Aurel Tristen

I saw your post about that. So are you just swapping out graphics, or re-building it from the ground up? I don't know anything about that game, so I have no idea how difficult it would be, but I wish you luck either way! The curse of the elusive programmer has killed so very many projects. I suppose it is just such a technical skill, and so time consuming that programmers aren't interested unless they're very passionate about the subject. Being a person who has 'ideas' and who isn't a programer is quite depressing. I for one gave programming a try several times throughout my life. The first time, with a 'learn C++ in 30 days' book, I wrote a Hello World that wouldn't work. I double, triple, quadruple checked that every character was exactly as the book instructed but it wouldn't run. I never made it past that. I've learned scripting languages that mimic programming, like Auto Hot Key scripts, Glove Pie scripts, simple things in RPG maker. I just have learned that I can't keep all of the 'rules' in my head. Every single line is a struggle. Can't imagine building a whole game.

Holy crap, Vsim, I 'worked' on that project with you. And by worked on, I mean I was supposed to help provide some 3d stuff (terrain I think) but nothing really happened. Hope it wasn't my fault, but I can't remember. Some of you might have seen my threat in fan works. I want to put a VF1 in DCS. That'll solve graphics engine and simulation engine problems, but I still can't write all the crap to make the avionics work. Anyone played around with DCS (and or its SDK)?

I picked up a copy and can report FSX runs much better via the steam version. Most mods seem to be comptaible too. I would be happy to help beta test the island I'm tempted to get back into modding FSX because we really need a nice looking VF1 with a VC (no offense to whoever made it, but why is it all one smoothing group?). I thought I might start via the F14 since it is so close to the shape, and just boost its stats some. No plans for transformation (unless FSX suddenly gets hard body physics and deformation animation) Anyway, awesome work! Please keep us up to daye, and let me know if you need some help here and there (3d model wise). Does FSX allow for LODs?

I ordered one. I doubt I'd ever use it as a motorcycle helmet (I might look a little funny, I ride a Road King) but just to have a wearable Macross helmet is worth the cost. A note to anyone thinking about it: The price goes WAY up November 1st, so you might want to think really fast. I'll post a review of it once it arrives, if nobody beats me to it. Then maybe next year I'll put together a Macross flight suit for Halloween. A link to their website *Note: Not affiliated with Masei or anything, just a big Macross fan*

I've written a handful of design docs for a Macross game, and have tried to kickstart (Not on kickstarter) a few mods too. The problem is always a lack of programmers and no unified vision. What I wanted to do was give everyone what they really want: The feeling of piloting a transforming fighter. The problem is, Macross can be shoehorned into many different genera. But in my opinion, Flight Simulator is the only one that makes sense. Though my vision is probably not in line with what most people would want. My design doc calls for: *A game based on Macross, not Robotech. But just like Robotech was a 'mod' of Macross in some ways, the final game could be converted easily. *DCS level realism getting as close to reality as possible while maintaining Macross-like dog-fights. * First person, cockpit based to include simulation of avionics, radios, mechanical systems and the like. From here, more arcade like modes could be devised, with the underlying simulation providing realism. I can model, texture, mix sound, music, write, essentially do everything needed to create such a game, but until I find a programmer who shares my vision, my life-long Macross project goes nowhere.

I really like these designs! I'm not a huge fan of the insectoid forms, but otherwise, they look like big armored flying death machines! Though as tempting as it is, I wouldn't want to be the one trying to figure out these transformations in 3D. I can't follow them as they are. They look rather complex.

So, I've been playing this crazy difficult flight sim, DCS A-10C. If you're not familiar, essentially it simulates every system of the A-10C, so you have to flip every switch and press every button the pilot would in order to start up, employ weapons and evade threats. I've recently been hanging around a group of guys who run missions as mercs. One of the cool things they do is let members (Clarification: Not currently one of them) run their own custom paint jobs on their aircraft. I've since delved into skinning, and this is what I've come up with. Surprisingly (or not?) the call sign Skull One isn't take in this community, so why not? Keep in mind that these aircraft models are made up of 12 2048x2048 textures, so lining up large elements is difficult, or near impossible.

On a semi-related note, are any native Japanese speakers reading this? I'd like to get in contact with the guy who made this game and contribute sounds and or models to his next build, but even the message system on his website is beyond the help of Google Translate. Shoot me a PM if you can help!

I happen to posses both an Oculus Rift, and a life long obsession with Macross. This was one of the first games I tried. The knee issue seems to be because of how the author programmed the animation system. The legs must always be aligned with the direction of thrust, and they are IK chained to the body, which also kinda likes to do its own thing. I really hope this guy keeps working on this demo though. It is simply awe inspiring to land on that flying carrier in Battroid mode and shoot down drones. Sadly, the game is filled with issues. For example, in fighter mode, you can nose down much faster than you can nose up, totally ruining the standard way of maneuvering a fighter jet, IE roll until it is above you, pull up. The controls are also really silly, with D-pad left and right switching from forward to backwards thrust in gerwalk, and upward or null thrust in battroid mode. It is also cool that your gunpod automatically lines up on your target (as I wouldn't expect a super advanced transforming robot to make you aim manually) but it too is on an IK chain and doesn't know where the body is, leading to the ol' gunpod in the cockpit issue. If anyone has any questions about this game or the Oculus, I'd be happy to answer them.

Amazing simply doesn't cover it. Wow. Now cast it in resin, paint it up and ebay it for $10,000.

I also love the base pass sticker, though the real things are normally half that size. Very cool!

Your war film reminds me a lot of the kind of stuff I shot with friends for years, save for the fact that while your film wasn't perfect, you FINISHED IT! I don't think I've finished anything. It was clear that you had serious technical limitations, but you still put shots together and made things work. Awesome! Its too bad we're spread all over the US. I think there is enough film making and VFX knowledge around here to pull something off if it weren't for our locations. That said I'm still interested in doing what I can to help. Having a green screen studio with lighting gives you a good leg up. I shot on a T2i (same sensor as the T3i and T4i) for a long time and I can tell you unless you're at 100ISO, it keys like crap. And with it being a cropped sensor, its hard to get enough light in a green screen situation to keep the ISO low. As for the jet cockpit, you could probably get some good footage with one of those self-deploying green/blue screens and a few good lights. Since you're currently working on costuming, what are you doing for the helmet?

Sounds interesting. Can you go into quite a bit more detail though? How long do you intend this film to be? Do you have camera's audio equipment and people who know how to operate them? Are you shooting for photo real or some sort of stylized look? Do you have access to a cockpit to shoot in? Since you're focusing on F-14s and you're in NY, I would think you might be able to find a fully loaded F-14 cockpit to film in (maybe in a museum or something) I'm a photographer and film maker way over in Iowa and I've been dreaming of doing a Macross or Macross inspired live action work for years, but the problem is we Macross fans are spread all over the place and we've all got real jobs. That said if you're serious about this and you've finished a film before I'd be interested in helping where I can. Please, elaborate like crazy.

I'm with you on the Spacy thing. Its grown on me too, but I still think Space Force is a better 'translation.' I really like to see other people's interpritations of the VF-1. I did something similar, starting with a model done based on some line art, which resulted in some bad looking transformations. I also spent a lot of time trying to make things work mechanically, and ended up with my own solutions. I'd like to see more and higher resolution renders of your work though. From what I can see, I like it, though if I were to make one change, I would put the vertical stabilizers back at an angle. They look so dynamic and aggressive at an angle.

It may have been suggested before (I tend to get excited and scroll for images from time to time on this threat) but what about sending your parts to someone who can make molds / making molds of the parts yourself? It'll cost a lot to print the whole thing, but in the end you could have a mold set ready to stamp out copies for a fraction of the price. I'm quite envious, as I've always wanted to have some of my models printed into reality. Super exciting stuff!

This is actually one of my favorite VF designs. If I had more time and wasn't in the middle of 17 projects, Id be tempted to do some sort of animated short involving it. The F-15 and its long stretch as Earth's dominant fighter-jet (until the F22) simply makes anything based off of it just as bad-ass. Fantastic modeling work. I'd imagine there isn't as much artwork out there for this thing.

I also thought about this as soon as I saw the mod (Note: I'm just a fan, had nothing to do with its creation), and I requested a non fast-pack version, but the guy likes the way it looks, so not much I could do. I don't like the drastic reduction of my FOV either, but I'll tell you that this thing is sluggish as all hell in G mode, so it kinda fits. I could be totally wrong, but I don't think there are enough American SDF-Macross fans out there to make a Macross mod popular enough to catch the attention of the eye of Mordor- er, I mean Harmony Gold. Such a project would be so small scale that I doubt a final version would ever see full servers. I'm resisting the urge to go on an all out rant about IP and draconian copyright laws limiting innovation and freedom >_<. Anyway, this Arma mod is a good bit of fun, and if you and a friend both have it, you can set up your own missions and go tank killing in teams.

He was keeping with the Arms tradition of having horrible sounds. Im looking into the Crytech 3 engine for a Macross game. The worlds are big enough, and Mechwarrior: Living Legends has already shown us that mechs with IK can be done (well).

Sorry for all the exclamation points, but I was so excited to get my hands on this finally. This guy modeled textured and rigged a VF-1S for ARMA one and so many people bugged him that he finally ported it over to Arma II / Operation Arrowhead. It has a full 3D cockpit with working gages. You can take off like any other jet, use the gunpod, fire missiles, shoot the head laser, lock on to targets, but the real interesting bit is when you switch into 'auto hover' mode. It actually transforms into G mode (complete with sound). Responsiveness is a bit sluggish, as its probably got a flight model similar to a helicopter at that point, but it is just way to much fun. You can download it here. http://www.armedassa...=addons&id=1739 And for people like me who simply need a video of it in action, here ya go. Rant warning - I'm kinda angry its been, what, 27 years now, and this is the first time I've been able to fly (and fight) in a VF-1 with interior views? We had some attempts, like Robotech (GASP!) Crystal dreams (Canceled), buggy, horrible looking untranslated ports of Japanese PC games, a PS2 game that was again Robotech, not Macross, and also quite terrible, a PSP game that is... well, a PSP game (What is the point?) and a few odd ball Flight Simulator mods. I can't die happy until I've had access to a Macross flight game that is at least simulator-ish (With a cockpit view). - End of Rant

Wow. That is awesome! I can spot a legacy bump-map from a mile away, but you've done what you could with it. So you made all your own animations too then? I've gotta find a video of this ingame... You know what would be a great test of your model? That new fancypants Cryengine! With good use of normal maps and LOD models, you could probably get a nearly flawless version in-engine and looking amazing. Not to mention the engine has all the cool new shaders everyone is crazy about. If I could program, I would start plotting to make a working version in that engine, but sadly I'm only an average modeler and level designer. I also agree about your optimization. I was blown away by your wireframe! I did NOT expect it to be that clean. I've always had issues with increasing detail incrementally because I try so hard not to use tris now. Sucks to work my ass off on a model just to have Mudbox crap all over it because it isn't all quads. Should you ever decide on another engine/game that you want this thing in, I'll do anything I can to help. Love it. Finally, if I might make a request? Some time when you are working on the model, maybe you could grab some timelaps video of the action? I've learned untold amounts of things about 3DSMAX from watching pros work, and its super fun to watch something like this come together.

Just went through this thread...I....I don't have words... They should have sent a poet... So, Chillyche and I should start putting together a cast and crew for a live action / CGI BSG-like Macross pilot episode right? Fully textured (And with a joystick that a human hand could actually fit around), your model will probably be about as real looking as possible. In all seriousness, I was curious. What are the chances you might consider retopographying and then doing a normals bake for a low res version? It looks amazing, but when I imagine the things that could be done with a version that real-time rendering could handle... well, it could be epic. I think the landing gear issue is when I stopped working on my latest VF-1. That and I could never get the shape of the nosecone to look right. You've obviously nailed it. Keep up the great work!

I operate a Macross themed group on Deviant Art that has a category for fanfic, and its empty! If you're interested in getting more reads, and or having a good place to host your written work, head over there and post it, and then link it in a post here.

Every time I go and start re-working my VF-1 model, I see something like this! For the love of steve, its got BOLTS modeled into the interior of the landing gear bay! Totally INSANE. Damn you and your amazing work!

Oh yeah, that was VERY impressive stuff. My excuse is I don't have any place to set up a good green screen. Also, some of those shots must have been a NIGHTMARE to track.

That IS a very impressive model, and render too! I do have to say though that it looks more like a flawless model of a toy VF-1, and less like a full sized fighter jet. At least right now anyway. Also, if the VFX are this far along, how is the live action footage, casting, writing, and such coming? I'm interested to see how this thing goes because with the model you have right now, I think you could pull off some really cool stuff as long as the VF-1 doesn't get too close to the camera, and your motion tracking is dead on.