Author Topic: Sun Tzu Class - USS Athena  (Read 51562 times)

Offline DJ Curtis

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Re: Sun Tzu Class - USS Athena
« Reply #240 on: July 18, 2009, 09:01:29 PM »
After much pain (as I made the ship for texture mirroring) I've got a registry on the front of the saucer.

Now I KNOW  :) that the name is below the registry number, but due to the torpedo launcher, the sustainer grills, and the saucer deflector, the placement options were very limited.  However I still felt that a forward dorsal registry was necessary and that it looks better with one than without.  The name ended up on the bottom out of necessity for mapping.  I other wise would have had to hack up the mesh in spots and make a bunch of changes.  Not gonna do it.  That being said, I think it looks fine where it is.

Also added some windows to the bridge area and some stuff between the sustainer grills.  Speaking of which, I remapped the grills to free up some space on the saucer texture map.  I'm really trying hard to keep this ship to just two 2048x2048 textures while keeping them crisp.

Offline Shadowknight1

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Re: Sun Tzu Class - USS Athena
« Reply #241 on: July 18, 2009, 09:53:28 PM »
Ehh, it's not an Enterprise, so we'll cut you some slack. :P  Looks real good DJ.

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Offline Darkthunder

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Re: Sun Tzu Class - USS Athena
« Reply #242 on: July 18, 2009, 10:18:51 PM »
Perhaps my suggestion of moving the torpedo tubes a bit higher up closer to the bridge, isnt so bad after all :P

Looks great as usual, but it takes a bit to get used to the smaller "name" registry, when its usually reversed.
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Offline moed

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Re: Sun Tzu Class - USS Athena
« Reply #243 on: July 19, 2009, 12:07:11 AM »
Now I KNOW  :) that the name is below the registry number, but due to the torpedo launcher, the sustainer grills, and the saucer deflector, the placement options were very limited.  However I still felt that a forward dorsal registry was necessary and that it looks better with one than without.  The name ended up on the bottom out of necessity for mapping.  I other wise would have had to hack up the mesh in spots and make a bunch of changes.  Not gonna do it.  That being said, I think it looks fine where it is.

I know that you do all your textures in Max but maybe just for the registry, redoing it (only the registry section) in Photoshop might do the trick for the correct orientation. No biggie though, just a suggestion.

Looks real nice

Offline DJ Curtis

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Re: Sun Tzu Class - USS Athena
« Reply #244 on: July 19, 2009, 12:19:52 AM »
well, moving the torp launcher is out of the question now, as it would require a great deal of remapping and texture changes on the saucer.

also, it's time to give this ship a little personality, eh?  Is it just me, or does a ship's deflector give it a personality of sorts?  It's sovereign/prometheus-esque, which makes sense given the shape and timeframe of the ship.  I played around with different colors.  Yellow was a bit overwhelming, especially when I had it on the edges and the middle.  So I'm going with a lit blue rim with a solid center.  Two tones.

Offline Aeries

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Re: Sun Tzu Class - USS Athena
« Reply #245 on: July 19, 2009, 12:22:13 AM »
Very nice deflector, man. Lovin' it!

Offline JimmyB76

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Re: Sun Tzu Class - USS Athena
« Reply #246 on: July 19, 2009, 01:36:36 AM »
wow DJ... just, wow, i have no words...  thank you so very much for this :D

Offline Shadowknight1

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Re: Sun Tzu Class - USS Athena
« Reply #247 on: July 19, 2009, 02:19:22 AM »
Agreed, very nice deflector, it's pretty cool and fairly unique without following your typical deflector design.

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Offline gdata

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Re: Sun Tzu Class - USS Athena
« Reply #248 on: July 19, 2009, 03:09:07 AM »
I still can't get used to the bussard placement, but everything else is looking freakin' awesome.

Offline MarkyD

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Re: Sun Tzu Class - USS Athena
« Reply #249 on: July 19, 2009, 11:22:42 AM »
Awesome deflector mate, and personally I like the registry  8)

Offline mckinneyc

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Re: Sun Tzu Class - USS Athena
« Reply #250 on: July 19, 2009, 01:02:38 PM »
I love the deflector and the reg!

I loved it on the Big G too but you changed it.

Offline DJ Curtis

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Re: Sun Tzu Class - USS Athena
« Reply #251 on: July 20, 2009, 01:22:35 AM »
Wow.  Slow day on the forums.

I did a lot of work to the Athena today, and virtually the entire ship is not mapped, even though there are still textures to come... most notably to the engine skin, the cobra head, and the ventral saucer.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, though I'll mention  a few things.

-changes the nacelle grills a lot
-did the impulse engine
-darkened and dirtied up the hull texture a bit.  I want the ship to look like it's seen combat.
-added more details to the dorsal hull.
-put a red glow behind the impulse engines and a blue glow in front of the deflector.

I'll be adding more windows and details to the secondary hull tomorrow.  Suggestions for details etc are really welcome on this porject, as I've never done textures in this style before.  Feel free to paintbrush over the images.  I might even render up some orthos.

Offline Vanguard

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Re: Sun Tzu Class - USS Athena
« Reply #252 on: July 20, 2009, 03:33:11 AM »
Quote
I did a lot of work to the Athena today, and virtually the entire ship is not mapped

Looks pretty mapped to me  :P.

Seriously. Awesome work here, i'm drooling... And i love those vent style impulse engines <3. The separated version also looks just as good!

Although i still see Battlestar Galactica on the nacelles
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Offline MarkyD

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Re: Sun Tzu Class - USS Athena
« Reply #253 on: July 20, 2009, 04:19:39 AM »
That is looking really great mate, ur doing an awsome job

Offline Shion

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Re: Sun Tzu Class - USS Athena
« Reply #254 on: July 20, 2009, 04:31:19 AM »
Looks great, except for the 3 light gray stripes on the rear impulse engine assemblies.  Looks really out of place when compared with the rest of the textures, I think it would look better plain gray with a few decals.

Offline antagonist

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Re: Sun Tzu Class - USS Athena
« Reply #255 on: July 20, 2009, 07:35:35 AM »
Gotta say, I positively love those warp grills. Damn, she's a beauty alrigth.


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Offline gdata

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Re: Sun Tzu Class - USS Athena
« Reply #256 on: July 20, 2009, 03:00:47 PM »
Omg, it's looking great, seriously...cookie for you!

Offline Starforce2

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Re: Sun Tzu Class - USS Athena
« Reply #257 on: July 20, 2009, 03:17:15 PM »
agreed. Can we have some more angles of the separation action? That rocks.
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Offline Dalek

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Re: Sun Tzu Class - USS Athena
« Reply #258 on: July 20, 2009, 03:28:18 PM »
I don't know why but to me those pylons look a bit flimsy.

But she's looking like she deserves to be called Athena. :D
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Offline Vortex

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Re: Sun Tzu Class - USS Athena
« Reply #259 on: July 20, 2009, 04:08:19 PM »
I don't know why but to me those pylons look a bit flimsy.

Because they bend out against the hull, but I like 'em. Nice work DJ!!