The Myst Island Rocketship (WIP)

David of Mac

[i]It has been a while since I have heard only silence and I enjoy it greatly...[/i]

I've made some progress on my first from-scratch model, the rocketship from the computer game "Myst". There are still some things I'm not happy with (which is why it's still a work in progress), but I'm not exactly sure how to get it done. I've also slapped on some temporary textures so it was easier to tell the different parts of the ship apart. I don't want to start really texturing until I'm more finished.

Well, anyway, here are the pics.

[url=http://homepage.mac.com/david_of_mac/.Pictures/Works%20In%20Progress/Myst%20Rocket%20aft1.jpg]Rear[/url]
[url=http://homepage.mac.com/david_of_mac/.Pictures/Works%20In%20Progress/Myst%20Rocket%20fore1.jpg]Front[/url]
[url=http://homepage.mac.com/david_of_mac/.Pictures/Works%20In%20Progress/Myst%20Rocket%20Iso1.jpg]Isometric[/url]

Now, as for the problems. There's a seam between the front of the body and the nosecone that's pretty obvious. I always get it when I try to join two primitives, no matter how close the edges are. I'm figuring there must be some way to attach the two objects, but I'm not sure what it would be.

Also, the thing that's really been bothering me is the fins. I'd like the cross section of the fins to be thin at the edges and thick at the middle, rather like an airplane's wing, but I don't know how to accomplish it.

So, any help or other criticism would be appreciated.

Thanks!

A2597

all I can think of is futurama..... :D


Nice modeling though. :D

Captain,Simmonds

All I can think of is flying Di.............

Good work nether the less.

David of Mac

I bet the designs of [url=http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/history/VonBraun/germany.html]Wernher Von Braun[/url] must be mighty distracting for you, huh?

RubberEagle

It's also a bit Flash Gordon-esque ;)

As to your problem: what program are you using?

In 3ds Max, there's the "Edit Mesh" modifier. with this you can first "Attach" one mesh to another, and then in vertex-editing, meld the edge-vertixes, so that it really is one in the end (though you still might see an edge until you re-assign the smoothing groups

David of Mac

I'm using Lightwave 6.5b. I really have to remember to start mentioning that. ;)

I've managed to solve the problem of the non-attached-nosecone (I then spent a fun few minutes wondering how it took me so long to realize that, if your going to merge points, they have to be [i]in the same layer of the mesh[/i]).

As to the fins, I am now busily grappling with spline-modeling (with the help of [url=http://www.ap3d.com/ws/ws_tutorial_intro.htm]Kier Darby's White Star Tutorial[/url]), which should give me the shape I want once I figure out how to properly use the bloody thing. Once I've got my nicely shaped fins, I'll put up an updated set of pics and get to the business of texturing.

David of Mac

Yay! Modeling on the exterior of the Myst Rocket is complete!

[url=http://homepage.mac.com/david_of_mac/.Pictures/Works%20In%20Progress/Myst%20Rocket%20aft2.jpg]Rear[/url]
[url=http://homepage.mac.com/david_of_mac/.Pictures/Works%20In%20Progress/Myst%20Rocket%20fore2.jpg]Front[/url]
[url=http://homepage.mac.com/david_of_mac/.Pictures/Works%20In%20Progress/Myst%20Rocket%20Iso2.jpg]Isometric[/url]

After my first attempt at making the rear fins was a mishmash of unmatching geometry and a twisted, knotted mass of polygons ugly enough to make the baby Jesus cry, I remade the spline cage, sprinkled my computer with Holy Water, prayed the Rosery, and patched the new cage. It worked without a hitch (okay, with a couple of minor hitches, hardly worth mentioning though).

Also, I did, in fact, do something about those intakes, adding a rudimentary grate that makes it look as if there's lots of interesting stuff behind it.

So, tomorrow, I'm going to do some texturing.

By the way, for those who are curious, here's a [url=http://www.lunar.org/docs/LUNARclips/v4/v4n3/MystRocket.html]page[/url] about the Myst rocket, including a set of AutoCAD schematics that was in-freaking-valuable to this model. Given that its the only set of detailed schematics (okay, only set of schematics period) for a structure in Myst, I'm dreading the rest of the island. Oh, that sailboat is going to be a killer.