I bought dark forces on steam recently, there's something great about old game engines in that you use your imagination more to help realise the details
I love it! It's big and menacing, and I actually quite like the shark mouth. But what if you embraced the angler fish angle (no pun intended) and made the teeth look more like the nasty fish! Not that you need to include the Lure, unless you want to.
Nice idea klavs, and it fits the design better, but I think was Coolhand was meaning was to put the teeth/mouth around that large openning on the front, be interesting to see how though.
Ahh, good point, Coolhand! Here it is adjusted.
Thanks IRML! It's definitely what I'm going for... but I also found this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Rwa6UobIy4
Which gives me hope for my launch sequence...I think we're even doing them the same way.
Klavs81: Thanks! I totally made the teeth more ragged, and then tried moving them... any thoughts?
Meph: Heh, probably not the impression the pilots want to give - but a funny one none the less...
Knight26: Yeah, that's what I thought too....
This looks like some kind of air to ground attack ship not a space fighter. Air intakes and downward wings give it that look along with heavy looking weapons. I guess it could be also considered a cap ship attacker maybe something that attacks point defenses on a capship once the fighters draw the fire of those point defenses. It looks like it hovers too so that is another count towards air to ground not space fighter. The color scheme makes me think of the flying tigers from starlancer pc game. I think the shark mouth could go it doesn't fit here maybe some scary looking eyes on either side of the cockpit instead? If you have never played starlancer before you should, they have those shark mouths on many fighters in that game and their use looks really good.
Its easy to criticise a design based on our own paradigm of what a vehicle should look like to accomplish a given task (something i've probably done too often and often had done to my designs) But backing up the points that Tochiro mentioned: It's very large frontal area, though aggressively blunt like an Angler fish as Klavs mentioned makes it look like a real bullet magnet no matter what its task and I can't immediately see the reason why, the design to me also does have a look of a planet-side troop transport - with plenty of room inside for troops or ground vehicles or something.
Compare the UH-1 'Huey' troop transport and the Cobra Gunship that was developed from it in the vietnam era. The Cobra was designed just to kill things without being killed and has just enough airframe to provide a view from the cockpit and a place to put the gun and attempts to hide everything behind that, allowing the bare minimum frontal area to accomplish the job - making it much harder to hit it (or even see it) while its trying to hit you or fly away from you.
The same also applies in nature I guess, compare the angler fish to a predatory fish that swims in the upper part of the ocean, where other fish can see more clearly, probably harder to see a long thin predator coming than a short fat one (along with the hydrodynamic benefits of a long slender body)
Hence the reason the angler fish is so fat (which perhaps helps keep it warm/ require less energy to survive due to less surface area for a given volume over a more slender shape?) is A, doesn't have to move and B, nothing can see any part of it other than its tiny, tantalising looking lure.
So, I cant see any transport features on it, like doors or ramps, but perhaps Howards design needs to keep itself "warm", perhaps it has to be built to fit within a spherical shield, cloak or inertia reducing or warp field, or built around a wide power plant or weapons system?
All good points, I think the wide shape gives it the feel of an aggressive missile boat style craft, with a wide array of weapons systems all able to be brought on target at once. The shape does make it a big target, but it looks like a tough ship built to be able to take a lot of punishment to compensate for this issue, plus ray shielding or something could augment it's defensive capabilities. In fact those large pits in the nose could even be explained as heavy focused shield emmiters designed to give the bulky ship heavy forward shielding. I like the idea of a squad of these jumping into the middle of a big capital ship scrap to deploy it's weapons at a specific capital ship and then jumping out again, a proper cap ship killer.
Funny you should mention Starlancer though, I used to work for the company that produced that and worked on that team's next project. Starlancer was pretty much done by the time I came onboard, though I think I did contribute something like a toolbox asset to the Dreamcast version.
Sorry, but I'm still not feeling the shark/angler fish teeth.
For the teeth - I would suggest that if you wanted them in the design, you don't shy away from having them extend over both the side-cockpit and - for want of a better description - the engine cowling panels. A very rough photoshop job to show what I mean -
In terms of the design - it makes sense to me in a heavy torpedo bomber-type role. I would imagine it would generally be treated a high value craft and escorted by multiple space-superiority fighters (similar to how a B2 would deploy in a war time scenario for a conventional bombing run...). It looks heavily armoured and, if it does have internal weapons storage, it could hold a whole lot of them.
A thought - if you wanted to further explain its bulk, you could put some sort of emitter/disk/array on it somewhere (maybe below the laser cannons) and suggest it is a dual role bomber/electronic warfare/jammer ship...
Those rear "tails" still look very flimsy to me though and seem out of place now that it has the bulkier wings. Apart from that, I think it's an incredibly unique - if not the prettiest - design - not something easily achieved these days. :thumb:
the prettiest design shouldn't even be a desired achievement. A fighter like that should look utilitarian, not stylish.. I think it captures the brute force nature quite nicely.
heh.. turns out I registered here ages ago and promptly forgot about it.
Tochiro76: Yeah, It's a multi-role fighter - Heavy Star Fighter, Anti-Capital Support, and Ground Attack. I have indeed played Starlancer, and it's awesome. Easily one of my more favorite Space-Shooters. It's a lot of fun.
Coolhand: Whew, yes. So the main reasons for the design of this ship are to fit Large Energy Capacitors for all the energy guns (8 of the buggers), Engines to move it all around, and shield generators to protect it. The end result is a fighter that has really good straight-line speed, A huge amount of charged storage for weapon barrages, and strong shields. The lends itself to wide swooping, slicing attacks on large groups of enemy starfighters and corvettes. You get into a turn and burn battle with this one and You. Will. Lose. The Four Shoulder guns are all Long-Range Gamma Burst Cannons, which strip the shields and fry the electronics of whatever they hit. The other Four guns (Below the shoulders, and on the chin) Are short range Repeating Plasma Guns.
Lots of missiles, too. She's not primarily a Anti-Capship Fighter, There's another one I'm making that's fills that role.
Talon_UK: Yep, that's exactly the role I'm seeing them in... And I think I'm keeping the sharkteeth. I like 'em too much.
Comco: YES! I moved them there. The natural gap between those two pieces makes it look much more natural. I've finally replaced the tails with much more robust and interesting versions... I hope you like.
Elowan: Thanks!
NinjaLA: Hi, dude! And I agree - this isn't a pretty design. It's a big brute of a bastard, made to **** **** up. I'm glad you like it.
So, This one is now done (with the exception of the cockpit, and some details therein)
You know, "Done" as long as everyone likes it. :P I'm now moving onto Space debris...and more cockpit stuff for our demo.
Thoughts?
Looking good fella, real nice improvement on the rear fins. The teeth? Ahh, I can live with them I guess, definitely in the best looking place for them now. Job's a good 'un.
Crix Dorius: Thanks.
Talon_UK: Yeah, I really like how the fins turned out...
Comco: She's an ugly bugger.
Here's the first set of Human Debris - this will be floating around space to give you a sense of speed, and thrown in great chunks off of exploding human ships...
Thoughts?
Howard - have you deliberately tried to model/recreate the look of some of debris from the original Wing Commander games, or is that completely co-incidental? Either way, some of those chunks give me nostalgia.
Talon_UK: Yeah, it's an animated GIF, not an APNG, this time.
Comco: Yes, absolutely. It's entirely deliberate. Intentional and desired - the nostalgia is the hoped for end result.
Thanks, guys. So these are mostly procedural, Almost entirely, in fact. The stars and glows from the stars on the nebulas are textures, of course...but everything else is just nested noises and warps. When it's done, I do a Render-To-Texture that spits out a 2048x2048 maps that's what's used in game.
Hope that clears it up!
Here's the latest update! It's the cockpit view from the Dferhtas cockpit...
and to refresh memories, here's the reverse view:
And here's the outside:
Any thoughts?
I have always loved your alien designs. They really do look like they were designed by, well, aliens!
That said, the cockpit is a wonderful departure and instantly recognizable as being designed for an aquatic or semi-aquatic species. However, I might suggest that you get rid of or tone down some of the alternating black and white striping. Just because it says "warning" to a human, might not mean anything to a zglarlbllfll from planet Ocho.
I don't have an alternative to suggest either, unless polka dots would serve the same purpose
that's one of the most striking ship models I've seen in a long while! you let me know if you need any concept art for the creature that goes inside that bird!
Klavs81: Thanks! I do totally agree that the warning stripes look too human. Since that's the case, I've gone ahead and changed them to something less anthropomorphic.
NinjaLA: Thanks, man! I have an idea of what the aliens look like, and have in fact already started the model for them...the best description I can give you is Crab-octo-shrimp.
Here's the updated cockpit!
Thoughts?
Posts
I bought dark forces on steam recently, there's something great about old game engines in that you use your imagination more to help realise the details
Well I suppose it is Valentine's Day.
Thanks IRML! It's definitely what I'm going for... but I also found this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Rwa6UobIy4
Which gives me hope for my launch sequence...I think we're even doing them the same way.
Klavs81: Thanks! I totally made the teeth more ragged, and then tried moving them... any thoughts?
Meph: Heh, probably not the impression the pilots want to give - but a funny one none the less...
Knight26: Yeah, that's what I thought too....
Compare the UH-1 'Huey' troop transport and the Cobra Gunship that was developed from it in the vietnam era. The Cobra was designed just to kill things without being killed and has just enough airframe to provide a view from the cockpit and a place to put the gun and attempts to hide everything behind that, allowing the bare minimum frontal area to accomplish the job - making it much harder to hit it (or even see it) while its trying to hit you or fly away from you.
The same also applies in nature I guess, compare the angler fish to a predatory fish that swims in the upper part of the ocean, where other fish can see more clearly, probably harder to see a long thin predator coming than a short fat one (along with the hydrodynamic benefits of a long slender body)
Hence the reason the angler fish is so fat (which perhaps helps keep it warm/ require less energy to survive due to less surface area for a given volume over a more slender shape?) is A, doesn't have to move and B, nothing can see any part of it other than its tiny, tantalising looking lure.
So, I cant see any transport features on it, like doors or ramps, but perhaps Howards design needs to keep itself "warm", perhaps it has to be built to fit within a spherical shield, cloak or inertia reducing or warp field, or built around a wide power plant or weapons system?
Funny you should mention Starlancer though, I used to work for the company that produced that and worked on that team's next project. Starlancer was pretty much done by the time I came onboard, though I think I did contribute something like a toolbox asset to the Dreamcast version.
Sorry, but I'm still not feeling the shark/angler fish teeth.
In terms of the design - it makes sense to me in a heavy torpedo bomber-type role. I would imagine it would generally be treated a high value craft and escorted by multiple space-superiority fighters (similar to how a B2 would deploy in a war time scenario for a conventional bombing run...). It looks heavily armoured and, if it does have internal weapons storage, it could hold a whole lot of them.
A thought - if you wanted to further explain its bulk, you could put some sort of emitter/disk/array on it somewhere (maybe below the laser cannons) and suggest it is a dual role bomber/electronic warfare/jammer ship...
Those rear "tails" still look very flimsy to me though and seem out of place now that it has the bulkier wings. Apart from that, I think it's an incredibly unique - if not the prettiest - design - not something easily achieved these days. :thumb:
heh.. turns out I registered here ages ago and promptly forgot about it.
hey howard.
Coolhand: Whew, yes. So the main reasons for the design of this ship are to fit Large Energy Capacitors for all the energy guns (8 of the buggers), Engines to move it all around, and shield generators to protect it. The end result is a fighter that has really good straight-line speed, A huge amount of charged storage for weapon barrages, and strong shields. The lends itself to wide swooping, slicing attacks on large groups of enemy starfighters and corvettes. You get into a turn and burn battle with this one and You. Will. Lose. The Four Shoulder guns are all Long-Range Gamma Burst Cannons, which strip the shields and fry the electronics of whatever they hit. The other Four guns (Below the shoulders, and on the chin) Are short range Repeating Plasma Guns.
Lots of missiles, too. She's not primarily a Anti-Capship Fighter, There's another one I'm making that's fills that role.
Talon_UK: Yep, that's exactly the role I'm seeing them in... And I think I'm keeping the sharkteeth.
Comco: YES! I moved them there. The natural gap between those two pieces makes it look much more natural. I've finally replaced the tails with much more robust and interesting versions... I hope you like.
Elowan: Thanks!
NinjaLA: Hi, dude! And I agree - this isn't a pretty design. It's a big brute of a bastard, made to **** **** up. I'm glad you like it.
So, This one is now done (with the exception of the cockpit, and some details therein)
You know, "Done" as long as everyone likes it. :P I'm now moving onto Space debris...and more cockpit stuff for our demo.
Thoughts?
BAD ASS!!! :thumb:
Talon_UK: Yeah, I really like how the fins turned out...
Comco: She's an ugly bugger.
Here's the first set of Human Debris - this will be floating around space to give you a sense of speed, and thrown in great chunks off of exploding human ships...
Thoughts?
Comco: Yes, absolutely. It's entirely deliberate. Intentional and desired - the nostalgia is the hoped for end result.
Also, some more nebula tests!
Thoughts?
I like how you have the occasional wisp of darker dust clouds obscuring the light from the galaxy.
Are these hand painted or blending of procedurals? If textures - what size?
Hope that clears it up!
and to refresh memories, here's the reverse view:
And here's the outside:
Any thoughts?
That said, the cockpit is a wonderful departure and instantly recognizable as being designed for an aquatic or semi-aquatic species. However, I might suggest that you get rid of or tone down some of the alternating black and white striping. Just because it says "warning" to a human, might not mean anything to a zglarlbllfll from planet Ocho.
I don't have an alternative to suggest either, unless polka dots would serve the same purpose
NinjaLA: Thanks, man! I have an idea of what the aliens look like, and have in fact already started the model for them...the best description I can give you is Crab-octo-shrimp.
Here's the updated cockpit!
Thoughts?
I recognize that little bug from your "Alien Strike Animation" from 2009.
you mean that amazing "Swarm of Alien starfighters attacking a human ship" animation? Is that still somwhere up to watch/DL ?
Exactly that!
Unfortunately the links in the old thread are dead.
But I think Howard has it still somewhere. I hope...