Let's face it, the main attraction of BSF is building your own ships. Share them! If you need help, check the Shipmaker Info & Help forum a little ways down.
I know some of you are strongly predisposed against aegis shielding and bright colors. I'd suggest you take a chill pill or die or something.
...With in mind, I present my ship and its backstory.
Fabulous DreadnoughtDouble Rainbow CruiserHMS Optical Fusillade Fold Guardian Eden
Spoiler!
Though faith in faster-than-light travel is firm in the present era, it is best to bear in mind that very much remains unknown about the Fold, the medium by which vast interstellar distances can be crossed in mere days. Due to the high-energy nature of fold physics, the distressing occurrences that strike the Fold Network every few years cannot be thoroughly investigated without permission and funding from the local governments. As a result, most of these incidents go unexplained.
Recently, however, one particular fold accident has incurred consequences far too large to be ignored: that which befell the Mercy-class hospital ship USNS Eden several days ago. The ship had moored itself in orbit over the planet Focalor in the Tarthanac system, aiming to provide medical care to the crews of falling satellites following the planet's devastating polar inversion crisis.
Through a series of events that remain poorly understood, the USNS Eden engaged its Fold Drive prematurely while still in orbit. On-the-fly triangulation of its fold trail revealed that it had plotted a course for the neighboring Cezar system.
No arrival signal was detected by Cezar's fold control. The ship had vanished, along with 230 crew, 551 patients, and a sizeable section of the mooring fixture. Investigators assumed that the torn mooring shaft had caused the ship to veer off course and tumble into deep space.
However, six days later, something entirely bizarre occurred. A freighter called the S/N Schulz entered the Cezar-Tarthanac fold from the Cezar side, but what emerged on the other end was none other the USNS Eden. Strange things, however, had happened to it.
Security scans from the few satellites remaining in orbit around Focalor had absorbed several facts about the altered Eden.
1. No passengers were alive on board.
2. The mooring fixture had remained attached to the ship, but it had been duplicated symmetrically to the ship's opposite side.
3. The interior of the ship had been filled entirely with a growth of crystals. They were believed to be protein crystals and... something else.
4. Large, luminescent outgrowths of entirely unknown crystals had occurred on the ship's exterior. Some are believed to act as propulsion, while others act as armor.
5. The Eden was now a Mercy-class ship only in name, for immediately following its arrival in the system, it opened fire on surrounding trade vessels. One would presume that some of these crystals serve as armament.
6. Return fire is ineffective against the ship. Armor is entirely ineffective against its weapons. Subduing the Eden will require drastic measures.
Hopefully the combination of a corny ship and a cliché backstory from hell will coax you into leaving a comment or two.
Silliness aside, that is some cool shit. Very good shape and section usage, and the glows work like a charm. The only nitpick I have is the flat V-shaped section in the center that kinda sticks out.
EDIT
@Doogie: Fuck you. It does.
Last edited by ArcaneDude on Tue Jan 18, 2011 2:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
And in this Alliance we bestow our hope and will, that the Dogs of War may never harass the people of our homes again, and that it will bring peace, equality and liberty for all in need and despair. One Universe, One Goal. By the Manifest we command this.~ Saren Vil Ush
I'm quite interested in how you pulled off the reflective shines on the solid sections.
As for the backstory, I can only imagine what fate has befallen the crew and patients. Knowing that the crystals are PROTEIN, I have reason to believe that this fate was not very pleasant.
Please explain how you did the reflections; we're all wondering.
Frankly, this thing is gorgeous. I'm a tad iffy on the rainbows, but you have beautifully combined the sleek and jagged aesthetics. I'm particularly impressed by the construction of the tail and the way you combined sections there.
I hope I speak for everyone when I say, more please.
Kiltric wrote:Please explain how you did the reflections; we're all wondering.
Low-alpha doodads with additive blending. Really people, it's not hard to figure this stuff out. The way he used it is very clever, but it's not difficult to look at it and figure out how it was done.
Founder and Event Coordinator for the BSF Beauty Pageant. Founder of the Pseudo-Chainship Project. Admin. Games Master. Quality Control Enforcer
Gay cute girl and fucking proud of it.
Kiltric wrote:Please explain how you did the reflections; we're all wondering.
Low-alpha doodads with additive blending. Really people, it's not hard to figure this stuff out. The way he used it is very clever, but it's not difficult to look at it and figure out how it was done.
I carefully worded my response to avoid being the target of just such a remark!
BoVinE wrote:I carefully worded my response to avoid being the target of just such a remark!
You've been gone for a fair while and missed out on all the fun Custom Sprite usage and the evolution of certain techniques, so I wouldn't blame you for not figuring out how it was done immediately. But really, Kiltric should know better.
Founder and Event Coordinator for the BSF Beauty Pageant. Founder of the Pseudo-Chainship Project. Admin. Games Master. Quality Control Enforcer
Gay cute girl and fucking proud of it.
I have no idea if kae's still alive but this is bloody beautiful and should probably find its way into the holy ship section sometime soon.
The v in the centre and the left end bits are a little bit flat, but it's not a big problem.
Everything else is pretty flawless, the body curves, the use of doodads to pull off a convincing (and very nice looking) cylinder for the bulge, the plates on the right (near the core), the integration of docking clamp wings and the different but very effective style they're in, and the neat glows are all spectacular. Good job and thanks for all the ship.
That said, its original name is rather more fitting.
I was asking to find out, because I didn't know. I'm sorry that I've been a bit distracted and not able to stay up to snuff on the finer points of ship-building, but that's why I asked, so I could learn.
Back to the ship, I had another thought. Do you have any intention of adding movement triggers in? I only ask because this seems like an extension of the work you started here, and it may be a very nice touch.