Anyone interested in the firefly mod

[hellcatv]

maybe the artists don't peruse the mods section but is anyone here interested in helping those folks out with some initial models?

[Ryder P. Moses]

I am working on a, er... 'modified' civilian vehicle for when I get the grappling-hook fix done (hey, this way I can say I'm working on it without having to wade through hundreds of thousands of lines of mostly unlabeled code) that could pass for a small Reaver ship with a basic reskin. Much the same sort of aesthetic with the domelike spaceships all sawed up and funkified. It'll be seeing usage elsewhere, but if you want it you can use it.

Outside of that, well... I'm handier with my own blueprints, or very thorough ones, and Firefly provides neither.

[zaydana]

I'd be really interested in a firefly mod, in about a months time I can model, so i would help out with that. Thing is, i got finals coming up so i won't be aroudn for a bit.

[MamiyaOtaru]

I still am, though my online life was interrupted for a while. I noticed some talk about wishing for a firefly mod at fireflyfans.net (or .com? I forget) and a couple people mentioned VS.

Such a mod would need help in the form of ideas: how to de-emphasize the space combat a bit? It almost needs a 1st or 3rd person engine for planetside encounters :-/

EDIT:
A whole forum dedicated to the topic seems to have sprung up while I was gone. Off to peruse it. Oh well, nice zombie thread I've made here

[chuck_starchaser]

It almost needs a 1st or 3rd person engine for planetside encounters :-/

(Just a wee bit more than "almost"....)

As far as non-combat ideas, I could provide one per minute and not be done in a year. That's no problem. But we do need legs, IMO.

[klauss]

But we do need legs, IMO.

...and a shadow.

Mamiya: good to read from you again.

[jmarcure]

maybe the artists don't peruse the mods section

Hi,
I’m new to VS and only just now found out about it though the Orbiter Space Simulator forums.

I have created a Firefly add-on for Orbiter and am interested in knowing more about how VS would accommodate a Firefly type craft. So here are a few questions.
The firefly uses vectored thrust for its atmospheric flight. Is vectored thrust modeled in VS and if so can the engines be independently vectored?
A firefly also has another engine that is kind of like a warp drive. Are multiple engines of different capabilities available in VS?
A Firefly is strictly a cargo carrier without shields or armament but it looks like combat and defense is a major part of VS. Is it possible to have a ship without shields or weapons?
The Firefly has two shuttles that can be docked. These are in reality two completely separate ships that can be flown independently of the Firefly. Does VS support having shuttles of the type used on the Firefly.
There is a lot of animation employed by the Firefly and shuttles. The firefly has landing gear, rotating engine nacelles, airbrakes, shuttle extension/retraction and panels that extend for the firefly drive. The shuttle has airbrakes, landing gear and wings that fold back. Does VS support this type of animation?
The flight model of the firefly will change based on cargo mass and airbrake status. The flight model of the shuttle will change based on its wings being extended. Does VS handle flight model changes like these?

Here is a screen cap of my Orbiter Firefly.



Later,
Jon

[klauss]

You'll be most interested in the 0.5.0 version, I bet.
Its progress was hampered a bit by RL issues on all sides, but it hasn't been abandoned at any rate.
0.5 will, for instance, greatly enhance animation capabilities. It will also greatly enhance inflight user interface, enough to accomodate for the numerous noncombat tasks you might want to add.
You definitely can have a noncombat vessel in either 0.5 or the current version. In such a case, you'll be hard-pressed to fill the action void with other stuff, through extensive python scripting.
In the current version, you'll be forced to center all or most activities around bases or planets, as inflight interaction is quite limited.
Ad-hoc enhancements could be made on that front, if you need them and aren't overly complex.
The current version already has the possibility of ships carrying shuttles and launching them, though in the current version this has some bugs (that could be ironed out if given proper testing).

As you may have noticed already, VS has no atmospheric flight, though extensive brainstorming on that front has taken place, and there is indeed the intention of eventually making it part of it on practically every developer. It just takes a lot of effort to achieve with the amount of immersiveness and complexity as we'd wish, and so it has not realized yet.

[Oblivion]

kewl.

[dandandaman]

The firefly uses vectored thrust for its atmospheric flight. Is vectored thrust modeled in VS and if so can the engines be independently vectored?

To a degree (probably not as much as you'd want), and no. But definitely on the eventual plan list!

A firefly also has another engine that is kind of like a warp drive. Are multiple engines of different capabilities available in VS?

The SPEC drive could probably just be tweaked and all would be good!

A Firefly is strictly a cargo carrier without shields or armament but it looks like combat and defense is a major part of VS. Is it possible to have a ship without shields or weapons?

Yes, but as klauss said, the engine as it stands doesn't offer much else atm (but will, again, eventually)

The Firefly has two shuttles that can be docked. These are in reality two completely separate ships that can be flown independently of the Firefly. Does VS support having shuttles of the type used on the Firefly.

Yes and no ... no fancy dock animations, but if you're willing for a shuttle to appear from nothing, then all is good (this is one of the things I think'd be cool to have, but is a harder task than it looks)

There is a lot of animation employed by the Firefly and shuttles. The firefly has landing gear, rotating engine nacelles, airbrakes, shuttle extension/retraction and panels that extend for the firefly drive. The shuttle has airbrakes, landing gear and wings that fold back. Does VS support this type of animation?

Not to the extent you'd want it...as klauss said, 0.5 will have it all

The flight model of the firefly will change based on cargo mass and airbrake status. The flight model of the shuttle will change based on its wings being extended. Does VS handle flight model changes like these?

mass changes, yes. airbrake status ... well, no atmospheric atm

Here is a screen cap of my Orbiter Firefly.

nice

Hope that helped.

Dan

[jmarcure]

Thanks folks.

I think you have answered all my questions.



Later,
Jon

[Halleck]

Btw, I love your work on the orbiter mod! It would almost be perfect for our mod, except for the fact that there are so many texture files, which slows down the load times in VS considerably. If it's possible to consolidate the texutres onto one or two diffuse maps, it would be perfect.