Question Hardest part of Add-on developement

[Capt_hensley]

What's the hardest part of developing an add-on?

I have developed a mesh in 3DS Max 2011, so the .msh files should be a cinch

Is there a developement guide? somthing that breaks down the process into an outline or checklist

 

[Urwumpe]

The hardest part is getting a sound concept done. Once you have this, the add-on develops itself.

 

[Saturn V]

I find that the hardest part of developing an addon is the part that forces you to use your weakest skills.

Like you, I don't seem to have much trouble modeling or texturing (I build model kits too, so it's the same creative engine, just a different set of tools), but coding is a sore spot for me.

I can turn out a fairly detailed 3D model for Orbiter in a week or so, but getting it to actually do something will usually take me several months.

It's always a learning process...as my grandmother used to tell me, "if you're still green, you're growing. Once you're ripe, you start to rot."

 

[Lucy]

As Urwumpe said, the hardest part is the initial idea. Once you have the fundamentals of what you want to develop, what it should be, what it should do, its capabilities, and a rough idea of how to make it do that, the rest just seems to fall into place.

 

[N_Molson]

A good documentation really helps, obviously if you try to recreate an historical spacecraft, but also if you create a fictionnal one. Knowing (even roughly) how things work help to model them in-game.

You need creativity also, but if you started with the model that should be ok.

As Urumpwe said, the most precise you initial concept will be, the easier it will be to develop the addon. When I get stucked on something, it is usually that I went "out of the path" and don't really know where I am going. Yeah, staying on track is important.

 

[Hielor]

For me, the hardest part is finding the continued motivation to work on a project over several months or even years.

 

[fsci123]

For me the hardest part is gaining enough confidence to publish it...

 

[Jamesep3]

For me it's getting round the problems posed by crap incompatible utilities. Use correct tools for the right results. I gave up on my UCGO base modules after lack of support and tecknical problems

 

[Moach]

the hardest part, actually, i find it to be trying to scavange whatever able time you can from the scarce amount of non-mayhem moments that flood "normal" life....

and note that i say "able time", instead of "free time" because, being idle for a few minutes doesn't qualify as time in which you could get something done....

and even if you got a few hours to spare - do you also have enough "umph" in you to roll up your sleeves and get to work?... many times i find that i do have an hour ir so... but i'm still too tired to, you know, think...


for me that's the hardest.... second of that, is knowing when to stop... i could very well model and code forever, accumulating features galore and never really call my stuff "done"
but you gotta set yourself goals... or reachable milestones, to the very least... or else things get very hectic...

and getting a solid concept is plenty difficult as well... it's tricky to find the balance between what you wanna do and what would be reallistic or even plausible....


but...

if it wasn't hard it wouldn't really be any fun, now, would it?

is that not why we fly space sims, instead of playing GTA or whatever brain-free insta-action title?

 

[jedidia]

there are several hard parts along the way, depending on what you bring into it.

If you're unexpierienced, getting started is pretty tough, especially if you have to teach yourself essential coding or modelling skill along the way.

Once you got a sound start it usually goes pretty well for a while, until you hit the motivation bump, especially during longer projects. That's where Orbiter Galaxy is stuck at at the moment, I'm afraid, because my major area of interest shifts between science fiction and fantasy every few years. I have no idea yet how I should go on with the project, because right now I'd rather start coding that fantasy RPG I had on the scratchboard 3 years ago before my focus shifted to science fiction again.

And in the end, there is the finishing threshold. Everything done, but needs ironing out. My turnbased fallout 3 mod stoped at this stage...

 

[n122vu]

I echo pretty much everything Moach said. For me anyway, it's having the right combination of motivation and usable time. Having a child with special needs makes this more difficult for me personally, but even that aside, I work in IT as a desktop support technician, web developer, and ERP systems support. There are days when I get home and the last thing I want to do is sit in front of a computer for 1-2 hours looking at code or even just adding a few lines in a cfg file. And even when I do feel like sitting in front of a computer, sometimes I need to unwind, and I just want to fly a mission in Orbiter, or do a flight in FSX.

I do admit thought that getting started was a big hurdle. Having something to work on, finding something that interested me enough that I was willing to give it a shot, took a long time. I actually started by just modifying a spacecraft 3 vessel's cfg file, and from there began making a custom dll for that ship. I didn't have to create a mesh, make the textures, so I haven't yet tackled the idea of doing a complete addon top-to-bottom, but I'm getting my hands dirty with the coding, and I do enjoy it, and it is rewarding to me, but keeping motivation and finding time in between real life is a big challenge.

 

[Artlav]

At start, it's often that you see and think in terms of a complete thing, and then slowly realize that it would be quite a while before it would even be playable. Getting over that bump can be hard.

Then, you get a thing that works, and you'll have to get it to interesting level. There it's a problem of having free time and ideas.

Finally, you'll have to get it finished. There you'll have to pick a set of features that would make it finished, out of so many options of what can be added. And finish these features and nothing else.

I usually get stuck at three, and sometimes at 1.

Once you got a sound start it usually goes pretty well for a while, until you hit the motivation bump, especially during longer projects. That's where Orbiter Galaxy is stuck at at the moment, I'm afraid, because my major area of interest shifts between science fiction and fantasy every few years. I have no idea yet how I should go on with the project, because right now I'd rather start coding that fantasy RPG I had on the scratchboard 3 years ago before my focus shifted to science fiction again.

By my observations that's like tides and ebbs, you go from one project to another at random intervals. Usually after getting stuck or getting something done, or having too much options of what to do. The current project slowly freezes, and something else would be picked up again.

 

[simcosmos]

Time.

 

[Capt_hensley]

I have the time, even at work, which I know is a rear thing, I have a completed(IMO) mesh, I have programming skills, even if my C++ is rusty, I'm very current in VB, and Access VB.

What I don't have is a good outline of what has to be done just to call it a "Add-on" I need a checklist or outline. Anybody got a clue-pon where to find one?

 

[Urwumpe]

What I don't have is a good outline of what has to be done just to call it a "Add-on" I need a checklist or outline. Anybody got a clue-pon where to find one?

sorry to be a bit harsh there, but what you call checklist or outline for producing an add-on is called "brain". There is no standard procedure how you turn an idea into reality, it is all about finding problems and solving problems or splitting problems into smaller known problems.

you can try to follow the standard phase models of spaceflight engineering, but since you work with virtual spacecraft here, it is a bit too much formal correctness.

Remember: You can always go back and start by zero. You only need to convince yourself that a design is sound.

Unless you collaborate with many people, don't use a standard phase model for the sake of your mental health, but just get going. Make sketches, concepts, write small fluff stories about your spacecraft in Orbiter, make maybe already meshes and then get all the mandatory and maybe some of the optional things together to make an Orbiter add-on out of it.

Mandatory is only:
Configuration file
Mesh
Scenario
Manual

Optional things can be init files for generic vessel modules like spacecraft3 or a custom module. Or you have an image for the scenario editor. Or sound files.

 

[walsjona]

thing I find the hardest is keeping on one idea long enough! I aways end up experimenting with something which inevitably leeds to something else entirly. I must admit it is driving me abit nutts, I have quite a few models that need finishing :facepalm:.

 

[Capt_hensley]

Mandatory is only:
Configuration file
Mesh
Scenario
Manual

Optional things can be init files for generic vessel modules like spacecraft3 or a custom module. Or you have an image for the scenario editor. Or sound files.

OK I get it, :thumbup:and the above is a great place for me to start that checklist I'm looking for. I can post it when I'm finished. I believe in a process, and processes can be charted, outlined, and itemized for checklists.

Just like you said, It's all in how I want to start, :tiphat:but I believe the best place to start is with the mandatory things that make a add-on work, you can fill in the little bits(options) as you move along.

Just like a car, without wheels, engine, and chassis, making a car shell and interior is just silly eye-candy. Or a box!:rofl:

 

[Capt_hensley]

Gateway Station Project

This is my add-on project mesh. Gateway Station by H-10-K Enterprises

:facepalm:You need to remember the renders will be used in my Masters Thesis in support of a larger Senior Project, nothing will be made public or sold for profit. Nothing!

Before you all freak out and call me a thief:shifty:, I fully intend to credit those items, borrowed from this forum, and the other sources I'm using for the enormous Kit-bash you see here.

Google 3d Warehouse
Nasa
Orbiter Hangar
Turbo-Squid(purchased-but duty free)

Just to name a few, When I make my add-on I will probably only have a few unmodified add-ons to integrate, as most of the add-ons needed had to be modified to suit the needs of this next generation space station, Some were minor, others were major mods.

Yes I did make several items from scratch, like the ESA Lab, and the trusses and many more.:yes:

Before I proceed, I do not intend to publish without permission, any object contained within the purview of the station without everyone's backing, :nono:If you see something attached to the station, and you're sure it's yours, and you don't want me to include it in the add-on, PM me and I will discuss the item, I'll even beg to negotiate a trues. However if it's something that makes up an integral part of the station, Like the Node Module, we need to negotiate, or collaborate.:sos: The station cannot work without it's backbone parts. Keep in mind my skills are very limited and this station is heavily dependent upon help in the form of meshes or code, from others. I don't believe in re-inventing the wheel. But I do believe in paying credit where credit is due. Patience is the Key.

I would like to offer my apologies now:blackeye: if I used something in your add-on and mangled it beyond recognition, I want to assure you it was necessary for me at the time, to get this model together.:facts:

PS I've been making this mesh and for nearly two years now. It's been a long time coming.:beathead: Enjoy this render, it's quite large for detail, and wont fit as a posted image here.:hotcool:

PSS if anyone knows how to automatically optimize a mesh to reduce it's poly count, I'm all ears.:hunter:

http://www.h-10-k.com/pics/darren.hensley/gateway/station_top_pers.png:download:
There are many other renders in the same folder, if you are interested in different views.:camera:

PSSS, if you're curious, I have plans to make a "MARS-1" fleet of ships, that can be built on orbit at Gateway Station

Thanks in advance, Darren

 

[Graham2001]

Getting restarted on a project after a long absence...

 

[Belisarius]

For me it's getting round the problems posed by crap incompatible utilities. Use correct tools for the right results. I gave up on my UCGO base modules after lack of support and tecknical problems

For me it's working on something only for someone else to call it crap.