I would help, but that video does it.

I'm performing some minor graphical work on the ship sprites, namely resizing some of them and correcting weapon exit points and shan compression. I discovered a near catch-all compression value set, and its fairly easy to work with. All the sprites I render are shot from a two-thirds overhead angle, also measurable as 60° above the horizon. This way you get a general top-down sense of the sprite, but it still catches just a little bit of the edge of the ship at the bottom of the screen. If you are rendering your sprites from the same camera angle, you should be able to get generally accurate weapon exit points by using the following compression values.

UpCompressX 0
UpCompressY 80
DnCompressX 110
DnCompressY 0

I know that most of the Nova sprites have values entered into UpX and DnY, but I found that if you are particular about setting good values in the regular exit point fields, you won't even need to use UpX and DnY at all. In other words, if you have created a ship with big pontoons (like my Scimitar fighter), and during the "up" frame they look small at their tips, correct your Gun/Turret/Guided/Beam X value to match the "up" frame, and the "down" one should be taken care of by the DnCompressX value, which will spread it out. Conversely, adjust your Y exit points to fit properly on the ship's "down" frame, and the UpCompressY value will shrink it when the vessel turns away from you.

The same can certainly be done by smashing away at hodgepodge values in all four fields and trying for what looks best, but if you're methodical and careful when setting your initial points, the simplified compression values will save you a lot of time and prevent many headaches. Trust me on the latter. Of course, ships that are absolutely massive may require slight tweaking of the given values, but once again, you should only have to modify UpY and DnX.

Which begs a question: Meaker, what angle is the camera at in your file? Just good to know. I'd rather not have to figure out the compression values.

Title music. This project painfully needs some title music. I'm working with the Symphony Orchestra Garageband Jam Pack, and I'm doing my best to whip up a score. I was hit by sudden inspiration this morning around 4 AM, so I got to work.

Also, sorry about the lack of updates. School and work has been absolutely crazy. I am actually getting stuff done here behind the scenes, such as planet descriptions, but nothing I can really show with pretty screenshots.

May we hear this score when you're done?

When I click the megaupload link it says that the file is unavailable.

@king_of_manticores, on Oct 4 2010, 04:50 PM, said in EVN - Delphi:

May we hear this score when you're done?

Absolutely. It just depends on when it's done.

Spartan, which MU link are you referring to?

The energy weapons.

I just tested it, Jai. No problems here. In what way does it not work for you? Have you tried it again since? I won't pretend to be an expert on how internet services function (actually, I know nothing about how they work) but it's possible there was just some minor problem that's been resolved now.

It is now working. How odd.

With work and school taking up most of my time, it's difficult to find a moment to sit down and work on the project. Fortunately, I'm side-stepping this issue by tackling something I can do in small pieces at a time: descriptions. I won't have any picture updates for a while, but I'm still actively working when I can find time. My first order of business is to finish every description for every stellar in the Orion Core.

Okay, so maybe I fit in a little bit of rendering today during a rare bout of free time. I definitely like the Gammadon Class facing the other direction, where what used to be engines become massive guns instead. It looks really good alongside the Monolith, the cruiser its meant to complement. Basically, both are the staple workhorses of the NDC, but in different hull sizes. The Gammadon is sent to do regular duty in contested zones, while a Monolith may more typically be sent to scout uncharted space or to patrol the inner systems, though both are obviously very combat-capable.

The Gammadon makes heavy use of forward-facing weaponry, giving it a strong artillery advantage but leaving it vulnerable to small, quicker ships. It has only a few turret slots, so if you're using one, fill them well.

Here's the first Gammadon I've flown in the game with a dual Monolith escort. We're being buzzed across the stern by the local police.

The Gammadon is quite beautiful. My only qualm with it is that the guns seem a bit too exposed, but I can live with that because the ship is beyond epic.

I liked the Gammadon the other way around. Before it looked like a wraith of destruction, especially with those tails for engines. Now it looks like an overweight beetle. A very pretty and shiny beetle, but a beetle. Doesn't look very threatening to me.

On a side note, it looks like you've shrunk down the graphic for the Scimitar, as well as re-rendering it so it doesn't look like it's glowing blue. The NDC Daybreaker looks very nice.

@darthkev, on Oct 15 2010, 03:54 AM, said in EVN - Delphi:

I liked the Gammadon the other way around. Before it looked like a wraith of destruction, especially with those tails for engines. Now it looks like an overweight beetle. A very pretty and shiny beetle, but a beetle. Doesn't look very threatening to me.

On a side note, it looks like you've shrunk down the graphic for the Scimitar, as well as re-rendering it so it doesn't look like it's glowing blue. The NDC Daybreaker looks very nice.

Tell you what. I like the Gammadon facing both directions, so how about I add a reverse-angle one with slightly different architecture as an entirely unique ship class? I agree that the snub-nose appearance looks powerful, so I'll meet you halfway and the plug will ultimately benefit from having two glorious ships birthed from the same hull. I just need to patch together the engine struts on the original Gammadon because though it works as cannons, I'd like it a little more cohesive if it's going to be engines.

Now never say you didn't influence the creation of this project.

@king_of_manticores, on Oct 14 2010, 05:15 PM, said in EVN - Delphi:

The Gammadon is quite beautiful. My only qualm with it is that the guns seem a bit too exposed, but I can live with that because the ship is beyond epic.

The Gammadon is meant to be an example of ancient NDC engineering, back when their vessels were really nothing more than flying artillery pieces. The exposed tubes are by design. The truly old ones, no longer in service, were more of a weapon framework than they were ships. Lots of exposed mechanical components, and even lacking a radiation filter on their cannons. Crew were required to decontaminate nearly once every single week.

This "old ship" mentality works great if I'm going to create a reverse-facing version of the craft; perhaps a Gammadon II with an upgraded, modern NDC design?

@delphi, on Oct 15 2010, 11:22 AM, said in EVN - Delphi:

The Gammadon is meant to be an example of ancient NDC engineering, back when their vessels were really nothing more than flying artillery pieces. The exposed tubes are by design. The truly old ones, no longer in service, were more of a weapon framework than they were ships. Lots of exposed mechanical components, and even lacking a radiation filter on their cannons. Crew were required to decontaminate nearly once every single week.

This "old ship" mentality works great if I'm going to create a reverse-facing version of the craft; perhaps a Gammadon II with an upgraded, modern NDC design?

Cool, though I'm having trouble envisioning the Gammadon with the massive "guns" as engines. I dunno, the guns just really scream "insane ownage" to me, not "thruster systems", but I think it's safe to guess that you've got something up your sleeve to make the "guns" work as engines.

BTW, I have the 1337th post. The 1337th reply, on the other hand, can go to someone else.

This post has been edited by king_of_manticores : 15 October 2010 - 07:46 PM

@delphi, on Oct 14 2010, 05:16 PM, said in EVN - Delphi:

If you notice one of the ships buzzing the Monolith that is basically on top of it, you'll notice that it looks like a strut. A reccommendation would be to actually make that a strut and make it a little bit bigger. And I also like the Gammadon with the 'guns' being 'engines.

@king_of_manticores, on Oct 15 2010, 07:15 PM, said in EVN - Delphi:

BTW, I have the 1337th post. The 1337th reply, on the other hand, can go to someone else.

Huh?

@delphi, on Oct 15 2010, 11:16 AM, said in EVN - Delphi:

Now never say you didn't influence the creation of this project.

Why would I say that? You've already said I inspired a few ships in the past.

I thank you for the compromise, though. To be honest I was only offering my opinion. I never expected you to do anything about it.

@king_of_manticores, on Oct 15 2010, 04:15 PM, said in EVN - Delphi:

Cool, though I'm having trouble envisioning the Gammadon with the massive "guns" as engines.

Try this image. Or this one. Or even this one. Help any?

@spartan-jai, on Oct 15 2010, 06:23 PM, said in EVN - Delphi:

Huh?

1337 is something called 'Leet-Speak', where one replaces letters with numbers and symbols. It translates to elite. So by saying he has the 1337th post, manticore is saying he has the most elite post. Your post was the 1337th reply, so you had the most elite reply. If you look at the numbers, manticore's post is the 1,337th post. You post, being the 1,338th, is actually the 1,337th reply.

This post has been edited by DarthKev : 15 October 2010 - 09:31 PM

@darthkev, on Oct 15 2010, 07:26 PM, said in EVN - Delphi:

Try this image. Or this one. Or even this one. Help any?

Ah, yes, the old Gammadons are pretty freaking awesome. I second the idea of a reverse Gammadon after seeing those shots.