[rhettro]

A very early stage to get massing right.

[niffiwan]

uh oh, stupidly overpowered ship alert!!!

Early days, but obviously recognisable & looks good so far.  To me it looks more like the TIE version than the XWA version, which is a good thing.

[Flak]

Modified Cauldron Born torso?

[headdie]

ahhhh the assault shuttle

[zookeeper]

Missile boat, eh? Just in case you haven't read it, TomShak's assault gunboat thread has quite a bit of discussion and ideas, most of which probably apply rather equally to both ships.

[Deathsnake]

I see burning Calamari cruiser

[rhettro]

Missile boat, eh? Just in case you haven't read it, TomShak's assault gunboat thread has quite a bit of discussion and ideas, most of which probably apply rather equally to both ships.

Yep it's the Missile Boat. I'm trying to figure out what direction I want to take it. FYI I started to rough out the Assault Gunboat as well and started to tinker with the Slave-1.  I'm trying out my three ships at once idea.

[swashmebuckle]

Aww, I had forgotten about how TomShak just up and disappeared

Good luck on the missile boat, rhettro! All of my suggestions from the AssBoat thread apply here too

[CountBuggula]

If you're going to take a stab at the gunboat, I believe the discussion resolved at a consensus between Chief and Brand to go towards a slightly larger two-seater (side-by-side) with strong lambda shuttle cues.  The Missile Boat is a completely different ship and there really hasn't been any talk about it that I'm aware of, so take it in whatever direction you wish.

Personally, it was never my favorite ship at all (and yes, I played all the way through Tie Fighter and XWA) so I'm looking forward to seeing if you can come up with something that will wow me.


Edit:

Ok, we probably should have some discussion about the direction this ship could go in, especially if both the gunboat and the missile boat are going to make it in.  I think it's important that there are distinct differences in their roles.  In my mind, the gunboat is a larger, less maneuverable but extremely hard hitting and packing heavy firepower suited to taking on larger capital ships or installations.  Instead of a space supremacy fighter (which the Empire already has in the TIE Fighter and Intercepter), perhaps the missile boat should be loaded with smaller but long range anti-starfighter missiles that can be used in an area denial role.  Deadly at longer range, but can't go toe to toe with an X-Wing or A-Wing if it's able to bring the fight into close range.

Those are just my thoughts, and hopefully a way that could make this a useful and unique craft without it being hated for being OP.

[rhettro]

I appreciate your comments Count. These ships are still in the embryonic stages so I'm sure there'll be plenty of time for community input. That said, I don't see any of my current work going into the main FOTG release, more likely mod assets for people who want to create missions with these specific ships in mind.  I haven't played Tie Fighter or XWA (although I would like too), and based on what I've read people seem to think that the Gun and Missile Boats where over powered, much like the Tie Defender. I'm not too concerned with that at this stage, I'm more focused on how they will look. I have read through Tom Shak's thread and plan on basically recreating his model as a starting point, then adding a few personal touches and then bring it back for some more community input. Like you, I feel I have more freedom to do whatever I want with the Missile Boat as it is less defined. The Slave on the other hand, is quite well documented and I'm going to try to make as faithful a version as I can.

[swashmebuckle]

Random thought: one niche the missile boat could potentially fill in the Imperial arsenal is that of a fast torpedo attack platform. While TIE Bombers do most of the heavy hitting beyond the range of their carrier ship's guns, they are very slow and therefore don't dramatically augment a Star Destroyer's ability to run down a given target (we don't see them deployed to chase after the falcon in ESB even though the TIE fighters have a hard time damaging her with their pew-pew lasers). TIE Interceptors greatly increase a Destroyer's reach, but they don't pack enough punch to do something like disable the engines of a corvette before it can escape a planet's gravity well.

The missile boat could basically be a light version of the armament of a DX-9 transport (lots of torps and ions) strapped to a big pair of engines. This would mesh well with the ship's previous incarnations as it had some sort of ludicrous afterburner in the old games (which we would undoubtedly tone down, but I think making it as fast as a Y-wing or Headhunter would be reasonable). Balance it out by making it useless at dogfighting due to a lack of maneuverability and a tendency to explode spectacularly if sneezed on by an actual starfighter and it could be pretty fun.

[CountBuggula]

Random thought: one niche the missile boat could potentially fill in the Imperial arsenal is that of a fast torpedo attack platform. While TIE Bombers do most of the heavy hitting beyond the range of their carrier ship's guns, they are very slow and therefore don't dramatically augment a Star Destroyer's ability to run down a given target (we don't see them deployed to chase after the falcon in ESB even though the TIE fighters have a hard time damaging her with their pew-pew lasers). TIE Interceptors greatly increase a Destroyer's reach, but they don't pack enough punch to do something like disable the engines of a corvette before it can escape a planet's gravity well.

The missile boat could basically be a light version of the armament of a DX-9 transport (lots of torps and ions) strapped to a big pair of engines. This would mesh well with the ship's previous incarnations as it had some sort of ludicrous afterburner in the old games (which we would undoubtedly tone down, but I think making it as fast as a Y-wing or Headhunter would be reasonable). Balance it out by making it useless at dogfighting due to a lack of maneuverability and a tendency to explode spectacularly if sneezed on by an actual starfighter and it could be pretty fun.

That's actually precisely the kind of role I thought would fit more with the Assault Gunboat.  Fast, not as maneuverable, loaded with gobs of heavy weapons, able to damage capital ships.

[Hobbie]

Don't forget, it has to live up to the nickname of King Hell God Emperor Starfighter Of Death.

[mandobardanjusik]

Oh boy, hope this doesnt have a repeat of the curse, but good luck to you rhettro, hope it works out wel... for me its sad I have 2 ships in post modeling limbo and havent figured out a next ship to feel very inspired about... oh well, but best of luck