:

You really shoud watch it, it's so awesome.

[intrepid90]

eehm, wow, that nova looks really good!
But I can't help you with your problem
hope you find one ;)
I'd really liek to see some more of your treasures

[DJ Curtis]

That nova is prolly way too high poly for bc.

[JimmyB76]

ya, it looks like BC might struggle with it lol

however, i am *all for* a new and sharp looking Nova Class - she is easily one of my fav classes, and BC needs a really sweet looking one; one comparable to the other amazingly beautiful ships being done these days...

[lint]

if you consider 70k to big  :lol:,
well if anyone knows anyway of getting in contact with redragon i can start with the nova, but from what i have read he is currently not available?,
The .3ds of his ship is on bcfiles and if i remember correctly i think it has a free permission to mod policy with it?,
If anyone can shed any light on this i would be greatful!

[FekLeyr Targ]

Nighthawks Sovereign/Nebula Hybrid:
http://bridgecommander.filefront.com/file/Sovereign_Nebula_Hybrid;60471

[Billz]

if you consider 70k to big  :lol:,
well if anyone knows anyway of getting in contact with redragon i can start with the nova, but from what i have read he is currently not available?,
The .3ds of his ship is on bcfiles and if i remember correctly i think it has a free permission to mod policy with it?,
If anyone can shed any light on this i would be greatful!

You mean this one?
http://bridgecommander.filefront.com/screenshots/File/55551/1

Its not as good as it looks. Hardly any modeled detail on it (Phasers textured on, et cetera). Default textures are a mess aswell.

To convert the model you showed before, using 3D Max, export and save it as a .3ds format model. Then, assuming you have the required plugins for MilkShape, locate where you saved and exported the model file (IE: whatever.3ds), click on, in Milkshape, 'File' then go down to the 'Import' and choose 'Autodesk 3DS...'. When that is done it will ask you where the model file is. Locate the file, select it and then click 'Open'.

The model will then appear on the MilkShape grid. After that is done, you need to select groups on the model that need to be textured. I havnt done this properly yet but JB06 knows how to do the textureing bit. Anyway, after that, with Milkshape still open, click on 'File' then down to 'Export' and choose 'Bridge Commander NIF...' from the drop down menu. Choose a name for the file that is to be exported. Then click 'Save'.

Eh whola! You now then should have a BC NIF format model saved somewhere. 

EDIT: Also, unless you do modding for any other games that requires this, uninstall GMAX. It is useless for BC modding and just takes up harddrive space.
You should need only 4 things when it comes to BC modding.

1. Photoshop for the textures
2. MilkShape (Or 3D Max 3.1 for professionalism. Max 3 is the only one that came with the BC NIF plugin as a standard plugin as far as I am aware)
3. BC SDK for the Model Property Editor and stock game ship hardpoints to play around with.
4. Decent knowledge of what you are doing.

[lint]

yeah. i have managed to get that far before but there were certain issues when the other ships i experimented with, Poly count being to high, or the ship facing the wrong way (flying backwards while facing forward for example)

(EDIT)
Oh, and i pretty much always get a too many faces or vertices when trying to load into milkshape : /

[Billz]

yeah. i have managed to get that far before but there were certain issues when the other ships i experimented with, Poly count being to high, or the ship facing the wrong way (flying backwards while facing forward for example)

It doesnt import the ship in the direction you want it to fly in the game. You have to do that manually. Also, when scaleing a ship in Milkshape, it will always double to the size of it when it gets exported to BC.

Example: You scale it to 200m long, export it to BC Nif, in the game, it will end up 400m long.

When its in Milkshape, try cutting what you might think are 'non-important' parts of the model, like double face or whatever. Adjust the model just enough on somewhere its not noticeable to get the poly count down, Then export it to BC Nif.

[lint]

but as soon as i open it in milkshape it gives me errors and only about half of the ship gets imported  :lol:

[Billz]

but as soon as i open it in milkshape it gives me errors and only about half of the ship gets imported  :lol:

Strange.

Urm, not sure what else to suggest. Sorry.