My words mean nothing, but here goes:
Nonsense. I needed some feedback. Constructive criticism and reminders, it's been awhile since I worked with it.
Thank you for taking the time
(a.) If you intend on creating normal maps for the model, this is an ideal starting point, as it's almost 20k polygons. Which is huge. That brings me to my next point...
Thanks, I'll keep that in mind with the UV mapping when I finish the cockpit, thruster ports, & KEW points.
(b.) I don't know what standards of individual ship detail Diaspora is going for, but I assume it's around the 4k to 6k polygon count per small craft. The shape is all there, but much of the detail unfortunately has to be done away with. And given the distance at which the player will see his/her ship in-game, this isn't a bad thing. The fighter is covered with all manner of small cylindrical shapes at the rear of the fuselage. You can get the same effect out of a rectangular shape, skip the boolean messes, and shave off thousands of polygons. You'll also make UV mapping this beast that much easier. Next, that canopy is gorgeous - you nailed the shape. But again, it's way overdone in terms of detail. At over 2k polygons, it's irrefutable that you've got too high a polycount for a project like Diaspora. You'll need to reduce the polycount for sure. And that's not the only place. There's way too many polygons on the forward decking of the fighter, right by the cut-out slits on top. You could probably get the same visual effect with just a few quads rather than what you've got now, and no one would know the difference.
I exported the 3ds file at the max poly count from Rhino 5 beta. I haven't made a model since 4.0 beta with it.
The export created the meshes. I'm using surfaces in the 3dm file instead of meshes to build the initial model for easier creation.
This is giving myself options to remake the meshes automatically rather than doubling my manual efforts.
When I begin UV mapping and building the final models; Detail0, Detail1, Detail2,etc...
I am going to be doing each section with different resolutions according to size and shape complexity, so I get minimal poly count and best visual effect.
Many areas are so obscure they simply do not need the attention I placed on them to begin with. Also, I will be able to match points in contours better manually in the meshes to prevent seam gaps like this model generated when I exported it as one part.
I'll close with my feelings on the model: It's beautiful. You've done a great job on it, but it's too much to use in a program where you have a huge number of fighters flying around, along with everything else.
Thank you Thaeris! I am trying to capture the beauty of their design. I do think it is a gorgeous ship design.
I just hope I captured that essence in overall shape so far before I refine the poly counts and details.
I really needed more eyes on it to see if there was anything that bothered people before going to the extra steps of detailing, UV mapping, and textures.
But, here's the good news: You've got the perfect template from which to create a useable, effective fighter. It just needs to be reduced in terms of polycount. And even better, you've already got a high-poly model from which to create normal maps. Whether or not that means that means the lighting on the model needs to be tweaked yet is beyond me, but the basis is there.
On a final note, what scaling factor are you using, x100? The model is almost a km long!
I find every 3D program handles scaling differently. After hearing what you see, I am inclined to think I should stick to millimeter units instead of meters.
Rhino must simply do a decimal shift in its design interface leading to enlarged scales. I recall running into that issue when making my cob files previously as well. Took me a week to get the scale right last time and drove me nuts lol!
It's not so much the detail, for lack of a better word the mesh is messy. There's a lot of subdivision in areas that don't need it.
It would be possible to create a mesh that looks just as detailed that has approximately 6k easily. As such I wouldn't use this one for normal map creation.
I'm not going to comment on accuracy because right now I'm not that big of an expert on the stealthstar.
Thaeris right about 20k being way too much for a fighter - some of our civilian ships have less and are much larger than this.
Thanks Newman! Yes I would definitely refine the meshes, they are god awful right now. As I said I exported the entire ship as one unit at one max resolution setting for simplicity in making a 3ds file. I figured it was the easiest format for others to view it and get feedback.
But I did need to hear it again so I have a goal on the poly count.
There are many areas that are obscured from view I simply do not have to use such high detail in. Also the seams came out horrid.
The wings need detailing yet, they don't even meet the hull right yet. I just wanted to see if anyone felt the overall shape was flawed.
So far, the two of you are giving me positive remarks in that regard. I appreciate your time gents