Jamz... Am I correct in thinking that you do your textures in max? The texture web looks like the max editor.
We do textures in a variety of programs, generally not max, as we do very little baking of textures. Regardless of what approach we take, all textures get a pass through photoshop, if not entirely existing within it. The "Web" you're talking about is a wireframe of the geometry within max.
I just want to say thank you to everyone who helped put that blog together. It was both a fascinating and enjoyable read.
After looking it over, it also has me hopeful I've finally found a ship that I've been after for one of my characters for a long time(wish it had a hanger for point defense/control, but I can deal without).
I just wanted to add a more general comment; I really enjoyed hearing about the process and not just "here is a cool new ship". Those are always welcome to, but its interesting to here the challenges.
I am curious however on some points, like how long does it take to get art/concepts approved? Is it just the STO team, how much outside involvement and does it delay things?
But hey, more stuff like this is great - keep it up
Actually it would make sense if the ships were made out of people.....the hooded aliens do kidnap people, and take them apart, and sometimes liquify them.
We do textures in a variety of programs, generally not max, as we do very little baking of textures. Regardless of what approach we take, all textures get a pass through photoshop, if not entirely existing within it. The "Web" you're talking about is a wireframe of the geometry within max.
I guess web was not the best word. Was talking about the 3rd screenshot in your part of the blog (the part with the nodes). I think its called the advanced texture editor or something like that.
Was just curious as I have not used max in a while... Mostly solidworks now (bleh drafting). Not many opportunities for entry level modeling/animation for games in central US
And of course i know what a wireframe model is :rolleyes:
Actually it would make sense if the ships were made out of people.....the hooded aliens do kidnap people, and take them apart, and sometimes liquify them.
Generally, since ships share versatile materials, we do not create high-poly models then bake them down onto low poly. With the way we do it, we can create a much higher texile density, and significantly reduce ram usage, as well as promote complex customization.
Yes, the ships would look better if they had a unique unwrap & texture, but there's always a tradeoff. The character team & environment team regularly create high-poly models then bake them onto lower-poly models. If we ever do this, it's usually for a specific part on the overall material. So, yes, we hand-craft the ships, usually starting from various primitive geometry objects.
Jam all I want to say, and I think it all that needs to be said. You guys have simpley excelled with these ships. And not only the ships, but the Klingon War revamp too. If the Klingon War revamp is anything to go by then the FE is gonna be mind blowing.
Its ok but it feels limiting compared to max. Hate it when reality gets in the way of creativity.
Random idea. You ever seen the sped up videos LoL did for champion splash art?
I would totally geek out seeing a ship made from nothing starting with the basic model all the way to finished texture in a video at about 20 to 30x speed.
so those leaked pictures were real. even so, i hope the ships can have different hull plating looks in the ship customization, currently the fed one really looks really ugly.. and to be able to tell the ship designs apart from each other then this newly created mass batched products from the same factory.
T6 Miranda Hero Ship FTW. Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
Most cd in this game are 20 which i think is great cos most ppl cant log oon the sametime
A hard reset at a specific time (like how World of War Craft handles dailies) is better for that. You can do the mission absolutely whenever you want in a day, as long as you do it in that day. You can even do a run of it at 11:50 PM, and then another run right after it resets at 12 AM, if that's what your schedule allows you to do (note, even though the two runs occur very close to each other, you still only get one run per calendar day).
This system is far superior. The 20 HR CD only punishes people who can only get on earlier the next day than they did the previous day.
If they're expecting us to grind 25 days for these ships, and then expect us to produce four (or likely five) fleet modules for a fleet variant ... they're taking the p*ss quite frankly. An episode for a free ship (Ambassador / Obelisk Carrier) with the then option of a fleet variant I can accept. 25 days worth of grind with the then option of a fleet variant. That's too much.
where are you getting that it will be a 25 day grind for these ships that ONLY happens during the summer/winter events, every other time it is a one mission event and boom you have a new ship I expect the same for these the "tuvok" mission will be that. the first anniversary was like almost a month long the second was two weeks last year only a week I expect they will go back to a 2-3 week mission run so everyone can get this in plenty of time, since Feb. is the shortest month of the year I even expect the entire month will be given to play this and get the ship.
All in all this looks awesome devs this ship is not just a one class ship it can and could be used by both sci & tacs great idea I look forward to letting my main Sci get in this, it might even make my vesta go into drydock for sometime and my tacs will be happy as well.
15 days, 25 days, what does it matter? The point I am trying to make (apparently, not very well) is that if we're expected to sign in and play these missions daily, for 15 days straight, why should we then be expected to pay toward a fleet variant?
Seems a bit much. There is a whole thread with 60+ pages in the General Discussion, most of the posters there aren't exactly thrilled with this latest revelation. If Cryptic want people to play their game, fine. Have us play to earn. If Cryptic want money out of us then again, fine, throw the ships into the C-Store/Lock Box/T5 Fleets.
They shouldn't demand both from us though, not for the same friggin' ship.
Edit: I could be wrong about all this, but lately most of my fears have turned out true.
you want cryptic to give you your cake/pie and spoon feed it you you as well, that just being lazy.
I would grind for these ships in a heart beat and grind for the dilithium to get the module to get the fleet version if I so choose too.
It transforms between a science ship and a destroyer. A KDF KLINGON SCIENCE SHIP!
OMG OMG OMG! *bounces off bulkheadsl like crazed a ping pong ball*
It is destroyer sized.. well yea, of course...
It IS a science ship. It HAS (?) some sort of second deflector array. Possible fixed powers or possible a slotable second deflector, I guess we'll see eh?
In the section with a screen capture from lead writer "Kestral" we see under the "scope" heading "pet/science" so possibly a fighter bay of some sort? I'm thinking something along the lines of the drones we saw on the carrier from Worf's mission, but I'd guess only a single bay of them. It's suspect that the pets might only be availble when the ship is in its science ship form. And the reason is the blog says the ships have a typical 3/3 weapons science ship load out that switches to a 4/3 on transform which leads me to belive the "pets" return to the ships and literally become the new added weapon. Which is kinda cool really!
I am hoping this will differ for a KDF ship.. they may have the KDF ship have a 4/2 layout which would mean after the transform to a tactical destroyer it would have a 5/2 layout. (or a 5/1 if thats a bit to over powering) I'm kinda hoping, but it's likely a stretch. It would be a scary ship even though in typical KDF faction rules it would be giving up significant hull strength for the cloak ability and possibly a slight edge in manuverability. That how ever might tend to be imbalancing. But a new and scary powerfull potent KDF which would also tend to make having a KDF toon suddenly VERY popular... *looks innocently at the over head and frowns at a burned out lighting strip* I don't see a down side! *grabs flame thower and listens for the scream*
Has a Commander Sco and Lt.C TAC, but the ship has a transform mode to a more "Tactical" destroyer format and lay out.. the SCI and TAC Cmder, and Lt.C slots switch places.
Question here is, will the currently assigned BOFF's stay in those slots, or can you have a different BOFF preselected to take the position after the transform in line with the 8.5 ship selection/switching mechanic?
ART WORK!
What we do soo of all the ships is kinda smexy! But I'm not sure I like the command "scaucer" on the KDF ship... I would think it should bear more of a likelness to the Korath class in that specific area...seeing as technically, the Korath being from the future would have evolved from this design. (and I'm thinking the present Well/Korath may need to be redone as a transforming ship also.. bit then in trek we call that a temporal anomoly.. and you guys caused to git out there fix it!.. have a "trade in" program)
I'm kinda ok with the WIP shot on the KDF ship.., but I'm curious. Wouldn't the design form of that hull as depicted tend to point to the the future temporal science ships/mirror destroyers? The Temporal ships are from the future. unless of course for some reason the Temporal war doesn't actually happen in "Our" time lines future after all. But then having the ships would then create a temporal paradox, because then obviously the well/Korath classes would not have originated in this time line.. so there must be some sort of disconnect. that had to have happened around the time of the mission we all get to do with Worf. Perhapes the discovery of the Soloneese dyson sphere has created a new time line.
I think I'm going to have a head ache now... *screams* I don't have the time for this.. oh wait, I mean.. *SCREAMS* I HATE TEMPORAL PARADOXES!
So umm.. so we gonna see a new internal layout do these ships bridge and interior? Cuz none of the current KDF bridges are going to look right with this ship...or feel right for that matter, and the rest of the ship interior space should match the looks and feel of its bridge.
On a KDF ship I would think a more smooth sleek look to the interior with angular even off centered passageways but (almost next get Ent-E like but of course.. no carpetting) with bevelling and rounding of corners and angles... and better lighting! (no fog pleeeeeseewease not doggone fog unless its a real particle effect! That would be cool)
The Romulan version would also be of course race appropo...
And yea I get that interiors might have to be done as a future project if they aren't all ready done... which other then possibly the bridge I suspect they are not! Though hey feel free to surprise me and everyone else! And yes, you can make us go by them in the c-store just please.. don't price them too high (which is suspect may have adversely effected some of the other ship interiors that have been done from selling as well as they could have) .. after all they'll only be usable on THESE ships. Unless of course you going to do more ships utilizing this same ermmm "tech"
Ok, all jazzed.. I gotta go find a dance party and work off all this sudden energy... bound to be one running most all week end too. *checks net radio scedule*
OMG, its the spanish inquisition! Quick! hide yo Magellans, hide yo Da Vincis, hide yo Stephen Hawkings! BRING IN THE COMFY CHAIR!
Dude. No one expects...
Please reconsider ARC. Please make it optional, at the least. PLEASE.
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
Hey those look pretty good! Especially # 2 :cool:
I have a dragon I made... Did not turn out so great. Organic is hard in solidworks.
I have hundreds of sldwork models I have done for work. Lame part is you have to build them so you have to make it the way the engineers say to. No room to be creative.
Would love to see the fleet star cruiser given a similar update to the galaxy class. with spinal laser and 3 engines and a more offensive capability for sci captains
Comments
Jamz... Am I correct in thinking that you do your textures in max? The texture web looks like the max editor.
Don't think you can sneak away without being noticed. lol
We do textures in a variety of programs, generally not max, as we do very little baking of textures. Regardless of what approach we take, all textures get a pass through photoshop, if not entirely existing within it. The "Web" you're talking about is a wireframe of the geometry within max.
Twitter! STO_JamJamz
After looking it over, it also has me hopeful I've finally found a ship that I've been after for one of my characters for a long time(wish it had a hanger for point defense/control, but I can deal without).
I am curious however on some points, like how long does it take to get art/concepts approved? Is it just the STO team, how much outside involvement and does it delay things?
But hey, more stuff like this is great - keep it up
And that is awesome.
Helpful Tools: Dictionary.com - Logical fallacies - Random generator - Word generator - Color tool - Extra Credits - List of common English language errors - New T6 Big booty tutorial
I smell a foundry.
Also... the name Science Destroyer made me chuckle. As in, it destroys SCIENCE.
I guess web was not the best word. Was talking about the 3rd screenshot in your part of the blog (the part with the nodes). I think its called the advanced texture editor or something like that.
Was just curious as I have not used max in a while... Mostly solidworks now (bleh drafting). Not many opportunities for entry level modeling/animation for games in central US
And of course i know what a wireframe model is :rolleyes:
Cheers mate, that clears up plenty of worry
Sounds fun to me
Jam all I want to say, and I think it all that needs to be said. You guys have simpley excelled with these ships. And not only the ships, but the Klingon War revamp too. If the Klingon War revamp is anything to go by then the FE is gonna be mind blowing.
Thank you all so much
Its ok but it feels limiting compared to max. Hate it when reality gets in the way of creativity.
Random idea. You ever seen the sped up videos LoL did for champion splash art?
I would totally geek out seeing a ship made from nothing starting with the basic model all the way to finished texture in a video at about 20 to 30x speed.
OMG, its the spanish inquisition! Quick! hide yo Magellans, hide yo Da Vincis, hide yo Stephen Hawkings! BRING IN THE COMFY CHAIR!
TRIBBLE Hydra! Hail Janeway!
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
This system is far superior. The 20 HR CD only punishes people who can only get on earlier the next day than they did the previous day.
where are you getting that it will be a 25 day grind for these ships that ONLY happens during the summer/winter events, every other time it is a one mission event and boom you have a new ship I expect the same for these the "tuvok" mission will be that. the first anniversary was like almost a month long the second was two weeks last year only a week I expect they will go back to a 2-3 week mission run so everyone can get this in plenty of time, since Feb. is the shortest month of the year I even expect the entire month will be given to play this and get the ship.
All in all this looks awesome devs this ship is not just a one class ship it can and could be used by both sci & tacs great idea I look forward to letting my main Sci get in this, it might even make my vesta go into drydock for sometime and my tacs will be happy as well.
you want cryptic to give you your cake/pie and spoon feed it you you as well, that just being lazy.
I would grind for these ships in a heart beat and grind for the dilithium to get the module to get the fleet version if I so choose too.
* In Best George Takai voice*
Ohhhhh Myyyyyyyy!
I have read todays blog. Well!
It transforms between a science ship and a destroyer. A KDF KLINGON SCIENCE SHIP!
OMG OMG OMG! *bounces off bulkheadsl like crazed a ping pong ball*
It is destroyer sized.. well yea, of course...
It IS a science ship. It HAS (?) some sort of second deflector array. Possible fixed powers or possible a slotable second deflector, I guess we'll see eh?
In the section with a screen capture from lead writer "Kestral" we see under the "scope" heading "pet/science" so possibly a fighter bay of some sort? I'm thinking something along the lines of the drones we saw on the carrier from Worf's mission, but I'd guess only a single bay of them. It's suspect that the pets might only be availble when the ship is in its science ship form. And the reason is the blog says the ships have a typical 3/3 weapons science ship load out that switches to a 4/3 on transform which leads me to belive the "pets" return to the ships and literally become the new added weapon. Which is kinda cool really!
I am hoping this will differ for a KDF ship.. they may have the KDF ship have a 4/2 layout which would mean after the transform to a tactical destroyer it would have a 5/2 layout. (or a 5/1 if thats a bit to over powering) I'm kinda hoping, but it's likely a stretch. It would be a scary ship even though in typical KDF faction rules it would be giving up significant hull strength for the cloak ability and possibly a slight edge in manuverability. That how ever might tend to be imbalancing. But a new and scary powerfull potent KDF which would also tend to make having a KDF toon suddenly VERY popular... *looks innocently at the over head and frowns at a burned out lighting strip* I don't see a down side! *grabs flame thower and listens for the scream*
Has a Commander Sco and Lt.C TAC, but the ship has a transform mode to a more "Tactical" destroyer format and lay out.. the SCI and TAC Cmder, and Lt.C slots switch places.
Question here is, will the currently assigned BOFF's stay in those slots, or can you have a different BOFF preselected to take the position after the transform in line with the 8.5 ship selection/switching mechanic?
ART WORK!
What we do soo of all the ships is kinda smexy! But I'm not sure I like the command "scaucer" on the KDF ship... I would think it should bear more of a likelness to the Korath class in that specific area...seeing as technically, the Korath being from the future would have evolved from this design. (and I'm thinking the present Well/Korath may need to be redone as a transforming ship also.. bit then in trek we call that a temporal anomoly.. and you guys caused to git out there fix it!.. have a "trade in" program)
I'm kinda ok with the WIP shot on the KDF ship.., but I'm curious. Wouldn't the design form of that hull as depicted tend to point to the the future temporal science ships/mirror destroyers? The Temporal ships are from the future. unless of course for some reason the Temporal war doesn't actually happen in "Our" time lines future after all. But then having the ships would then create a temporal paradox, because then obviously the well/Korath classes would not have originated in this time line.. so there must be some sort of disconnect. that had to have happened around the time of the mission we all get to do with Worf. Perhapes the discovery of the Soloneese dyson sphere has created a new time line.
I think I'm going to have a head ache now... *screams* I don't have the time for this.. oh wait, I mean.. *SCREAMS* I HATE TEMPORAL PARADOXES!
So umm.. so we gonna see a new internal layout do these ships bridge and interior? Cuz none of the current KDF bridges are going to look right with this ship...or feel right for that matter, and the rest of the ship interior space should match the looks and feel of its bridge.
On a KDF ship I would think a more smooth sleek look to the interior with angular even off centered passageways but (almost next get Ent-E like but of course.. no carpetting) with bevelling and rounding of corners and angles... and better lighting! (no fog pleeeeeseewease not doggone fog unless its a real particle effect! That would be cool)
The Romulan version would also be of course race appropo...
And yea I get that interiors might have to be done as a future project if they aren't all ready done... which other then possibly the bridge I suspect they are not! Though hey feel free to surprise me and everyone else! And yes, you can make us go by them in the c-store just please.. don't price them too high (which is suspect may have adversely effected some of the other ship interiors that have been done from selling as well as they could have) .. after all they'll only be usable on THESE ships. Unless of course you going to do more ships utilizing this same ermmm "tech"
Ok, all jazzed.. I gotta go find a dance party and work off all this sudden energy... bound to be one running most all week end too. *checks net radio scedule*
Dude. No one expects...
It seems the vast majority of your most active players (forum regulars) hate the idea... and while that's a small subset of the playerbase, I think it's an important constituency.
THE PLAYERS DO NOT WANT THIS.
Hey those look pretty good! Especially # 2 :cool:
I have a dragon I made... Did not turn out so great. Organic is hard in solidworks.
I have hundreds of sldwork models I have done for work. Lame part is you have to build them so you have to make it the way the engineers say to. No room to be creative.
DEAR GODS FED SAUCER 12.
WE BEG YOU!
________________________________
I like pie.
________________________________
I'm sorry to people who I, in the past, insulted, annoyed, etc.