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I actually like the way the Klingon command BCs look.
olessius
Member Posts: 0 Arc User
...And I think it's sad that I seem to be in the minority on this. Sure, there are some issues with the different parts (the Klinzhai nacelles making all your windows disappear, and different parts not always fitting together perfectly), but all in all, I think that these ships have a supremely Klingon appearance with their Brutalist, utilitarian design schemes. I definitely feel that they are more traditionally Klingon-looking than both the Mogh and the Bortasqu' are (though those are certainly a couple of beautiful ships).
I may try to upload a screen shot of my current Command BC-look, but I really just wanted some positive words spoken about them, and to see if anybody else liked them too. There's definitely a lot of legitimate complaints that could (and should) be made about the game, but in my opinion, the Command BCs should not be the targets of as many of those complaints as they currently have been.
I may try to upload a screen shot of my current Command BC-look, but I really just wanted some positive words spoken about them, and to see if anybody else liked them too. There's definitely a lot of legitimate complaints that could (and should) be made about the game, but in my opinion, the Command BCs should not be the targets of as many of those complaints as they currently have been.
Post edited by olessius on
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Grand Master Thotok, son of Koloth, I.K.S. Sompek==Dahar Master Shanara, I.K.S. Balth'Quv
Admiral R'Tath V'Tirex, R.R.W. Dhael Glohha'enh==Commander Ta'eth Korval, R.R.W Hachae ch'Rhian==Admiral Vranuk, R.R.W Delevhas
I'm still on the fence about them myself - on one hand I want to do it since I really like the KDF and want to support it, plus I own most KDF ships. I'm still waiting to see them in Smirk's livestream tonight and maybe in some videos by players that bought them so I can reach a final decision.
I'm with you on the utalitarian look, I have a special affintiy towards rough, rugged design and an acquired taste to what many would consider "ugly".
But I'm glad people like them, you're not the first to make a thread about liking them - there ws another player in general as well and I've seen quite a few people that fancy them.
No.
Personally, I find every part of the QIb to be much too flat for my liking, and something about the MatHa makes it difficult for me to get a sense of its scale which in turn makes it difficult for me to really enjoy its design. Then again, I like big ships that truly feel big, and I also like the almost Soviet-inspired look that you see in much of the truly classic Klingon ship design (Kamarag, Vor'Cha, Negh'Var and K'tinga to name a few ships with that type of brutalist design).
Heh
I suppose we may be kindred spirits ...in this regard, at least.
Everyone has their own tastes in aesthetics, but here are my quick takes:
There are some weird parts on the KDF versions of these ships, but when you play around with the pieces, it's not as bad as Cryptic's news page on the subject look. You can achieve a Negh'Var, Bortasqu'-like appearance and the ship has sufficient enough bulk to it, which was a big complaint on the Intel ships. The Qib I absolutely adore as a performer but appearance wise, looks like a weight was dropped on a pancake.
The Rom versions do look great and I like that hawkish, forward wing sweep look. Good job whoever made up the design and the guys who put it into the game.
The Fed versions? Did you know they are a nod to past canon Starfleet designs? It's namely in the traditional Saucer shapes (the round ones), the Excelsior-like long Engineering Hulls and Necks.
Originally I thought they'd be the 2nd best looking ones. The Roms would be #1 in aesthetics, Feds #2, KDF a very far #3. But after seeing the pieces, I've concluded the Fed ones are the distant #3. I have problems with the Upper Hull sections being too bulbous. The same sections look separate from the Engineering hull and looks really off. This is made even worse since the Nacelle Pyloons are attached to the Upper Hull and not the Engineering Hull (Lower Hull). I was also very picky with how the Pylons are angled. They're either wayyyy too high or they don't achieve the classic angles of canon Starfleet Cruisers that allow the Nacelles to clear the hull and have a "LOS" to each other. There are some nice pieces, but the Upper Hulls and Nacelle Pylons being linked to them just kills the appearance if you want a more traditional Starfleet look.
For anyone that didn't watch, what they basically said is that they wanted to have all 3 sets of faction specific ships share a few common elements like the double nacelles and the round spinning thingies, but then in the KDF case they sad the concept artist had a sort of "gloves off" situation on purpose and was left to experiment with trying to make designs different and challenge the established standard. They said that they had a lot of debates about these and were on the edge themselves, but decided to go with something that would brake the mold this time. So in that regard, I can appreciate that.
And the mixmatching is great - there are some parts that match up horribly, but Smirk managed to make a completely random ship from many different parts that actually looked pretty darn good.
Man, I guess I should've watched that livestream. It's ironic that their goal was to break molds as I feel they came closer to the true Klingon aesthetic with these ships than they have with all their more recent releases.
But yeah, some of the parts really don't match well. You CAN make some cool combinations once you figure them out, though.
Actually, here's a pic of my current look:
Smirk had a similar combination, but a bit better IMHO. I'm not 100% sure, but I think he used the Ty'Gokor head, Klinzhai main hull, Klinzhai upper hull, An'Quat pylons and not sure but either Ty'Gokor or An'Quat nacelles. (think they were Ty'Gokor) Looked pretty good to me.
Interesting! I changed things up a bit (well, a LOT, really) after I read your post and here's my new look:
It doesn't translate perfectly to a screenshot, but I think it's an upgrade myself.
Also something interesting that one can't see from the screenshots - they all have a rotating section that seems to imply some kind of sensor or communications array that would seem fitting to a Command ship. A neat little detail, and I think these are pretty much the first ships to ever have such a detail. Other ships may have some special animations for certain scenarios (like BOPs with their attack wing mode, or the Veteran an Dyson ships with their mode changes), but nothing that is on permanently.
Plus elements from the Oberth, that also had its nacelles attached more to the saucer than the engineering section.
---
In the end, we can only hope that this sells well, because that will give Cryptic more reasons to make more KDF ships.
Ok, the An'Quat is fugly as hell on its own. I've got no idea what was going on in the designer's head when he designed that. Other two ships though, as well as the overall customization, look pretty decent.
Heck, I'd go even as far as to say the ships overall are better than the Romulan ones. The Rommie ships look nice, but after playing with the customization I ended up disappointed, as they're all basically flying wings. Not to mention, they look horrible with FAW builds.
The disappointing thing about the KDF BCs is that they have less customization options than other factions - windows, hull materials, even parts. Other than that though, they're OK. I may even end up flying one variant on one of my alts, after I've got the totally-not-op tactical trait.
Silly suaveks, FAW is for Feds.
I don't even want to imagine how a FAW Command Warbird looks like, I would never do such butchery to such a beautiful ship. But seriously, I find the Romulan Command birds gorgeous.
But my complaint regarding the KDF Command ships is not in the design, as you said - after seing them in game they're not so unattractive as they seemed on the blog images. My complaint is that they look somehow unfinished to me. Like rushed or sloppy work was done. Yes I checked them out from any and every possible angle and there are just parts of these ships that seem.....don'r really know how to describe except unfinished. Leaves me feeling like there was suposed to be something more, but it was just glued togetehr without it. Or at least seems that there should be something more....
*shrugs*
And with the Nukara shields they do look decent.. well of course, anything with Nukara looks great tho
We still live!!!!! Hahahahahahahahaa! We live and we will conquer!!!!! Hahahahahaaha!
-Roach, when asked about Klingon extinction!
Naaaahhhh, surely you jest... ;>
got any pics of it? don't see many Shield Visual pics of KDF ships around lol.
That said if you do post some pictures of the new KDF ships I would appreciate having a better look at them. It feels like a bit of a trap and I don't know where the blame lies. On one hand my expectations were too high in spite of really wanting to like them. On the other I'm concerned that if I don't capitulate along with a fair number of other KDF fans we may not see another ship for a while; Is a ship of dubious quality better than none at all?
But the Tactical one is what I think looks best, at least in my oppinion.
Using the Vet Skin, but the KHG shields can fix most sins.
I see myself dismissing the ENG ship in the end, but the Tactical & Science cruisers arr both useful.
But then I haven't used the war cruiser yet.
Still not as good looking as the Kamarang, but these ships are a million times better than the Qib.
I'll try and snap some screen caps of them later tonight.
Please do, when you have the time.
I'm pretty sure the Mogh was our Negh'var Refit, in terms of preformance not design. I always suspected that the Mogh is that ship, only they decided to go with a more fresh design direction than just reusing the Negh'var skin and attaching two big underslug cannons.
Ofcourse, I could be wrong, but I'm under that impression.
I'm pretty sure this has been described somewhere in past commentary. It wasn't a deliberate track change, but more of a natural evolution of the project/idea behind "a new KDF battlecruiser ship."
Here are a few pictures of the different combinations of parts that I've used.
http://imgur.com/QCHGmJc
http://imgur.com/Alr1tk8
http://imgur.com/P7n5P2M
I do feel quite forced to use the Klinzhai neck as it is the only one that really gives me the general outline of a Klingon ship.
Y'know, though... since we discussed this in the other thread about the Klingon command ships, I've come to rethink my initial position. While these new ships are more Klingon than the Mogh or the Bortasqu' (which I now have cause to believe is in fact a shameless rip-off of the Terran battlecruiser), that does not make them GOOD Klingon ships. And in fact, there are a great number of flaws to their respective designs. Enough to strongly give me the impression that the person who designed them REALLY hasn't done his or her homework at all, and has instead taken direct inspiration from other franchises (mainly Starcraft, as is obvious with both the aforementioned Mogh and the Bortasqu'). Not only that - they've managed to mess up even the most iconic of the Klingon ships in ways that make them look so, SO much less cool than they are supposed to. Taking the Negh'Var as an example, practically everything about it has been watered down; the wingspan is smaller than it should be, the neck is both shorter and thinner than it's supposed to be, it's missing its massive underslung weapon pods and the entire ship is a great deal flatter than it really has any right to be.
And the really sad part about this is the reference material is widely available. In fact, there are a bunch of diagrams floating around that give us a clear indication of how the designers were going about designing Klingon ships. Here are a few examples:
Vor'Cha
Vor'Cha 2
Vor'Cha 3
B'rel
B'rel 2
Negh'Var
Negh'Var comparison
Negh'Var comparison 2
And this is just what I've been able to get my hands on via a cursory Googling of the ships in question and by checking these forums. The designers ought to have been able to get their hands on even more reference data than this. Frankly, it's an absolute miracle that the KTanco, Vo'quv, VoD'leh and the Qu'Daj, four ships for which there is (to the best of my knowledge) no canonical precedent, look as good as they do, and an absolute pity that the designers simply stopped making actual Klingon ships since then.
So I'll still fly my Command BC, and to a certain point I will still enjoy the way it looks. However, I'm no longer going to be able to view it as a proper Klingon ship.