[knn]

Originally posted by karajorma
Very nice work.

I think your superdestroyer would work perfectly well as a destroyer though. Seems a pity to waste such a nice design on a juggernaut. Jugs don't tend to get used that much as they're a little too big to be used as aything other than a plot device.

I'll try putting it beside of a Colossus and resizing it, but I still think it would look strange that small. I designed it to be a 7 km long superdestroyer, altough the original design was a smaller destroyer, and I modified it. And besides, I don't exactly understand what you mean by saying it's too big to be used as anything other than a plot device.

[karajorma]

Originally posted by knn
And besides, I don't exactly understand what you mean by saying it's too big to be used as anything other than a plot device.

The problem with very big ships like the Colossus and Sathanas is that the player can't kill them.  So basically the player is relegated to a destroying beam cannons role and then has to sit around and watch something else kill it.

If you look at FS2 while Bearbaiting was fun I found High Noon pretty boring. There weren't many enemy fighters around and your helios bombs didn't do much damage to the Sathanas so basically once the beam cannons were down you could just sit behind the colossus and still win the mission.

Now admittedly it is possible to make missions with huge ships in which are fun but the only way the player has any part in whether the battle is won or lost is if you make the take out the cannons.

Compare that with a destroyer and you may see what I mean. When on a bombing mission against a destroyer you can take out its guns, it's engines or just concentrate on killing it. The players tacttics have a much larger effect on the outcome of the mission.

[knn]

You're right. But still, I think the GTVA needs a powerful superdestroyer. With a 100 juggernaughts ready to attack anytime, the alliance needs a ship that can defeat at least one Sathanas. Blame Volition for giving the Shivans 85 Sathani, if they had only one, it wouldn't be such a big problem. But this way, if the GTVA wants to win the war, they have to defeat those juggernaughts. And if you make a smaller destroyer superpowerful, it's just the same. But this doesn't mean the player has to take out a Sathanas. There'll always be cruisers, corvettes and destroyers, and fighter/bomber technology will surely advance further (like a Meson bomb that can be carried by a bomber).

[c914]

those are very nice and good models:)
That 2 km destroyer would work perfectly as corvett or cruiser.

[knn]

Originally posted by c914
those are very nice and good models:)
That 2 km destroyer would work perfectly as corvett or cruiser.

I know. That's the problem with it. It's my second attempt ending as a corvette. Here's the first (abandoned):


(That's the version with the Shivan main weapons on those small arms)

[c914]

cut those small arms and you got excelent cruiser:nod:
You've got  full capshp fleet:
-destroyer:
http://tinypic.com/o1zyg
-carrier( don't ask me why but for me it looks like carrier ):
http://tinypic.com/o1zqf
-corvette:
http://tinypic.com/o23h2
-cruiser:
http://tinypic.com/o3alc

[knn]

Originally posted by c914
those are very nice and good models:)
That 2 km destroyer would work perfectly as corvett or cruiser.

I know. That's the problem with it. It's my second attempt ending as a corvette. Here's the first (abandoned):


(That's the version with the Shivan main weapons on those small arms)

[knn]

I know. I like the standard version better myself, but I have no picture of it now.

Sorry about the double-post.

[Sandwich]

Originally posted by knn
Anyway, I'll post another destroyer, it's 2 km only:

http://tinypic.com/o23hh
http://tinypic.com/o23nt

That.... that...... that's perfect! What's the polycount, and what are you doing for the next 3 years?

[MetalDestroyer]

Originally posted by knn
A destroyer:
approx. 3-4 km, 10000 polys (unoptimized), no weapons
(inspired by the CED Expediator from D3)

http://tinypic.com/o1zqf
http://tinypic.com/o1zwl
http://tinypic.com/o1zx2

A superdestroyer:
7.1 km, some weapons, 18000 polys

http://tinypic.com/o1zyg
http://tinypic.com/o1zyt
http://tinypic.com/o1zz5

I like those ships.

[Taristin]

...can we have a new rule that when quoting, you cannot post every single pic again. It's terribly annoying to load all of those images and scroll to the bottom, and all the person says is 'nice'...

[Sandwich]

Yes, let us indeed make such a ruling. I herby declare it to be! Make it so! Engage!

[knn]

Just a quick post to let you know I'm still alive

First of all, I'm going to give you some names to prevent you from reposting my pictures. The first destroyer should actually be 4.5-5 km, otherwise it would look to flat compared to the Hecate. Because of this, I think it should be a carrier/destroyer like the Warlock. It's name is Paladin. It's exactly 11111 polygons

The superdestroyer is called GTVA Nimbus. And I've got some good news for you. I've modelled the original destroyer design after I've found it in my literature notebook (school can be boring), wich is 2.5 km in length, features the same front section, bridge, aux engine on the bottom and engine section, only it's not so long compared to the height/width (that was why I didn't want to make the Nimbus a destroyer).
The third model is the GTVD Aurora. The highpoly version is exactly 5896 polygons, the lowpoly is 1742, but the weapons should add another 5000 to the highpoly version (The Nimbus was 9000 polys before I added the rotational turrets, which were >400 each, and now it's 19664).

The new destroyer is 15678 polys. Here's one picture: (more will follow tomorrow)


I'll be back in a few hours.

[Sandwich]

*wants the Aurora for FSU*

[Swamp_Thing]

I don´t understand how you spent 15000 polys on that model...
I think you could get rid of half of that ammount, and still retain the original form. 15000 is a bit too much for most people.
Otherwise, good work.

[c914]

I don´t understand how you spent 15000 polys on that model

simle just look to all tohose smoth work, rounded sections and youve got 15000 polys.
For FS2 open it tis way to much but look nice:nod:

[knn]

!%$#
IE just managed to destroy my post with pictures, so now I can write it again and search for my pictures on tynipic. Now.
First of all, these models are unoptimized, as they are work-in-progress. To retain symmetry, I slice all my models into two, remove the side I was not working on, then I mirror-copy it, attach it and weld the middle vertices. This makes unneeded polygons on flat surfaces in the middle. I WILL remove these polygons when the model is finished.
Second. The Nimbus and the unnamed destroyer has so many polys, because it is hipoly. The front section was made out of a sphere, the bridge is also quite rich in polygons (I'll show you a wireframe picture), and those rotational turrets are 400 polys each! The destroyer has 8 of these => 8*400=3200 polys. For FS2, I will optimize my models. And you're right, i could decrease the polycount while retaining the original form, but close-up, it will be not so smooth or what's supposed to be curved would be flat (like in the case of Aurora, where I decreased the polyount from 5000 to 1700).

Now, some pictures of the latest version of Aurora, due to Sandwich's demand:




And a comparison with the GTD Hecate and the GVD Hatshepsut Also, note that the Aurora is 3 km, this was necessary as it was too small otherwise. It is now almost 7000 polygons

[Sandwich]

Originally posted by knn
!%$#
IE just managed to destroy my post with pictures, so now I can write it again and search for my pictures on tynipic.

*points to Firefox button under avatar*

Originally posted by knn
And a comparison with the GTD Hecate and the GVD Hatshepsut Also, note that the Aurora is 3 km, this was necessary as it was too small otherwise. It is now almost 7000 polygons
http://tinypic.com/pap2c

What do you mean by "too small"? Personally I'm going to have the FSU destroyer be 1.5km, whether the ship is released like that or whether it's a special size modification to a released ship. But for the FSU, it will be smaller than an Orion (2km), but larger than a corvette (~800m).

And if you're talking about the level of detail in the model, don't worry - the more detail you put in a "smaller" model, the less you get of the FS2 Ship Shrikage effect (where 2km Orion's look about half the length of a Star Wars' Imperial Star Destroyer, which is 1.6km in "actuality").

[knn]

To make the Aurora at least as wide and high as the Hatshepsut, I had to scale it up a bit. The resulting length is 3km.

[deep_eyes]

lovely!