I promised I was going to create some sort of massive super-freighter that features prominently in the game, much like the Leviathan of EVN, and here it is.

I'm really not sure what the name should be - there was a lot of debate a long time ago on the name of the behemoth - and I might want to modify the design here and there to clean up certain portions, but in either situation, this gives you the general idea of what I'm aiming for. It has a little element of Star Destroyer in there for flavor, but for the most part I tried to make it unique.

My first thought was, as you probably expected, "Heh, Delphi made a Star Destroyer." And yet, it still has the basic structure of the Hoover ship, sort of like the Hoover ship with all its armour plates peeled off. This version also seems to be heavily armed with what looks like four Nichron Cannons imbedded in the wings and two more attached to the pod on top, possibly the bridge, or sensors.

Overall, I love it and can't wait to turn one into an über-warship.

This post has been edited by DarthKev : 29 May 2010 - 05:20 PM

QUOTE (DarthKev @ May 29 2010, 04:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This version also seems to be heavily armed with what looks like four Nichron Cannons imbedded in the wings and two more attached to the pod on top, possibly the bridge, or sensors.

Really, weapon housings are a universal component in the Delphi universe, with the weapon exterior often being drastically different than the equipment inside. All weapon housings are really just heavily-shielded cannon barrels, so the barrel of a Nichron cannon can be the same as the housing for a lowly pulse cannon, but with completely different inner workings. However, the details on the lower hull you are talking about are indeed artillery cannons, albeit the stock ones are weaker than most military load-outs. On the upper hull, the weapon mounts are designed to be customized according to the mission parameters, but by default it holds two repeating enhanced pulse cannons to clear debris and wreckage away from in front of the craft, or to storm an enemy blockade.

The ship itself is designed with a massive cavity within the body capable of being repurposed for almost any scenario, whether that be carrying hundred of tons of food between worlds, hauling entire starship components to a shipyard, or carrying fighters into a battlefield as an impromptu carrier. Though the ship doesn't have the proper facilities for fighter maintenance, it can carry pre-armed attack ships to the front line, open its ventral cargo doors, and drop the ships into space for use. However, the prohibitively high cost of manufacturing one of these freighters is so high that such a maneuver would only be performed in the most dire circumstances.

Orthographic views of the freighter.

OH FRI--

falls out of chair

You sure that's supposed to be a freighter? Looks like a beastly frontline war terror to me.

It is the front line. Sweet ship Delphi and I do like your explanation of the whole cannons being shielded from the outside and inner workings are different. How long did it take you to make that?

just found out the best way to create rings is to start with a radial gradient (B&W is fine) and then use the Curves feature in image adjustments. play around with it. It might also make it colorful. You can lower the saturation/tint it with another color to make it more realistic.

If you duplicate your ring layer and set the new layer's blending style to "dissolve" at say, 8%, you can make it look like there are little rocks in the ring.

Delphi, the more I see, the more I'm impressed. I also get the feeling you must be a witch or something. I mean seriously, that ship is amazing, downright amazing! And it is a freighter. That's what makes it even more impressive.

The ship design itself is more than 300 years old, going all the way back to the fledgling days of the Nova Defense Coalition as an cohesive universal government (up to that a point, the NDC was just a corporate-military branch of the democratic government in power). In an effort to rapidly establish colonies on distant, newly discovered worlds, the NDC commissioned fleets of these massive mega-freighters to haul entire station-sized shipments of food, ore, and equipment to and from settled planets. As the drive for colonial expansion dwindled as a result of the conflict with the Enclave Colonies, many of these freighters were refitted as mobile stations, albeit with very limited defenses. Breakthroughs in energy management technology on super-sized starships eventually enabled the vessels to carry the venerable Nichron Cannon without the use of additional reactors, instead feeding off of one of the vessel's two TC/IER-91 power cores. Now, this ship can be found filling a number of roles, between transporting thousands of troops, housing hundreds of personnel, or even anchored in geosynchronous orbit above a planet as a launching platform for supply drops. Overall, the entire ship is completely customizable, and could best be called an "interstellar city".

Your character begins the game aboard on of these ships (not piloting it, sorry), which has been converted into a mobile medical facility. Smaller craft can use this absolutely massive portable station to refuel and re-arm, and in the event that a Dominant is not available for fleet support, one of these craft can step in and fill the role.

I'm thinking of calling it the Atlas class, simply for its impressive stature and incredible carrying capacity.

So players get the tiny shuttle you showed us earlier as our first craft, and we get it from this medical station. I guess it makes sense we'd be at a hospital of some kind; floating in space for a year or two can do that to ya.

QUOTE (DarthKev @ May 30 2010, 04:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So players get the tiny shuttle you showed us earlier as our first craft, and we get it from this medical station. I guess it makes sense we'd be at a hospital of some kind; floating in space for a year or two can do that to ya.

Right on the money. Basically, a shuttle isn't the stigmatic symbol of a lowly trader that it is in Nova; it's just a smaller, more personal method of conveyance. The head brass basically gives you a medical evaluation at the start of the game and says they're not quite sure if you're ready to return to active duty. They give you the company car (a shuttle) and tell you to take a few weeks off, to get back on your feet. It's during this time that players are introduced to the more civilian-natured missions in the game, such as carrying passengers around, if they so choose. The military makes it clear that you'll be receiving compensation each day (credits) while you recover, but you can offer your services to others for a while if you want additional cash flow. It's even possible to apply for a civilian shipping license and begin the minor story arc of a trader character. Here's a tip: If you want to fly an Atlas, you'll have to pursue this career all the way to completion. It's a bit of hard work, especially if you're going to do the story at the same time, but the payoff is worth it. A military heavy weapons license combined with the freighter license to fly the Atlas means that you can convert almost the entire cargo bay into weapons space and turn it into the "beastly front line war terror" that King_of_manticores suggested. I figure there's not usually enough incentive to play a trader for more than the first few hours in Nova, and I want to reward players that don't forget their shipping roots.

QUOTE (IT 000 @ May 29 2010, 08:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It is the front line. Sweet ship Delphi and I do like your explanation of the whole cannons being shielded from the outside and inner workings are different. How long did it take you to make that?

About six hours at a time over two days.

QUOTE (Delphi @ May 27 2010, 07:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Have fun, and show me your results! The download link is at the bottom of the post.

Download Link
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ship Component Library 1

922 KB - MegaUpload

Are you able to export those files to .obj, or something similar?

QUOTE (Insomniac @ May 30 2010, 08:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are you able to export those files to .obj, or something similar?

I don't see why not. Do you need them in OBJ format? I should warn you in advance, the UV mapping gets screwed up by the way that SketchUp handles faces, so texturing can be a pain unless you can re-assert the planar coordinates.

QUOTE (Delphi @ May 31 2010, 03:36 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't see why not. Do you need them in OBJ format? I should warn you in advance, the UV mapping gets screwed up by the way that SketchUp handles faces, so texturing can be a pain unless you can re-assert the planar coordinates.

Yeah, I think I can align them all again. Is there a better format to export to? See, I just know that Obj will work.
I'm simply trying to see the kind of shapes you use to put your ships together. That way I might learn how to make stuff like that. I've never been good with randomized detail like that. I am good with precision smooth modeling, such as:
http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/4304/jet4.png
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/9773/picture2zo.jpg

but I have projects that I've been sitting on that require a mix, such as:
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/8535/shipb.jpg

I adore randomized detail for ships, but I can't use SketchUp without my brain dying from the bloody stupid move tool. I second a request for .obj, please.

QUOTE (Delphi @ May 29 2010, 06:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Orthographic views of the freighter.

You know what that looks like? It looks like an Old Republic Acclamator -class troopship ( Attack of the Clones ). I agree with the others: something like that would do better as a midsize warship than a freighter.

mispost

This post has been edited by StarSword : 31 May 2010 - 01:03 AM

QUOTE (Delphi @ May 30 2010, 05:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

and turn it into the "beastly front line war terror" that King_of_manticores suggested.

QUOTE (Delphi @ May 30 2010, 05:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I figure there's not usually enough incentive to play a trader for more than the first few hours in Nova, and I want to reward players that don't forget their shipping roots.

If I can captain the Atlas, then a prize like that will probably get me to test it out. That's a pretty interesting notion that I don't think anyone's really thought of, but then again, you are quite the trailblazer, Delphi.

This post has been edited by king_of_manticores : 31 May 2010 - 01:21 AM

Wow StarSword, what did you do when posting? I got four (yes, four) e-mails all about your one post to this thread. Serious lag, my guess.

Templar, is Sketchup's move tool really that bad? I can see what you mean, but it's a simple matter of camera angle. Fiddle with it, you'll figure it out. Basically, if I can do it, you can do it... unless you have ADD or something.

QUOTE (StarSword @ May 30 2010, 11:42 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You know what that looks like? It looks like an Old Republic Acclamator -class troopship ( Attack of the Clones ). I agree with the others: something like that would do better as a midsize warship than a freighter.

Don't worry, the resemblance is more than noted. However, I think that it's time that Star Wars had its monopoly on wedge-shaped cruisers challenged.

The ship is a difficult one to classify, because it isn't like most of the civilian freighters you'd normally find in EVN. Imagine a cargo ship (the oceanic, modern type) as if it was built by the manufacturers of the Tiger I tank in World War 2. The Atlas is a perfect example of a military approach to a civilian endeavor, where thoughts of power and defense encroach on the vessel's primary function: hauling cargo. The Atlas is supposed to be a ship that started from humble civilian roots, but was refitted time and time again to become a Frankenstein-like amalgamation of civilian and military interests; half freighter, half battleship. The innards of the vessel differ according to what it has been repurposed for, ranging from luxurious executive suites and offices, to dingy armor-plated barracks hallways and weapons storage. It really is a flying station when it comes down to it, and its internal demographics reflect such in each of the different places it can be found. Outer colonies will likely see the vessel in its original format: carrying countless tons of cargo around, and sporting very few armaments. Settlements on the front line against the Enclave will probably bear witness to Atlas freighters bearing military-grade artillery weaponry, fending off approaching enemy fleets while the defense force organizes a retaliation.

Also, it's one of the few freighters in the game that actually has an entire refit package for it (like the Starbridge in EVN) that converts it into a potent artillery platform and mobile star-base. Like I said, it's something of an odd ship, in that it is a warship, but it's also a freighter.