Bridge Commander Central
BC Forums => BC Modding => Topic started by: Joe on March 25, 2012, 03:35:37 PM
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This started as a crude drawing an STO friend of mine sent me in MS Paint. It was conceived as a bridging of new design styles and retro shapes. To be elegant and majestic more than futuristic and cutting edge. He envisioned it as a capital ship with the resources and power to be completely autonomous. For scale, the saucer is about 1.5x the width of the Galaxy's.
The oval bridge nodule on top that features the width and length to add emergency duty shift racks, a small lounge and its own escape pods. Under this nodule is a two deck high "promenade" area with glass from floor to ceiling before the familiar curve of the saucer begins. More specific details to follow.
This first image is just a blocking out of the general shape. It is made from several components for ease of conception and will be evolving as time goes on. 12k poly's as it sits with very inefficient geometry and useless subdivisions for the sake of providing a smooth silhouette.
-Joe
(http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/mutineer1543/ZanderClassWIP.jpg)
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*scratches head* makes me think of the design school used my Hyundai/Kia in the US (kinetic design, I think it's called?)
I think the "draft" thickness of the E-hull needs reduced, personally
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I def welcome all opinions and constructive criticism. But I am not sure what you mean on the draft thickness? To my knowledge, the draft of a ship has to do with depth below the waterline. By E-Hull, do you mean secondary hull? Or are you referring to the chines that spread out from the secondary hull almost like a fish tail? Thanks
-Joe
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it looks like an excellent galaxy/excelsior hybrid :)
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it looks like an excellent galaxy/sovereign/excelsior hybrid :)
Fixed!!!
I def welcome all opinions and constructive criticism. But I am not sure what you mean on the draft thickness? To my knowledge, the draft of a ship has to do with depth below the waterline. By E-Hull, do you mean secondary hull? Or are you referring to the chines that spread out from the secondary hull almost like a fish tail? Thanks
-Joe
What he means is the Enterprise E Secondary hull shape hence E-Hull. Personally I would make a deeper trench where the deflector is and add a Yacht like you see on the Enterprise E.
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Oh NOW I understand lol. Yeah the width of the secondary hull is wide like a tree trunk. The idea behind that is a frontal silhouette that looks similar to the excelsior.
From an interior design standpoint, the entire saucer is designated for habitation only (complete with large hydroponics park), with all science labs, equipment and cargo bays in the thick trunk of the secondary hull. Kind of like the highrise living quarters of the ship sitting on top of the street level business district. If that makes ANY sense at all.
As far as captain's yachts are concerned, the saucer's shuttle bay holds two axillary craft similar in size to the Cousteau. Smaller runabouts and shuttle craft are in the aft bay. So there aren't any craft that detach from the exterior of the ship.
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Nice to see new modellers. :) *cookie*
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sorry, some of us have an internal dictionary associated with this fandom, and Draft means the total vertical height, here.
it's just that e-hull looks like its suffering from a beesting or wasp venom reaction :P
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it's just that e-hull looks like its suffering from a beesting or wasp venom reaction :P
Hope it brought its epi-pen
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I like the overall shape of the secondary hull's side profile. Not sure what I think of the "fin" shape at the back. And It just seems to me that the saucer's a bit small proportionally, especially if it's supposed to house the entire crew.
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Hope it brought its epi-pen
:uberlol:
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sorry, some of us have an internal dictionary associated with this fandom, and Draft means the total vertical height, here.
it's just that e-hull looks like its suffering from a beesting or wasp venom reaction :P
actually, I think the engineering hull's beam could be widened a bit.
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I've got a concept sketch coming about where you may want to make some revisions.
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Sweet. My SLI cards in my desktop had been giving me some trouble and one of them died a couple months ago. Yesterday the second one died as well :facepalm:
So I'm writing from my MacBook Pro. I have Maya installed on it but I don't have the file. Seeing as though the design is still in its infant stages I will just remodel it. Any suggestions would be welcome. Just remember the design is supposed to be minimalistic and retro.
-Joe
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Not sure what I think of the "fin" shape at the back.
Yeah thats probably going to go through some revisions but it was one of the more defining design cues in my buddies original concept, so I want to try and find a way to keep it somehow.
And It just seems to me that the saucer's a bit small proportionally, especially if it's supposed to house the entire crew.
Well theres some serious automation going on here. So the crew compliment is probably no more than 900. Using the galaxy for comparison, think of how the entire saucer was NOT used for habitation, but if it had, and was approximately 1.5 times its size, it would have room to spare.
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Well then, if there's "serious automation", then there's even less of a reason for the secondary hull to be as large as it is, unless this thing has a massive warp core. But that's just my line of thinking.
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My line of thinking? I just worry about making them look good. To hell with internal arrangement. :P
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I'd lengthen the sec hull by adding in a few extra "slices" in at the tallest/widest point of the sec hull. It seems a bit stubby especially in comparison to the forward section when you look at it from the side
Swap the nacelles for something a little curvier/less blocky. It's almost like kryten designed them :P
Maybe move the nacelles themselves backwards just a touch more?
Is it just me or do they resemble the oberth somewhat?
I'd also Shrink the fan tail thing at the back especially where it's running along the sides.
It needs a few changes but I do like the concept joe. Keep it going :D
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I agree with everything the Captain said...including the part where he said he liked the design ;)
Nacelles need the most work IMO. They are on the blocky side, and too closely spaced, and slightly too far forward, and a bit too big, and a tad too low.
Keep going though, it's a nice design and I would love to see it reach fruition :yay:
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Really like where your going with it, the pylons and aft part of the engines are cool to me. Would have to agree on the secondary hull, needs some hammering out there.
Keep up the good work. :thumbsup:
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Thanks guys! :dance I couldn't sleep last night so I started the model from scratch. I'm doing the nacelles first so I'll post a couple screen shots when they are done. There may be something to be said for too blocky and minimalistic. I'll see if I can modern it up without going over budget on polys and deviating too much from the original concept.
-Joe
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EDIT: updating broken links
961 polys so far
(http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/mutineer1543/zander%20class/zanderclasswiretop.jpg)
(http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/mutineer1543/zander%20class/zanderclasswirefront.jpg)
(http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/mutineer1543/zander%20class/zanderclasswireside.jpg)
(http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/mutineer1543/zander%20class/zanderclasswireunder.jpg)
(http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/mutineer1543/zander%20class/zanderclasswiredetail1.jpg)
(http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/mutineer1543/zander%20class/zanderclasswiredetail2.jpg)
(http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/mutineer1543/zander%20class/zanderclasswireover.jpg)
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Looking cool. I like the base of the nacelle pylon.
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Looking great. Really like the uniqueness of the engines and pylon. :thumbsup:
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wow i didnt like the design 1st but now ive seen you work so far, you must have a cookie, i will be watching this one !!
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I've got a concept sketch coming about where you may want to make some revisions.
Took me a while, but here it is:
(http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/5840/img001edit.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/710/img001edit.jpg/)
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:thumbsup: I approve of this sketch.
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very cool sketch?. what elements specifically do you think might integrate well with my design?
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very cool sketch?. what elements specifically do you think might integrate well with my design?
I'd say all of it, being me, but feel free to pick and choose any elements. :P
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I'd say all of it, being me, but feel free to pick and choose any elements. :P
if it was all of, it would be YOUR design ;-)
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Alright, let me give you some insight into what I made:
- I noticed that you had some Sovereign-like inspiration in the design. Two things in particular stuck out - the dorsal engineering hull has that bulbous area, and the rest of the engineering hull has a similar Sovereign-like shape. I kept both of these hints, but added a few more. I don't like to mix eras, as it doesn't really make sense. When engineers are designing largely for function, retro-parts aren't a good choice. Therefore, you can see I added Sovereign-like nacelles and redefined the dorsal saucer exterior, including the impulse engines. They're in the same location, but they're more like those of the Sovereign class.
- However, that no-retro rule doesn't really apply to the overall shape. As you can see, I kept the same proportions, more or less.
- I reduced the fantail to a more functional shape. It can serve both as a surface for phasers, like on the Galaxy class and Sovereign class Nemesis refit, and as a sort of "runway" if you will for the aft shuttlebay.
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There is something to be said for mixed era's looking odd. I am redesigning the primary hull. I'll post a pic soon, but it kind of looks like a mix between the Ambassador and Intrepid.
The tail fin is definitely unique lol. Personally I am not that thrilled with it but it helps the ship stand out I think so in some way or another I'll be keeping it.
The bulbous section behind the saucer on top of the primary hull is an enclosed armory area containing the aft launcher tubes and reloading equipment, as well as a substantial magazine.
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I am actually still alive, but have gone back to college so that has been dominating my time. Hopefully I'll get a new image up soon. I still intend to finish the ship. Hope you guys are having a great summer so far!
-Joe
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Disregard the saucer section, its just a place holder, not even part of the other mesh. There have been quite a few changes and nothing is definite yet.
(http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/mutineer1543/zander%20class/zanderupdatefront.png)
(http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/mutineer1543/zander%20class/zanderupdatepersp1.png)
(http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/mutineer1543/zander%20class/zanderupdatepersp2.png)
(http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/mutineer1543/zander%20class/zanderupdatepersp3.png)
(http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/mutineer1543/zander%20class/zanderupdatepersp4.png)
(http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/mutineer1543/zander%20class/zanderupdateside.png)
(http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/mutineer1543/zander%20class/zanderupdatetop.png)
(http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/mutineer1543/zander%20class/zanderupdate.png)
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Hmm looks like maybe TMPera from engineering section
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The beaver tail at the end of the engineering section looks interesting. In a good way. Be interesting to see it fleshed out some more.
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nice design, the saucer could use more segments though
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With that fantail, you could put shuttle bays on the sides.
Looks cool so far. :thumbsup:
Tim
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nice design, the saucer could use more segments though
Yeah like I said that saucer is just a placeholder for size. The real one will have more polygons and refined details from the original design in the opening post. Glad you like it so far though :-)
-Joe
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With that fantail, you could put shuttle bays on the sides.
Looks cool so far. :thumbsup:
Tim
Thats an interesting concept. Maybe some larger auxiliary craft could dock there, like a docking ring... Now you have me thinking! I'll have to do a concept sketch.
-Joe
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With that fantail, you could put shuttle bays on the sides.
Looks cool so far. :thumbsup:
Tim
sounds like an interesting idea, but with the nacelles there that would make for an interesting take off in a shuttle.
BUT, if you do a drop down style, or a flat side mount style, it would solve that.
i could easily see this design turned into a carrier.
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sounds like an interesting idea, but with the nacelles there that would make for an interesting take off in a shuttle.
BUT, if you do a drop down style, or a flat side mount style, it would solve that.
i could easily see this design turned into a carrier.
Hmm, better stay true to the original design for now just because my buddy came up with the original idea. Maybe my next ship will be a carrier and incorporate some of these designs.
-Joe
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I think the deflector may be too large, depending on the era of course. Also feel free to add more polies. Hero-type ships, like your Galaxies, Sovereigns, or fan designs like the Centuries or Lunas, generally are around twenty thousand polygons these days.
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Yeah I have been super paranoid about the poly count. I was aiming for 12-15k when all is said and done. There is still so much to do.
As far as the deflector is concerned, its supposed to be similar to the ambassador class in terms of size / hull ratio. It's a big ship so those navigational shields have a lot of real estate to cover. That was the mentality anyway.
-Joe
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the saucer is attached and the detail is starting to show. I think I should have gone about it differently though. I have been trying to make it all from one solid piece when it would have been much easier to make individual components and attach them together after. I may break the saucer apart and start over that way.
(http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/mutineer1543/zander%20class/zanderclasswSaucerfront.png)
(http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/mutineer1543/zander%20class/zanderclasswSaucerside.png)
(http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/mutineer1543/zander%20class/zanderclasswSaucertop.png)
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I really like that top profile, though the deflector looks huge to me.