[StratComm]

The docking tube isn't added, it's just made bigger.  It wasn't tall enough to get one human through, so in the name of sanity I turned it in to a proper docking tube.

Also, since we're refering to that change, I'd like to point out that I can't really find any evidence that intended it to actually be a dockpoint.  Unfortunately that's where the dockpoint actually is, which is one of the main reasons I've had to redesign the front as radically as I have.

And for those of you who can't figure out where this fits in the big picture, you may find these useful:

[StratComm]

Mock-up time.  I refuse to believe those connecting fins should just be fins, and they are way to small to support habitable space.  So here's a (very primitive) concept of the two ways I'm thinking of addressing it.  The first is a more aggressive treatment, while the second retains the fin but uses it as the backbone for additional room-like structures.  Any thoughts?  Remember, both of these are just mock-ups.

[FireCrack]

I like 2 better, 1 just loks weird.

[Ace]

Definately the second as it keeps the original shape.

[Galemp]

Maybe something intermediate? Take the thin connecting boxes you have in the first one, and angle them so they follow the edges of the original slope. In other words, connect those larger boxes on the diagonals.

[StratComm]

I'm not particularly fond of that actually.  It comes out looking like those couldn't be elevator shafts and corridors.

[Galemp]

Hm. Are those boxes even big enough to be rooms?

If so, perhaps just have them connected horizontally to the main elevator shaft for circulation purposes. Then use the diagonal beams and girders only for structural support.

[StratComm]

I've actually got a little two-meter-tall block I'm using as a proportionality test.  Those blocks really are too small, but the ones I'm actually considering using are big enough to be two decks tall.  What I think I'm leaning towards is actually a different kind of hybrid; the horizontal connecting bars with the "fin" as a thin structural brace in between everything.  If I end up doing it this way it will be detail-box modeled so that the detail needed on the rooms won't be rendered at medium range.

[StratComm]

Bumpage

So I'm still having the hardest time with the Hippocrates.  The thing refuses to go together like I want it to.  Small update though.



And, since this is basically in deadlock right now, I've started playing with another small project.  There's detail in the map to work from, so this one will not take nearly as long.

[Mongoose]

And, since this is basically in deadlock right now, I've started playing with another small project.  There's detail in the map to work from, so this one will not take nearly as long.

If that's what I think it is, you are my hero.

[Col. Fishguts]

I like the vertical connection on the Hipocrates you settled for.

The Medusa cockpit looks top notch

[StratComm]

Moving along...  I'm keeping it blocky, as it's just not the medusa if it doesn't have hard lines.  There are a few spots around the cockpit where that will change, but the overall squareness won't go away.  At least not on my watch.  I'm considering the engines and missile pods done, and have started work on the body.  The hardest part looks like it's going to be the connectors to the pods; the texture implies something in there, but I can't make out exactly what.

[IncendiaryLemon]

Looks fantastic and you finally get a sense of scale... those pods are massive.

[FireCrack]

not as big as the ursa ones...

[Pnakotus]

But come on, you can almost launch Ulys out of Ursa bays...

[Ghost]

I seriously hope either you or someone plans on hi-rezifying those textures. *shiver* Ew.

[Turambar]

i'll do it
you want me to do it?

[StratComm]

It's already 512x1024, so I'm not sure what you'd do with it.  It's not like the map that we have is wanting for detail.  And for the record, I'm about 80% done I think.

[Pnakotus]

Is there anything you can do to smooth out the area where the neck meets the main body?  There's a huge triangle right there, and you can't look at the model without seeing it.   

[StratComm]

<replaced with current update>

Ok, opinion time