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Originally posted by Taoist:
First, how do I find/create textures?...I need some for Polaris (that funky black "skin") ships as well as just some metal looking textures for ships
I find it's best to make em yrself; do you have Photoshop, perhaps? There are also people who offer pre-made textures; I think Captain Skyblade is one. Onxy also has some tips on textures and lighting: http://www.integraonline.com/~ckey/3d/
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How might I make thrust/running lights graphics?
For running lights use point lights, and put them inside spheres of the appropriate color. Engine flares obviously depend on the look you're going for; even in Nova there's a pretty good variety.
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How does one make a ship transparent a la the Vell-os ships?
When you're making textures you can adjust the transparency with the alpha channel of the base color, and for more flexibility you can also use the 'finish' component to play with transparency. With finish you can do things like vary density, but to make Vell-os-lookin ships I think you'll need to do more than just make the model and then turn it transparent: I imagine you'll need to use multiple transparent objects inside each other to make it look good.
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Finally, how would I create shapes that are...to put it vaguely...abnormal?
First, make sure you increase the subdivision value of the object. Then, for a 'splat,' I'd use a sphere with a couple of rib transforms on it. But I admit I'm far from sure what exactly you mean! 
With more details I'd be able to do better (if you could post or send me a sketch would be the best).
And of course, check out (url="http://"http://squibix.net/mech-ev")http://squibix.net/mech-ev(/url) for more information! 
(This message has been edited by Danny (edited 08-19-2002).)
