[Pred the Penguin]

The point being...

I'm also curious how the cockpit would work for the B-wing.

[bobbtmann]

I'm also curious how the cockpit would work for the B-wing.

The weird thing about the B-Wing is that its centre of mass is in the cockpit. And having the fuselage continuously rotate around the cockpit doesn't  make much sense either. It would be impossible to aim at smaller targets. As a game feature, I think the rotation of the fuselage should be determined by rolling.

If the centre of mass is put in the cockpit, rolling would swing the fuselage around the eye-point. Approaching a capship in a roll would make the pilot hard to hit (the fuselage is moving even when the fighter's overall motion is perpendicular to the target), but allow the player to get an easy lock on since the reticule would remain stationary.

When trying to peg enemy fighters, the pilot wouldn't roll, so it would be easier to predict where the shots would land.

It still doesn't explain why the craft's centre of mass is in the cockpit, but at least it would be fun to fly.

[Colonol Dekker]

A wizard. . . I mean Jedi did it.
 
 
 
Repulsor doodads or handwavium.
 
On a rather different note, I can appreciate most of the other "alphabet fighters" look like their namesakes from certain angles, but I never twigged how the B Wing did.

[Thaeris]

Unobtanium for the win. 

Do what X-Wing did with a bit more creativity. Put the CM in the central connection point - you know, where the engines are. A fighter making turns about the cockpit pod would just look... odd. It would play strangely as well. S-Foils with the B-Wing will get really tricky really fast unless you decide on a convention quick. According to much of the SW stuff I've read (may be based on the games), the B-Wing typically only has the wing locked so it lays to the side of the cockpit or swings beneath it when the smaller foils extend. The reason for this is the rotation mechanism on the cockpit was... generally not the most reliable.

If FotG has atmospheric missions... you might consider two different B-Wing models: one that positions itself normally and one that lays on its side even when the smaller attack wings are extended. You would use the normal one (looks like a t or cross) for space combat and the wing for atmospheric ops. The latter strangely makes a bit-o-sense for SW. The B-Wing is strangely aerodynamic for a change...

[Stormkeeper]

You know, when I was young, I always knew if it was a Rebel or Imp ship just by the name. If it was "Letter"-wing, it was Reb.

Nice ship anyway. Done in 3DS Max?

[newman]

Personally, I was happy with the way the b-wing worked in x-w:alliance. No need to overcomplicate things.

[WOLF_Angel]

On a rather different note, I can appreciate most of the other "alphabet fighters" look like their namesakes from certain angles, but I never twigged how the B Wing did.

The answer to how the B-Wing got it's name has to do with the design team on RotJ.  One of the guys (looking at a side view of it) said it looks like a blade.  Hence B-Wing.  I personally thought it made more sense to be called a T-Wing.  But then again the Y-Wing is not a rear view either.

Although the Colonial Viper from the original BSG was the concept design for the Y-Wing.

[chief1983]

And then the EU made a T-wing anyway.

[General Battuta]

Although the Colonial Viper from the original BSG was the concept design for the Y-Wing.

Wait, really? I thought Star Wars predated BSG.

[The E]

Yep. Star Wars opened in 77, BSG started in 78 as a cash-in. And I would like to see some evidence of that, because the Viper doesn't look anything like the Y-Wing design concepts I've seen so far....

[MR_T3D]

Yep. Star Wars opened in 77, BSG started in 78 as a cash-in. And I would like to see some evidence of that, because the Viper doesn't look anything like the Y-Wing design concepts I've seen so far....

so in other words "pics or it didn't happen"?
the cockpit is a little bit similiar, so its not entirely impossible, except for the dates being backwards.
maybe its the viper that's loosly based on y-wing? anyway, little OT there, so...
yeah, the simple way it worked in XWA would work dandy, i'd think, but maybe it could be the way we see it in render in 'flight' mode, then the wing swings underneath with the s-foils deploying, ready for attack..?
like this:
flight:
 o=--
attack:
........... o
...........-|-
.-..........|

[StarSlayer]

Although the Colonial Viper from the original BSG was the concept design for the Y-Wing.

Wait, really? I thought Star Wars predated BSG.

I assume he might mean the Colonial Viper was based off a failed concept piece for the Y-wing, ie made for Star Wars but not used in A New Hope.  Ergo it is not a temporal anomaly and the timeline secure.  Go Agent 5 of the TSA!

[General Battuta]

Okay, that makes sense. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[StarSlayer]

I had to read it a couple times at first myself.  Though there is no guarantee he did actually mean it the other way and has been huffing glue

[Thaeris]

*snip

Actually said the same thing earlier in my post.  

The whole spinning thing is a cool idea, but practical implementation will either: (a.) be impossible to manage properly and make gamplay... more unpleasant [than it will be already with the B-Wing] or (b.) you do it right, but development speed suffers as a result. Given the difficulty with respect to the second option, option 'a' is unfortunately a more plausible outcome. A complex flight operation involves complex controls. Either it will take the SCP coders a tremendous amount of time and effort to get those controls for truly proper or the mod staff will determine that the average player doesn't/shouldn't need to worry about those factors; the latter obviously nerfs and degrades gameplay. Seeing as that's the sort of thing Lucas Arts does in respect to these things... FotG should probably just keep it simple.

Again I reference my earlier post. A B-Wing for space (required) that extends into a 't' or cross, and an atmospheric B-Wing (possible depending on the final scope of FotG) which stays flat and opens its wings while in attack mode so as to look like the sideways 't.' In which case, you'd be flying your fighter like an asymmetrical aircraft. Also note that aiming with the B-Wing against small targets, regardless of position, is going to be hard. If it's spinning about the cockpit... it's going to be really tough to 'a whole 'notha level.'

[MR_T3D]

Again I reference my earlier post. A B-Wing for space (required) that extends into a 't' or cross, and an atmospheric B-Wing (possible depending on the final scope of FotG) which stays flat and opens its wings while in attack mode so as to look like the sideways 't.' In which case, you'd be flying your fighter like an asymmetrical aircraft. Also note that aiming with the B-Wing against small targets, regardless of position, is going to be hard. If it's spinning about the cockpit... it's going to be really tough to 'a whole 'notha level.'

yeah, i just realised  re-interated your post 
anyway, maybe that making it a ***** to aim at small targets can serve as a balance for a lot of firepower...?

[Thaeris]

The B-Wing's main attraction is its heavy torpedo load, very dense (albeit scrawny) hull, and thick shields. It's usually cited as being faster than the Y-Wing as well. I'll agree to that. But I refuse to believe any 'superior maneuverability' crap that Lucas Arts tried putting out in the past. As for balancing goes, I think that would be fair.

Sure it holds more torps, is a bit toughter and faster than the good 'ole Y-Wing, but it's garbage in a furball...

As far as cannons go, The B-Wing actually isn't all that over-powered. Three... not terribly placed laser cannons and three widely separated ion cannons... though that's debatable. Many sources have different configurations for the weapons; some even claim the big gun at the bottom is a turbolaser! 

<Thaeris notes that he could forgive the B-Wing for sucking so hard if FotG made the bottom gun a turbolaser.>

Note ion cannons are quite specialized... but that might change depending on how the team balances everything. However, you're only going to use that weapon only so much... unlike the lasers, which you're going to be using all the time. Three lasers isn't too overpowered. The moral of the story is that the B-Wing is unfun enough in fighter combat already. There's probably no good reason to make it worse by spinning it around [by the engine pod... not the cockpit!], having the viewpoint change consistantly, and having the firepoints change all the time despite any auto-aim. It would be a shame to let anyone who actually likes this hulk now change their mind due to FotG... Boanerges syndrome, perhaps?

[Scourge of Ages]

Center of gravity in the engine pod, definitely. Just because the cockpit is the only place that swivels, doesn't mean it's the center of gravity, even though it seemed like it was in the games. We have the technology (I assume) to put the viewpoit somewhere besides the center of gravity.
Sure it'll be a little harder to dogfight in, but it always was; no reason to complicate it further by making the ship constantly swinging willy-nilly.

@Thaeris, I think the ions could be useful, even for just adding extra punch to taking down a cap ship's shields, or in a dogfight to save your cannons for the killing shot. Of if two of them are mounted on the cockpit pod-like in X-Wing-they could be useful in their own right.

P.S. Excellent model work as always, Brand.

P.P.S. Generally, the Star Wars universe tends to follow our laws of physics, wherever possible.

[chief1983]

The laser at the wingtip is a Gyrhil R-9x Heavy Laser Cannon, which will probably be the most powerful fighter laser in the game, however there's only one of it.  Still, it will pack a punch, if you can hit something with it.

[Narvi]

Where exactly do the torpedoes fit, anyway?