Hard Light Productions Forums
Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The Modding Workshop => Topic started by: headdie on November 03, 2010, 09:37:36 am
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When the most recent GTD Hecate debate started I got thinking there is a big lack in the GTVA arsenal for a capital ship capable of tackling an Orion or greater destroyer with minimal support. So here is my answer to it the GTBs Capella class.
Class Statistics
Class: Capella
Classification: Battleship
Species: Terran
Role: Multi-Role including Assault & High Value Escort
Armament
-6 Heavy Beam Cannons
-6 Anti Fighter Beam Cannons
-2x2 Plasma cannons (A.K.A. blob cannons)
-4 Flak Turrets
Length: 1594 meters
Width: 752 meters
Height: 322 meters
Tech Description
At roughly 1600 meters long this class sits between corvettes and destroyers in size, designed to bring to destroyer scale armaments into battle for a fraction of the cost.
After the first few months of the NTF rebellion it became obvious very quickly that the new Hecate destroyers were not up to scratch against capital ship threats requiring the destroyers to operate a reinforced escort whenever possible removing essential assets from frontline duty. In addition to the Hecate situation the Deimos class, though slated as a cap ship killer, needed considerable help against NTF Orions, this was often exasperated in situations where the destroyer had a wing or two of bombers available to soften up the opposing Corvettes allowing an Orion concentrating fire on the corvettes to take them down in under 2 minutes.
With all this in mind on recommendations from military command the GTVA Security Council approved the for the military to accept proposals for the creation of a new category of medium to heavy warship designed to be capable of taking down an Orion or greater destroyer with only minimal support. After a year of design work, 4 companies proposed designs for the new Battleship classification. The winning design was the GTBs Capella class named after the lead class lead ship. Initially 2 ships of the were ordered for Proof-of-Concept trials with the 8th fleet, depending on the success of these trials more were to be ordered.
At the time of the collapse of the NTF insurgency the Capella and the Deneb its sister ship were still months away from completion. When work finished 3 months after the collapse of the Capella jump nodes the ships were instead assigned to replenish the ravaged 3rd fleet. The class currently boasts 6 heavy beam cannons capable of hitting with up to 4 of them at a time at optimum positioning and 6 Anti-Fighter beam cannons, supplementary armament is still being finalised though provision has not been made for a fighter complement.
Proof-of-Concept trials are ongoing.
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The compressed files below are identical except for format and contain the ship model, texture files, table, radar icon for the class and a demonstration mission. At the moment the model geometry is fairly simple with only LOD0 and sub objects. the texture files are plain simple colours with shine files to go with them. It is a case of I believe I have taken the ship as far as I can with my current skills, If anyone has feedback or wants to take a shot at improving the ship.
From a mission design perspective I have identified that:
Currently the class strengths are
- Capital ships in the 1-2 and 10-11 O'clock positions at medium range
- Fighters over the rear third of the ship but not directly behind.
Current Weaknesses
- Capital ships at long range as it easy to position so that only one beam cannon can reach
- Fighters in the forward quadrant of the ship as only 2 beam cannons and the flack cannons cover this area.
Model Features
All subsystems are sub objects
Destructible armour plates
[attachment deleted by admin]
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At roughly 1600 meters long this class sits between corvettes and destroyers in size
It's a frigate!
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At roughly 1600 meters long this class sits between corvettes and destroyers in size
It's a frigate!
I always assumed the frigate designation for the Iceni came from it being a command ship rather than the size but also with the Iceni being so much bigger than the corvettes I can see where you are coming from but at the same time with rounding the Iceni is 1000m long which is 600 meters shorter
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At roughly 1600 meters long this class sits between corvettes and destroyers in size
It's a frigate!
I always assumed the frigate designation for the Iceni came from it being a command ship rather than the size but also with the Iceni being so much bigger than the corvettes I can see where you are coming from but at the same time with rounding the Iceni is 1000m long which is 600 meters shorter
Being a frigate has nothing to do with being in command of anything. A frigate is a ship that is larger than a corvette but smaller than a destroyer.
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At roughly 1600 meters long this class sits between corvettes and destroyers in size
It's a frigate!
I always assumed the frigate designation for the Iceni came from it being a command ship rather than the size but also with the Iceni being so much bigger than the corvettes I can see where you are coming from but at the same time with rounding the Iceni is 1000m long which is 600 meters shorter
Being a frigate has nothing to do with being in command of anything. A frigate is a ship that is larger than a corvette but smaller than a destroyer.
fair enough
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At the front it sports the massivest web-cam ever constructed :P
And, um, the top view - it sorta looks like...nevermind...
Interesting looking ship though; my FS2 is not working properly at the moment due to faulty CRT or graphics card, so no testing :(
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And, um, the top view - it sorta looks like...nevermind...
Oh Good Lord, cannot unsee. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju1UwmgkKgI)
:lol:
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And, um, the top view - it sorta looks like...nevermind...
Oh Good Lord, cannot unsee. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju1UwmgkKgI)
:lol:
:lol:
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Yeah, in all seriousness it doesn't really look like a design the GTVA would produce.
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It needs a thicker middle section and a superstructure on the dorsal and ventral hull, imo.
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Yeah, in all seriousness it doesn't really look like a design the GTVA would produce.
fair enough
It needs a thicker middle section and a superstructure on the dorsal and ventral hull, imo.
hmmmm, certainly interesting ideas
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I do like the concept of the forward hull. What it needs now is some more love in the shape of the plating, which is a bit under-detailed. Thus, you can see where the triangle edge splits it. For what I precieve is supposed to be a flat surface, that's a problem.
The next issue at hand is the rear engine assembly, which is way too blocky. I'd recommend trying to sweep the inner edges of the assembly forward alongside the hull - I don't have a recommendation for the rear exhaust assembly yet. If I was to use an existing model as inspiration, I would point to Moonred's new HTL Saggittarius. In that respect, try to streamline parts of the model together - the engines should flow into the hull, and the shape should be a bit more exciting. That's all I've got for now.
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Nice penisbrick.
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Nice penisbrick.
:wtf:
The joke is now old, and your comment is udderly tasteless. Furthermore, it is not at all helpful. Perhaps you'd like to think before you post something next time?
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May I remind you that I am not the one that first brought it to everyone's attention.
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The joke is now old, and your comment is udderly tasteless.
dohohohoh, udders
was that a really clever play on words or
hang on a second
And, um, the top view - it sorta looks like...nevermind...
Oh Good Lord, cannot unsee. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju1UwmgkKgI)
:lol:
first penisbrick joke was by...thaeris?
:confused:
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first penisbrick joke was by...thaeris?
Apparently since I can't read, the first joke pertaining to the matter was made by Enigmatic Entity.
The difference is in the approach. I do not mean to come off as hypocritical, but the last joke made about Headdie's ship was just tactless and even had a somewhat hurtful vibe therein. And although you might argue the same for anything I have done, upon contemplation one would conclude that what was posted earlier was never aimed at insult. This however,
Nice penisbrick.
is just that. An insult.
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I don't actually necessarily disagree with that. Droid, be more constructive, at least couch your phallic implications with some kind of helpful...help.
And you're right, Enigmatic Entity did it first. My bad.
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I believe its an issue with the original concept...
Its shape just looks uninteresting.
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Sorry, I didn't know it would start an argument... :nervous:
Back on topic?
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Only 18 turrets for a larger than Corvette ship? Seems a little skimpy on the smaller guns, IMHO.
Other than that, two minor nitpicks, neither actually related to the model. 1) The "Battleship" designation would be Bb, not Bs. 2) It's really more of a Frigate.
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Only 18 turrets for a larger than Corvette ship? Seems a little skimpy on the smaller guns, IMHO.
Other than that, two minor nitpicks, neither actually related to the model. 1) The "Battleship" designation would be Bb, not Bs. 2) It's really more of a Frigate.
Bb? Based on what? There's kind of logical precedent for Ba (GTSc Faustus (Sc=Science)) or Bs (Cv = Cor-vette) but where's the second b come from?
[EDIT]ON the ship, I do actually like what's happening in terms of the modding style... but it does look kinda penisy. Maybe that shouldn't matter, but it does. :p Perhaps consider adding some geometry on the X axis forward of the main engines?
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How a bout the GTGs or GTBc class? In the prototypical russian marine is it so in ranks:
The destroyer is the smallest fastest ship followed from light and medium cruiser. Then came the battlecruiser(heaviest cruiser is a gunship pure) after that came the corvette and frigat as command ship. The biggest classes in place there are the carriers and battleships class potts. But in Freespace is it so the cruisers are the smallest big ships followed from corvettes and then may sqaremetres nothing an d then the destroyers and jagganauts.
For me,it ´s like a battle cruiser or a fast and heavy gunship.GTBc or GTGs (not GTGb!!)
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Bb? Based on what? There's kind of logical precedent for Ba (GTSc Faustus (Sc=Science)) or Bs (Cv = Cor-vette) but where's the second b come from?
USN designation scheme. Only useful one at that; Brits designate with a single character so it would just be B, I'm not aware of any other major navy having developed a hull type designation like that. IJN didn't do it, Kriegsmarine didn't do it.
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It's a single letter because it's a single word. :p
Anyhoo, it's not GTDD Orion, it's GTD Orion. The GTVA is by deduction a non-US derivative :D
Joking aside, :nervous: isn't there a standardised prefix list on the Wiki somewhere?
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Just in case anyone is interested, there is a reason for the double letter USN designations such as 'BB' and 'DD'. The USN started out with single letter designations as did the RN, but quickly found that 26 letters was not enough. Accordingly, they shifted to a two letter designation system in which the first letter indicated the primary ship class and the second a sub function. If the class had no sub function the first letter was repeated. Thus a battleship became 'BB', a destroyer 'DD' and so forth.
It is quite clear that the GTA does not use USN class lettering, or even ship designations. :)
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Joking aside, :nervous: isn't there a standardised prefix list on the Wiki somewhere?
Yeah, there is, and it lists BS or Bs. Remember though, this is under the 'Fan Terminology' section, so really its up to the creator of the model.
http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Various_Terms#Designation_Suffixes_2 (http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Various_Terms#Designation_Suffixes_2)
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As for the debate on its designation I went for Battleship because it is 600 meters longer than the Iceni the only canon combat orientated frigate. Having decided on battleship I went for Bs as it seems to me to be the closest to the canon scheme with lower case second letter while B being taken for bombers.
As for the armament it has 2 more turrets than an Orion and placement allows it to hit a capship with 4 bgreen at once when at its strongest positioning but at the same time providing vulnerabilities for Fredders to use in making missions that don't just play themselves. for example in the demo mission if you move the Monitor back little bit you can have the situation where the Monitor can hit the Capella with 2-4 beam slash and bgreen cannons while the Capella can only answer with its forward cannon because the others are out of range giving the Monitor a chance of killing the Capella (this has happened in early experiments with the class). Also due to positioning the Carthage stands a chance of killing the Capella if hull Integrety of the Capella drops to 70-80% again because of weapons placement and the Capella only starting with about 75% of an Orion's hitpoints
On the shape I am currently trying out ideas on the forward engine pods and looking at widening the middle hull, early experiments on the hull widening looked promising but the geometry needs cleaning up to make it work properly. Hopefully references to a certain piece of anatomy will be less accurate in future while making the ship look better :D
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Honestly I think you're going to have a really hard time making the ship respectable without a lot more anti-fighter coverage.
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Honestly I think you're going to have a really hard time making the ship respectable without a lot more anti-fighter coverage.
Again something I have thought about with the revised version, especially if I widen the hull I have large areas with nothing there except for the armour plates which though pretty cool (in my book) don't do a lot for the ship overall in its combat capability so I was thinking of additional anti fighter beam cannons on the expanded sections or sticking, beam cannons where the flack is and moving the flack onto the expanded angled sections. The thing I am trying to do here is make the ship effective while avoiding uber ship syndrome.
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That sounds good. Bear in mind that the three types of primary defenses work together. Blob turrets (or PI fastblobs, or BP pulse weapons, or something like the EA's weapons in INF) are great at shooting down bombs; flak guns are good against shields; and anti-fighter beams provide long-range deterrence. You need some of each.
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:bump:
Still poking at this one between other projects thinking about the advice you guys have offered.
(http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/708a2028036398639302ecbe7edef4c126f929af35ba3af5c67e737eb89f3cec2g.jpg) (http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=molg6zlz6hdidx0&thumb=5)
(http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/278c6ffb07b2831dc05f176f28afb9e11e9ccf0e5d54b288521805d0c0497a4e2g.jpg) (http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=duovo6d5a9lir68&thumb=5)
(http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/af214641540f0d48667d0d16e76b18f027fc19ff3bd5223219907e353a4421122g.jpg) (http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=xz4gj0jjsze9swa&thumb=5)
(http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/0d153c27ccc1a54c6673216c28c485205199898118cbc6776cc2335fbf68ba4f2g.jpg) (http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=e34gaswf3xe0655&thumb=5)
(http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/2cce380c742a74db0ccd1088b14065bfc142b3ef594612af3997ba737efaa3352g.jpg) (http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=m9d1u1wzc33u1du&thumb=5)
I am still thinking about the idea of having additional superstructure on the top and/or bottom but wanted to address issues like the triangulation on the armour plates, basic shape and armament, whats everyones thoughts on the general shape?
The armament has been boosted now by 2 additional blobs mounted towards the front and 2 aaaf beam cannons mounted again towards the front but on the flanks.
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It still looks much akin to a block, unfortunately. Try blending the hull with the engine pods - that might be a pace in the right direction.
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Improving...
Regarding classification, you can always use more complex names...
Battlecruiser, Heavy Frigate, Assault Frigate, Pocket Destroyer...... or invent your own :drevil:
Interdictor? Lineship?
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(http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/e02f04925e251283e43310ddc2e7d9bfc965b5e3ed76b6898cb6f0a09aa091dd2g.jpg) (http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=dry5kbwtioqz22q&thumb=5)
(http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/053bae2270f9c426addacfa384a211d2929e5dfaa01606f892717f552369b0cb2g.jpg) (http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=6gqwibcudyd5l6p&thumb=5)
Update: - This one is without the armour plates on the front of the engines while I finish altering that area.
- superstructure added to the upper surface which will be the docking point absent on the original
- started modeling details around some of the turrets
- started rounding off the engines and the general shape of the protective structure surrounding them
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I like the design, looks like a battlecruiser or frigate to me, just needs some more weapons maybe, I'd suggest arming it with about the same as a corvete or the Iceni, and use the slopes for AAA and flack as it gives them good arcs.