WIP Flying Dutchman Project: Cursed & Uncursed

[Pieter Boelen]

Indeed it seems nobody made any progress on this one.
Does the recently released Sea Dogs: To Each His Own not have Flying Dutchman in it?
I haven't seen the files for that myself, but that could be interesting....

 

[Hylie Pistof]

Ya, your one line post fills my whole screen. Sometimes less is more, and by the way, welcome back!

 

[Thagarr]

I made the picture even smaller. Fits just fine on my monitor of the same resolution. Better?

Better, yes, but it wasn't just the picture that was the problem, the text after it is quite extensive and should be re-formatted to take up as little space as possible. The BBCODE Spolier tag is good for that, but there are many other ways of formatting it properly.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

@Legendary_Spider: I took the liberty of adding a spoiler tag to your signature to save you the trouble of doing it.
Hopefully you approve of having it like this.

Just so you know, we have asked several other people to reduce the size of their signatures as well, simply for the sake of readability on the forum.
I myself often use the forum on my mobile phone these days and then sometimes I get annoyed even by the size of my OWN signature!

 

[Armada]

So is it safe to assume that this project has been completely abandoned?

It looks like @bonjourmonami hasn't been online since July last year, so it does seem as though he hasn't made any more progress, sadly. Not an uncommon occurrence amongst ship modellers, these days.

 

[Legendary_Spider]

Better, yes, but it wasn't just the picture that was the problem, the text after it is quite extensive and should be re-formatted to take up as little space as possible. The BBCODE Spolier tag is good for that, but there are many other ways of formatting it properly.

None of which I know how to do. haha

@Legendary_Spider: I took the liberty of adding a spoiler tag to your signature to save you the trouble of doing it.
Hopefully you approve of having it like this.

Just so you know, we have asked several other people to reduce the size of their signatures as well, simply for the sake of readability on the forum.
I myself often use the forum on my mobile phone these days and then sometimes I get annoyed even by the size of my OWN signature!

Thanks.

It looks like @bonjourmonami hasn't been online since July last year, so it does seem as though he hasn't made any more progress, sadly. Not an uncommon occurrence amongst ship modellers, these days.

That's a shame. This project showed some real promise and the Dutchman so desperately needs an update. Maybe some day . . .

 

[Legendary_Spider]

I've been busy . . .

She's not even close to being finished yet, but this is the progress I made in a single night. The UV maps are REALLY messed up, so this has been quite the challenge. I wish I knew how to change the UV maps around and make this so much easier. If anyone knows, or would like to help me with that, it would be much appreciated.

This old ship has been needing a facelift for years.

Spoiler: Flying Dutchman Textures Progress

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I've been busy . . .

Wow, incredible!

I had been pondering to take the one from Sea Dogs: To Each His Own which looks VERY much like the PotC film version (despite that game NOT being licensed!!!):

But I very much prefer NOT doing that. So you doing a texture of your own is, to use Captain Jack Sparrow's words: "Much more better"!

 

[Legendary_Spider]

Wow, incredible!

I had been pondering to take the one from Sea Dogs: To Each His Own which looks VERY much like the PotC film version (despite that game NOT being licensed!!!):

But I very much prefer NOT doing that. So you doing a texture of your own is, to use Captain Jack Sparrow's words: "Much more better"!

I could really make the textures on this Dutchman incredible if the UV maps weren't so random. Maybe the one from Sea Dogs would be better? I'm not sure.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Maybe the one from Sea Dogs would be better? I'm not sure.

I don't know either. I don't have that game and have no intention of getting it.
But I think @Hylie Pistof, @Thagarr and @pedrwyth do have it, so maybe they could send me the files?
Not sure if it is wise to make use of those, but I'd be curious to at least see what she looks like.

 

[pedrwyth]

I don't know either. I don't have that game and have no intention of getting it.
But I think @Hylie Pistof, @Thagarr and @pedrwyth do have it, so maybe they could send me the files?
Not sure if it is wise to make use of those, but I'd be curious to at least see what she looks like.

Sent you a PM with the model and texture files

 

[Legendary_Spider]

Oh dear . . . So this is what the UV maps look like for a our Dutchman . . . This is madness.

 

[Legendary_Spider]

The wireframe of the model is just as maddening Been watching all kinds of Maya tutorials. I'm gonna get this to work.
It seems far more complex than it needed to be.

 

[Armada]

@Legendary_Spider, it looks like you're trying to use the OBJ files exported straight from GM Viewer, which are definitely broken (not your fault; the polycount is too high), so it's no wonder the UVs are a mess.

What you really need is the original Maya file, which @ZarethPL uploaded in 2012. His links no longer work, but luckily, I checked through my files and found the Maya file still lying around.
I need to export it to Maya 5, since I apparently saved it in a newer version, so I'll send it to you once I've done that.

I'd be intrigued to see a comparison between our model and the Sea Dogs: TEHO version, at least to find out what they've done differently.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Sent you a PM with the model and texture files

Thanks a lot!

Looking at those files, I found some quite bizarre things:

"Flyingdutchman1" appears to be the Uncursed Flying Dutchman (Will Turner version).
Actually, all six texture folders are identical and I don't see the actual cursed textures in there at all.

"flyingdutchman_l1.gm" is actually a somewhat older version of our Black Pearl hull (without the cabin interior that we now have).
But some other "FD" left-over files are in that folder too. And the textures are the Uncursed Flying Dutchman ones as well.
The way those files are in that folder looks very messy, so I wonder if that could possibly be used at all in that game.

The SD:TEHO version of the Dutchman is definitely very different from our PiratesAhoy! version.
Far less polygons along with many other subtle and not-so-subtle differences.
The "faces" around the gunports are also 100% textured, rather than modelled as on ours.
Less seaweed hanging around as well; only at the stern and bow.
Some pretty good texture work though!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Because the SD:TEHO ship seems to be the uncursed Dutchman, I'll show some comparisons with that one:

v.s.

v.s.

v.s.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

v.s.

v.s.

Not sure which of the two is more movie-accurate.
It does seem clear that the PA! version has much more modelled detail, while the SD:TEHO version has far nicer texture work.

Wouldn't it be nice if a version could be made that combines the best elements of BOTH?
I think all it would take is to take the SD:TEHO version and add some of the modelled details (gunports, stern decoration, seaweed) and put it on the Russian version.
If those elements could be extracted from the PA! model and made into separate GMs, it should even be possible to place them using the TOOL.
Then Maya isn't required to make a brand new export.

And with texture work by @Legendary_Spider, the end results would be stunning, I'm sure!

 

[Legendary_Spider]

So I found these Dutchman models and was wondering if they would work at all. I assume not, but if they did, I'd be more than willing to purchase them out of my own pocket.

Cursed

Uncursed

 

[Armada]

That's a fascinating comparison! The SD:TEHO version seems to have been made in typical Akella style (even though they didn't make it), favouring detailed textures and fewer polygons. The UV's are clearly better as well; the PA! version has always been somewhat limited by the deck sharing the hull texture, for instance.

If those elements could be extracted from the PA! model and made into separate GMs, it should even be possible to place them using the TOOL.
Then Maya isn't required to make a brand new export.

I'd strongly advise against using TOOL to add the parts, since that could introduce lighting issues.
We do have the Maya files for the PA! version, including locators, so it would make sense to make changes in that scene and re-export it.

That said, I'm not too sure what I feel should be done. What do you guys think?

 

[Armada]

So I found these Dutchman models and was wondering if they would work at all. I assume not, but if they did, I'd be more than willing to purchase them out of my own pocket.

Perhaps I'm biased as a 3D modeller myself, but buying pre-made models seems like cheating, to me.
More importantly, they certainly wouldn't work out-of-the-box. They would still need to be split into separate models and exported from Maya, complete with locators, a path model, walk files... and by the time you've done that, you've put more work in that editing the existing model.