Sounds nice. Can't wait for screenies.

Nice, could you post us some screenies?

Okay, okay, I got of my lazy butt and got you some screenshots, although I've got a fever and it's 23:46. How about that?

"Doggie on the bridge!"

"HMS Londoner emerging from fog on port side! Prepare to heave to to take on supplies!"
Even after they've been enlarged by 400%, those other ships look either very distant or really small.

"Is it biscuit time yet?
That slight elevation bringing the door isn't supposed to be there. While it might look good, it prevents me from placing the stairs where I want them to be.

Another shot of the deck, showing the port side cannons.

The mini-map.
The little blue dots are various ships that came with the game. That huge thing in the middle is my unfinished ship.

A nice and honest look at the template from afar.

More on ships in scenarios: Link.

That's about it before the real thing ships (no pun intended). Good night, everyone.

Midgard Eagle

[This message has been edited by Midgard Eagle (edited 10-28-2003 @ 10:41 PM).]

*whistles in appreciation*

looks real good!

that does look very realistic to me
keep up the good work

I really like the shot with the ship in the distance. It looks like a really workable cutscene angle.

Very well done, great template

wow, only two things I can think of...it needs a mast and life boats... surely there is a way to do this

Quote:

Thanks.

Quote:

Err.. those flag poles are the masts. Best substitute I could find. I'm clueless about what the sails will be, if I'll add any at all.

Regarding the lifeboats... I'll try using the "Substitute" effect to make an object on the deck turn into a lifeboat, but I don't know if the editor will support it. I can't promise anything.

If someone does a mod you could have masts instead of flags.

Quoted from Intrepid:

Scenario design is all about pretence and creativity. To make a mod is cheating.

Quote:

Unless your intent is to make a modification (i.e. a modification that is not crucial to a scenario).

Either way, I don't think I'll make a mod for ship masts.

Here are some more screenshots:

View from bow:
In-game.
Masts are the right size, but you can't see the bridge due to limited visibility
Editor.
You can see the new bridge in the background.

Yet another view of the bridge.

The template ship and a Victory-class ship enlarged 200% side by side.

Two Swordsmen heading below deck for an ale.
No matter how much I try, I can't get those stairs to look right at every angle.

Another view of the whole ship. She looks more like a ship now.

Edit: The comparison shot actually shows a ship magnified 200%. My mistake.

Updates: The ship as of October 31st:
Night watch.
Night watch on bridge.
This is another 'in-editor' shot, with the whole ship shown and undersized masts/flag poles

'...to boldly go where no man has gone before...'

'Fire port cannons!'
A costly victory.

For joy and pride.
Midgard Eagle.

[This message has been edited by Midgard Eagle (edited 10-31-2003 @ 06:09 PM).]

*is very amazed my the pictures*

Wow....

Allright, here's a playtesting report:

The ship should work allright, but there are a few issues I've come across:

First of all, making a cutscene where the template is engaged in combat with another ship has proven to be more difficult then expected, for two reasons. The first reason is scale: The models that came with the game are way to small to be realistically portrayed next to the template ship. I had to increase the size of a French battleship by 400% before her deck was even with my template's deck, and even then she was way too short.

The second issue with template-to-model combat is firepower. The template is armed with 8 Bombard cannons, 4 on each side of the ship, as well as two 12-pounders on the bridge which have been decreased in size, Hit Points, and firepower to simulate the smaller cannons some ships had on their bridge. Also, enemy ships cannot damge or destroy the template itself, for obvious reasons, only the soldiers and workers aboard it as well as the cannons. The ship models that came with the game don't stand a chance against the template in combat, so you'll need to increase their Hit Points and Attack if you want them to fight the template.

So to make a cutscene with a ship-to-ship engagement, you should not let other ships come too close to the template. If you want the player to see both ships firing at each others, just snap the camera to two other ships (one that represents the template ship and one other which represents the enemy ship) and have them 'shoot it out'.

The second issue is that I thoughtlessy made the template on a 100x100 map. Wait, it gets better. She's also right in the middle of the map. I guess that she's pretty much a cinematic-only template.

I've also added a small interior room which is supposed to be the captain's cabin.

Oh, and thanks for all the support and praise!

[This message has been edited by Midgard Eagle (edited 10-31-2003 @ 06:13 PM).]

Well if the flags are going to be the masts... I have to say they look a little malnourished hehe. that's okay though.

I do have another suggestion though... I don't know how far above the water line you made your ship but I wonder what the effect would be if your lowered your deck line. Is it at the lowest possible point?

You have some good cinematic principles at work here. Perhaps you could have some scripted explosions on the deck during the cine. This will add visual as well as sound ambience. Have a cannon blow to pieces or something.

Be careful about being able to view the enemy ship too closely though because it may look funny to be viewing another enemy ship with a totally unmanned deck while your own has bustling activity. It might look odd. May want to play with different angles of attack for the enemy ship.

About the deck line: There are a lot of ships that are made up of 4 or more decks. This is supposed to be a large ship, so I think the height over the water is realistic enough. I'm considering adding more cannons, though...

Quote:

There isn't really a cinematic, or a scenario, for that matter. I just put that hostile ship next to the template and let them fight it out.

Thanks for the constructive critizism.

[This message has been edited by Midgard Eagle (edited 11-01-2003 @ 10:42 AM).]

hmm looks quite good but I'd say it needs more variation, like a raised foredeck, and a few more ambients? It just looks a bit sparse atm

I agree, but I'm not sure what to add...
There's no way to just put a cannonball or bomb slinger's bomb on the deck as an ambient, right? Other than that, I don't want to add more crates, as that'll make the whole ship too monotome...

Yeah it's difficult to decide what to do with such a limited medium I suppose, how about using some of the interior walls, doors and windows in places to create a raised fore and aft deck? it might be hard to show the top of it, but you could have doors into the upper decks., and maybe even steps up to the open raised deck, try experimenting with that.

I wasworking on an Opium Wars campaign and I ran across this thread.

Here is my interpretation of a ship deck. The masts are 1000% enlarged sign posts and it has no bridge or aft.

Pretty nice, although I don't understand why you've got western arms and soldiers and eastern commoners?

I considered using the sign posts for masts, too, but they didn't look right to me...

I [personally] think they look appropiate...I'm not sure why though, maybe they look like soldiers...

I put in the Korean commoners because none of the Western people looked right. The commoners were the only ones who were dressed plainly and didn't have a weapon. The only thing that was wrong with the Koreans is that they have the little stuppa? things on their heads. Otherwise, they kinda look like sailors.