Virtual *TOS* Enterprise for STV:Elite Force - WIP

[Donny]

This is quite simply amazing, I'm really impressed with the quality of your modeling skills.

What tools are you using to create the map file? I wanted to have a go at creating the 1701-A or Voyager deck by deck, but not sure where to start, and I'm not sure if the game's map files can support something that large?

I'm using the Quake III engine, more specifically the game Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force. The program used to create the map files is called GTKRadiant, which is the standard used to make Quake III maps.

For modeling, I use Milkshape 3D, which is a cheap 3D modelling program, mainly used for low-poly models used in older games.

Unfortunately, the map files can only be so big, so what I'm doing is creating a separate map file for each deck. You will be able to use turbolifts to travel from map file to map file, with a short loading screen in between map loads.

A Virtual Voyager mod is included in the Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force expansion pack. However, it's severely dated and looks very 2002 in gaming standards.

 

[Bernard Guignard]

Fantastic work there you makes me want to find a copy
of Voyager Elite force Just to load this mod

 

[Donny]

Engineering almost done! This is how it was depicted in "That Which Survives"

 

[Kail]

This is AWESOME work! I love seeing the sets from different angles than we are use to. Fantastic stuff!! Make me want to go out and get the game just so I can play on these sets! You are truly an artist.

 

[Donny]

I'm switching back and forth on my TNG and TOS projects.

Added a few more areas to Engineering, like the Emergency Manual Monitor Room and Dilithium Control Room.






And here's a mess hall....









And here's a bonus shot: I'm trying to imagine the interior of a D7 if TOS would've had a slightly bigger budget. I'm using what I know of the interior of a K'Tinga as seen in TUC, and making it a little less detailed to fit into the 60s era Trek.

 

[B.J.]

Sweet! Can't wait to load this one up!

 

[137th Gebirg]

VERY cool!

Little bit of trivia - IIRC, the sets used for the K'T'inga in ST6:TUC were redressed sets from the 80's V series/mini-series. Gorkon's chamber where he was shot was the redressed Visitor mothership bridge set. The most obvious give-away is the door to the chamber.

 

[Donny]

Chugging along....

Kirk's Quarters

 

[Ziz]

I'm hoping it's just because of the 3D/angled perspective but the bed, trapezoids on the walls and red alert light all look too wide.

 

[Donny]

I'm hoping it's just because of the 3D/angled perspective but the bed, trapezoids on the walls and red alert light all look too wide.

Here's a top-down perspective of the bed. I'm pretty sure it's just the 3D angled perspectives...

 

[Redfern]

Only Donny can say for sure, but I suspect it's simply a "fish-eye" wide angle lens effect. If the trapezoid over the bunk is actually the same dimensions as those in the "study/office" area, then everything should size up just right.

I'll admit it would be really neat if these were available as .OBJ meshes; then a wide variety of rendering programs could employ them.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Redfern]

Looks like Donny already answered the concerns. Yep, just a wide angle lens "illusion".

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Ziz]

I had a feeling that's what it was but I wanted to be sure.

 

[Donny]

Lots of work done over the last two days.

First off, here's the ship's chapel, as it was depicted in Balance of Terror.

And here's the shuttlebay (pre-remastered). And of course some shots from the surrounding observation deck.

 

[Redfern]

Of course! How could we forget the Christine Chapel?

(I'm gonna' get pelted with tribbles for that one, aren't I?)

On a more serious note, I love what you've done with the shuttle-bay's rear bulkhead! (Or should that be considered a forward bulkhead?) Most depictions I've seen go with the Franz Joseph approach, three standard pocket doors, or two large rectangular hatches taking their cue from ST V. But this is the first time I (personally) have seen trapezoidal alcoves that blend with those along the sides. What a clever variation! I mean it!

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Donny]

On a more serious note, I love what you've done with the shuttle-bay's rear bulkhead! (Or should that be considered a forward bulkhead?)

I can't take credit for the idea. I first saw this design in the Star Trek: Ships of the Line book (which is a compilation of a lot of the art that was featured in the annual Ships of the Line calendars), Both artists Petri Blomquist and Jose Perez did renderings of the Enterprise with its shuttlebay doors open, and featured this design. Not sure if they came up with it either, but it made the most design sense to me when I saw it.

In my Viirtual Enterprise project, these alcoves on the forward bulkhead contain large doors that open into the ship's main cargo bay (a design that is my own, however the idea of there being a large cargo bay forward of the shuttlebay was inspired by TMP) that I'm currently working on.

 

[Today]

Oooh, I really like this!

The attention to detail is pretty impressive! Looks like you've painstakingly duplicated the original sets.

I especially like the landing bay and observation decks!!

 

[Redfern]

Well, regardless who actually came up with it, I love it! In my nearly 40 years of being a Trek fan, never had I considered that motif, and yet it's so bloody obvious!

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Donny]

I keep burning myself on my two projects (TOS-E and the Ent-D) because when I do get a few days off my 50 hour week bar-manager job, I sit at my computer for 10-12 hours working on these projects.

So, I keep flopping between the two. The principal areas of the TOS-E are pretty much complete. Here's what else I have planned:

Auxiliary Control
Ship's Gymnasium
Ship's Theater
Phaser Control

and a few areas that were never seen on screen:

Security Section w/ Armory
Photorp Launch Bay
Bowling Alley
Evacuation Transporter

and maybe a few others that I haven't decided on yet. Keeping them a secret for now. After all the construction if finished, I will begin scripting to make it possible to interact with the ship and its personnel.

So, I promise that I'll keep on working on the project when I get enough energy to. In the meantime, I've been working on a Virtual TMP Enterprise...which I will of course post screens of once I get some areas completed. It's shaping up slowly, but is looking great. The TMP-TSFS Enterprise has always been my favorite, so I'm excited to have something else to look forward to while I take yet another break from this project.

Thanks for all the compliments guys!

 

[Ziz]

I don't know that much about how game engines work internally but is this being built as one "level" - one giant model - or are different rooms and areas separate levels/models? If they are separate, then it would theoretically be possible to create the entire ship because it would just be a matter of linking levels/models to each other using doorways and turbolifts as the connection points. Then for the hundreds of crew quarters on the D, you'd only have to create two or three models and just keep recycling them by linking doorways to "room A", "room B" or "room C" rather than copying them over and over into one big model.

Am I on the right track - do game engines work that way?