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First off, I find it funny you named this the Anaconda. If you look in my gallery in the Navy section you'll see a Navy Anaconda. It's also a destroyer class. Just something I find kind of amusing.
Second, I'm curious what the red section on the back is from. Jet plume from the engines? Engines of their own? Something else entirely? My first thought was it looked a bit like a cluster of dynamite.
QUOTE (DarthKev @ Nov 26 2010, 02:56 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I didn't realize you had an Anaconda destroyer, too. That is odd.
For the red part on the Ribbed Hull Block - Expanded, I used the same red panel paint as appeared in the Orion ships. Why, I have no idea; I just thought it would look cool. I might wind up changing it to a metallic shade. The main thrusters are on the stern, like on the command ship, and more or less out of sight.
I might also shorten the wings somewhat to distinguish it better from the command ship. I might also shrink the Equipment Block that forms the bridge.
From here on, the Galactic ships don't follow any particular pattern. My official reasoning is that while the command ship and destroyer are built by Republic Naval Systems, a subsidiary of the Republic Group holding company, the battlecruiser, frigate, gunboat, and fleet tender are built by Betelgeuse Space Systems, the Terran Engineering Corporation, Boeing, and New Netherlands Spaceworks, respectively. In other words, no more ships built entirely from Delphi parts.
More to follow.
This post has been edited by StarSword : 26 November 2010 - 11:25 AM
Aaaand here's my first non-Republic Group Galactic capital ship.
_ Betelgeuse Space Systems O'Brien - and O'Brien II -class Battlecruisers_ Ship of the Line, United Galactic Navy
Admiral Janice O'Brien was a hero of the Milky Way Union Navy*, and she would have been proud to have this ship class named for her. Just like her, the Betelgeuse Space Systems O'Brien -class Battlecruiser is a brawler best suited to taking on other capital ships. Don't expect to be racing in this ship, though. Thick defenses, heavy weaponry, and overworked engines are hallmarks of battlecruisers the galaxy over.
Though a flying fortress, the O'Brien -class battlecruiser is just too slow to keep up with the more agile warships of the Balcrusians and Ganba. At the UGN's request, BSS took the design and added recent developments in reactor and engine design to create the O'Brien II -class battlecruiser. It has longer range and greater firepower, and can keep up with most capital ships.
While the Anaconda -class destroyer and Apache - and Aegis -class command ships are built by Republic Naval Systems, a subsidiary of the giant Republic Group, they didn't win the contracts for every ship used by the UGN. The frigates are built by the Terran Engineering Corporation out of Earth, and the battlecruisers, the UGN's main heavy warship (the command ship and carrier** are rare specialty ships), are built by Betelgeuse Space Systems. Hence, an entirely different architectural style.
Gone are the long, straight wings, reminiscent of pre-hyperspace Terran cargo planes; instead, the ship somewhat resembles a large bird. I was slightly influenced by a fighter from the old TV show Buck Rogers in the 26th Century, flown by the bird-man Hawk. Its landing gear was a pair of taloned feet (like a bird of prey), that could also be put to use in tearing other ships to pieces.
I spent a lot of time tweaking and tuning the Delphi parts to construct this, and I think it turned out quite nicely.
** The Charybdis -class Attack Craft Deployment Platform (abbreviated ACDP and pronounced "ack-dip"), a redesign of the Superstar bulk freighter, is armed with almost nothing but fighters (they turned the 7,500-metric-ton hold into fighter bays and matériel storage). It won't be appearing in EVN:UGF. (Unless you folks want it?)
This post has been edited by StarSword : 27 November 2010 - 08:51 AM
QUOTE (StarSword @ Nov 26 2010, 08:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I'm quite fond of this ship. Any chance I can get some alternate views?
QUOTE
(Unless you folks want it?)
DO WANT! Whether I'm fighting them or trying to engage in close combat using them, I find supercarriers an awesome challenge.
QUOTE (DarthKev @ Nov 26 2010, 11:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
My computer isn't really the best machine for modeling high-detail starships; it about choked when I tried to get anything better than the isometric view. Here's a download link for the model, though.
Well, I'll see what I can do. Trouble with the Nova engine is, it can only handle 64 ships in a system at a time, and you also run the risk of wasting ammo (the shot never appears!). I had a feeling that including the ack-dip would be pushing it, but who knows?
QUOTE (StarSword @ Nov 26 2010, 09:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Here's a download link for the model, though.
You didn't compress the file before uploading it to the file-sharing site, did you? All I got was the central core of the vessel, mostly unpainted. Plus it had an extension of .skb. I'm guessing that's the extension for Windows Sketchup files, though (Macs have .skp).
Try compressing the file with Stuffit or a similar program first.
You could try decreasing the amount of fighters it has in-game compared to your writings. Maybe only give it 2 fighters more than any other ship in the game. Or just give it 10 fighters, that shouldn't cause problems unless you have entire fleets of carriers flying around. You could also just give it an average amount of fighters but a bunch of fighter bays so it can launch them much faster than any other ship.
QUOTE (DarthKev @ Nov 27 2010, 12:42 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
SKB??? Hang on a sec...
For some reason, whenever I save a file in Windows Sketchup, it saves the SKP file, but it also saves an SKB file alongside it. I don't know what it is; not including it doesn't seem to affect it. Anyway, it appears I uploaded the SKB file by mistake. Here's a new link.
Or just give it 10 fighters, that shouldn't cause problems unless you have entire fleets of carriers flying around.
That's highly unlikely. The UGN has even fewer ACDPs than they do command ships. They're reserved for major operations when they need an extra boost to their starfighter capacity; they're otherwise too expensive to maintain for long-term duty.
This post has been edited by StarSword : 27 November 2010 - 01:24 AM
QUOTE (StarSword @ Nov 26 2010, 10:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Oh, I know what the .skb file is for. It's a backup file, a copy of what the file was like before it was altered and saved. It's there in case you alter something, save it, and then realize you didn't want to save that change. Though, if you save a file, alter it, and save it again, the first backup is replaced with the new one, so you have to be a little careful if you actually keep them around. In the case of Sketchup on a Mac, the backup file has the same extension as normal Sketchup files, but Sketchup gives them a '~' in front of the name to distinguish it. In your case, to read one of those files, unless Windows Sketchup can read .skb files in its own, you'll first need to change the extension to .skp.
Then I guess we'll be seeing them in EVN:UGF, right? Probably only in certain missions, is my guess.
Just a thought. The wings on the UGF Capital ships don't really fit with the rest of the craft.
QUOTE (Spartan Jai @ Nov 28 2010, 10:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I think it looks pretty cool.
This post has been edited by Sp3cies : 30 November 2010 - 03:26 PM
Agreed, the wings are a nice fit. My only problem with a few of the ships is with the textures. I like the Anaconda's, the Scallopshell's, and the Starchaser's. I like a lot of them, in fact. The only ones I don't like too much are the Superstar and the O'Brien (even then, I only have a problem with a few spots on the O'Brien). I love the overall designs (especially the O'Brien) but the textures could use a little work. In my opinion, just those two need some work.
I meant that the ship is nice, and blocky, and has a significant level of detail and texture (as good as sketchup can get), and the wings are big, smooth, blue things stickin' out the sides. They clash.
Yeah I got what you meant. Plenty of stuff has major contrasts and still looks just dandy together(but that is my opinion).
I also really like the starchaser and agree with the whole there not so much in the way of scoutships in EVN. I remember spending long amounts of time in the scoutships of the first two games and had a lot of trouble finding ships I liked in Nova due to a totally new feel. Naturally you get used to things once you play them long enough so it doesn't matter too much but still.
QUOTE (Spartan Jai @ Nov 30 2010, 05:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
You don't like it, blame DarthKev: he came up with the original model for the Apache -class command ship that I learned from. It wasn't what I originally had in mind (my early concept was a much smoother hull), but after I remarked that the sleekness of EVN:UGF ships would be too hard to do with Delphi pieces, DarthKev threw together the Black Knight and Apache -class as demonstrations, and I decided to use them. On a related note, thanks for the support, Sp3cies.
Happy belated birthday to me. As of November 28, I am 22 years old. Spent most of the day goofing off on the GameCube.
Between my day job, school (finals are coming up), and a freak snowstorm (I say "freak" because to get snow in central North Carolina in the first week of December is almost unheard-of), I haven't gotten much work done lately on EVN:UGF. Tonight, however, I began work on a ship chassis that will be the basis for two different starships: the Kangaroo -class light freighter (a worse-armed but faster competitor to the Carrack), and the Orion Frigate (a pirate-hunting Q-ship based on the Kangaroo plans). It's slow going with this one: like the Scallopshell, this vessel is very curvy, especially at the bow; Delphi's parts are of little use at the moment.
This post has been edited by StarSword : 06 December 2010 - 12:26 AM
Happy birthday, StarSword! Another year older, another year wiser.
Late update: finished the aforementioned chassis to the point where the Kangaroo and Orion Frigate diverge in design.
At long last, I finished the second-to-last Orion ship.
_ Orion Martial Systems LC-25 Haladar -class Frigate_ Patrol Vessel, Orion League Defense Force
Though a beautiful vessel by some measures, the LC-25 Haladar -class frigate was not designed with aesthetics in mind. It was , however, designed to use the strategy of misdirection: as it can be easily mistaken for the Kangaroo light freighter, the Haladar -class frigate is the perfect vessel for hunting pirates. (Orion Martial Systems licensed the plans for the Kangaroo from New Aussie Design for this purpose.) A favorite tactic of its commanders is to make a show of fleeing to lure the raiders into range, then turn them to rubble with its three turbolaser batteries, ion cannon, and missiles.
Classified as a frigate based on performance and armament, the Haladar -class is a good example of a purpose-built Q-ship. Originally Q-ships were merchant vessels carrying concealed weaponry, in order to lure enemy vessels. On Earth, they were used by the British Royal Navy and the United States Navy during World Wars One and Two as a countermeasure against German and Japanese submarines.
In EVN:UGF, the term "Q-ship" essentially means a transport ship that has been refitted to carry extra weaponry, often at the expense of some cargo room. Two other examples are the type 2 Superstar bulk freighter and the type 2 Starliner. The Orion Frigate is unique in this category in that it is actually dedicated combat vessel that looks like a freighter.
Due in part to the weak rulership of the Orion League's last two sovereigns, piracy has become rampant in Orion space and its surrounds. The commission of the Haladar-class was one of the early official acts of the current sovereign, Archduke Tarus Kazrolon Warcrad. His generals chose the Kangaroo for the conversion specifically because stock Kangaroos are not as well armed as competing craft like the Carrack.
The Orion Frigate will actually show up on scan in EVN:UGF without the neck-mounted turbolasers or the ion cannon on top of the "head". This is to simulate how it would look in reality: outside of combat, it looks exactly like a Kangaroo painted in Orion League colors. I haven't decided whether to make two sets of sprites for this purpose as well, but it's a decent idea.
This post has been edited by StarSword : 26 December 2010 - 02:13 AM
You said second-to-last Orion ship. That means they only have 4, right? I would've thought they'd have at least a few more than that. They are a member race of the UGF, right?
As for the Haladar's appearance, wouldn't the Orion colors give it away as a Q-ship? I know if I was going around pirating ships I'd avoid any Kangaroos with Orion colors. Maybe you could make two Haladars: one using the standard Kangaroo graphic to trick pirates, and one using the above model (turrets and all) for official Orion business and a show of power.
All in all, the ship does look very good.
QUOTE (DarthKev @ Dec 7 2010, 05:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I take your point, catalogue it, and will consider it.
I think you miscounted. So far I've done the interceptor, bomber, frigate, and assault cruiser. That's four, meaning there are five , total (the last one is the KarHallarn -class battleship). And yes, the Orions are members of the UGF.
You're right that in EVN:UGF, the Orion frigate is easy to tell apart from the regular Kangaroo. However, hyperradar can't pick up colors (I'll be using David Arthur's scan-line generator for the target pics), and the Orion League in my writings operates merchant marine vessels with the same colors. (In fact, they frequently will hide a few frigates in convoy among regular Kangaroos.) However, you also note a valid point that the Orions have also noticed: the mere existence of the Haladar is a deterrent.
This post has been edited by StarSword : 08 December 2010 - 03:39 PM
QUOTE (StarSword @ Dec 7 2010, 02:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I think you miscounted. So far I've done the interceptor, bomber, frigate, and assault cruiser. That's four, meaning there are five , total (the last one is the KarHallarn -class battleship. And yes, the Orions are members of the UGF.
Ah yes, I did forget about the assault cruiser. Sorry about that. Five ships does sound a lot better than four. Well, to me at least.
I see. Pirates won't know they're about to get a beat down till it's too late. Clever.