Request for a ship to model.

kark88 · Post by **kark88** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 12:28 am

I was wondering if there are any ships that need to be modelled, I have recently begun modelling in wings3d, and would enjoy modelling a ship/station/base. I would like some general pointers as to how the ship or base should look, so that it would fit in with the other models already in vegastrike.

I have been working on one ship which I had hoped would be a capship, though it is looking more like a fighter. I did not have any actual faction in mind when I was modelling it so I'm not sure it would fit in vegastrike.

without the back arch over the bridge, I think it looks more capshipish, though less pretty.

If you have any helpful critism on the ships, it would be appreciated.

tiny paintings · Post by **tiny paintings** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 12:47 am

The smooth-tool is nice but don't overuse it. You have a ridiculous amount of dead faces in that model.

I'm going to be honest here, the only picture I like is the backview (the second picture). To me it looks like it could be a small aeran ship from that angle (if you fix the engines), if you add "more of a fuselage" and make it look interesting from the other views as well.
In the other views it doesn't look like a fighter nor a capship to me. As I said, I'd go the "fighter" route - add a fuselage, keep the arch, make the "pointy things" thinner at the end...
Hope you appreciate me being sincere - people seem to only post good comments and leave the critics unsaid, which won't do anyone any good IMO.

Keep trying and you'll get it right! (Something that I always do before modelling is making a pen and paper sketch of what I try to accomplish, if I don't I always end up trashing what I have done)

kark88 · Post by **kark88** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 1:39 am

Thanks for the critique.

charlieg · Post by **charlieg** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 2:54 am

I quite like that model. It looks fairly grand. Although it has the basic 'shape' of a fighter, the "dead faces" gives it a kind of scale that makes it look like a cap ship.

As far as I'm concerned optimising a model can be done when the design is more or less right. That can't be more than a few hundred polys so why does it matter if there's dead faces?

Have you gotten around to doing any texturing yet, kark88?

Halleck · Post by **Halleck** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 7:36 am

TyKieL would have a cow if he saw this.

You certainly seem to like the smooth tool. I'd use it only sparingly. at least until you have a basic shape finalized.

Aeran ships should be made to look like they were carved out of a single block of material (even though this may not be the case),

(Out of my experience with wings, models are MUCH more flexible, adjustablem and easy to work with when they are kept low-poly).

If you are going the aeran route, it would be wise to review other aeran model threads:
Major's Aeran Vessel - Pay attention to how he achieves a smooth effect with a reasonable number of polygons.
"The Vark" Aeran Capship

FYI the wiki ships list can be found here:
http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/wiki/Ships

TyKeiL · Post by **TyKeiL** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 11:11 am

/me is having a cow, as hallek put it.

i dont really have time at the moment to say much more.

kark88 · Post by **kark88** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 1:52 pm

@charlieg
I have not textured it yet, mainly because I do not have the final form down, as well as the fact that I have no idea how to UV map or texture. I started working with wings maybe a month or two ago, and have very little experience with 3d modelling.

The actual model that I am working with is very blocky.
http://tempel-studios.dyndns.org/images ... blocky.jpg
I am still trying to get the right shape for it. I just smoothed it down quickly to get an Idea for how it would look a little smoother. I really did not have any goal for this ship to be in vegastrike. This is my first ship, and if I am going to contribute to vegastrike, I want to design the ship with a faction in mind.

pincushionman · Post by **pincushionman** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:04 pm

PM JackS. That way, he can give you specifics about what he wants to see make and how it should look, a little more to the point probably than he would normally do in an open thread.

And have you looked at the "we-need-this" thread? It's stickied in this forum. Should be looked at first.