Planeset [version 1.5.3 released 2006-10-24]

[Zimmlock]

Zimmlock: Nice airport!

One comment - can you make the grass parts on it use TTD-style grass, not TTO-style/TTD-standard-Large-Airport grass?

Of course it can be the standard TTD large airport grass, but i tought in this way to make some difference because the airport grass is maintained and the grass in the open field is not.

[Aydan]

About the Osprey's flight characteristics: Would it be possible to let it behave like a standard airplane for airports?

Has anybody checked if my graphics actually work?

it just hit me that it won't even be necessary to split the body and nacelle graphics so i'll render a new image with only the body and rotor graphics separate.

[Aydan]

here's my first draft for the shorts:

[krtaylor]

About the Osprey's flight characteristics: Would it be possible to let it behave like a standard airplane for airports?

I don't believe that is possible, but I could be wrong.

Has anybody checked if my graphics actually work?

I'm not sure if it's in 459's latest release or not. Coding advanced aircraft is quite complicated.

it just hit me that it won't even be necessary to split the body and nacelle graphics so i'll render a new image with only the body and rotor graphics separate.

Yes, you're right, that's true.

The Shorts looks good also. Nice boxy profile!

[459]

I'm not an advanced airplane coder so there's no Osprey until someone codes it. Most likely DaleStan would be the man to pull this one off if he shows up here.

That Shorts seems slightly undersized in some views, especially for the face-down and face-up views. Face-down diagonals, face-left and face-right look very nice in terms of shape. Consider the real-world size difference between Dash 8 and Shorts 330 when drawing it - they shoudn't scale directly, Shorts 330's fuselage and wings should be minimal amount shorter than Dash 8's.

[Aydan]

OK,
I shortened the wings and widened the fuselage a little and applied a blue livery on the tail

[krtaylor]

I like that, actually. But I think the main body of the plane should be white. Also, I believe the planes don't have separate propellor graphics, you just draw the circle of the moving rotor right on the plane. And of course a stopped-rotor version for when it's parked at the gate.

[Aydan]

The gray color comes from shading, or do you mean the blue part?

[krtaylor]

The blue part is pretty much fine, except that if there are additional blue colors available, you could probably make the shading a little better defined. But the body of the aircraft is clearly grey, and it should be white. Of course it will actually be grey in some areas, because of the shading, but in parts where it is in direct light, like the top of the wing, it should be white.

[Aydan]

OK,
I made the finish a little more diffuse.

[krtaylor]

I like that much better. But I still think the white isn't white enough everywhere. It's really coming together though, for sure. Can you make the lighting brigher? That would do it.

[Aydan]

sorry, wrong pic

this should be the right one
I also made the livery red, cuz the blue livery turned into magic blue.
Should I brighten the osprey too?

[DaleStan]

Has anybody checked if my graphics actually work?

I've looked at the graphics, and the bodies look fine, but I do not like the rotors.
To match the TTD rotors, you need 4 rotor sprites per set[0]; 1 stopped and 3 moving. The moving versions should be blurred. For an example, look at the Chinook sprites[1]. It would be helpful, but not required, to have the sprites in that order. AIUI, it is not required to have exactly 3 animation sprites; apparently, any number is acceptable, although having fewer than 3 will not cause apparent rotation. For the horizontal and diagonal nacelle versions, stopped sprites are probably not required.[2]

Those Zeps are ... WOW!
Some of them appear to have palette problems, though.
The company-color blues are these eight colors: #64ACE0, #4898D8, #3878BC, #285CA4, #1C448C, #14347C, #0C2468, and #081858. Anything that should be company colored must use one of those 8 colors.
Also, it would be nice to have a second east-bound sprite, scaled to be no more than about 60px long, because anything longer won't fit in the purchase window.

[0] One rotor set for each combination of direction and nacelle orientation, for a total of 24 sets.
[1] Of course, I'm rather partial to those; I drew them.
[2] That is "do not need to be drawn." I'll still have to code them.

Also, I believe the planes don't have separate propellor graphics, you just draw the circle of the moving rotor right on the plane. And of course a stopped-rotor version for when it's parked at the gate.

No. Planes do not have rotors. Whatever is drawn must be acceptable for both moving and stopped.

@459: I understand the Ruslan needs to be able to carry mail? Change the last 5 bytes of sprite 527 from "13 FA FF FF 1F" to "13 FE FF FF 1F"

[krtaylor]

@Aydan - I like the Shorts now. All it needs is whatever you can do to look like there are moving propellors, bearing in mind that they won't be animated.

You are right, the Osprey needs to be lightened and colored in much the same way.

There's nothing wrong with the tail of the Shorts being in company color magic blue. Eventually there will be two versions of the set, one with company-colored planes, and one with original liveries. So we can take both versions, of the Shorts, the Osprey, and even the zeps.

@DaleStan - I could be wrong, but I believe you are mistaken about only one version of the propellor-driven aircraft. I am 90% sure I read that it is possible to change the sprite to a different one when the aircraft is stopped at the gate. Admittedly nobody has ever done that. Eventually I thought we might want to use this to provide baggage-handling and refueling equipment around the airplanes, maybe even airstairs on the smaller planes. But first I wanted to finish the set. Anyway, check with Patchman, I'm almost positive the Patch supports this.

[Aydan]

Here's the Osprey with the new rotor graphics.

[krtaylor]

Gorgeous!

I guess once DaleStan has coded them we can worry about giving them a livery. I like how you dealt with the rotors, that looks really great. I can't wait to see them in the game!

Maybe someday it will be possible to have them land like a plane at an airport.

[DaleStan]

@DaleStan - I could be wrong, but I believe you are mistaken about only one version of the propellor-driven aircraft. I am 90% sure I read that it is possible to change the sprite to a different one when the aircraft is stopped at the gate.

You're right; that's possible.
Animation would also be possible. For planes, animation speed would be dependent on apparent aircraft speed. This dependency would be set on a per-plane basis, and it could itself depend on a multitude of other factors, but in any case a stopped plane would not be animated. EDIT: this case could be caught and an appropriate non-animated sprite be used instead.

@Aydan: I do not like the way that the rotors that appear edge-on to the camera came out, but I'm not sure how much, if any, they can be improved. I guess I'll go code them and see how they look in-game.

Wow. 120 sprites for one vehicle. The next most sprite-heavy vehicle I am aware of is the Chinook. 56 sprites, but that's three liveries, to the Osprey's one.

[DaleStan]

Well, I think I've got the hard stuff done for the Osprey (the pseudo-sprites), but I cannot get satisfactory offsets for most of the real sprites.
Try, for example, to get the three east-bound bodies to line up. That is, set offsets so that switching between the sprites moves only the nacelles. I've tried, and failed.

[Aegir]

Trying to get offsets correct is a pain in the arse, I feel your frustration mate.

[Aydan]

The sprites are all equally spaced.
Would it help you if I made markers where the center is?