[colecampbell666]

I tried to see what it would look like if the legs rotated so the Chary could hypothetically land, and believe me, it looks stupid.

[Axem]

Well I think he's talking about parts of the legs opening up, not the whole leg moving. Which could be doable. But you guys realize I want to finish this sometime right?

[Kolgena]

Really, the difference between it scanning and not scanning can be represented by whether the dome things are spinning or not.

[Titan]

Maybe add a docking thing for cargo their, then modify the legs so the inside surface is flat vertical, then have is so when they dock to a cargo size X, the slide inwards (not rotate) Y distance, then size Z, they slide W distance, etc.

[Tomo]

Maybe add a docking thing for cargo their, then modify the legs so the inside surface is flat vertical, then have is so when they dock to a cargo size X, the slide inwards (not rotate) Y distance, then size Z, they slide W distance, etc.

Unfortunately, that isn't feasible - such niceties aren't made available in the underlying engine.

I don't think you can do sliding entities either, although i could be wrong about that.

[colecampbell666]

Just rotating IIRC, althoug the Diaspora/SCP coding team are working on improvements such as having guns rise into firing position.

[voidSkipper]

Gorgeous. The amount of threads here where the modeller opens up with "it's finished", then comes back a few months later with something 10,000 times better just astounds me.

The transparent sensors are very cool. I'd like to see how they look broken, too.

[Axem]

Today on: Axem's taking too damn long with a ship

Those damn legs. They're big, clunky, awkward, make no sense structurally, and are just a general pain in the ass. While I liked the last rendition I tried, they weren't IT. So taking a quick afternoon and a half off from FREDding, I came up with a another design. Instead of rotation, I use... TRANSLATION! (I know there's no translation yet, but think of the future lads!)

Basically the legs are suspended on rails that move the legs up or down, allowing them to minimize their profile from enemy fire, allow the Charybdis to land, or even disengage from the ship to allow quick replacements of the armor plate or sensor modules. The general concept seen below, with no modules.



And then with some fancy dancy equipment (with a nicer render)


So which legs, these super awesome minty fresh ones or the silly stinky goose old ones on hinges? (I am not biased one way or another...  )

[Aardwolf]

I liked the old one's hinges, but disliked the fact that it had big holes in it.

[Rodo]

well those look really like an aditional armor IMO, just like the side plates of the Hecate, that would give it a GTVA'ish feel.. I think you could go on with it, just check that the translation does not conflict with some of the turrets fire arc.

[Droid803]

Can you even get turrets to move without messing things up? Cause the legs have a turret on it, and if turrets can't move it's kinda pointless trying to make the legs to rotate -or- translate.

Unless of course, it's just for looks in which case I like the new one more.

[Cobra]

Me likes new one.

[Axem]

I believe firing points will move if they rotate or otherwise move if the hierarchy is set up right. But for now its all just for looks. There's a part of me that says ships should look like they could actually work. All my comments about the moving legs is all non canon fluff anyway.

[Thaeris]

The translation mechanism is much better than the hinges.

As for the purposes of such a strangely shaped apparati (besides the "rule of cool"), here's the simplest: They're simply housings for sensory eqipment. Given the sensory systems above the "legs," that inward-canted angle might just be a means of increasing sensor coverage across the lower bounds of the ship. Also keep in mind something like an Aten- or Mentu-Class... or any cruiser at all... would probably never enter the atmosphere. Seeing as the AWACS is fairly close in size to a small cruiser, it would have no reason to land.

If you do decide to revert to a fixed structure (which wouldn't bother me, at least), you might consider putting some AEGIS cruiser-esque radar panels on those "legs." Here's a picture (the panels in question are the big hexagons on the bridge superstructure... in case you didn't know): http://www.tsc.com/images/contentimgs/sanjac02.jpg

[Droid803]

How about having a hinge AND slider?
"It's not just landing gear, our ship can WALK!"

But yes, rule of cool.

[Thaeris]

Unless of course....

...The GTVA fears a broadside attack from the Volition Bravos, in which case the sloped lower portions of the ship help deflect kinetic weapons... Or make the Charybdis' armor in that section harder to penetrate from that angle because sloped armor is "thicker" depending on the angle at which it is fired upon...

Of course, that's a whole 'lotta effort for two what we assume-to-be-useless "legs" on a ship. Heat sinks?

[Bobboau]

don't care what it's for, it looks cool

[Axem]

In the end, that's all that matters. 

[FreeSpaceFreak]

* FSF agrees

[Galemp]

I preferred the hinges. They were unique.