Antares type in Federation Transport Ship II (TOS 2260's)

That is a classic TOS ship. We had it in the Federation Colony Ship slot for a time. I guess we could consider replacing the current Federation Transport I with it.


Federation Transport I Model

Can I make a suggestion?

This isn't a priority right now, so right now we should focus on the structure images, diplomatic and espionage screens and stuff that will be included in the next update.

After the next update we should meet on msn or some other live chat and pin down first them major powers ship lists, and then the minors.

OK
I still have the Antares model if we need it but have not
changed anything yet. We could use polling on this site
if voting is the way we go. Getting everyone across the
globe on msn at the same time to vote on each model will
be an issue. It will be an issue about when and the amount
of time it takes to vote on all models. Designing by committee
can get complicated.

Personally I would like it better if Mike assigned a model Czar.
How about you?

I didn't meant everyone, just 3D modelers and 2D artists (plus the oldest team members)

For my part I would rather not be the decider. It might best be someone that is not creating the art work. There are to many personalities there. We art guys are working hard as it is. I would like to ask Mike to assign the job to someone like MOE.

I think all that depends on our resources if we have only Antares model then Antares will be. When we finish current work we will create shiplist design documen with models that we intend to include in game this document should be public the mob will say they opinion and then we can do changes.

Well, hearing the opinion from the non-team forum members is always welcome, but we must remember that this is not a democracy and we can't listen to everyone's opinion.

The mob always ends with nothing

To avoid mob action or committee I would like a Czar with a mandate. I would like him or her to take suggestions and listen to arguments and then make a decision. One member could start a thread to go slowly, ship by ship, taking suggestions of known ships or new drawings, setting up a poll to take a vote and debate then but make the decision. The Czar's ship design would be entered on page one of this thread for the modelers to reference.

Anyone out there want this job?

I would suggest a team of two to three people taking this on. When they agree on the ship being used, it's entered on page one.

the mob is dangerous, looking 6 years back on this forum I can conclude that they can't make any decision, each member has his own idea and vision of the game. Such approach lead to miserable results over the years, question about shiplist is complex, i't easy to choose ships for fed or klingon tos era but what about cardassian or dominion tech I ships? What about ship textures which should change from tos to tng era. There is lots of questions and i don't think it can be decided by public cause we will end with nothing. I advise different approach, shiplist should be nailed by staff and if we are undecided about some issue we should ask members.

About shiplist I was talking with vjeko and in some cases with matress regarding early cards vessels so I think three of us would be good choice for triumvirate regarding ships.

Jade hasn't been on the forums in a long time mate. What other "hers" are there?

As you guys know, i'm a pretty liberal guy. I usually open things up to the mob and let them decide. If you guys want me to be the models Czar then that's what i'll be. But I haven't got the sheer amount of time for the forums that I used to. Take yesterday for example. I started work at 8.30am. I finished at 9.45pm. Then again though, now that the Conservatives are in (Traitorous Liberal Democrats! ), i'll probably lose my job like everyone else will anyways, so I might get that free time back.

I guess two or three would be OK. Matress already does a lot
for use anyway. What about that Lazarus guy? At least then he
would be able to say he works on the project and it would be true.


We can nail this down when we get back to ships in a big way.

Look, I'll put it plain and simple, that guy won't get anywhere near this game. If he becomes a team member, I'm out. I know I am replaceable but that guy is a giant douchebag and doesn't care about anything, nor does he have any values.

I'd have to agree there. Letting him join the team will only give him legitimacy, and make it look like we've backed down. The last thing we want is the cranks thinking they can join the team just by kicking up a bit of fuss. Give it time. They will give up eventually.

Just kidding guys. If he wanted to help he would have.

Hey guys, I would prefer to avoid talking about lazarus and his team "that has nothing in the brain" or whether we should initiate discussion about it, it should be done outside of this forum. We must respect the ethics our databases and our posts, are you agreed?

Although a triumvirate is against my democratic (ancient Athenian meaning of the term) ethos, in this case I think it's a great idea. As said above, the mob will never decide. There needs to be someone deciding. Three people tend to be self balancing and less likely for the mob to lynch.

I will definitely weigh in on the conversation. But, as much as I'd like to be a part of the triumvirate, I think I should be banned from it: I've shown myself to be too flighty to be trusted with that responsibility.

The modelers are still deep into backdrops but it will not hurt to do a refresher on ship model issues.



Here is a link to the requirements for models.

As you see there is a model to use for scaling your ships. The image below shows the model. Just load your ship in with this model and resize it. The scale model was created as a best guess. We did not use the given dimensions of ships but rather wanted them to all be visible in 3D combat. I would not make an orbital battery smaller than half the size of a scout ship. I would make transports and colony ships at destroyer to cruiser sized early on and up to battleship or larger by the end of the tech development.

Please just use the above as a rough guide though - don't be too precise in the measurements. We don't want all ships of the same class being of identical size or the game will look a bit boring. Small variations in size will make combat more diverse.

Shouldn't we stick to established canon sizes where possible?

There is variation as you would expect Matress. The Enterprise TV series Cruiser I is not the same size as the Voyager TV series Cruiser V.

It would be nice to be super accurate on ship size. Consider what it looks like in the combat engine for BOTF though. The Starbases were most notably very downsized. This kept them from taking over the field of view.

We realized early on that the size of ships would have to be dictated by the ability to see them in 3D combat. As it is now putting two fleets of ships in the same screen will make scouts and orbital batteries nearly invisible. If we have other markers on the ships such as shield or health ratings we might get away with some more range. We will have to see what the combat engine can do. Otherwise consider what an orbital battery will look like next to a late era starbase. (or rather will not look like)

http://drexfiles.wordpress.com/2009/01/ ... d-station/

what about this for Starbase I and our current Starbase I to Starbase II, that way they are both canon.

I'll Draw it up. Bashir

Really? Cool, just ask the heads what's the poly limit of starbases.

It's probably the same as the ships. Bashir

I think that starbases are allowed more, If I remember correctly I think 10k instead of 5k, but I'm not sure.

This one is pretty simple, in many ways it should be easier to have low poly than most of the ships. The extra room for polys might just help make it smoother looking. Bashir

Here are the limits Mike set for models. Stations can get away with a lot more poly because they do not move in the combat engine.

In the case of stations we need to consider another issue. Given that they are much larger than ships a station's image textures will be stretched over a much larger area. It looks bad. I have seen it in games and want to avoid it. As we rebuild the stations for the game I suggest limiting the size of the area you put an image texture on. Use more of that 25,000 poly count for the detail and get color in the material properties. Use normal maps for "texture." Put the image on the emblem and lettering.