[BirdofPrey]

So how's this coming?  It's lookin' great so far, though the cutouts in the engines seem odd.

[Kolgena]

Yeah don't worry about the holes. They'll be filled in with greeble or something eventually.

[blowfish]

Very nice

I might change the primary mounts a bit though.  I'm not entirely sure how ... but something bothers me about the way the diagonally mounted guns look on an otherwise blank rectangular face.  Maybe recess that face a bit more and extrude the guns a bit more?  Or maybe just add some detail to those blank quadrants?

[Hades]

a) holy **** it's blowfish

b) thanks, and yeah I agree, it needs something there. I'll see what I or Esarai can come up with.

c) http://p3d.in/ZMvlM (engine details thanks to Esarai, I'm too incompetent to have done them)

[SypheDMar]

For folks who can't view the models for whatever reason:

[MatthTheGeek]

* MatthTheGeek likes

[Crybertrance]

* MatthTheGeek likes

* Crybertrance lieks

[esarai]

I might change the primary mounts a bit though.  I'm not entirely sure how ... but something bothers me about the way the diagonally mounted guns look on an otherwise blank rectangular face.  Maybe recess that face a bit more and extrude the guns a bit more?  Or maybe just add some detail to those blank quadrants?

Clicky

[Hades]

You really need to stop making me look more incompetent at this than I already do, Esarai.

[Oddgrim]

That looks really sweet esarai!

[Luis Dias]

Stop saying nonsensical things, Hades. You did a great amazing job and Esarai is also doing a great amazing job building on top of your work. Kudus, it's becoming really cool

e: Small noob question. I notice you don't really make the mesh as "one" single entity, but rather with triangles intersecting other triangles, etc., specially in the greebles. What is the general rule of thumb there that one should pay attention to, wrt the FSO engine and so on?

[esarai]

For FSO basically just ensure that there is no region 'open' to space, that way no ships can sneak inside the model and no shots go unregistered.  You can do this by having a completely sealed volume where all faces share edges, or you can have a collection of spaces that do not share edges yet still enclose the volume necessary.  I'm sure someone more well-versed in the actual operation of FSO can provide a better answer, this is me going from experience.  I know the original Typhon model from FS1 had its two top-most antennae detached from the main hull mesh, so doing this has been around for a while.  I generally try to keep the main sections of the mesh as one continuous volume and have the smaller details not connect to the main geometry.  This way things can look pretty and complex without unnecessarily driving the poly-count way up.  There comes a point where if the added detail is too shallow, at a certain distance it can have a flickery effect because the Z-buffer is having trouble differentiating the main surface and the detail surface--they're too close together.  So general rule #2: make sure the details have enough volume to avoid z-fighting.

[Woolie Wool]

You know, this is a really nice model with a lot of cool things to look at, but it doesn't look very 2335 to me, more like post-Capella. The "head" section especially doesn't look much like the original Apollo at all, especially the canopy--the original model's canopy stuck out from the bodywork in a bubble shape instead of being integrated into it. It doesn't have the same utilitarian look that the original FS1 fighters did.

But on a technical level it's flawless.

[TwentyPercentCooler]

You know, this is a really nice model with a lot of cool things to look at, but it doesn't look very 2335 to me, more like post-Capella. The "head" section especially doesn't look much like the original Apollo at all, especially the canopy--the original model's canopy stuck out from the bodywork in a bubble shape instead of being integrated into it. It doesn't have the same utilitarian look that the original FS1 fighters did.

But on a technical level it's flawless.

Yeah, stop making it look so awesome, guys! 

[Gloriano]

Holy crap that looks really nice

[SypheDMar]

 

[Col.Hornet]

Hi. It's good to see that you guys are finishing this model. Though I imagined a new HTL Apollo in completely different style (there some parts which are annoying me, like the round engine intakes, but it's nothing important now. I just don't want to complain, because I already have an idea how to use this model )

I like the idea of filling the space inside the engine pods, but:
I dislike the location of the thruster nozzle inside the pod. These ribs under are pretty but keep it in mind that they will be covered with thruster's flame during the game. And in my opinion it's moved too far to the upper part of the engine pod. And here I have two ideas:


Now it's "upper part" heavy. Apollo has a symmetric ass, that's why I prefer the idea of increasing the number of the nozzles to keep it detailed, but still bricky as the original.

But I think that you can make such thrusters  as are now in the violet covered area. At the bottom pods we have a missile bank so logic says that is not 100% related for engine parts.
 I hope that it will help

[Hades]

The flame will only cover the part of the engine nozzle itself, the part it comes out of. I have been working on FSU pofs to make sure this is the case, so no, it won't cover the ribs.

Also, the retail pof had its modeled thrusters on the top half of the upper two engines. Hence our engine locations.

[Solatar]

Love it, especially the cockpit area.  It's smooth enough to look good, and I think it looks like a smoother, more realistic version of what the FS1 model might have been trying to portray.

[esarai]

I dislike the location of the thruster nozzle inside the pod. These ribs under are pretty but keep it in mind that they will be covered with thruster's flame during the game.

Only if we use the dreaded glowpoint-flame bitmap method.  I intend to make modeled thrusters which will not wash out the detail from all directions.  I can also choose, if the modeled thrusters for some reason don't work, to add a bunch of smaller thruster points, and give a similar effect that will not have a massive glow blotting out the detail.

And in my opinion it's moved too far to the upper part of the engine pod.

the retail pof had its modeled thrusters on the top half of the upper two engines. Hence our engine locations.

Exactly.  If you look closely at the original FS1 pof, the thrusters emit from only the top half of each engine pod.  The full-size exhaust flame was introduced at some point during the FreeSpace Port project and has bugged me since forever.

Love it, especially the cockpit area.  It's smooth enough to look good, and I think it looks like a smoother, more realistic version of what the FS1 model might have been trying to portray.

Thanks, Solatar!  When I modeled the cockpit I was going off the original concept art for the Apollo, which did appear to be smoother than the original.  I believe Hades used the concept and the original FS1 model as references for the body, and I think he pulled off a masterful blend of the two.  His version isn't as heavily greebled as the concept art, but I think it's all the better for it.