Topic: Updates @ NGS: Tutorials, Trek Fonts, ShipEdit, ModViewer, More Tutorials!!!

[Pataflafla]

I've been noticing a bunch of newbie modelling questions about modding for SFC II, so I started looking around and noticed that many of the old school tutorials weren't up anymore. So, I decided to put them up in one place along with some utilities including ShipEdit for SFC I, SFC II: EAW (includes the .pdf manual) and SFC II: OP. Also, Modviewer and a ton of Trek fonts. 72 fonts I've collected from various places.

The tutorials include: Joker's two videos on break models and texturing/illumination; WZ's Modding 101; Paperboy's registry tutorial and texturing tutorial; Noah Wallace & Heavens Eagle's 3d max texturing tutorial (with the textures, 3d max example files and both Taldren plug-ins with instructions); Ace Rimmer's meshing and texture application tutorial; and a collection of Taldren posts on using the M6 Model Editor. These are the conbined knowledge of many modellers with years of experience in messing around with SFC.

I probably forgot something, but if you're new to this whole modding for SFC thang there's  definately  something there to help you out. It's all on the Resources page on my site.

Enjoy!

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[James Formo]

Hurray!

[sandman69247]

Your wife must be more understanding than mine...now we have 56k instead of dsl, it takes forever to load anything to my site, so I've been adding a little at a time. This is good! 3 cheers for Pata!!
 

[Khalee]

Thanks got them all again, all thats need is a how to make light maps tutorial.

[Pataflafla]

LOL I'm not married. That explains it, right?

Actually, Khalee, I just make light maps as I go. Just a for instance, if I was drawing stuff and suddenly decided a window, light, engine glow or just any glowing thingy should exist in a certain place it would make lots of sense to make that thing on its own layer. (See Paperboys tutorial where he emphasizes that as many seperate objects as possible should have their own layer. This is the gospel and I bow to it. lol)

So, when I'm texturing I have maximum three files per texture: the unmerged .psp file with 97 bloody layers that takes five minutes to save lol, a *.bmp which is the regular texture and a *i.bmp wich is the illumination map. I never actually merge the main .psp file. I just select "save copy as" and update the bmp textures as I build up the psp file over time. When I've reached a point that I want to back up on the psp file, I click "save" to update it back to the disk. Saving a copy of the .psp file (or .psd if your using PS) to a format that doesn't support layers automatically merges it for you.

(I also make a backup of the .psp file and the two bmp's in another folder at the start of each session......just in case a flying cow hits the power lines out here in East Texas........or worse, another bloody space shuttle falls on top of us!!! Never can tell. Weird stuff happens here in the Piney Woods. lol)

Anyway, if you download that Mesh Template tutorial I wrote, you'll find an unmerged texture in there I made as part of that Northampton retexture. You'll see lots of layers that should be off if I'm saving a regular texture and lots of layers that should be on if I'm saving a light map. Notice the windows you see in the light map are  the same ones you see in the regular texture. There is just a black layer between the regular texture layers and all the lighting layers. I turn that black layer on and off depending on which .bmp map I'm updating  to.

Does any of that make sense? Download that tutorial, take a good look at all the individual layers in that fnh_4.psp file and if you have any questions about how I made a particular layer, post back in this thread and I'll do my best to explain.

Fair enough?

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[CaptainTombs]

havnt been to this site in ages but now i will, havnt done any modelliling or kitbashes for ages and this will help me to make my own ship