Anyone done a Vanilla Refresh?
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There’s tools for going from 3ds to FL, but the other way around is a lot trickier. You might have to dig up the old Milkshape importers (they should be in the downloads section), then export from Milkshape into another format.
No idea if the plugins will work with whatever version of Milkshape is current, assuming Milkshape even is being actively developed.
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One thing I know, is that Milkshape is a payed product, it would be frustrating to find out after paying for it, that nothing works anymore.
I would like to see Freelancer refreshed in HD though otherwise left unmolested. Though this might sound like a reasonably straight forward thing, it’s actually on par with re-doing all the game assets so could prove a mighty project. I’ll assume I’m not the first person to think of it and I’ll also assume that there’s no real support for it, otherwise it probably would have been done already.
Maybe it’s also too simple an idea for many.
Re-doing the models with about 20% extra poly’s and re-doing the skins with 20% higher resolution probably isnt fun enough.
I’ll stick to playing the original for now.
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I don’t know what your experience is with modelling / texturing, but I actually would really appreciate if someone could rework the models and textures. I am currently working on getting the graphics to a modern api (minimum OpenGl 2, the upper version is not limited so you could in theory use all features of a dx11 graphics card). You can see my work here:
http://the-starport.net/freelancer/forum/viewtopic.php?post_id=61949#forumpost61949An example image from the forum topic is:
There are also videos in the topic.I need good height and normal maps for the textures.
I also plan to write a better model converter to make conversion easier. Probably from collada to cmp and back.
Since I don’t work full time on it this will still need some time until it is ready, though.
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If you can hand me the model and the texture, that is, on a platter, ie, in .obj or .dxf or .3ds then I’ll rework it for you. I might even build the station from scratch because there’s just certain things you can do with a model that ya cant do with a texture.
send me an email to [email protected]
I’ll rework it and you can check it out
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That is a really nice offer! There is a 3dsmax exporter, but importing them with animations etc. is another problem. Give me some time to write a converter and I will get back to you!
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Obviously. I don’t have extracted models right now so was just
playing around, figuring out how the original models were made.So obviously, system limitations back then forced the devs
to use 2d drop shadows to give things some depth. It was
ok for it’s day I guess.
So what I did was remake part of a station and give it
true depth, by physically altering the model, providing this
is done carefully and with a degree of restraint, the game
should run just as smooth as before, but models will look
more detailed. -
and I know the bottom struts should be flipped but you get the general idea, would be easier to modify the existing model rather than make a new one from scratch like this.
That kind of thing + a slight increase to resolution on the existing textures would make the game look a few years newer than it actually is.
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Yeah, I get what you mean. Can you also generate detailed height and normal maps? I use a modified version of Valve’s SSBumps + parallax mapping. I have tried more complex techniques like parallax occlusion mapping, but this does not work well with the old models. The only thing which looks good on them is using tesselation, but this has other drawbacks.
Since the model has no hierarchy or animations I could export it using milkshape. Attached is a zip file also including the used textures. You should see a textured model if it loads correctly.
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Ah, excellent, so this is the model you sent me (I gather the stations are lumped together using several models) Included are the minor adjustments done to the mesh.
Next, I’m going to re-do the textures, then do the various mapping and we’ll see what comes of it.
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Looking forward to it!
Since you could load the model, here are the other two variations of it. I’ve only included the new textures, so you need to extract it to the folder containing the others.
Forgot to mention: The first one contained also the hardpoint positions. You can see it based on the group names starting with “Hp…”. I thought it might help you. You can delete them if you don’t need them. They can easily be added again. The models I attached now don’t have any. Also all of them are LOD level 0 (they only have one more less detailed level).
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Examining textures a bit more this morning, had a look at texture stadtls2, which is a 128x128 pixel texture, so I remade that texture to 256x256 pixel’s. It’s the same colour as the original, same kind of pattern but it’s quite a bit more crisp and features a bump map.
Obviously, life likes to get in the way of progress, but
even by doing that one, relatively simple exercise
it’s quite clear how much more lovely things may
look at the end. -
Actually Freelancer does not use so many different textures. For stations there are a lot being reused. It is still some work though. Without the ships there are around 150 different textures, but for the stations if you change about 25 you already have changed the look of most of them. The question is, whether this will be enough to make it look good or if it is better to create new ones and don’t reuse so many.
When you have had the time to rework some more I would gladly test them, as I find it difficult to judge from outside of the game.
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I’ll get as many as possible done, but it will mean having to re-do the UVW mapping on all related models, otherwise it’ll likely not look too good.
I’m hopping between working on a welding and milling project and working on the computer so I wouldn’t expect instant results, but I’ll get there eventually.
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Take your time. I think I won’t be releasing anything this year, as it also is just a hobby of mine. And I’d rather have good quality results than a rushed release. Even if you manage to rework a part of them maybe it will motivate others to continue. I am already glad that at least someone tries it and am very curious about the results.
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Ok so, this is my refreshed example of the model Schmackbolzen provided. It’s very similar to the original in shape and in scale, but has additional features over the original but remains an acceptable and believable replacement for Freelancer.
Ideally, what I would like to see, is each and every 3d model in Freelancer remade, uploaded, checked for errors and then archived. That part, I might be quite helpful at.
Meanwhile, It would also be nice to see each and every texture from the game uploaded, remade for a resolution twice that of the original and then archived.
Having the assets means the possibility of a shiny new version of Freelancer and subsequent mod’s for it will too become viable. It will require additional work in Model Skinning and game integration but having the resources would be a great start.
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Here is the link to the model if anyone wants to look at it, will need winrar or similar to extract.
