[MarkN]

This is the Physcon. It started life as an attempt at a Vasudan heavy fighter, but has ended up as something else...

I think it would be best as a cruiser, but I am not sure. What do other people think?





The next stage is probably to improve the smoothing in some areas, but I am not sure how much is needed.

If you are wondering where the name came from, it is a distinguishing nickname for a pharaoh of the 32nd dynasty (Ptolemy VIII)

[Dragon]

Definitely cruiser or corvette, maybe a gunship (Custos-style, Vasudans still don't have such ship).

[Trivial Psychic]

It looks vaguely Farengii.

[MatthTheGeek]

I like the design, doesn't look like Yet Another Aten clone. It, however, might be a bit too rounded for a Vasudan design. It could use more sharp, or even razor, edges IMHO.

[Deadly in a Shadow]

Whatever it is, it looks marvelous.

[MarkN]

Definitely cruiser or corvette, maybe a gunship (Custos-style, Vasudans still don't have such ship).

One of my ideas was to use it as patrol boat. This would be something a little larger than a gunship, armed with a small number of cruiser class weapons, including a beam weapon. Part of the concept design I had is that there is a central core along the centre of the ship that is of a constant cross-section and would be textured very differently from the rest of the ship. This could be used as a spinal mount for a relatively large beam weapon, which as it fires forwards, would be usable by the player. To be usable in this class a ship would have to be fast enough to dodge capital ship beams, but tough enough to survive heavy fighter weapons as there is no way it would be able to dogfight. For defence it would have to have heavy turrets, possibly including flak or anti-fighter beams.

[edit]
When I read gunship I thought you meant something like the Uriel or Lao Tze from WiH. This would be very like the Custos.

[NeoKnight]

I'm not sure how that would fit into the FS Universe gameplay-wise, but it'd be a really interesting concept to try out. Your model, your choice. 

[Retsof]

... That is giving me a headache,  it's like it's curving in non-euclidean dimensions...  Did you pick that new Eldirch 3D?

[Droid803]

non-euclidean dimensions is what i'd expect from a physics convention

[Black Wolf]

As useless as I know this statement to be, I kind of have to say it... it doesn't really look Vasudan. That said, there's a lot of diversity to Vasudan designs, and textures wil make a lot of difference, so therr's still that, I guess.

For more specific suggestions, I'd say that the most jarring part is the head. That flat nose, and those flares at the back have no precedent in vasudan ships as far as I can recall. I'd suggest replacing it with a more bullet shaped head, like the sobek, or even a more interesting, pointier head like the Typhon if you're feeling adventurous.

Also, while a lot of Vasudan ships are very smooth, there's room for some greebling - at present, you have an interesting shape, but quite a plain, underdetailed model. Detail work for Vasudans is hard, but it's done very well on all the mediaVP Zod HTLs (Hat, Aten and Typhon) - look to them for ideas.

[MatthTheGeek]

...I, actually, thought the head was the most Zodish-looking part of it.

[headdie]

...I, actually, thought the head was the most Zodish-looking part of it.

same here

[Hellstryker]

I'll third the comment about the head. Also looking at this thing hurts my brain, I can't tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

[CommanderDJ]

The shape made my brain go WHOAAA.

I would really love to see this in-game. It deviates a little from FS2-era Vasudan ships, but it looks like something they might make 50-100 years after FS2. I like it a lot.

[MarkN]

The problem is that I am really unsure how to greeble it. I have a few Ideas, especially on the nose, which doesn't look anywhere near as concave as I expected. The other problem is that I have no idea how to make the engines.

[Firstdragon34]

The problem is that I am really unsure how to greeble it. I have a few Ideas, especially on the nose, which doesn't look anywhere near as concave as I expected. The other problem is that I have no idea how to make the engines.

The engines could be part of the large curves on the sides of the ship. Maybe add a distortion there or something. Sometimes you don't have to worrry about the logic of things just do it. The model will make its own story.

[MarkN]

I have made an attempt at the engines. The rectangular exhausts are bit out of place, but so do regular round engines (even if they look as good as those on the Hatshepsut). These engines also have the advantage of breaking up the huge flat area on the underside of the hull.

[Firstdragon34]

The engines look about right were they should be, maybe you experiment with external engines as well.

[Cyborg17]

I really like your design. Of course, it's still early on, but that's a good thing, it can be anything you want it to be.

One thing I'd suggest to try to see if you can make it look more Vasudan is to make the rounded area on the top of the back to have a sharp edge instead of a rounded surface.  This is just something to try, which worked when I visualized it, but may not work when you actually do it.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing this thing finished.

[Firstdragon34]

I'm, too, excited what it will be when finished. Keep it up!