Bridge Commander Central
BC Forums => BC Modding => Topic started by: DJ Curtis on July 27, 2010, 01:46:41 AM
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CG popping in got me thinking about the old days of BC modding, and I started thinking about ships that haven't been done. I got to thinking along the lines of remaking a popular non-canon ship from BC's far past. The one that stood out most in my mind was the Eximus Class by Cleeve.
Now, this is obviously not an exact rebuilt as I'm sure many of you will immediately notice. The saucer on this is quite different, a bit more functional than the old diamond shape. I am, however, working hard to ensure some character defining elements will be present, such as: the long swept in nacelles, wide spanning impulse engine, under saucer weapons areas at the front of the engines, saucer bussards, and of course the lack of a cutaway at the rear of the engineering hull.
The textures will be strongly based on the Sov, as the original model by Cleeve was. Speaking of which, if anyone is in contact with Cleeve could you direct him to this thread? I would like to inform him of this project. The ship is different enough that it probably needn't be called Eximus, but the project is really meant more as a tribute to a great ship than to "improve" the original.
Plenty of work to be done on model before the textures start, as I intend to have it highly detailed.
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OH MAN! That's Beautiful! I found an old CD the other day that had my copy of the Eximus for SFC3. If anyone can do Cleeve's old Eximus Class justice, it's you. DJ, you are a GOD! :bow:
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O this is going to be good i cant wait to see this one done
:yay:
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ooo i like it, i'd stick with the front of the ship going to a point rather than that indent...although saying that it could be a varient like the nova is to the rhode island.
I've been waiting for the day this beaty would be rebuilt. I got it retextured by a friend not long ago http://www.stexcalibur.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=4537.0;attach=25470;image :P
Can't wait for more... :cry: can't give cookies yet. But the thought is there
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Looks very nice so far.
The nose section of the saucer looks to have a Nova Class influence.
like it. :thumbsup:
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The other day I got Cleeve's off BcFiles out & played it......
.......I remember thinking 'Man, if only someone could modernize it....'
Thank you DJ!
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Awesome! THis, along with the old Soulwolf, are a couple of really cool designs that just fell off when model and texture quality started rising around here. Really good to see this being brought up to modern standards. :D
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This is great bud. I've talked to Cleeves a wile back about redoing this ship, but i doubt that i could do it justice like you jest did. He told me all he wants was credit and his orignal read me. I'll email him to drop by for you. Great work, cookie :thumbsup: One thing that would look cool would be adding a sencor/weapons pod like mine from the Exia on top for a verient of this. :thumbsup:
Here is the reply to my mail, and i sent a mail to him to viest the topic for you DJ.
[ From Cleeves to ME:
Go for it Greg, as l.ong as credit is given I'm cool, and a link to the Eximius page on my site would be nice, too. :)
Best regards,
- Cleeve]
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Nice! I always thought the original didn't stand well (graphically) next to newer ships, but I did love to have it around during combat: the weapons were great and it was easy to have 4 or 5 of them in a a battle with absolutely no slowdown of the system.
And just FYI: the name is EXIMIUS, with a second I. ;)
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Funny. That many years and I never noticed that the name was Eximius.
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Looks great, DJ. I especially like the modeling around the shuttle bay. Can't wait to see her textured!
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Speaking of which, if anyone is in contact with Cleeve could you direct him to this thread? I would like to inform him of this project. The ship is different enough that it probably needn't be called Eximus, but the project is really meant more as a tribute to a great ship than to "improve" the original.
Well, of course you couldn't improve such a gorgeous, innovative design as the Eximius... :)
In all seriousness tho, beautiful ship you have there, definitely a wink to the Eximius but a lot of unique stuff going on there, too. Reminds me of an Eximius/Saber morph a little, not that it's extremely derivative of anything in particular.
In any case, nice job! She deserves her own class for sure, what're you thinking of calling her?
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Thanks for popping in, Cleeve. Glad you approve. Why don't you pick a name and class for the ship? :)
I've been refining the underside of the saucer. Heavily sovereign like, but there will be some twists.
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I got a suggestion: Cleeve class :D
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Nomination:
Kenya-Class Tactical Escort
U.S.S. Kenya
NX 93215
Captain Bray Shu of Tellar.
[Saber-Class / Steamrunner-Class Frankenstein Fleet Refit]
The Kenya was built to counter the newest reconfigurations of the birds of prey Starfleet Intelligence learned were being drafted for prototyping by Tzinkethi/Ferengii/Orion conglomerate shipbuilders gambling on rumors, and hedging bets on supply & demand of the up-and-coming Typhon Pact following the Dominion War.
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You're just chock-full of fan fic ideas, aren't you? :P
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USS Fortitude.
Loving it, DJ. :thumbsup:
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Loving it...
Wanting it...
NOW!!!! :P
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Loving it...
Wanting it...
NOW!!!! :P
^Most definitely this! :)
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Not so much fan-fic but I could see this one as the Kenya-Class variant of the Saber/Sabre-Class. Though I'm surprised it doesn't have the little cannons off the top of the Galaxy X's saucer hanging off the front of the saucer's lip.
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Though I'm surprised it doesn't have the little cannons off the top of the Galaxy X's saucer hanging off the front of the saucer's lip.
you referring to those antennae that the gal x has perched on the saucer? lol those things are stupid...
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you referring to those antennae that the gal x has perched on the saucer? lol those things are stupid...
Agreed!
Great work so far DJ!
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you referring to those antennae that the gal x has perched on the saucer? lol those things are stupid...
I liked them...
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A beautiful ship, while the original wasn't bad, it just wasn't to my liking however this one I really like and pays a nice tribute to a classic that has appeared in nearly every ship based Star Trek game of the last decade.
On the Galaxy X, it was the worst design ever, I find it horribly worse than the ugliest fanboy kitbash.
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A beautiful ship, while the original wasn't bad, it just wasn't to my liking however this one I really like and pays a nice tribute to a classic that has appeared in nearly every ship based Star Trek game of the last decade.
On the Galaxy X, it was the worst design ever, I find it horribly worse than the ugliest fanboy kitbash.
I don't think worse then all those stupid TMP dreadnoughts...
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Most hated designs ever:
Proxima and variants
Galaxy X and variants
Federation class dreadnoughts and variants
Pretty much anything with an odd number of nacelles or an even number of secondary hulls. :funny
On topic, I think it would look good with canons, but I'd do them Defiant style, not Galaxy X style... *shuddders*
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Most hated designs ever:
Proxima and variants
Galaxy X and variants
Federation class dreadnoughts and variants
You had me nodding my head in agreement until you mentioned the Federation Class.
Those were some nice ships, especially the Ascension Class. That's an elegant, balanced design, IMHO.
But I'll heartily agree that anything with more than one secondary hull looks like spacevomit. :P
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(http://captainmike.org/Images/federation.gif)
I hate this ship. I hate the front of the secondary hull, I hate the back of the secondary hull, and I hate the third nacelle.
(http://captainmike.org/Images/ascension.gif)
The Ascension class is better, but I'm still not a fan. Those pylons are fat. Oh, and it has three nacelles. :P
But seriously guys, lets get back on topic.
What kind of weapons will this baby have, DJ?
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Well depending on what era he wishes to place her in, maybe he could give her those Quantums the Eclipse Class has, albeit in Experimental form. Maybe make them more powerful than the Quantum Torpedo but less powerful than the ones deployed on the Eclipse. A nice in between? :)
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(http://captainmike.org/Images/federation.gif)
(http://captainmike.org/Images/ascension.gif)
Re-posted cause they're so damn beautiful :D
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Well depending on what era he wishes to place her in, maybe he could give her those Quantums the Eclipse Class has, albeit in Experimental form. Maybe make them more powerful than the Quantum Torpedo but less powerful than the ones deployed on the Eclipse. A nice in between? :)
Yes sir, that sounds like a good idea. How about phaser arrays like the ones on the Eclipse (big wwwwwwwavy & yellow-white) but less powerful. Pulse phasers were on the original, do you think you'll use those as well?
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Is impressive how you can turn these low polly meshes in pieces of art :bow:
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Claymore-class, U.S.S. Uther Pendragon perhaps, just to keep up with the names of blades..?
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(http://captainmike.org/Images/federation.gif)
I hate this ship. I hate the front of the secondary hull, I hate the back of the secondary hull, and I hate the third nacelle.
That's why when I re-made the ships for Star Trek Armada 2, I re-designed her, giving her a single deflector on the front and none on the back. Certainly not my best work.
DJ, this design is shaping up to be one of my favourites of yours, after the Eclipse of course, I love that design. I think adding pulse phasers is a bit of a stretch, I have always felt that escort like ships (Defiant, Valiant etc) are the only ones where pulse phasers really looks good with.
I am curious of the specifications of the vessel, like size, armament etc. Have you drafted any of this up yet, or just focusing on the modelling side of things?
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Forgive my impatience, but I noticed the Damer & TNG frigate haven't been posted to BCFiles yet...
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BCF is glitchy, so as I understand it, he's holding off until he's sure BCF is back to normal.
Patience, young one. ;)
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oooook guys this thread is becoming waaay too offtopic now and veering all over the place lol
please no one but DJ have the next post after mine so he doesnt have more and more pages of stuff to go through when he posts again from his previous post...
thx :)
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Progress!
I got the modeling bug, but I had no inspiration for anything new, so I thought I'd go back to some of my WIPs. If you have a look back at the older pictures of this ship, you can see I've changed it up quite a bit. Most notably, I but the deflector area and quantum torpedo launcher out from my sov and used them in this. I feel like it holds it into the timeline a lot better than what I had; really makes it look like a cousin of the sov.
I also used the bridge area from the sov. Other things I've done:
-shortened up the back end and got rid of the deco styling
-added a number of phaser arrays
-used the nemesis style torp launcher at the back of the ship
-added lateral sensor arrays
-blunted the nose a bit and smoothed it out
-finished up the backs of the nacelles. more detail probably still coming
-took out a lot of extra polygons
-smoothed the saucer rim
a few things to do:
-add some phaser cannons and greebles on the underside of the saucer
-add more extruded windows along the bottom of the saucer
-add another phaser array here and there
Ass mentioned earlier, I'm going with a sov style paint scheme. Now that I've actually done the sov, I'm a lot more sure about where to go with this.
Suggestions are welcome. :D
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She's looking well DJ.
Great news to wake up to :) Thank you Sir
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As mentioned earlier, I'm going with a sov style paint scheme. Now that I've actually done the sov, I'm a lot more sure about where to go with this.
It looks like that the Eximus is a smaller, compact, Sovereign-Defiant hybrid. I would like to see this ship with a bit of weathering/ battle scarring.
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Good to see you back in the game DJ. Was kinda worried.
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Ok that is just plain and simple cool right there. Do want.
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Update
-added sov style support beams to the ventral saucer
-added extruded windows to ventral saucer
-added phaser cannon arrays at the front of the engines on the ventral side
-reworked a bunch of mesh
-lowered the bridge a bit
-added some phaser arrays port and starboard
Since the Eximius is a battleship (at least, that's what I've always thought) I gave it four phaser cannons port and starboard. Should pack a lot of punch.
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What can I say... NICE!!
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Yours DJ I have to say looks a lot more functional than the previous one, gorgeous model.
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What can I say... NICE!!
Exactly, :D
Looks like it has a slight Sabre Class look to it now, with the shortening of the tip of the saucer.
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Love the direction you took this. :)
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Thats some very slick modelling there, the ship looks great too :thumbsup:
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Yours DJ I have to say looks a lot more functional than the previous one, gorgeous model.
Agrees!! Now this should have been Captain Riker's ship! Awesome job!
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sooo much better than the previous, i like the addition of the rounded saucer and the sovvy style dorsal saucer. cant wait to see the end result :thumbsup:
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I've spent a few hours on the textures. I've used the same texture file as my Enterprise E so that I can keep all the colors etc the same.
All those little boxes are such a pain...
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Mmmm . . . superfluous details . . . *glaaaarrrrr*
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Looking amazing so far DJ!
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It looks like we have a winner! Are those escape pods a little too close to the forward phaser arrays?
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Update.
And yeah, I think they were too close upon closer inspection. I pushed them back a bit.
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looks gorgous..... a counterpart to Ent E as your Valiant is to your Ent F
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Sort of, I suppose. I'm actually not too clear on the role of the Eximius. I'll have to try and find out from Cleeve. I think it's supposed to be a battleship, possibly. But it's not at all a small ship. Length wise, it's somewhere in around 600m. I'll put it next to the E-E for comparison later on.
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Was curious to see what the wide "slot" on the dorsal saucer was (behind the bridge). Interesting design of the impulse engine for the ship. Liking the look of the ship, both design and the texturing so far.
If the ship is suppose to be around the 600 meter mark, I'd imagine it would be balanced to be somewhat slick and maneuvable despite it's size, because the overall design is quite compact.
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I imagine it as kind of a pocket battleship, the maneuverability of a heavy cruiser, with the armament of a battleship
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Wow! Those textures are bringing this baby to life! Love it!
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Awesome!
But there's something about that impulse engines proximity to those aft escape pods that seems to me those pods would get fried with the residual radiation emanating from that engine.
But... maybe duranium alloy is somewhat resistant to said radiation :idk:
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Those textures are very sharp mate, nicely done she looks great :thumbsup:
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Moed, I would imagine that there is either no harmful radiation that comes from the impulse systems, or it is as you said and duranium is extremely resistant to such radiation.
Take a look at a Galaxy Class Impulse Engine (http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/File:Galaxy_class_impulse_engines.jpg). The windows just below it aren't much farther away than the pods on the Eximius. And they aren't even duranium, they're transparent aluminum. I guess the same could be said for any class with an impulse engine in the center of the spine.
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The sov scheme looks awesome on this ship.
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*raises hand* Uhm...There aren't supposed to be windows underneath the Secondary Hull impulse engine....however...The ones on the sides aren't too far from the engine too...
What exactly do you mean when you say they aren't supposed to be there? They obviously are there, since that's a screencap directly from the show . . .
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Hmmm...I've never noticed them. Will have to take a look come July 2nd.
EDIT: You were right, comment deleted!
Anyways, back on topic...
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Love the impluse engine. Reminds me of your Eclipse class
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O god it's fantastic! :thumbsup:
http://sttff.net/eximius.html
In case you wanna read more about it.