Deciding to do 2-d graphics for one tc

@darthkev, on 04 February 2011 - 02:05 AM, said in Deciding to do 2-d graphics for one tc:

Incredible detail on the console, Jai. Impressive!

Much appreciated, Darthkev! It's also slightly useless, since you won't be able to see it from an in-game perspective, but appreciated nonetheless.

I need to change the title of this topic. I couldn't get this one looking quite right in Illustrator, so I had to use sketchup.

Purdy. And if you're still shooting for 2D graphics, and using Sketchup to 'render' stuff, go to the Camera menu and select Parallel Projection. This will give you a completely flat view of the ship from the top, side, front, etc. It doesn't alter the model at all, just the camera.

@darthkev, on 05 February 2011 - 01:06 PM, said in Deciding to do 2-d graphics for one tc:

Purdy. And if you're still shooting for 2D graphics, and using Sketchup to 'render' stuff, go to the Camera menu and select Parallel Projection. This will give you a completely flat view of the ship from the top, side, front, etc. It doesn't alter the model at all, just the camera.

I'll try that. Might look prettier than illustrator.

Parallel Perspective View on Carrier.

Normal Pictures

The ship in the hangar is the shuttle from earlier in the topic.

As a cautionary note- you should stick to one graphic style for any plug/TC/any one given project in life. Sketchup and Illustrator have vastly different looks, and should not be used alternately together. I think the vector-style you've got in illustrator would look great in a TC by itself, but with 3D/raster ships it would definitely ruin the effect. Alternately, 3D ships look great, but mixed with flat/2D ships the plug would look terrible.

Still gonna do 2-d using parallel perspective, but I liked the way Darthkev set up his ship diagrams for HOTS.

Highsmith Shipyards RX-12 Field Artillery Gunboat
The entire design was based on a comment by JTH. The ship is meant to hang back and fire like a sniper into the field of combat. This one man craft is basically one huge artillery piece. Multiple thrusters on the wings allow for quick turning and precision shooting. If ships get to close, it usually uses the mine layer on the bottom and flees. Sort of slow, it isn't much faster than the IDA Frigate from Nova. Built mainly for planetary defense, it has become a common sight in independant space.

Got another one.

TanX Shipyards Kenworth Class M083 Heavy Cruiser
One of the more powerful ships built by the TanX government, this Heavy Cruiser was built to provide the firepower of a carrier and the maneuverability of a frigate. Boasting four AC-99R Rapid Assault Cannons, a variety of missiles and torpedos, and two TanX Prong Fighter bays (coming soon), the M083 can take on most fleets on its own, and much else short of itself. This ship was the main battle platforms after the war, but is slowly being replaced by Glass Cruisers (also coming soon), which are stronger and faster, if only slightly.

:blink: Whoa! You've been practicing! These are very impressive, Jai. Can we maybe get a little background on the factions and current state of things in the universe you've created for this TC?

@darthkev, on 14 February 2011 - 06:55 AM, said in Deciding to do 2-d graphics for one tc:

:blink: Whoa! You've been practicing! These are very impressive, Jai. Can we maybe get a little background on the factions and current state of things in the universe you've created for this TC?

Much appreciated. Do you want an honest answer? I made all of that up off the top of my head except for the part where JTH inspired the Artillery Gunboat. I guess I should start a TC thread shouldn't I? I'll do that and explain the factions.

Well. The Heavy Cruiser is being phased out by the Glass Cruiser. Guess what I modeled just for you guys.

TanX Shipyards GRC-6 Prototype Glass Cruiser
All but replacing the M083 Heavy Cruiser in its duties, the Glass Reconnaissance Cruiser can perform all jobs, from acting as a strike cruiser to planetary defense, the Glass Cruiser is a win-win for everyone. Except your enemy. The 'glass' function of the cruiser obviously isn't glass, it is made of a transparent titanium ion-bonded carbon fiber. The fact that it is ion bonded prevents the cruiser from having shields, unless you pay to have some pretty major modifications. On the plus side, it has about twice the armor of standard capital ships. While having no visible weapons, the cruiser is outfitted with Pulse Lasers and Particle Beams. A large torpedo tube mounted under the cargo compartment provides for longer range firepower. With the launcher being positioned under the cargo bay, the ship sacrifices fifty tons of cargo in order to have an almost instantaneous reload time for the tube. Unfortunately, it becomes meshed and embedded into your ship, and cannot be sold.

And last one and I start TC thread.

Highsmith Shipyards Irradon Class Interceptor
This one man fighter is one of the first ships put into the field by Highsmith Developement. The Irradon is equipped with four small J-31 Jump drives providing massive amounts of speed. Unfortunately, it can't turn very well, so the Irradon never got off of the ground sales-wise. It is still sold by scrap shops and private shipyards. While Highsmith attempts to fix this problem, The New Order's ships will be lacking in decent fightercraft. On the plus side, it is equipped with four gatling guns, which give it a high rate of fire and ability to inflict massive damage on even capital ships.