Development > Artwork
Alien hoverbot
Wanderer:
--- Quote from: "Psawhn" ---Either way, there's been some progress made on this model:
Edit: And now I have a fan thing that looks spinny:
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Ooooh, Preeettty toys. Me wants toy. MAKE TOY! :)
Okay, sorry, 4 year old in the candy store moment. Looks neat. I sure as heck wouldn't want to run into this thing.
Psawhn:
--- Quote from: "Winter" ---Maybe someone else still has them?
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Nope, the ftp server got hacked.
It's probably for the best, anyways. If I remade it, I would do it a lot differently and it would be a lot better.
--- Quote ---Well, if you read the world history on the wiki or inside the game, there has been a lot of strife and collapse worldwide.
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Yep, that's what I was thinking.
--- Quote ---I'm following the idea that we're advancing, but not quite as quickly as most people seem to think or hope for. I mean, all over the 20th century, people were convinced that we'd have artificial-gravity space stations and permanent moonbases by 1984, 1999, 2001 etc. etc. None of that has materialised. We're supposed to be making second manned missions to Jupiter in 2010, for pity's sake. :p
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Well, I believe we could have been making manned missions to Jupiter if there was a stronger focus on it - just look how quickly we got to the moon when we tried to.
--- Quote ---Brilliant work, mate, I really like how you've pulled together that plasma gun. The spinning fan was not what I had in mind (which was static turbofan blades) but it works well enough. If only we had animated texture support. ;)
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There's the neat bit ;). The textures themselves aren't animated, but the disks they're textured onto are. :)
(I might have to up the polycount of the disks, though. 8-sides is enough to not make a seal inside and to poke holes on the outside.)
--- Quote ---hmm it doesn't looks like very extraterrestrial,
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Alien textures will make it look a lot more, uh, alien.
--- Quote ---Maybe fans are too large, in my opinion they should look a little more circular and thinner, like terminator 3 skynet model.
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--- Quote ---My only real objection to the model is the size of the turbines; other than that the model's fine, though I personally would go with a frame more reminiscent of the scanners from HL2.
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If you see at the top of the thread, the original design had thin fans instead of turbines. I had two rings instead of one to make it more visually interesting. Of course, Winter's the Art Lead, so what he says goes. ;)
--- Quote ---Regarding the 2 spikes popping from the bottom of the plane, I assume they are done for planes stability purpose.
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Uhh... sure? Let's go with that. 8)
Actually, the spikes are there to make it look dangerous. Angular and spikey make it look dangerous. ;)
I suppose it also gives it ramming options once it's out of ammo.
--- Quote ---Whats the pointy bits at the front for? Do they ram people and impale them on spikes?
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Like I said, they're dangerous-looking. :)
--- Quote ---It doesn't seem to have any kind of stability, wouldn't it pitch backwards and forwards on its axis?
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--- Quote ---On a very last note, how is this plane supposed to deal with ground height ?
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The engines are located along the center of gravity - just like an Osprey or a Firefly.
The main body can pitch up and pitch down without having any effect on its movement. (If bits of hull weren't in the way it could pitch a full 360 degrees in place.)
It maneuvers through thrust vectoring. The engines rotate to give yaw forces, and differential thrust provides roll.
To give pitch control, there's thrust vectoring at the bottoms of the engines.
Ooh! I just figured out how it works, too! :D Air forced into the nozzle from the sides can deflect thrust up to 15 degrees.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrust_vectoring
--- Quote ---Now being researched, fluidic injection nozzles divert thrust via fluid effects[1][2][3]. Tests show that air forced into a jet engine exhaust stream can deflect thrust up to 15 degrees.
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--- Quote ---On a somewhat related note, this kind of machine must be cleaned from time to time, thus need to land in the hangar, maybe small landing gear or somehting similar need to be attached to it ?
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There are actually two long 'feet' on the bottom of the machine. In the BFG version (The original one with a gun mounted between the main prongs) those feet were the lowest objects - thus the hoverbot could just land.
In the plasmagun version, the gun is the lowest object, and I haven't got around to updating the feet yet.
Actually, maybe the turret retracts or rotates upward... This would keep the feet from becoming oversised, and provides another reason for the white 'core' to be in there.
--- Quote ---Ooooh, Preeettty toys. Me wants toy. MAKE TOY! :)
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Mwa ha ha, I have the .blend version. The gun automatically tracks a target I have set up. :D (I can spend minutes just moving the object around and watching the gun go around to track it. :) )
Surrealistik:
--- Quote ---If you see at the top of the thread, the original design had thin fans instead of turbines. I had two rings instead of one to make it more visually interesting. Of course, Winter's the Art Lead, so what he says goes.
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I did. The original design does look better (sleeker, more advanced and extraterrestrial), but I suppose you're right.
Aesthetic criticisms aside, I'd love to see it make use of those wicked spikes. Perhaps they could feature monomolecular tips in the tradition of the Kerrblade, making ramming extremely deadly. Perhaps they may ram AND detonate, like a self-directed smartbomb when damaged, thus almost assuring at least one fatality.
--- Quote ---Well, I believe we could have been making manned missions to Jupiter if there was a stronger focus on it - just look how quickly we got to the moon when we tried to.
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Most certainly. That said, while lofty expectations have been disappointed in some ways, they have been, and will continue to be surpassed in others, computing power, military technology, esp nuclear devices (destruction by a single explosive on the scale of a nuke was unthinkable immediately prior to its invention), aerodynamics (briefly before the Wright brothers successfully got their plane airborne, flight was largely thought impossible), medicine and IT being just some of the notable fields in which this is true. Human advancement has had its quantum leaps along with its disappointments, some featuring technologies and achievements long thought impossible. Who's to say that anti-grav isn't among them? When it comes down to it though, if the story forbids AG, or large parts would need to be rewritten in order to incorporate it, it isn't really worth the trouble.
Winter:
--- Quote from: "Surrealistik" ---I did. The original design does look better (sleeker, more advanced and extraterrestrial), but I suppose you're right.
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I've always held that alien designs are defined by their similarities to human aesthetics, not their differences. The way it looks now, you can see the obvious function of the turbines, but then you kind-of start to think, "Hey, what are those spikes for?"
Also, with regards to the storyline, this flier is going to be a machine engineered just for Earth operations.
--- Quote ---Aesthetic criticisms aside, I'd love to see it make use of those wicked spikes. Perhaps they could feature monomolecular tips in the tradition of the Kerrblade, making ramming extremely deadly. Perhaps they may ram AND detonate, like a self-directed smartbomb when damaged, thus almost assuring at least one fatality.
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This is definitely an idea for us to consider.
--- Quote ---Most certainly. That said, while lofty expectations have been disappointed in some ways, they have been, and will continue to be surpassed in others, computing power, military technology, esp nuclear devices (destruction by a single explosive on the scale of a nuke was unthinkable immediately prior to its invention), aerodynamics (briefly before the Wright brothers successfully got their plane airborne, flight was largely thought impossible), medicine and IT being just some of the notable fields in which this is true. Human advancement has had its quantum leaps along with its disappointments, some featuring technologies and achievements long thought impossible. Who's to say that anti-grav isn't among them? When it comes down to it though, if the story forbids AG, or large parts would need to be rewritten in order to incorporate it, it isn't really worth the trouble.
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Yes, but these breakthroughts featured great leaps into what was -- at the time- the unknown. There isn't much of that big unknown left for making major leaps into, and gravity manipulation remains one of the least likely things to be ever realistic.
Plus, antigravity is standard in science-fiction now. It's almost expected, and so ends up being absolutely unoriginal. The aliens will end up more unusual to our Star Trek-jaded sensibilities for not having it. ;)
Regards,
Winter
Surrealistik:
--- Quote from: "Winter" ---I've always held that alien designs are defined by their similarities to human aesthetics, not their differences. The way it looks now, you can see the obvious function of the turbines, but then you kind-of start to think, "Hey, what are those spikes for?"
Also, with regards to the storyline, this flier is going to be a machine engineered just for Earth operations.
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I can appreciate that mode of thought. Your perspective has much in common with one of the project leaders from the X-Com mod I previously worked on.
If this machine is designed purely for terrestial operations, than the use of conventional hover devices is certainly more plausible and sensible.
--- Quote ---This is definitely an idea for us to consider.
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I'm glad you might find a use for it. I imagine the ramming principle as a tactical level "bunker buster", capable of devastating weapons platforms, or even troops in heavy powered armour, as the penetrating material would contain the explosive or hydrogen charge, detonating after having buried itself deep within the target.
--- Quote ---Yes, but these breakthroughts featured great leaps into what was -- at the time- the unknown. There isn't much of that big unknown left for making major leaps into, and gravity manipulation remains one of the least likely things to be ever realistic.
Plus, antigravity is standard in science-fiction now. It's almost expected, and so ends up being absolutely unoriginal. The aliens will end up more unusual to our Star Trek-jaded sensibilities for not having it.
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I think it may be a little premature to assume that there isn't much of an unknown to make revolutionary discoveries in. After all, we are just beginning to scratch the surface of the counterintuitive world of quantum physics. This field of study in fact, is posed to deliver another revolutionary technology in the form of the quantum computer (something that promises to change everything given its potential processing power). Teleportation and matter transmission may also become a possibility as a direct consequence of our continued studies of this incredible scientific discipline (we can already do it at an atomic/particulate level). Given all the fantastic and wonderous things we've managed to achieve, and soon will, the realization of anti-gravity doesn't seem all that implausible, especially for an ultra advanced alien species that has mastered plasma/particle manipulation and FTL travel.
I definitely understand your concerns that the technology is cliched, and its use might result in undesirable weariness concerning the storyline. On the otherhand, the game makes extensive use of other popular sci-fi technologies and weaponry such as plasma weapons, lasers, FTL travel, psionics, and particle beams. Regardless, that is not to say that there is no value in trying to incorporate new and interesting elements, and if barring or substituting AG with more conventional technologies achieves this, so be it. I am certainly willing to invest faith in your ability to create a fresh and compelling storyline, complete with the nuances that make it so.
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