It's a difficult one to find a good view on. It's actually surprisingly thick, it's just that the forward detail gives the illusion that it's a particularly flat vessel. I'll draft up some orthographic views next time I'm on my computer. Either way, looking at it, I'm still not 100% on the design. It may (very likely) see revision to get it back in line with the concept I first had years ago.

Also DarthKev, you would appear to be right. Honestly, I wasn't trying to follow your design when I did it; there must have been something in my subconscious that kept your ship lodged in my mind.

The original Monolith, drawn in crude graphite years ago, was mostly just a big rectangular brick with artillery at the front. I was trying to give it a certain treatment fitting in line with the new parts I have, but as I said, I'm still not entirely impressed with myself.

Fortunately, I've got a six hour ride ahead tomorrow, so I'll be trying to get some solid work done on a new model.

QUOTE (Delphi @ Jun 13 2010, 12:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Also DarthKev, you would appear to be right. Honestly, I wasn't trying to follow your design when I did it; there must have been something in my subconscious that kept your ship lodged in my mind.

Hey, I don't mind if you follow my designs. Like I said, you can even use them if you like. As I flatter you by using these pieces, you're welcome to flatter me by following my designs. It's really no problem. In fact, if one of my designs gets stuck in your head, I see that as an accomplishment.

I didn't get as much done on my road trip as I'd hoped, but I did throw these two ships together. They'll be in the game as little civilian "decoration" ships, not available through the shipyard.

If you think they don't have very much detail, it's because they don't have to. They'll have no big PICT beauty shots, and no shipyard picture. They only exist as tiny in-system craft buzzing around and providing contrast against the massive NDC cruisers. I'm also going to create a couple of personal spacecraft such as civilian shuttles and transports.

As a ranking military officer of either the NDC or the Enclave (depending which you side with), you'll always have access to much more powerful ships and technology, so it's assumed you wouldn't want to fly a garbage barge or an unarmed passenger transport.

Yes, I know that such ships are available from the beginning of Nova, but then again, from the beginning of Nova you are just a lowly trader. In Delphi you have bigger fish (and ships) to fry.

Nevertheless, Delphi, these look good. Sleek yet functional.

However, I must disagree with the decision to make them and others like them unavailable to players. What if players decides they want more of a challenge? Or if there's a mission requiring stealth, some players may want to downgrade to a civilian ship to go unnoticed. Sure they won't stand up very long (or at all) to combat ships, but they don't have to. They can just be there for the player to use. It is your TC, but I still don't like the idea. Fighters, sure, they can stay out of the player's access, but larger ships, even if they're still small by comparison, should be made available IMO.

One question, though: you mentioned players get to side with either the NDC or the Enclave Colonies. Is this through missions accepted in-game à la EVN, or at the start by picking a type of chär when creating your pilot?

This post has been edited by DarthKev : 14 June 2010 - 09:10 PM

The different storylines all start from the same character. Basically, you (the player) are still suffering memory loss after whatever massive accident almost did you in, and though the NDC has reclaimed your body and brought you back from the brink, you're still a little fuzzy on the details. The NDC officers basically tell you that you've got no reason to worry about the past, and that the future holds much more in the form of a massive final front against the Enclave. However, during the beginning of this campaign, you soon find yourself relentlessly hunted by a particular Enclave fleet and the officer commanding it, who keeps slipping you subtle clues that there might have been something far more nefarious behind your "incident". They offer you asylum if you want to learn what really happened, but doing so will pit you against the same people that saved your life, and you'll be branded an outcast from "normal" civilization.

I've thought up a lot of moral choices for the game, everything from the basics of ethical espionage to hard, horrible lesser-of-two-evils decisions, such as saving a world and its people from annihilation or sacrificing information to your enemy.

Also DarthKev, these ships aren't the type you'd want in the first place. I'm not even joking, they're like the Cargo Drones from Nova. They just drift around the system as decorative items, and their statistics mean that any "challenge" they could offer would be far too steep. Even Qaanol wouldn't be able to win the game in one of these. They're absolutely miniscule. Only two or three decks, and no weapon hardpoints (except for the police ship, which has one light pulse cannon). Don't worry, there's still going to be other civilian ships that you can purchase if you so choose, it's just these ones you don't really want.

Basically, these are the stock-car traffic vehicles in street-racing video games, or the audience to a gladiatorial tournament. The only reason they're going into the game in the first place is so that the systems look like they have some commerce going on. Otherwise I'd just use the primary ship set.

For further elaboration, let it simply be known that the police ship can be taken out with only three pulse cannon shots.

EDIT: If you really want to try them though, I'll create a way to get you into one.

This post has been edited by Delphi : 14 June 2010 - 09:35 PM

Ah, I see. You didn't say that before. As for making a way for players to use them anyway, forget it. If I change my mind, I can just 'hack' my way in through editing the files.

Finally. It took half the night away from me, but I got progress done on the first of hopefully many unique Enclave ships. As you'll see in the design, they share many components with the NDC, albeit simply because of shared technology and several stolen blueprints. That, and the guy making the models (me) is just slightly lazy. It all comes out in the wash (render) though, so any distinctive similarities you see now will quickly disappear when you're playing the game.

The Horizon cruiser is the main warship of the Enclave Colonies, and serves as a proving ground for all of their advances in gravitational energy manipulation. Where stolen NDC vessels simply cannot be adapted to fit new tech, the Horizon fills the gap and gives the Enclave the defensive power they so very much need. Far greater in agility than a vessel of its size should be capable of, the Horizon is often employed in single ship hit-and-run assaults, where its speed is not hampered by fleet formation. However, in the event that it is possible, an entire battle group comprised of nothing but Horizons will be put together for maximum striking power and uniform functionality across the squad. The ship carries two continuous-fire electromag lasers, and two graviton cannons. Though the ship's power center is slow to recover the energy spent in the firing of its high-powered guns, the size of the energy reserves on the ship allow several seconds of continuous firing before being forced to recharge.

Game-wise, the Horizon is a mid-sized cruiser, capable of holding its own against several NDC ship classes slightly larger than itself, on account of its superior maneuverability. It comes in several flavors, each spec'd for different types of operations, and some of which carry graviton technology not available on any other spacecraft.

Also, here's two more shots of the Monolith. I know that picture on the previous page wasn't exactly beautiful, so hopefully this'll show you the slightly more hefty elements of the cruiser.

The Horizon is very unique. I like how whereas the NDC appears to focus on brutish, more blocky designs, the Enclave seems to enjoy the usage of more... shapes, for lack of better terminology. Maybe "dynamic" is the word. The Horizon employs more exaggerated features than the Monolith.

You know what, I don't even know what I'm talking about anymore

QUOTE (king_of_manticores @ Jun 16 2010, 09:25 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The Horizon is very unique. I like how whereas the NDC appears to focus on brutish, more blocky designs, the Enclave seems to enjoy the usage of more... shapes, for lack of better terminology. Maybe "dynamic" is the word. The Horizon employs more exaggerated features than the Monolith.

You know what, I don't even know what I'm talking about anymore

The Enclave takes time to cover the internal components of its vessels, even if just decoratively, while the NDC simply throws pieces together and measures the firepower.

That about sum up what you were getting at?

There's actually a trick that I use when doing component-based modeling like this. I choose a focus piece, and try to build the model around it. In the case of the NDC, I'll usually throw a couple of engine blocks into my workspace, position them into the framework of a ship's thruster assembly, and then fill in the rest of the ship around them. This usually creates a vessel that has very brutal thrusters, such as the Cyphus class heavy cruiser from a few pages back. If I want to make an artillery platform, I may start with cannon enclosures and construct an assembly to hold them, with engines being something of an afterthought. This is evident in the Falconridge class, which has its entire focus on the primary guns.

To build the Enclave ships, I'm focusing heavily on the "plate" objects that I included in the ship component library. I'll place several plates in the workspace, move them around to get a general idea of the boundaries of the craft, and fill the space between with ship material. Just as the method worked for guns and engines for the NDC ships, the Enclave ships will look very plated and flat because of the core component focus of the model.

It's also a great way to inspire creativity. Take a piece from the library that you'd otherwise never think of using as a basis for a ship, and decide how you're going to build a vessel around it. It's like SketchUp Iron Chef, and the component is your challenge ingredient.

@Delphi
Yep, pretty much. Don't get me wrong, both styles are really jaw-dropping. If we're going to be talking food here, a sample of what the Enclave's got isn't enough to satisfy me.

This post has been edited by king_of_manticores : 16 June 2010 - 02:04 PM

I usually start with the core of the ship and go out from there, the design really manifests itself from that point. Sometimes I try to shape the model into a specific shape beforehand, but usually i just get the basic internal structure and go from there. The Wyvern was originally supposed to have large wings coming off at the point of where the engines are and have a tail of sorts extending behind with engines on that. As I went, though, you can see that didn't happen.

Unfortunately, I seem to be the only one still using these pieces other than Delphi. It really is a shame, the possibilities are literally limitless. If one desires, you can even (almost) recreate Star Trek and Star Wars ships. I've even done a few. They're in URL tags instead of image tags to save space.

• Rebel A-Wing
• Rebel X-Wing
• Rebel Y-Wing
• Starfleet Nova Class
• Starfleet Akira Class
• Starfleet Prometheus Class

Now, I know it seems cheap to base models on existing ships, but when they weren't made from these pieces to begin with, it takes a degree of creativity to come up with ways to make them work.

But seriously, why aren't more people using this opportunity?

Personally, I'd feel like I was 'cheating' or relying too much on another persons work if I were to use these pieces for any of my own purposes (Not that I imply that of anyone else, just how I feel about making ships when it comes to myself), and the only thing I knocked up is a tiny interceptor thing, probably computer-driven, which would be far too small, and rather lacking in complexity, compared to the scale of Delphi's ships. Oh well, I'll chuck it up here anyway.

EDIT: Just remembered about the other topic, will post the image and dl in there, don't want to detract from this topic.

This post has been edited by Technomancer : 16 June 2010 - 08:21 PM

Here's another Enclave ship, based off of the hull from the larger Horizon class. The Zenith class cruiser is a lighter ship, normally assigned to solo patrol or escort duty. It works well as a general multipurpose craft, and its even balance between weaponry and cargo space makes it a popular choice for the delivery of important goods that would otherwise be hijacked from lesser freighters by passing NDC patrol craft.

Basically, the ship is a freighter in function, but flies like a top-of-the-line high performance corvette, and has a surprising ability to defend itself. Sort of like the "Millennium Falcon" of the Enclave.

By the way, a large majority of the Enclave-specific ships are going to have that "trojan horse"-like crest rising from the fuselage in one form of another. Inside is part of the ship's graviton core, which requires the use of specialized cooling rods aligned perpendicular to the ship's axis of thrust. However, this also gives the vessel a large amount of surface area on which to employ weapon mounts.

Personally, I actually like the Enclave ships better than those of the NDC. Even when they were just sketches on paper, I had this idea of vertically-aligned plated battleships that I was absolutely sure I wanted to use for the Enclave; a design that looks so human (think skyscrapers) and yet looks just somewhat unnatural compared to the common idea of a starship.

Here's just a little side-by-side comparison between the Horizon and the Zenith cruisers. The Zenith is slightly smaller, though it's not as noticeable in this picture because it's difficult to determine the distance between the two.

I still really like the Zenith. However, I'm not so sure on the name. I want something a little more solid-sounding. "Zenith" sounds too 50's pulp sci-fi, like some cheesy 'space broadcast' reading the headline, "The Martian fleet put up a strong defense, but eventually our intrepid Zenith Mark 5 cruisers and their microwave guns broke the line and landed on the surface."

Following the name of the Horizon cruiser though, I definitely want to use a term related to stellar cartography.

Here's an artillery cruiser for the Enclave, a prime example of the combination of Enclave and NDC shipbuilding technology. In the case of this vessel, it is most likely that the Enclave stole parts and designs for the artillery module attached to the both the Imperator and Athena class starships. Their own fuselage is grafted into this weapon core, granting them the technological superiority of their unique engines, and creating a maneuverable battleship capable of hurling death and carnage over long distances.

Somebody a long number of pages ago suggested the idea of "junk" starships, made out of parts and pieces from wrecks. Some of these Enclave hybrids are probably the closest you'll get.

You mentioned not liking 'Zenith' but still wanting to go with something in stellar cartography like 'Horizon'. How about 'Twilight'? 'Twilight Class Cruiser' has a nice ring to it, methinks.

QUOTE (DarthKev @ Jun 17 2010, 03:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You mentioned not liking 'Zenith' but still wanting to go with something in stellar cartography like 'Horizon'. How about 'Twilight'? 'Twilight Class Cruiser' has a nice ring to it, methinks.

Yeah, but then there's that horrid part of my brain that has become forever bitterly pickled toward anything related to Stephanie Meyer's tween vampire book smut, including the title thereof. For some reason, I'll never be able to enjoy the end of the day any more, simply because all I can think of is thousands of 14-year-old girls simultaneously screaming, "Oh my god, Twilight is such a good book they even named a time of day after it!"

Sorry, but I'm extremely picky when it comes to literature.

However, thinking of my boiling rage for the upcoming movie, "Eclipse", I'd not be so much against calling it the Ecliptic class cruiser, named for the invisible path the zodiac and the sun follows through the sky. It also fits well as a counterpart to the Horizon cruiser, as the horizon and the ecliptic are both of the elements used in determination of primitive stellar coordinates, namely measures of right-ascension and declination.

I'd say that sounds a lot better. The Horizon is the greater ship, while the Ecliptic is its counterpart.

Thanks for the brainstorm, DarthKev.

EDIT (Addendum): By the way, I'm sorry if that first bit comes across as offensive to you and your suggestion. I actually like the name "Twilight", but its just the connotations in the real world that are steering me away from it. As I said though, you inspired me to find another name anyway, so good on you!

This post has been edited by Delphi : 17 June 2010 - 05:02 PM