Light fighter [early WIP]

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Sun Apr 14, 2013 1:08 pm

Hi all,

I couldn't resist, I started working on another ship for in game.
The design is based off one of the ships from the 'Tachyon The Fringe ship pack' by Gibbon, which is freely available on the net.
More info >here<.

I always liked the overall design of the ships, but not so much the way they were designed. I took one of the ships and basically broke it down and am building it back up, cleaning up the mesh and changing the design the way I like it.

It's an early work in progress, but here are the first sneak peaks:

Still a lot of work to do, I'll update as the project progresses.

~ Viper.

[Edited on 4-14-2013 by Viper]

Busch · Post by **Busch** » Sun Apr 14, 2013 1:13 pm

Looks immanently flyable!

49rTbird · Post by **49rTbird** » Sun Apr 14, 2013 2:34 pm

Sleek!:)

Dingo · Post by **Dingo** » Sun Apr 14, 2013 2:53 pm

Nice work as usual. Looks kinda like a Nova.

Post by **DaveK** » Mon Apr 15, 2013 2:46 pm

It probably won't improve by combat skills, but I'll certainly go out looking cool!:P

Good to see you back creating for the community!

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Mon Apr 15, 2013 4:05 pm

From post: 161193, Topic: tid=10768, author=DaveK wrote:It probably won't improve by combat skills, but I'll certainly go out looking cool!:P

Good to see you back creating for the community!

You never know about improving combat skills with a cool looking ship.
Installing a horn at a specific frequency might do the trick,
after all it was sound waves at a specific frequency that brought down the mighty walls of Jericho!.....

:P

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Mon Apr 15, 2013 4:31 pm

Lol at the both of youz.

From post: 161139, Topic: tid=10768, author=Dingo wrote:Nice work as usual. Looks kinda like a Nova.

Which Nova did you mean? The one from the X Universe games?

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Mon Apr 15, 2013 6:07 pm

Another small update:

Added tail fins and rear bottom stabilizers
Implemented the cockpit (note the visible glass frame and the indented glass)
Finalizing shapes
Cleaning up the mesh for mapping

If someone wants to make a suggestion for a feature he would like to see on the ship, this would be the time for it. Please keep them realistic, I'm not gonna add missiles underneath the wings which can't actually be launched, or add fluffy dice behind the windscreen lol. I've kept the model very low-poly (around 500), so there's plenty of 'room' for additions. The game can take up to 10.000 poly's per object.

If no suggestions come in, I'll start working on making some decent maps for the model. When this is done, no more changes will be made to the model itself.
I plan on releasing the maps themselves as well, so people can edit the texture or even create their very own with a bit of GIMP- or Photoshop creativity.

If there are people who want to make a suggestion in regards to the default texture, feel free to present them and I'll take them into consideration. Examples of ships from movies, games etc might help.

Here's the WIP preview:

Edit:
I've made the model somewhat wider. You can compare the first and second top views to see the difference (it's in the wings). I'm not sure which looks better, but if the community prefers one over the other just let me know.

~ Viper.

[Edited on 4-15-2013 by Viper]

Post by **Marvin** » Mon Apr 15, 2013 6:45 pm

My only suggestion would be to make the canopy conform to EM's cockpit canopy ... meaning the curved strut layout. Unless, of course, you plan to build a new cockpit.

Busch · Post by **Busch** » Mon Apr 15, 2013 6:52 pm

The addition of the dorsal and ventral aft stabilizers give it a certain panache in profile!

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 5:56 pm

From post: 161217, Topic: tid=10768, author=Busch wrote:The addition of the dorsal and ventral aft stabilizers give it a certain panache in profile!

Thanks. I wasn't sure whether or not to add them, I also liked the cleaner looking design without them. Slightly prefer the one with the stabilizers though, so we're going with that.

From post: 161216, Topic: tid=10768, author=Marvin wrote:My only suggestion would be to make the canopy conform to EM's cockpit canopy ... meaning the curved strut layout. Unless, of course, you plan to build a new cockpit.

Lol no I wasn't really planning on designing a new cockpit. I might do that at some point in the future, but - probably against expectations - there's a whole lot more work involved in designing a cockpit than there is in designing a ship.

I did build the cockpit to generally resemble those used in EM, but tbh didn't really try to make an exact match. But now that you mention that, I'm pretty such a cockpit would be appreciated, so I'll have another go at it and try to make a canopy with the dual arched struts thingy going on.

~ Viper.

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 6:08 pm

On second thought, a curvy canopy would not fit the otherwise edgy design of the ship, so I'd rather not do that. What could be a viable alternative, is to remove the extruding canopy struts, and make the whole canopy one smooth glass surface, like in the first preview.

If no-one else cares either way, I'll leave it up to you Marv.

Busch · Post by **Busch** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 7:06 pm

Well, if the wing and thruster set for your mod could conform to those in-situ. Specifically, those sets which include both verticle and horizontal planar surfaces... You'll have a multi-role strike fighter w/ spot-on atmospheric combat control that's unimpeachable. Of course, it may just be my sole observation of this phenom among the offered/stock wing-sets. However, I've noticed a certain subtle stability of flight controls, in all axes of movement, with those that have the pair. And then, it may also be due in part to the expanded control features Vice has built into ship command & control/flight operations by default. My "taste" is all in my mouth.... but I suggest keeping the low profile of the vertical stabilizers as you currently have them...tastefully done!

As for your cockpit efforts...I don't fly the cockpit view, rather the 3rd person chase view - and no glass or struts. If all you're considering is a mod or adaptation of those... Wouldn't something more in line with the current in-game view offering be workable ? Or, do you plan to move or remove the bow view, forward of what appears to be the canopy as you have it currently depicted ?

I've allways liked, nay enjoyed (!), flying your creative efforts, friend Viper !

I'm very happy that you've "returned" to our gi-normous community, and are yet again offering your craftwork.

Thank you!

-splosives- · Post by **-splosives-** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 8:26 pm

Will you be making one for all military frames?

Post by **Marvin** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 8:51 pm

Your current strut configuration resembles that of the terrain walker ... perhaps it even corresponds to the alternate cockpit which is already available in the game options. I'll need to check it out. But, if matching canopy to cockpit is the objective, then removing all the struts wouldn't work.

Frost N7 · Post by **Frost N7** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 8:51 pm

welcome back , love the armored/speedy combo of it all

SchiTzo · Post by **SchiTzo** » Wed May 29, 2013 12:25 am

Viper is this still in progress? Love seeing the styling of Tachyon ported over... Loved the hell outa that game and still have it installed (took a bit to get it working in win7 64bit environment) but look forward to seeing what you do with it..

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Sun Jun 02, 2013 2:31 pm

Right now it's on hold, like a few other things. I'm working on completing something else at the moment, and things like this are on my list of 'things to finish' as soon as I have the time.