Proposed Model For Homeland Security/Confederation Probe

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Oblivion
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Proposed Model For Homeland Security/Confederation Probe

Post by Oblivion »

:? Still can't get my ships ingame.
:? Still don't know hwo to texture properly, but had a good try. :D
:? I'm reading Halleck's article on LOD's now, and only polygon count, etc.

So. :)

This ship is meant to be AI controlled. No pilots. Will be for reconning. Suggested to be cheap as it is very expendable. And resizing(if this ever gets ingame) because it's meant to be very small. Smaller than a cargo pod. Suggesting remote-control. Can be used to kamikaze on other ships, if it has exhausted it's usefulness. :D

Poor little bugger.

Anyway, I'm working on a modified version of this as a Pirate guided Torpedo. :twisted:

Perspective Views:
Image

Image


Front:
Image

Back:
Image

Left:
Image

Bottom:
Image

Top:
Image

CloseUp on back:
Image

CloseUp on Front:
Image

Will post link to download the .3ds files, the .obj and .mtl files, and the etextures somewhere later.

So watcha'all think? 8)
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To Megatherion
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Post by To Megatherion »

Looks like the propellor of a wind powerplant...
Thats doesn't mean it's bad. I actually like it but wouldn't like it to go camicaze on me or to be fired at me from by a pirate.
Are those wings supposed to be solar panels?
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Oblivion
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Post by Oblivion »

solar panels
...weeell. I'm not really pro-ultra-realism.

:oops: Maybe. Or maybe signal receptors. etc. It's a utility ship. Very small, so it's not supposed to look like piloted ships. :wink:
wouldn't like it to go camicaze on me or to be fired at me from by a pirate.
of course, Kamikaze!! :twisted: It has no gun mounts whatsoever. Pirates will carry this, then launch it like missiles. They will be controlled by their own AI. So slower than missiles, but deadlier. Modified with lots and lots of explosives, so the modified version's is a cheap Pirate torpedo.

However the renders posetd here are not pirate models. They would normally be carried by Confederation capships or research vessels. They would go kamikaze only when attacked, because they're unarmed. :wink:
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rigelan
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Post by rigelan »

If those panels are signal receptors, they could be in a sort of concave/satellite dish shape to help amplify the signal. Maybe the three panels could be curved up a bit.
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Post by Halleck »

Cool.

Those panels are reminiscent of solar sails to me, but they are too thick for that purpose.

If they are supposed to be solar panels, which is a very reasonable assertion, try to optimize them by having the panel take up the entire space on both sides.
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Post by chuck_starchaser »

That's my problem with it; I like it, but I'm not sure what it is --or could be made to be. On a short-lived weapon, solar panels make no sense, since they produce very little power you can just supply from a couple of AA batteries :)
Solar sails make no sense for anything. They'd be thousands of kilometers in diameter to produce even a few pounds of thrust, that you can supply from a tiny charge of solid propellant.
Both solar sails and solar panels only make sense for long term operation, read: "months".
Which leaves "sensors" as the only "sensible" explanation :)
As for their shape (3-pronged) it would make sense if the thing is carried in a missile tube, but needs breadth, so the sensors fold out on the way to its target. Now, why would it need breadth? Possibly to increase sensing range.
But I don't see where the explosive charge is.

If it was up to me, I'd make this thingy a missile upgrade you can buy and put onto a regular missile to increase its sensing range, and perhaps make it completely autonomous. If you have a stored image and transponder ID of your target, you upload it to a missile so modified, fire it, and the missile finds the target on its own, type of thing.
Or else, this could be a spy probe, but it would need some credible antennas to transmit back what it sees.
Or it could be a target illuminator. If you have missiles with active radar, they are easy to see and target. But by shooting a few of these first, they could fly around your targets and shower them with radar signals, and you could shoot your missiles using passive radar mode, so they are hard to kill.
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Post by Halleck »

On a short-lived weapon, solar panels make no sense...
I think this is meant to be a long-range probe that only kamikazes in self-defense (or when repurposed by pirates.)

With some solar panels you could prolong its life and the amount of recon you can get from one probe. Makes sense to me.

Admittedly, sensors would be more useful. Still, they currently look more like solar cells than sensors.
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Post by charlieg »

Halleck wrote:
Admittedly, sensors would be more useful. Still, they currently look more like solar cells than sensors.
This is the year 3 trillion and 7 (well, far into the future). Solar panels and sensors can be combined! (i.e. the panels are both... maybe!?)
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Post by chuck_starchaser »

charlieg wrote:
Halleck wrote:Admittedly, sensors would be more useful. Still, they currently look more like solar cells than sensors.
This is the year 3 trillion and 7 (well, far into the future). Solar panels and sensors can be combined! (i.e. the panels are both... maybe!?)
Very true. And frankly, this is a nice model that should be used for something. I was just trying to think of something more intuitively appropriate to its form than just a missile, and hopefully more necessary and/or interesting than another missile type. Oblivion's other idea, a spy thing, sounds more interesting to me; it would just need something along the lines of an antenna pointing back, like a dish antenna, or better yet perhaps, a laser transponder; --could look like a fancy digital camera with a long zoom section. But not centered at the back; as I think it needs a bit more of a believable propulsion system, too, for such a function.
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Post by Halleck »

I think this was the original purpose. The kamikaze thing was a self-defense mechanism, not a primary function. Thus, this would be a new vessel, not a new missile type.
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Post by dandandaman »

chuck_starchaser wrote:Oblivion's other idea, a spy thing, sounds more interesting to me; it would just need something along the lines of an antenna pointing back, like a dish antenna, or better yet perhaps, a laser transponder;
well, you could assume that it's not going to be taking data and sending at the same time (if it's a remote drone then there's no need for it to), so it could just reuse the collector and send data that way?

Dan
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Oblivion
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Post by Oblivion »

That's my problem with it; I like it, but I'm not sure what it is --or could be made to be. On a short-lived weapon, solar panels make no sense, since they produce very little power you can just supply from a couple of AA batteries
:? Oof. Forgot to mention it's purpose. My fault. It's a sensor drone. Not a weapon at all. But knowing pirates, they'd probably be ingenious enough to buy/steal some of these stuff and modify them as fireships. :wink:
But I don't see where the explosive charge is.
A modified pirate version will be made, if this is acceptable as a model. The one posted here is the Confederate version, which is just a probe (spy drone if used in battlefields, so it might be interesting to make them extremely hard to detect by radar, code-wise).

I think it has a total face count of 1000<x<1200. :?:

Will make LOD's if needed.
I think this was the original purpose. The kamikaze thing was a self-defense mechanism, not a primary function. Thus, this would be a new vessel, not a new missile type.
Exactamente :D

So which is which?

1. Take away the sails. Just antennae pointing back.
2. Change texture to make "sails" solid, to house the sensor equipment.
3. Curve the "sails" forward as rigelan suggested (I'm not too keen on a full dish/flowery shape. :) It would look too weird).
4. Retain current form, add antennae.
This is the year 3 trillion and 7 (well, far into the future). Solar panels and sensors can be combined! (i.e. the panels are both... maybe!?)
5.Scrap it, make a sphere on thrusters instead. :wink:
A Step Into Oblivion

Dreams of things that will never be,
Songs of thoughts only I can hear,
Leave me be to sleep forever,
To dream my dreams,
And sing my hymns,
Of things that will never be...
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