X-Verse Fleet Fest I

imperium3 · Post by **imperium3** » Mon, 12. Apr 10, 10:56

Also, once we have agreement on which prices to use, I'd be quite willing to knock up a basic fleet calculator in Excel. It'd have a few limitations (mainly that you'd still have to check the weapons you're adding are actually legal) but it should simplify matters a lot. There's no chance of me having it ready for XFF I though.

Cpt.Jericho · Post by **Cpt.Jericho** » Mon, 12. Apr 10, 11:33

imperium3 wrote:I'd say to use x3tc.ru until we get a definitive judgement from Technojerk.

I'd second that - I had that link in the German thread as well for everybody to check names with seizewell. Well, well, updating German thread again.

Stars_InTheirEyes · Post by **Stars_InTheirEyes** » Mon, 12. Apr 10, 14:17

Cpt.Jericho wrote:
imperium3 wrote:I'd say to use x3tc.ru until we get a definitive judgement from Technojerk.
I'd second that - I had that link in the German thread as well for everybody to check names with seizewell. Well, well, updating German thread again.

3rd'ed

Like Perkint said, the price in-game is without the shields taken off and thats the same as that Seizewell.
X3tc.ru is cheaper and i suspect the difference in price is the cost of shields that come with any ship.
Remember theres no variants for Capital ships, the boreas has.. IIRC, 2 pre-intalled 200mj shields.

Technojerk36 · Post by **Technojerk36** » Mon, 12. Apr 10, 14:33

Geez, I leave this thread alone for one night, just one night and you guys start an argument

We'll stick with http://eng.x3tc.ru as that what most people seemed to use.

I've also uploaded the video of the teaser match. There is no commentary as I could not get that to work. (Oh well, that's what test runs are for

) The video is still being 'processed' though so you might have to wait for some time. And sorry for the delay

Constructive critisim is greatly appreciated, just, for Xaar's sake, do not post the comments on Youtube. Post them here. Also, what would you guys like me to commentate about? (Apart from the obivious contestant names and fleet make ups). Do you really want to hear me say 'Oh it looks like EmperorJons springblossoms are pwning ashkrowe's fighters' or 'Oh wait, there goes his last capital ship' when you can see that for your self?

Cpt.Jericho · Post by **Cpt.Jericho** » Mon, 12. Apr 10, 14:59

Yeah, that's fun! Maybe you could focus a bit more on caps that are under heavy fire and about to blow. I mean external view of a target.

Technojerk36 · Post by **Technojerk36** » Mon, 12. Apr 10, 15:01

Sure

Btw, is it just my computer or is the video in a really, really bad quality?

Cpt.Jericho · Post by **Cpt.Jericho** » Mon, 12. Apr 10, 15:05

I'm afraid, it's the video - the resolution on Youtube seems only 320x180 and very low bitrate. Dunno enough about them guys to tell you how others get their videos on a higher resolution.

Technojerk36 · Post by **Technojerk36** » Mon, 12. Apr 10, 15:11

After going through the trouble to encode it so that it maintians qualitity but not size...

TO GOOGLE!!!

imperium3 · Post by **imperium3** » Mon, 12. Apr 10, 15:12

Technojerk36 wrote:Sure

Btw, is it just my computer or is the video in a really, really bad quality?

It's not just yours. The quality was so poor that I had real trouble making out any of the M6s. While it may have been OK for this match, other matches (especially those involving mass fighter spam on both sides) may be incomprehensible).

Technojerk36 · Post by **Technojerk36** » Mon, 12. Apr 10, 15:15

The original version was 1920x1080 @100 fps! Xaar damn you Youtube!

Merdocharr · Post by **Merdocharr** » Mon, 12. Apr 10, 15:20

It's been processed, yay! A few notes:

-Video quality was a bit low. Ships are recognizable, but anything smaller than a corvette gets lost easily. I think youtube offers an option for 720p.

-You could get better shots of the battle by either supertuning your ship and flying into the middle of it, or using f3 on a ship and keeping focus on the action with numpad. And maybe keep the sector map open for a few seconds every now and then to give a better view of how the battle is going when the battles get longer.

Other than that, looking good!

Tenlar Scarflame · Post by **Tenlar Scarflame** » Mon, 12. Apr 10, 15:51

Re: ship and ware prices, I used the TC stats and resources compendium. It's a 20-or-so megabyte excel document - it's quite thorough and appears to be accurate.

Found it through the guides and resources sticky.

Re: the video, nicely done! Too bad it got ubercompressed. I would experiment with using the external target view camera a bit, but the footage from the seat of your buster was actually rather enjoyable. Keep that in there for sure.

GCU Grey Area · Post by **GCU Grey Area** » Mon, 12. Apr 10, 15:52

Merdocharr wrote:-You could get better shots of the battle by either supertuning your ship and flying into the middle of it, or using f3 on a ship and keeping focus on the action with numpad.

I agree with that - fly a fast ship & get closer to the action (may want to make the observer's ship invulnerable, just in case). Also, if you use F3 to focus on particular ships, try some of the alternative camera modes [num 0]. The fly-past mode in particular can look spectacular when it's focused on a capital ship.

Another thing I was wondering about was would it be possible to set the battles in a sector with a more brightly lit background?
Think this might provide a bit more contrast with the ships & make it a little easier to see what's going on.

Otherwise, think it is excellent work, really appreciate the effort you're putting into this.

Tenlar Scarflame · Post by **Tenlar Scarflame** » Mon, 12. Apr 10, 15:58

GCU Grey Area wrote:
Merdocharr wrote:-You could get better shots of the battle by either supertuning your ship and flying into the middle of it, or using f3 on a ship and keeping focus on the action with numpad.
I agree with that - fly a fast ship & get closer to the action (may want to make the observer's ship invulnerable, just in case). Also, if you use F3 to focus on particular ships, try some of the alternative camera modes [num 0]. The fly-past mode in particular can look spectacular when it's focused on a capital ship.

Another thing I was wondering about was would it be possible to set the battles in a sector with a more brightly lit background?
Think this might provide a bit more contrast with the ships & make it a little easier to see what's going on.

Otherwise, think it is excellent work, really appreciate the effort you're putting into this.

Easy to do... but I like plain starfield backgrounds.

What I could do is add another sun opposite to the one that's already there (up at Phi = Pi/2) so both sides of all the ships are lit.

The issue I have with super-bright backgrounds is that they wash out all the bullets and explosions - so the ships themselves are a bit easier to make out but who's shooting who is less clear. Try making out a bundle of PAC's fired by a ship coming out of the Heaven's Assertion nova...

Anyway, either option (extra sun or different background) is super easy. Votes?

EDIT

Also, TJ, you could try filming from a vantage point up at 90 degrees high - so you're filming directly away from the sun. You'll get all the sunlit sides of the combatants so they'll be a lot easier to see.

GCU Grey Area · Post by **GCU Grey Area** » Mon, 12. Apr 10, 16:23

Tenlar Scarflame wrote:Easy to do... but I like plain starfield backgrounds. What I could do is add another sun opposite to the one that's already there (up at Phi = Pi/2) so both sides of all the ships are lit.

The issue I have with super-bright backgrounds is that they wash out all the bullets and explosions - so the ships themselves are a bit easier to make out but who's shooting who is less clear. Try making out a bundle of PAC's fired by a ship coming out of the Heaven's Assertion nova...

Anyway, either option (extra sun or different background) is super easy. Votes?

See what you mean - additional light sources are probably the best way to go. Just noticed that, particularly near the start, some of the Split capitals are a bit hard to make out. Guess a lot of it depends on the ships - the Springblossoms show up much better because they're naturally more reflective.

Phinixa · Post by **Phinixa** » Mon, 12. Apr 10, 16:26

Merdocharr wrote:It's been processed, yay! A few notes:

-Video quality was a bit low. Ships are recognizable, but anything smaller than a corvette gets lost easily. I think youtube offers an option for 720p.

-You could get better shots of the battle by either supertuning your ship and flying into the middle of it, or using f3 on a ship and keeping focus on the action with numpad. And maybe keep the sector map open for a few seconds every now and then to give a better view of how the battle is going when the battles get longer.

Other than that, looking good!

Youtube has a option for 1080p!

Technojerk36 · Post by **Technojerk36** » Mon, 12. Apr 10, 16:44

Phinixa wrote:
Merdocharr wrote:It's been processed, yay! A few notes:

-Video quality was a bit low. Ships are recognizable, but anything smaller than a corvette gets lost easily. I think youtube offers an option for 720p.

-You could get better shots of the battle by either supertuning your ship and flying into the middle of it, or using f3 on a ship and keeping focus on the action with numpad. And maybe keep the sector map open for a few seconds every now and then to give a better view of how the battle is going when the battles get longer.

Other than that, looking good!
Youtube has a option for 1080p!

Any idea on how to use it? I uploaded an .avi that used the Xvid codec. The video was 1920X1080 @100fps. This should qualify for 1080p.

And thank you all for suggestions on filming. I will keep them in mind next time I record a battle. No one has really mentioned anything about commentary though.

Tenlar Scarflame · Post by **Tenlar Scarflame** » Mon, 12. Apr 10, 16:44

Just remembered, there was a thought given to battle commentary. Here's an idea for what could get posted after (and previous to) each battle result -

(pre-game commentary for EmperorJon vs. ashkrowe)

The battle between The Prototype Aldrin Protection Taskforce and The Fleet That Cost Too Much! A whole wing of fully tuned heavy hitters from the far reaches, matched against the monsters of the Split war fleet - without shields.

(post-game commentary)

A clear victory today, and a clear indication that Size Matters Not, especially when size does not equal shield power. The Fleet That Cost Too Much just couldn't draw a bead with its big guns, and the PAPT ran circles around them. The Springblossom is a murder machine, that much is certain, and eighteen of them are difficult to argue with in any capacity.

Technojerk36 · Post by **Technojerk36** » Mon, 12. Apr 10, 16:46

Thanks, so you don't want me to say anything during the battle itself?

GCU Grey Area · Post by **GCU Grey Area** » Mon, 12. Apr 10, 16:47

Just had a thought about commentary. Might be interesting if, before the battle, each fleet was spawned in formation & there was a quick flight by the observation ship through each fleet to provide a clear view of it's major elements, with a brief verbal commentary identifying the ships used by the fleet & how they've been configured.

egosoft.com

egosoft.com

X-Verse Fleet Fest I