The model: I definetly love it, but I feel it lost some iconic\defining elements from the retail one, that were somewhat important. Namely on the back section (abdomen?):
- Where the neck connects with the abdomen, the retail model has a "circle" of glow, that IMO is a strong silhuette element.
I may add some glow here to resemble that ring, but someone else PM'ed me about it, so I'll tell you what I told them: I cannot stand that ring. I think it throws off the entire flow of the retail ship... you have a ship that has a great back to front flowing shape, then a bazaar red ring comes in breaks up the shape, giving the appearance that the back end is glued on, and not a continuation of the rest of the ship.
- On the top of the abdomen, that zig-zaggy pattern of lighter grey. I know that is a bi-product of the tile map, but nevertheless it shows the artist tried to use the tiles very inteligently, and ended up with a strong visual element.
It is one of the better looking parts of the retail texture. I just don't feel it fits the with the rest of my texture.
- The general shape of the abdomen on the original reminds me more of a vertically stretched hexagon with concave left and right sides, whereas on this HTL the whole abdomen looks very round in shape.
Here are some comparison shots:
The reason retail looks a "vertically stretched hexagon with concave left and right sides" is because that is exactly what it is. You'll notice that mine does maintain a slightly pointed shape towards the bottom, but it is overall more rounded. To me, this is not a hexagonal Arcadia versus round Arcadia point... V just did not have the poly budget to do anything else here. The only way I could recreate what V had there is to drop the poly count to accomodate, what I believe is clearly, an area made from a limited poly budget.
- Finally, the ribbing. I do love your interpretation of the front ribs, despite the deviation from the original. However, something that I found important in the retail ship is the fact that the ribs on the front section and in the abdomen are of the same kind, which gave it an idea of a organic entity that was somewhat chopped in half and re-connected with the neck.
Again, this to me is a blatant portion of the model that is just reusing the texture space for performance reasons.
As for the texture, I feel the same as I felt on the HTL Cain: Shivan ships display a good contrast in variations in the shades of gray and materials used, whereas these HTL interpretations loose that completely in favor of sticking with a single shade of gray+red lights. I feel that in the end it weakens the ships in terms of design and visual impact.
If some of these crits are a bit too late I apologise (only saw the topic now).
Actually, my texture has more variance (in termes of the darkest shade of gray to the lightest) than retail, although the shine map in those shots probably does not show it. Overall, I understand that my models vary from retail concepts considerably. When it comes to that, people will have to get used to that from me. I will continue to point to the Hatty in regards to what can be achieved when retail concepts are abondoned. It kept much of the original shape, and is readily identifiable as the Hatshepsut, but that is where the similarities end, as they should.
No one could ever know what V would have done, the game is just too old. Design choices were made based on what could be done, not what should.
Regardless, I appreciate the thought you put into your feedback, and it is definately welcome, but for the most part will not be implemented.
