Yes a map editor will make quite a difference I think. Sure it is just a GUI onto a text document but those tend to make things so much easier for people not only to learn it but also to do things even when you know what you are doing. I really appreciate that BG offers as much modding options as they do but going through text documents and manually changing values is something very few people actually want to do.
This is about 1/6 of what a few drag selections on a UV map looks like in Maya. I can type this sure but even if I know all the values I need is (which would be a bit like knowing all hex coordinates) this would just take eons compared to what it takes with a GUI. A map editor with a proper GUI is pretty much the same story.
select -r polySurface132.map[0:3] polySurface132.map[192:196] polySurface132.map[199] polySurface132.map[201] polySurface132.map[203:205] polySurface132.map[214:221] polySurface132.map[223:227] polySurface132.map[229:231] polySurface132.map[269] polySurface132.map[277] polySurface132.map[286:287] polySurface132.map[312] polySurface132.map[331:332] polySurface132.map[384] polySurface132.map[387] polySurface132.map[389] polySurface132.map[391] polySurface132.map[393:394] polySurface132.map[396] polySurface132.map[398] polySurface132.map[400] polySurface132.map[403:404] polySurface132.map[407] polySurface132.map[412:415] polySurface132.map[425:436] polySurface132.map[438] polySurface132.map[448:449] polySurface132.map[451] polySurface132.map[666:679] polySurface132.map[682:695] polySurface132.map[702:705] polySurface132.map[722] polySurface132.map[724:726] polySurface132.map[745:749] polySurface132.map[751:752] polySurface132.map[754:763] polySurface132.map[766] polySurface132.map[818:821] polySurface132.map[845:848] polySurface132.map[857:860] polySurface132.map[863:876] polySurface132.map[880] polySurface132.map[896:899] polySurface132.map[912:914] polySurface132.map[916:929] polySurface132.map[931] ;
updateAnimLayerEditor("AnimLayerTab");
if (!`exists polyNormalSizeMenuUpdate`) {eval "source buildDisplayMenu";} polyNormalSizeMenuUpdate;
dR_updateCounter; dR_updateSymButton;
undoInfo -swf false; textureWindowCreateToolBar_isUVTransformed; undoInfo -swf true;
autoUpdateAttrEd;
listHistory -pdo true -lf false -il 2 "polyTweakUV6";
// Result: polyTweakUV6 polyMapCut8 polyMapCut7 polyMapCut6 polyTweak3 polyTweakUV5 polyMapCut5 polyTweakUV4 polyMapCut4 polyMapCut3 polyTweak2 polyTweakUV3 polyMapCut2 polyMapCut1 polyTweakUV2 polyMapSew2 polyMapSew1 polyTweak1 polyTweakUV1 polyMergeVert1 //
listHistory -pdo true -lf false -il 2 -f true "polyTweakUV6";
// Result: polyTweakUV6 //
setUITemplate -pst attributeEditorTemplate;
// Result: attributeEditorTemplate //
setUITemplate -ppt;
// Result: NONE //
I honestly think the best thing BG can do is upload whatever they have and just let people mess around with it. They can always update it later as time and resources permit. It might not be the most user-friendly but it all but has to be significantly better than doing it in a text editor.
That and some more releases on GOG.
Yes I can see the irony in me saying they should release the editor incomplete instead of making a perfect tool while I am basically doing the same with 3D models. At least I am still not following a Republic at War release schedule.
I mainly say that I will not promise anything as it is generally not something I can do right away and there is a thousand things that can get in the way. Simple time constraints being a good candidate. As a whole there is very few models I definitely will not make but probably quite a few I will never get around to due to time constraints.
http://smg.photobucket.com/user/The_Fre ... 1.gif.html
This crazy ship is a good example of something I will not touch. It is not that it is fictive (I have a few fictive models myself) but just that it is just plain stupid.
I am not touching things like the P-1000/P-1500 Landkreuzers either.
As for ships I will probably focus mostly on the PLAN, ROCN, ROKN and JMSDF before I move onto other navies. The KPN will probably be covered fairly well if I make enough content for the PLAN
If the main difference between the PRC and indian versions of the Su-30 is just candards then it should be fairly easy to solve the problem of visual differences.
Make the Canard version but make the model so removing the canards does not result in holes (this might also cut the tris count lower so it might be worth it anyway).
Depending on how much effort I put into differentiating them they can then either use the exact same textures or they can have the same base texture but different camouflage patterns. Given that these planes are fairly flat (the entire top of the fuselage with wings attached can be mapped as a single shell) making camouflage patterns should not be too hard.