UFO:Alien Invasion
Development => Artwork => Topic started by: Psawhn on April 17, 2007, 09:21:23 pm
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Here's a very quick blockup of an alien hoverbot:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Psawhn/Blender/april17_hoverbot_blockup_1.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Psawhn/Blender/april17_hoverbot_blockup_2.jpg)
The side things are more fans than turbines, though. They rotate around to provide foward/reverse/turning motions.
The gun is garbage - it's just there to show where the gun goes. I also figured that having the gun turret on top would make it more difficult to fire at humans that are downward.
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Here's a very quick blockup of an alien hoverbot:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Psawhn/Blender/april17_hoverbot_blockup_1.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Psawhn/Blender/april17_hoverbot_blockup_2.jpg)
The side things are more fans than turbines, though. They rotate around to provide foward/reverse/turning motions.
The gun is garbage - it's just there to show where the gun goes. I also figured that having the gun turret on top would make it more difficult to fire at humans that are downward.
Nice. :)
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Here's a very quick blockup of an alien hoverbot:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Psawhn/Blender/april17_hoverbot_blockup_1.jpg)
The side things are more fans than turbines, though. They rotate around to provide foward/reverse/turning motions.
Here's a proposed design change -- close up the gap between the top and bottom fans. That will make the whole thing look more solid and more powerful. The fan blades should look like those of a turbofan jet engine.
The gun is garbage - it's just there to show where the gun goes. I also figured that having the gun turret on top would make it more difficult to fire at humans that are downward.
How about a turret on the bottom? ;)
Regards,
Winter
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Very nice. Were you inspired by the hoverbot I proposed (http://ufoai.ninex.info/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1323)? So far the model looks excellent. However I would definitely recommend substituting the fan turbines for something sleeker and more advanced, cylindrical anti-grav units that emit a light blue glow (similar to the colouration of the plasma blasts) perhaps?
Been awhile since we worked together on X-Com Last Hope Pshawn, it's nice to see you again.
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Very nice. Were you inspired by the hoverbot I proposed (http://ufoai.ninex.info/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1323)? So far the model looks excellent. However I would definitely recommend substituting the fan turbines for something sleeker and more advanced, cylindrical anti-grav units that emit a light blue glow (similar to the colouration of the plasma blasts) perhaps?
Been awhile since we worked together on X-Com Last Hope Pshawn, it's nice to see you again.
The flying alien bot has been around for a long, long time. It's just never had a model.
As I've said before, UFO:AI does not have and will not have antigravity or other sci-fantasy technology. Ever. It would completely defeat the purpose of a near-future hard-sci-fi game. The only exception we're making is for FTL, because the logistics and limitations of a sublight-only invasion were incompatible with the storyline.
Regards,
Winter
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The Law of Accelerating Returns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerating_change) might disagree with you on anti-grav tech being the realm of sci-fantasy given the temporal setting (human tech should be bafflingly advanced by then) of UFO: AI and the vast technological superiority of the aliens, especially considering the capabilities of ultrapowerful quantum computers which should exponentially catalyze the progress of all forms of research (something which I'm certain the aliens would have), but fair enough.
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Very nice. Were you inspired by the hoverbot I proposed (http://ufoai.ninex.info/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1323)? So far the model looks excellent. However I would definitely recommend substituting the fan turbines for something sleeker and more advanced, cylindrical anti-grav units that emit a light blue glow (similar to the colouration of the plasma blasts) perhaps?
Been awhile since we worked together on X-Com Last Hope Pshawn, it's nice to see you again.
Hey, Last Hope! I wish that didn't collapse. :( (I also wish I didn't lose the source files for my alien base.)
Actually, I had this design in my head for a few weeks, now. It borrows more from here: http://ufoai.ninex.info/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=669&start=0, but I worked on integrating the dev's ideas more. They also had the requirement for a hoverbot already, here: http://ufoai.ninex.info/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1302
As far as technological progress goes, maybe there was a "semi-dark" age in regards to technology - the threat of political, environmental, and economic collapse could have taken funding away from research on a global scale.
Or maybe technology follows more of a gaussian model than an exponential one. ;) Evolutionary refinements in technology can only go so far without a revolutionary breakthrough, as we start running into physical limits. (ie: microchips with transistors/circuits just atoms in diameter.)
Either way, there's been some progress made on this model:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Psawhn/Blender/th_hoverbot_wip7.jpg) (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Psawhn/Blender/hoverbot_wip7.jpg)
Edit: And now I have a fan thing that looks spinny:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Psawhn/Blender/th_april16_hoverbot_fans.jpg) (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Psawhn/Blender/april16_hoverbot_fans.jpg)
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Hey, Last Hope! I wish that didn't collapse. :( (I also wish I didn't lose the source files for my alien base.)
Maybe someone else still has them?
Actually, I had this design in my head for a few weeks, now. It borrows more from here: http://ufoai.ninex.info/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=669&start=0, but I worked on integrating the dev's ideas more. They also had the requirement for a hoverbot already, here: http://ufoai.ninex.info/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1302
Yeah, kaeau is a great modeller and texturer, but he didn't seem to like working within any sort of framework. Or having to submit his work to an AD.
Maybe we should try and get some of those untextured models from him, some of them were quite good.
As far as technological progress goes, maybe there was a "semi-dark" age in regards to technology - the threat of political, environmental, and economic collapse could have taken funding away from research on a global scale.
Well, if you read the world history on the wiki or inside the game, there has been a lot of strife and collapse worldwide.
Or maybe technology follows more of a gaussian model than an exponential one. ;) Evolutionary refinements in technology can only go so far without a revolutionary breakthrough, as we start running into physical limits. (ie: microchips with transistors/circuits just atoms in diameter.)
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
In my writeup, humanity has several space stations, one permanent moon colony and a fleet of two or three manned spacecraft, with some of the more advanced stuff under construction. It is in the early days of commercial fusion power, but it isn't shifting postprocessor-enabled fission out of its place of power quite yet.
Either way, there's been some progress made on this model:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Psawhn/Blender/th_hoverbot_wip7.jpg) (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Psawhn/Blender/hoverbot_wip7.jpg)
Edit: And now I have a fan thing that looks spinny:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Psawhn/Blender/th_april16_hoverbot_fans.jpg) (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Psawhn/Blender/april16_hoverbot_fans.jpg)
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. ;)
Regards,
Winter
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hmm it doesn't looks like very extraterrestrial, then it needs good movement and damage sounds! The hoverbot should be done by aliens ? with an rotating engine? That seems to be Human work! It could be better if the engine of the bot is something like antigravitation, so after you smash that bot up, you can reserach antigrav as well. Maybe you need antigravitation to research the new alien spaceship!
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once again, anti-gravity comes up :D
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Maybe fans are too large, in my opinion they should look a little more circular and thinner, like terminator 3 skynet model.
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 ?
Regarding the 2 spikes popping from the bottom of the plane, I assume they are done for planes stability purpose. Would this plane be big enough to have aliens sit on them for field transportation purpose ? (I mean if this is the case, you may arrange them to be less crude and more ergonomic for aliens buts sake :) ).
Finally, since its a robot, sensors somewhere may be needed.
On a very last note, how is this plane supposed to deal with ground height ? I mean if it is on a flat landscape thats ok, but if their is a stair of a hill, unless the fans are strong enough to allow it to take some altitude, you would need an additional small fan on the lower top of the plan just to pull it up when needed.
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hmm it doesn't looks like very extraterrestrial, then it needs good movement and damage sounds! The hoverbot should be done by aliens ? with an rotating engine? That seems to be Human work! It could be better if the engine of the bot is something like antigravitation, so after you smash that bot up, you can reserach antigrav as well. Maybe you need antigravitation to research the new alien spaceship!
Anti gravity would be a cool and fun addition if the game was set in a more heavily science fictional universe. From what I can understand the design constraints have been finalized for quite some time, and the team is now in the implementation phase of the project.
Going back to the drawing board to incorporate things like antigravity into the storyline (which has had many months of work put into it already) would cause major delays in the project.
But I will agree with one point - it doesn't look very alien (no offense). It doesn't seem to have any kind of stability, wouldn't it pitch backwards and forwards on its axis? It looks kind of chunky... I would imagine that the aliens would be far enough advanced with materials and alloys to produce extremely lightweight but strong designs. The overall look of the proposed model seems more of a human adaptation of the alien idea, with less refined materials and construction processes.
Whats the pointy bits at the front for? Do they ram people and impale them on spikes?
Maybe you can find more inspiration here: http://www.moller.com/
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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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The turbines look awesome in my opinion. This model is supposed to give the impression of speed and versatility, slightly unstable, neither too light to be a threat nor too heavy to be a believable flier. It does all of those things very well.
Remember that it's going to be only 1 square in size in-game.
Regards,
Winter
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True, I wasn't taking scale into account. My problem wasn't with the model itself which I believe is great (and would probably look brilliant textured), and if I try to picture it taking only one square in game, I take back what I said about it looking too chunky.
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Either way, there's been some progress made on this model:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Psawhn/Blender/th_hoverbot_wip7.jpg) (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Psawhn/Blender/hoverbot_wip7.jpg)
Edit: And now I have a fan thing that looks spinny:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Psawhn/Blender/th_april16_hoverbot_fans.jpg) (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Psawhn/Blender/april16_hoverbot_fans.jpg)
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.
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Maybe someone else still has them?
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.
Well, if you read the world history on the wiki or inside the game, there has been a lot of strife and collapse worldwide.
Yep, that's what I was thinking.
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
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.
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. ;)
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.)
hmm it doesn't looks like very extraterrestrial,
Alien textures will make it look a lot more, uh, alien.
Maybe fans are too large, in my opinion they should look a little more circular and thinner, like terminator 3 skynet model.
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.
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. ;)
Regarding the 2 spikes popping from the bottom of the plane, I assume they are done for planes stability purpose.
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.
Whats the pointy bits at the front for? Do they ram people and impale them on spikes?
Like I said, they're dangerous-looking. :)
It doesn't seem to have any kind of stability, wouldn't it pitch backwards and forwards on its axis?
On a very last note, how is this plane supposed to deal with ground height ?
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
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.
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 ?
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.
Ooooh, Preeettty toys. Me wants toy. MAKE TOY! :)
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. :) )
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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.
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.
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.
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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I did. The original design does look better (sleeker, more advanced and extraterrestrial), but I suppose you're right.
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.
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.
This is definitely an idea for us to consider.
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.
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
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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.
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.
This is definitely an idea for us to consider.
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.
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.
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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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.
All of the techs you mention have a firm basis in known physics, except FTL and psionics. They've received researched and realistic treatments in our UFOpaedia. We've even handled FTL as realistically as we could. Psionics are the only really out-there thing that's going to be in the game, but we've also given that a bit of a new spin, rather than, "Psionic people just started popping up after the aliens arrived," or "It was there all along."
Regards,
Winter
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Here's a link to the latest .blend file, in case I disappear or something. (Hopefully not! :) )
Edit: The link helps. https://webdisk.ucalgary.ca/~djetowns/public_html/misc_files/UFO_AI/hoverbot_lightcannon_v11.blend