Page 1 of 1

Idea: Community OPT asset repository

Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2019 3:04 pm
by Vince T
Hey everyone!

some time ago I had an idea which I now want to bring to you. I've been thinkning about how we've been creating OPTs for the past 20 years and comparing it with other, more recent games.

So far, for XWA, every OPT has been a singular creation, by one or maybe 2 creators. In most cases the various meshes have been created speciffically for this single OPT and only rarely have been re-used on a different one, much more rarely shared between authors.
Now, looking at sandbox games, the creation and sharing of content makes up a central mechanic of the game and, while the average gamer only shares creations using a game's onboard assets, some modders create and share additional assets which can and are meant to be used on other people's creations.

Switch back to XWA: Looking back at the numerous models I've created I could easily pinpoint a load of assets - turrets, engines, shield generators, etc. - which could be used across multiple models, not only by myself but also other creators, so they don't havve to reinvent the wheel everytime.

My idea here is to create a repository where OPT creators could share model assets such as the ones mentioned above. Now the details on how this could/should work are still a bit rough and subject to discussion. I could imagine some requirements to be met depending on the type and category of the asset.

As for the assets themselves, here's my general idea of what could be shared.
- Basic mesh - a basic, untextured 3d model (dxf, obj, 3ds)
- Texture - a generic texture, e.g. hull plating, machinery, etc. (bmp, png, psd)
- Textured mesh - a mesh, fully mapped with textures(obj, 3ds)
- OPT component - a fully mapped mesh already set up with hitzones, hardpoints, etc. (opz, opt, prj)

While I‘m personally not a huge fan of the untextured model option, this could serve as a basis for colaboration, where the several „stages“ could be created by different people.

What sort of things could there be? I‘m thinking of
- Guns & turrets
- Engines
- Shield generators
- Antennas
- Generic greebles
- ?

So that's my pitch. What do you think? Could this be a thing? How could it be realised? Do you have other ideas? Fire away!

Re: Idea: Community OPT asset repository

Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2019 2:31 am
by ual002
Well I obviously support this considering most of my contributions so far have been additional texture flight group colors based on others models and default textures.

Re: Idea: Community OPT asset repository

Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2019 5:40 am
by blue_max
I think this is an excellent idea. It would also help newbies like me to start doing some OPT work too.

Re: Idea: Community OPT asset repository

Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2019 11:52 am
by Trevor
Sounds great.

I could see it working as a new page on XWAUP under the downloads tab.

We would need the ability to upload ourselves and only edit our own uploads.

Trev

Re: Idea: Community OPT asset repository

Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2019 8:45 am
by Vince T
I'm currently wrapping my head around how to make this work. It wouldn't be my first choice to have everything hosted here at XWAU. Maybe a community dropbox or something. Either way, While I'm working on the VSD, I'm going through the objects to provide. Right now those will be:
- Shield Generator
- Large Turret
- Medium Turret
- Small Turret