The Romulan Starbase in the original BOTF looked like this.



I was thinking of a new design like this.







The new design is not textured so try to look at the lines only. I love the very nicely skinned original but was not personally happy with the shape. Before I put more work into it I wanted to know if the fans mind having a new shape to the Starbase that diverges from the original BOTF. What suggestions do you have for the project?

These are cities in space. The "door" can take in a ship of the line. Oooh, I think I can see one in the door.

The tubes actually remind me of something that would likely exist in earlier Trek time. Obvious tubes like that seem to be the way of the past. How many things have tubes in them in TNG?

TNG is all about new technology, sleek apperances, etc, etc. As the technology gets better, the apperances are more streamlined, and overall, things are more effecient.

It'd be a great outpost. The top is distinctly Romulan. I'm not sure what the Dominion outpost is supposed to look like, but perhaps the bottom of that could be incorporated in some way as an outpost.

I would not change the top "Mushroom" area. That is fine and when you skin it it will look cool. But like Azh said is it abut streamlining , bt my thought is that focus is more Federation then other Majors. what I was speaking of was adding something with "Teeth" to the lower area. To give it that Menacing aspect. As it stands it looks inviting from a distance, but then when you get closer or close enough to really "see" it you think WHOA Warp 9 +++ to get us outta here!

Here is my thought, I apologize for the mess;



See what I mean?? Hmm this is not all that I was thinking.. but kinda gives a visual.. sorry for messing it up.

The tube things really remind of early Federation Outposts as the other guys said. I personally think you should scrap them, Kenneth. Don't take that badly, just take it as being right visual, wrong Empire.

I think the original Romulan designs were going in the right direction - Outposts and especially Starbases are thriving hubs of activity - they need lots of docking ports - and the "arms" would make perfect docking ports.

They would also be useful for sensor suites, labs, weapon emplacements, and so on.

The Romulans are a secretive, enigmatic race. The prefect station for them would be one that lures you into a false sense of security. From a distance, it should look friendly and inviting...but up close, it should make you want to run crying for mummy!

By the way, I found a site that has the Romulan Outpost textures split into separate sections. It may be useful for reference purposes, kenneth.



The site has other models as well - although NOT all from Star Trek. There is a Defiant, Ambassador, Excelsior, and a Phoenix on there.

All very good points and a lot of help guys - the build of this base - outpost is hitting the upper limits on complexity for a model in this game so streamline to bad looking attitude will make it more video card efficient at the same time. (Update to follow)

Or I will flop the base and post around as you suggest...

OK. I will turn the "Starbase" into the "Outpost." There is also now a docking arm and enhancement to the bottom sensor array as requested. The tanks will signify the low tech level of the early part of the game and the outpost stage. I will post further under the existing outpost thread in the job section. thanks to everyone for assistance.

Outpost One, Romulan

The work in progress Romulan Starbase One.

Now this is interesting. Has the Romulan flow, yet anyone who dares get to close can feel the bite. lol

My sense anyway... Very good.

Looks good mate.

Hmm...to be honest, i'm getting confused with these models now, Kenneth.

For the Starbase, what we would like, (It doesn't HAVE to be this way, but would it be cool) is a station that looks like it has the Outpost as its backbone - the Starbase should look like it started off as the Outpost - which it will - but was then added to and upgraded over time, eventually becoming the gargantuan that it now is.

For this reason, I think you should swap the models round, so the Outpost becomes the Stabase and the Starbase becomes the Outpost. The reason for this is that the Outpost has the bird-like structure at the top of it but has nothing else added to it. The Starbase has the bird at the top AND the big "tanks" underneath it - it looks like it started off with the Outpost and the Tanks were added as it was upgraded. They certainly wouldn't take the tanks away and make the base smaller to ugrade it!

This change wouldn't require any model changes, it would just be a matter of swapping them round.

So this would the the Outpost:


And this would be the Starbase:


Of course, this would cause problems if we decided that all the stations would be different - if we're gonna have different models for the Outpost 1 and Outpost 2, then we would have to make it look like the Starbase 1 "evolved" from the Outpost 1, and the Starbase 2 evolved from the Starbase 2.

This would take more work, but would certainly add that little extra touch to the game(s). The alternative would be to have the same model but different textures for the bases, but more models would be just plain cooler.

Anyways, what do people think?

Good then. I will push forward with all these ideas. In the mean time this thread could be closed and or moved over to jobs / outpost.

I don't have moderator access in these forums otherwise i'd do it myself. Sorry guys.

...

I agree with you Azhdeen, the tubes really should go - but I just wanted to focus on what we already had. Swapping the models around is a simple thing to do; removing the tubes would require removal of half the model - and that would just take us back to the Outpost model.

What we really need is ideas for a completely new model. As has been said before, people think it should definitely have "arms", and should look inviting...but evil when you get closer.

Until Azhdeen can incorporate these ideas into a new model, we could always use the original Starbase as a base for our ideas - but remember, IF we use my system, we will need ANOTHER Starbase model!



I found some other Station models that may also help to give us ideas. They are NOT all intended as Starbases!

Umm...

Look at the pretty birdie! I like food. Do you like food? Umm...gotta go!

#8 #11 and # 13 all look good to me

And what is wrong with what I said? it takes teh tubes off but your actually gain MORE ... I'll try to copy paste you will see what I mean..




something like this, but way better cause I only copy pasted it.. Sorry for the mess I made. Or turn it to make it match better. But you get the idea.