3D Starships

mike0liver

I'm about to embark on a fairly massive project producing deckplans for some huge "generation starships", using Cartographer 3. I'd like to include a 3D version of each ship (and maybe of parts of ships) but can't find any info on how I might approach this within Cosmographer. I own the latest ToUM but haven't had a chance to go through it in detail.

I also own Perspectives Pro and wondered if I can either transfer the Cosmo plans into that or maybe even do a separate Perspectives deck plan.

Anyone got any suggestions?

Cheers,
Mike

Monsen

Starship deckplans are just like dungeons, so the basics of it would be to simply follow the tutorial in the tome for converting a floorplan to a perspectives view. However, note that perspectives does not contain any futuristic symbols, nor does it have the appropriate fill styles. You should be able to simply import the fill styles from COS 3 into a perspective floorplan, but note that perspectives 3D objects cannot have bitmapped fill styles (They use gradients and hatch styles only).

mike0liver

I had a quick look in the ToUM for the tutorial before I posted but I couldn't find anything. I probably didn't look in the right places - but it's a BIG file! What I had planned to do, if there was no pre-designed method, was to create the 3D plan in Perspectives, then save it as an insertable file and import it into Cosmo that way, then use the Layer tool to place Cosmo symbols and fills so that they appeared in appropriate places.

I'm probably barking up the wrong tree but that's all I could think of - I do want to use bitmap fills.

If you happen to know wher I should look in the Tome for the tutorial, I'd be grateful.

Cheers,

Mike

Monsen

Converting a floorplan to perspectives view is detailed on page 384.

Posted By: mike0liverWhat I had planned to do, if there was no pre-designed method, was to create the 3D plan in Perspectives, then save it as an insertable file and import it into Cosmo that way, then use the Layer tool to place Cosmo symbols and fills

I can't really see how you are going to be able to do this. The cosmo symbols are flat and drawn as seen from above. They will look completely out of place in a perspectives drawing. Fill styles are easier though, especially as long as you avoid curves in the perspectives drawing, but it will be quite a bit if manual work, especially if the floorplan is complex,

mike0liver

I was afraid of that, Remy, but it was all I could think of. I shall just have to find a way around it - maybe giving up the idea of a 3D version. I own Bryce and Vue d'Esprit, but I haven't really tried to do anything serious with them so far. They could provide the answer if I can get to grips with learning them :-) Anyway, thank you for the assistance. By the way, the new Tome is an incredible piece of work - congratulations!

Regards,
Mike

Monsen

You can draw your own Perspectives symbols in CC3 though, the Tome shows you how. They will be vector symbols, but right now, perspectives works much better with vector art anyway. If I were you, I would consider going the vector route. Even if raster generally look better, you can still get a very nice result using vector artwork for the perspectives drawing, although you will have to accept that the visual style won't be identical to the floorplan drawings.

Thanks for the kind words regarding the tome. Hope you are enjoying it.

DriveSeer

Now here's an massive undertaking if I've ever seen one! The scope of Generation Ship poses a similar problem which I encountered in smaller scale when doing a designs for my scifi scenario. It came obvious that one couldn't do decent 3D maps using 2D cartographing. That being said, it doesn't mean you can't produce an Illusion of depth to your maps.

Depending on the level of detail, the actual work of producing a map of a generation ship would be, well, in the lack of better term, astronomical. Even a small ship, for interplanetary missions proved to be... arduous. I've accepted that I wouldn't design every single deck on the ship, only the points of interest. This leads to "interconnected rooms" which was prevalent in the point-n-click adventure games a decade-and-a-half ago.

To bring a bit of illusion of depth to my maps, I opted to use the sheet effects. Drop shadow and wall shadow made the difference between a flat appereance and illusion of depth.

The image below is my NERVA powered vehicle and yes, very much unfinished.

mike0liver

I haven't visited the forums for a while, so I apologise for the lateness of my response. What you are doing is exactly what I had in mind to achieve - I knew there had to be some way of making it happen and you've done it!

Mike