New WIP 38' Tank

[pwillard]

See, it kinda works at this stage... :-)

https://youtu.be/QPk9PUKBWRQ

[EldoradoRailroad]

and step 2...

Here it is in-game.

No weathering... so not much contrast at this point... but ORTS isn't complaining. (yet)

Pete,

Nice work (Very!) and it you decide to use Blender's AO baking better still. I have been playing around with more recent versions of Blender in Linux, (2.8x, 2.93x, 3.3x). The way AO is done allows for way more control, with the render samples feature. At lower values you can achieve some pseudo weathering in some places. When different values of samples are applied and "blended" in your paint program it might deliver an interesting effect. For me, where I still use Blender 2.65, it is very annoying that there is NO provision to import blender files from 2.65-2.79x directly into the newer format that is used with Blender (2.8x, 2.93x, 3.3x). You have redo ALL of the materials from scratch and given that the MSTS .s file has very little material needs, it is a PITA. The only real reason to use the newer versions of Blender for me is the AO control. I still find the texture paint a bit clunky and a bit of a hit or miss proposition.

Steve

[pwillard]

Actually, Blender is so much improved over 2.65 that it's hard to come up with a short list of better features (for me). Blender 2.65-2.79 was so "clunky" that I just stayed with 3DCrafter. As for *migration*, I would just open 2.79 and then just capture and COPY from 2.79 and paster right into 2.8+. And for moving models from TrainSim Modeler or 3DCrafter, I would just export as WAVEFRONT OBJ files from Crafter.

Texture painting *inside* Blender is a bit RAW, but I just export the UV Image and use it like a coloring book layer inside Paint.net

[EldoradoRailroad]

As for *migration*, I would just open 2.79 and then just capture and COPY from 2.79 and paste right into 2.8+.

I am not sure how to do this...AFAIK..you can duplicate stuff..like objects, etc...but how are these dumped into the clipboard and pasted into the newer Blenders? Are the material settings also copied, eg: texture? I have had no luck with that.

Your more detailed explanation would be most welcome...

Thanks,
Steve

[pwillard]

well technically, you CAN just open the old file in Blender with some caveats...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UBMuTm7Guw