WIP of TheUnknown - The Akula (mk II)

[Nihilus]

She's turning out to be one good looking Warbird.

[Captain_D]

This is great work but as far as "kicking LC's Werbirds ass... I wholeheartedly don't agree.

This Warbird is just another interpretation of the ship but IMO no better or no worse that LC's... just different.

That is like comparing the recent release of WC Sovereign to DJ Sovereign, They are both awesome and different at the same time.
 There are things that stand out differently on both projects that I like/dislike, but they are both winners to me.

Looking very nice so far on the "bird". Going to look great with all the new ships coming out.

[X_TheUnknown_X]

Well, it seems BCFiles is [just about] working again   ! So in accordance with my promise earlier, I'm getting the Federation Spacedock ready again for release. It should be a few days while I check that everything's still in place and working, but rest assured it will be making it's way to BCFiles soon. A bit of self-promotion until then; with a re-render of the Spacedock I posted on the Scifi Renders thread (someone requested a 1920x1080 wallpaper-style version, so here it is ;) ).

No picture updates from the D'Deridex. I'm trying to clean it up a little, and to make sure I'm efficiently using the vertices I have in place. It's looking to be roughly 14-15K faces when exported to BC. Now my only problem I figuring out the best way of UV mapping the model.

[FarShot]

Yay, thanks for the wallpaper!

[Nihilus]

Well, it seems BCFiles is [just about] working again   ! So in accordance with my promise earlier, I'm getting the Federation Spacedock ready again for release. It should be a few days while I check that everything's still in place and working, but rest assured it will be making it's way to BCFiles soon. A bit of self-promotion until then; with a re-render of the Spacedock I posted on the Scifi Renders thread (someone requested a 1920x1080 wallpaper-style version, so here it is ;) ).

No picture updates from the D'Deridex. I'm trying to clean it up a little, and to make sure I'm efficiently using the vertices I have in place. It's looking to be roughly 14-15K faces when exported to BC. Now my only problem I figuring out the best way of UV mapping the model.

One quick question before you release her.  I've recently noticed that after docking with the Starbase I keep getting the "Sir we can't warp while docked in the Starbase" message every time I try to leave the system.  This happens no matter how far away from the Starbase I happen to fly.  I don't know if it's just me or if another Beta tester already pointed this out so I thought I would share now.  It didn't do it when I first installed it so it may just be me.

[DMWalsh79]

One quick question before you release her.  I've recently noticed that after docking with the Starbase I keep getting the "Sir we can't warp while docked in the Starbase" message every time I try to leave the system.  This happens no matter how far away from the Starbase I happen to fly.  I don't know if it's just me or if another Beta tester already pointed this out so I thought I would share now.  It didn't do it when I first installed it so it may just be me.

I've been having the same issue with my install and I'm not a beta tester.

[X_TheUnknown_X]

I've recently noticed that after docking with the Starbase I keep getting the "Sir we can't warp while docked in the Starbase" message every time I try to leave the system.  This happens no matter how far away from the Starbase I happen to fly.

I've had the same problem on my end. I highly doubt it's a problem with my Spacedock, as there are no additional scripts which affect the docking procedure. My thoughts are that it's a problem with the Starbase 12 set, as I seem to remeber that in Quick Battle, people find that they cannot dock with the station as well. I have not experienced either problem with any other sets (the DS9 system, for example), or when spawning a starbase in a diffrent set.
Just a return question, have you installed the latest Galaxy Charts mod? - because I never enountered the 'cannot warp' glitch until I installed it.

[King Class Scout]

good point.  there's something going on with the Starbase 12 set where it's being twitchy. i haven't swapped starbases, but I stay a mile away from SB12 so my game doesn't crash.

oh, I might have a partial solution for you, based on the trouble we've had with the Kessok Homeworld set.

I put the upgraded Kessok heavy and light in my beta testing install (leaving the stockers with my tweaked hardpoints in my play install), and promptly got a CTD (crash to Desktop) every time I tried to warp to the Junkyard.  after talking it over with Tiq, we figured it out and applied it all around; the original model's vox was still in the way, and since it was read only like a lot of the stock stuff, cleanout programs and so on would IGNORE it, it had to be done by hand.  I'm betting things are misreading the vox for the stock starbase, which has a "read only" switch on it.

[X_TheUnknown_X]

Several developments since my last post. The Spacedock is now out (of course), thanks to everyone who's downloaded it so far . Also, I've finally found the time to UV Map the Warbird. It's certainly been the most challenging mesh I've ever done, but it's now all laid out and ready for textures .
This, of couse, means that the mesh is now final (unless someone spots something really wrong with it). To be honest, I was surprised to find that it'll only be around 12k faces when exported; on top of that I've mapped this out to take just four sqaure texture maps (and two rectangular ones).
Pictures, to show how it's mapped:

[Lionus]

*ponders in an idle manner what will happen ingame if those thin necks are phasered to oblivion..* 

[Jb06]

Looking great Unknown! Cannot wait to see her textured ;)

Cookie

~Jb

[MarkyD]

Nice work matey, looking forward to the textures 

[aaron067]

Definitely looking nice! 

I'm also looking forward to seeing this beast textured.  Since all of the Starfleet ships we see in the TNG series have gradually had more detail added to their paneling (if they didn't have it from a movie already), is there any chance you might be doing something more along the lines of the detail we see on the Valdore? 

[Nihilus]

Definitely looking nice! 

I'm also looking forward to seeing this beast textured.  Since all of the Starfleet ships we see in the TNG series have gradually had more detail added to their paneling (if they didn't have it from a movie already), is there any chance you might be doing something more along the lines of the detail we see on the Valdore? 

That's actually a pretty sweet idea.  A "what would she look like with a movie budget" idea.  You could always paint her to have the original TNG look and then a modified "movie" version.

[serverandenforcer]

I can't tell from the textures if you already have it or not, but is there not two collums of a "ribbed" feature that is on the top of the hull, starting from around half-way and goes down close to the aft of the ship?

[X_TheUnknown_X]

I can't tell from the textures if you already have it or not, but is there not two collums of a "ribbed" feature that is on the top of the hull, starting from around half-way and goes down close to the aft of the ship?

I was thinking of applying those as textures instead of modelling them in. On the studio model, the ribbing is only raised by a few millimetres; I thought it would be too much trouble to get them accurately modelled on the mesh, as it wouldn't end up being a very noticeable addition.

I'm also looking forward to seeing this beast textured.  Since all of the Starfleet ships we see in the TNG series have gradually had more detail added to their paneling (if they didn't have it from a movie already), is there any chance you might be doing something more along the lines of the detail we see on the Valdore? 

I think you might be surprised how much detail the Warbird physical model actually has, it just doesn't show up very well on screen because of the filming tech at that time. JBS posted a link a few pages back which shows close-ups of the Warbird.
Your idea is noted, though. I'm free to take a bit of artistic licence when it comes to the textures, I guess I could embellish them a little.

[aaron067]

There is some color detail there, which I remember seeing in TNG (not so much in DS9).  However, it looks more like camouflage that's been airbrushed on than any actual metalwork.  Most of the detail seems to be physical texturing, while what I was actually referring to is the ornate paneling as seen in these renders:

http://johneaves.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/valdore-o-rama/

Regardless, I'm glad you're going to keep it in mind.  The D'deridex design wasn't even completed when Andy Probert had to submit it (he specifically points out no impulse engines), so I'll be happy to see anything that brings it closer to the film appearance it should have at some point received.

[X_TheUnknown_X]

Small update: I've just started the textures on the wings, and I just wanted to show my idea for the hull colour and plating design to you all before I continue much further. I've tried to match the green colour to the TNG-era warbird, rather that the slightly bluer CGI version.

[FarShot]

May I suggest increasing the contrast between the plates?  They blend in to just a bland green if you don't maximize the picture, which suggests a similar thing will happen in game.

[King Class Scout]

seconded.  it's very hard to tell there's anything there whatsoever unless you blow it up.  I couldn't even tell where the horizontally ribbed bit was that much on the small size.  it's like there's no contrast on the starter (yeesh, and I thought mine were bad for being bland)