Something is missing. Help me out.

Retro42 · Post by **Retro42** » Mon May 11, 2009 6:23 am

Been working on this today but I'm stuck. I like the overall shape, but I feel it's missing something.

Note:
The ship is purely forward assault. I'm debating aegis or deflectors for the leading edges. (Why it's not ablative btw)

Let me know what you think!! I'm hping some feedback will get me going creatively.

Retro

Nabaco · Post by **Nabaco** » Mon May 11, 2009 6:28 am

COLOURZ...

Retro42 · Post by **Retro42** » Mon May 11, 2009 6:32 am

Forgot to mention that. All the finishing touches (color/etc.) will be added after I get the outline down.

ODST · Post by **ODST** » Mon May 11, 2009 7:19 am

the ship looks pretty good (aside from the colors). But if any appreciable amount of fire is concentrated on that skinny little joint in the middle of your ship, you'll have two ships in a quick minute.

Retro42 · Post by **Retro42** » Mon May 11, 2009 7:43 am

Update:

Here's a quick rehash based on some feedback.

I added the aegis and weap just to give a hint at future placements. I added a few segments to the backbone and extended the shield out a touch more. Should give it a bit more survivability.

Kiltric · Post by **Kiltric** » Mon May 11, 2009 8:38 am

It's an improvement, especially with the middle section made to look a bit sturdier.
However, the Aegis on the two forwardmost sections seems a bit large in comparison to the rest, and the ship, maybe it's just me. Perhaps try using two or three smaller sections to cover the same length without taking up as much area.
Also, experiment with the other dozens of sections (~+z+1,2,3,4).

Retro42 · Post by **Retro42** » Mon May 11, 2009 9:15 am

Good call on the Aegis. Just reworked it and I'm liking it better already. I changed the Aegis color to not be so...ugly.

I redid the backbone as well. The old pieces didn't look right with the new shield wing. I'm on the fence around redoing the front section though. Most heavy weaponry will be up there hiding those sections anyways.

D00D! · Post by **D00D!** » Mon May 11, 2009 9:30 am

It's the sharp edges mate as well as the thin 'waist'.

Kiltric · Post by **Kiltric** » Mon May 11, 2009 11:14 am

I love what you've done with the front, it looks many times better than before.
Now it's more apparent that the two sections don't match however, and especially with that thin connection, it looks like parts from two different ships were stuck together. Note how in the front, almost every shape is defined by edges sweeping straight back, but in the rear, the overall shape is slanting outward as it moves back. Now I'm all for trying interesting things, but that seems like an unnatural juxtaposition of architecture. Maybe try playing with making the overall design of the ship more similar, and the connection midship a bit sturdier and less abrupt (right now it appears that only that one large section is connecting them).

Retro42 · Post by **Retro42** » Mon May 11, 2009 11:26 am

I've been playing around with the shields the last hour or so and made them rotate out to an assault configuration and fold in to protect the backbone otherwise.

This is the shields back in defensive mode.

This is them in assault mode.

Still debating if this change fits the ship or reclasses it.

Regarding the back... Yeah I noticed that too. Not sure how I'm going to fix it yet, I'm thinking maybe dropping the ablative and smoothing out the lines. If I slim down the engine side it should smooth out the transition.

Retro42 · Post by **Retro42** » Mon May 11, 2009 11:42 am

I got inspired. Here's a quickly thrown together engine/crew section.

Danny420Dale · Post by **Danny420Dale** » Mon May 11, 2009 11:46 am

MUCH better!

bl3d4 · Post by **bl3d4** » Mon May 11, 2009 12:00 pm

Don't like the Sabots.
However, everything is good. When do we get missile racks?

Droid · Post by **Droid** » Mon May 11, 2009 12:00 pm

You should probably un-stretch the sabots.
Stretched weapons are ugly, especially if they are fully visible; read: not depthed (and even if they are, you need to cover most of it to make it look decent).

Retro42 · Post by **Retro42** » Mon May 11, 2009 12:14 pm

Adjusted positions/sizes of weapons. First run-thru of color scheme.

You mentioned missile racks and it seemed like a good place for mini missile volleys. I'm thinking I might alpha them out so it looks like they are launched from the red sections.

Colors are still up in the air. Red/Black are easy to seperate so I can at least group sections together easy for now. I'm thinking I'll be adding detail sections to the centerline to help it along.

Edit: I flipped the lower sabot after I took the screenie.