[Liberator]

But it makes perfect sense for a civilian station who sees combat rarely if at all to have large open areas with a view.  Also, loot at Macross Frontier, the main ship is basically a flying island with a dome and surface shields.  Besides who says the "glass" is not some kind of molecularally bonded crystal that is almost as strong as the surrounding armor?

[Snail]

You purist people--dare I say fundamentalist FreeSpace fans--are quite hard to please.

Stop worrying and enjoy what you get, or you might not get it at all.

There is absolutely no need to be condescending.

[sigtau]

You purist people--dare I say fundamentalist FreeSpace fans--are quite hard to please.

Stop worrying and enjoy what you get, or you might not get it at all.

There is absolutely no need to be condescending.

There's plenty of hate to the thread already.  Just joining in on the fun.

[NeoKnight]

I for one think this looks very promising. The retail model is due for a much-needed retirement.

[Snail]

You purist people--dare I say fundamentalist FreeSpace fans--are quite hard to please.

Stop worrying and enjoy what you get, or you might not get it at all.

There is absolutely no need to be condescending.

There's plenty of hate to the thread already.  Just joining in on the fun.

Well don't, it undermines your point.

[Mobius]

What Snail said.

[sigtau]

Alright, well, point is, what he have here--unless someone makes something better--is going into the Media VPs regardless, and it seems that a handful of you seem almost heartbroken that the design is the way it is.

Don't quote me on that, though, I don't know what goes on in every Hard-Lighter's mind.

[Kolgena]

I don't think usage of this model in the MVPs is the issue. It's going in, and people who dislike it can delete it in their local install. I'm guessing it's more the fact that people see a model that is very impressive, but stylistically disagreeable. They might be arguing for a "salvage" of said model to look closer to retail. Practically speaking though, at this point, it's pretty near impossible to remove the curves without redoing half of the entire thing, and might not even be worth the effort if the product that results isn't that great after all.

[Luis Dias]

Ah well, I'll look forward to see it with textures. Perhaps that'll change my mind.

[Snail]

Alright, well, point is, what he have here--unless someone makes something better--is going into the Media VPs regardless, and it seems that a handful of you seem almost heartbroken that the design is the way it is.

Don't quote me on that, though, I don't know what goes on in every Hard-Lighter's mind.

And that's a 100% valid point.

[Flaser]

Here is my 5-cents:

The Arcadia is a civilian structure and most were probably built before or during the cold phases of the war. Therefore I think it appropriate they'd be given to flourishes of design and aesthetics.

So the curvy model is good, IMHO as it drives home all of these points.

The Orion by comparison is a military ship and was likely the result of a giant push to militarize as fast as possible... heh, for all we do know there could be curvy Orions out there with smooth and flowing panels. Then the war came, the ships got trashed, new ships were built and the flowing smooth finish and grandeur disappeared in a war-machine that didn't give a damn about style and was desperate for raw capability.

Kinda like how the new "modern" ships look in the Lost Fleet Series.
Oh, this call for a quote:

He shifted position slightly, clenching his hands tighter against the cold that welled up from within, as one knee brushed against the rough edge of the small desk this stateroom boasted. He stared at that edge, trying to grasp what it meant. The future was supposed to be smooth. Smooth and clean and bright. It wasn’t supposed to be rougher and more worn than the past. Everybody knew that. But then, wars weren’t supposed to be apparently endless, going on and on and draining the smoothness and brightness from a future that could now only afford efficiency.

DAUNTLESS’S bridge had grown comfortingly familiar since his first time here in the wake of Admiral Bloch’s death. Not the physical layout, which now seemed natural, but the equipment both more advanced than he’d once known and cruder in its outward appearance, the triumph of necessity over form. A century ago, on Geary’s last ship, everything had been smooth, with clean lines and careful attention to outward show. But that ship had been designed and built with the expectation that it would serve for decades, one of comparatively few warships in a fleet not engaged in combat. Dauntless, on the other hand, reflected generations of warships constructed hastily to replace increasingly horrible losses, with an expected life span measured in a couple of years at best. Rough edges, ragged welds, uneven surfaces were good enough for a ship that might be destroyed in its first engagement, to be quickly replaced by another bearing the same name. Geary still hadn’t gotten used to the expendable-ship philosophy born of ugly experience, which those rough edges broadcast.

[Enzo03]

Here is my $0.02:
I welcome the curviness.  I think a lot of parts on the Arcadia were definitely meant to be smooth and curved (NOT the hexagon in the center, glad it still is one!), and I can't say any of the places where curves are present shouldn't have them.  I do have a few gripes here and there, but they're just my opinion.  Hell I don't really think any of them are worth sharing except for a couple.
I really do not like the greebles you can see on this pic: http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk264/mjnmixael/Private/screen0003.jpg
It looks like someone did a cutaway diagram on it, which is cool except I wouldn't want to be on a space station with huge parts of its hull cut away from it.
also the basic shape of the area in the.. trench area thing.. what the..
Oh what the hell is it called??! I'm too lazy to go posting a pic of what I'm talking about.
Well anyway, the basic form of it is lost now, and it's completely flat... lol in that it makes for less detail than in the original model save for some line that I can see. (that was sorta a joke :-\)

[Kolgena]

Actually you have a point. The inside surfaces of the two body sections (?) of the station are painfully flat, now that they've been pointed out. Mind, the original was flat as well, so I'm not sure what you mean by loss of detail. I still expect it to look okay with no geometry changes. I figure a good texture interpretation will be fine.

[mjn.mixael]

A good texture interpretation will be more than enough.

[Enzo03]

The loss of detail comment is an example of what happens to my sense of humor when I'm stupendously bored.
Lemme get a pic now that I'm not feeling as lazy (nor as drunk) as I was last night:


I think it'd definitely be noticeable.
I don't think it'd be something that could be fixed simply with a good texture implementation unless displacement maps really become that good.

[Kolgena]

Hm, so we turned the residential areas inside out, so that they face space instead of a field of windows.

I can't imagine people complaining about the view on the new Arcadia. It's probably a change we'll (or at least I'll) be fine with.

[mjn.mixael]

THE NERVE. Why would anyone remove the half-assed attempt at "detail" visible in the previous screenshot of the retail Arcadia and replace it with this.






Seriously man.. it just looks awful now...

[Commander Zane]

Keep it up, I think it's turning out great.

[sigtau]

I quite like it.  Haters gonna hate, as someone above me said.

[Hades]

The loss of detail comment is an example of what happens to my sense of humor when I'm stupendously bored.
Lemme get a pic now that I'm not feeling as lazy (nor as drunk) as I was last night:

I think it'd definitely be noticeable.
I don't think it'd be something that could be fixed simply with a good texture implementation unless displacement maps really become that good.

What the hell are you talking about? A UVmapped version of MjnMixael's Arcadia can easily have more and nicer details in its diffuse texture alone, not to mention the mesh has much, much more detail. Using tilemapping as an example of 'texture detail' is a fail.