[Vertigo 7]

I started working on an XG-1 a couple of days ago and I'm trying to make it on par with your work. What average poly count do you have for your fighters cuz I'm steadily approaching 500 faces on just one engine/missile pod and i haven't even triangulated it yet =p I jes wanna make sure i'm not going overkill on this even tho judging by the awesomeness you've done, i highly doubt i could =D

[peterv]

Keep Lod0 below 6000 faces, read this carefully: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,37171.0.html, and try to ingore the "this is a game not an art show" part.

[Topgun]

um, when I model a fighter I try to keep it between 3k-9k polygons. depending on the detail. I am not a fotg modeler though (mostly because I sucked at it when I decided to help them out), so I don't know what they are going for.

[Vertigo 7]

lol... well this is really my first attempt at modeling but so far i'm happy with the results. even if brandx doesnt wanna use it, i'll just be happy if it flies =p

[chief1983]

Feel  free to post updates, since you're not terribly experienced we'll try to go easy on the criticism.  Since you're not stepping on anyone's toes no one should have any problem with you modeling it, I'd actually love to see it come out nicely.  If we use it you'll be credited as a contributor.  Anyway, if you go to the ship database, any fighters that have their meshes completed should have a poly count listed, seems like most around around 4-6k right now.  Since the Xg-1 is a lot of flat surfaces, I don't see it needing more than 5k.  However, since its only references are pretty much in the games, you have room to be a little more creative with it.  One thought we had was that it should look more like the Lambda, since they were both Cygnus designs.

[Vertigo 7]

Yeah i thought about that too... i've been taking a few creative liberties with some of the design... i'll see if i can post a pic in a few. This is actually my 2nd attempt at the model. the first one i did the entire thing as 1 object but found it was really hard to add details so this time around i'm making each main piece of the ship a separate object... i'm liking the results =D

I've been looking at some in game pics to compare the lambda to the xg-1, they do have some distinct similarities (like the top fin and the wing mounted guns) but they are also very distinctively different... Also the xg-1 is a 1 manner where the lambda can seat several... but yeah, ive been looking at the pics posted of the lambda to get some ideas about where to go with this. I've got a pretty good idea about how i want it to look but i'm always open to suggestions =D

Anyways, ima go grab a shower and i'll post up a pic in a lil bit.

[chief1983]

Definitely go for separate objects, it's much easier to work with and UV from what I've heard.  Also, the wings can supposedly fold up on this ship, so I'd try to make them function as such.

[Vertigo 7]

here's a front side view of the engine part...



and here's a rear side view



i'm still working on detailing the bottom a bit before i detail the sides. That handle on the access panel... sucked to make.

Anyways... sokay for just startin out? If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free =D

oh and yeah chief, i seem to remember that as well... thought i was crazy or somethin. I was actually thinking about taking some more creative liberties and adding S-Foils or w/e you wanna call it... i'm pretty sure i can make it work

[chief1983]

Well if you look at the Star Wars wiki entry, there's a crappy picture of it from one of the games, when its wings are folded up and it's in a hangar or something.  Looks like it's off to a good start though.  Keep in mind that small details can be implemented via a normal map if there's a lot of them.  If not you could get away with not having a normal map, but it would probably look better with one.

[Vertigo 7]

thats where i remember it from... that pic is from the original TIE Fighter game... definitely doable. I'll prolly need help with texturing once I'm done modeling cuz i know 0 about doing it... course, then again, a week ago I hadn't even started doing this so maybe theres hope =p