[Aardwolf]

Unnamed Terran Battlecarrier

This ship has ~2000 polygons (including turrets), and is ~1600m long. It's currently got 11 multi-part turrets, and 4 forward-firing cannons. It could probably use some single-part ("button") turrets if it's going to have any chance against other ships in the FS universe. It has four "and a half" fighterbays (I'm not sure what the little on on the front could be used for, but it's there and without it the front is boring). The large cavity underneath could be a weakness, so I was thinking of putting some sort of invisible barrier there (possibly by means of the 'invisible' surface (like what blocks many existing capship's fighterbays), plus a few  faces for a shield mesh)... As for what it's purpose is (which could help for texturing it), it could be some sort of docking area for freighters and transports (although getting them through the invisible barrier region would be tricky, and I don't know if there's room for a direct approach).

Screenshot



360^o Rotating View



What about it?

If anyone is interested in finishing it, let me know.

What it still needs:

• cooler-looking multi-part turrets (and some single-part turrets, probably)
• maybe a few greebles here and there
• merging the engine block and main hull [maybe]
• uv-mapping
• textures
• conversion
• TBM file

Also, it probably will need a name at some point.

Background info, in case you care:

This wasn't originally going to be used for FS, but I figured maybe I could get somebody to uv/texture it for me, and in turn the model would be converted for FSO.

[Droid803]

Why not look for turrets in the turret project (here: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,50017.0.html)?

[Getter Robo G]

Because I haven't released it: (No one has volunteered to work on it and only Trashman had any ready for FS2 - and those he released them already)...

That's why.

So until I get soem help I'm still approaching diff modelers for meshes and later on get people to get them ready for Fs2...  We have quite an assortment available at the moment however...

[Aardwolf]

Added some greebles to the bow section of the ship. Also I finally found a good use for GIMP's "Hard Light" blending mode.

...and since I've been told the textures are hiding a lot of the detail:

[Getter Robo G]

That's nice. Strikes me as a B5ish Demios type fusion? Not that you were going for it, just how it initially appeared to me.

[General Battuta]

Huh, cool. Looks like a Halo ship design.

[Stormkeeper]

If those three openings are guns, I'm not attacking that from the front.

[Droid803]

Well, seeing as it is a Battlecarrier, those are probably hangar bays...though putting some massive MACs or something like in Halo might be rather awesome

[Stormkeeper]

Well, seeing as it is a Battlecarrier, those are probably hangar bays...though putting some massive MACs or something like in Halo might be rather awesome

They are hybrid hangar/gun ports! They launch aircraft normally, but in an emergency, push a MAC into position for added firepower!

[Aardwolf]

Those are just hangars. The four main guns on the bottom are plenty big enough.

I added some more greebles, this time to the front and back of the engine pods. It now sits at 8304 polygons.




Engine pod front:



Engine pod rear:

[Droid803]

You should probably detail the big flat surfaces before greebling the minor parts, IMO.
Most of those engine greebles will be lost as they will be bathed in Engine Glow. (at least the rear ones will be)

[Aardwolf]

Only if the engine glows are significantly wider than the thrusters.


I added some greebles around the rear hangar, and made a video of it rotating.

[Akalabeth Angel]

Looks pretty cool. Having big flat panels and detailed "soft spots" is not a bad idea, but you should probably try to do some panelling with the textures whenever you get to that stage.

[Aardwolf]

Looks pretty cool. Having big flat panels and detailed "soft spots" is not a bad idea, but you should probably try to do some panelling with the textures whenever you get to that stage.

Finally, someone who gets it!

I tried some things out with the flat areas, like adding a fenris/leviathan-style indentation on the side, or putting alternating raised and lowered sections in along the length (with different lengths for each section)... but I could not come up with much that was pleasing to me. I intend to do a little research (wikipedia and/or google images) looking at modern naval warships and subs, and may get some ideas from that.

I am still looking for someone to finish the model. I am beginning to suspect there are some hidden geometry problems in the model (probably near a mirror plane, as when I delete one side and mirror it again sometimes I miss geometry that needs deletion).

Please, if you like this model, and are able to help, let me know. A list of things that need to be done is in the first post (but it has not been updated).

[Aardwolf]

Double post, yes, I know.

I decided to redo the bow and stern of the ship. They now have been simplified down to 1 or 2 quads each. This decision was made upon realizing that if my ship had both forward-firing main guns and forward-facing fighterbays, whenever it lined up to fire its guns at an enemy, it lined the enemy up to fire its guns down its own fighterbay... which is a bad idea. Sure, in FS2 shooting the fighterbay doesn't (usually) do anything, but it would make a stupid design in real life. I removed the stern bay (and nearby greebles) because I am planning on placing the fighterbays in the previously useless ventral cavity.

Suggestions for what to do with the bow and stern, as well as with what is still boring polygons, would be useful.

Also, I would really like to see this finished! Post/PM/otherwise contact me if you are willing and able to assist.

[Jadehawk]

I think you have a workable design I like.
Just a thought, I would move the top two engine pods to the rear and leave the bottom two where they are. You should have more room on the sides to add your fighter bays and even more guns. Maybe even add some new design elements.

[Aardwolf]

These are the areas that will be affected by the change (shown stripped down as I mentioned above).

I need ideas for them, as well as the flat areas of the main shape. They should still be armored (not exposed internal stuff), but I agree that they should not be quite so plain.

[Droid803]

Put it massive spinal gun in addition to its quad cannon?

[General Battuta]

MAC GUN.

That would be pretty neat!

[Snail]

Mac guns don't fit in the FS universe.