> Belatedly catching up on the last several days digests. (Insomnia's
You've hit one of the nails on the head there, Scott; part of the intention
was to homogenise some elements of the designs to give the feel that they were
all built by basically the same (human) tech, while still retaining the
particular design motifs that individualise the fleets. For the new NAC, I've
tried to keep some of the styling cues while getting rid of the elements that
have been most often and
most vocally criticised in the past - the long frail "necks" being a
major one!
As we're on this subject, a question for you all (or as many of you as want to
take the time to answer!):
In general, do you prefer your starships to be smooth and sleek (example: Trek
Federation ships) or blocky and complex (example: B5 Earth Alliance)?
Best,
> Ground Zero Games wrote:
Blocky and complex - I'd think that practical issues in design would be
adressed first so for quite some time I'd imagine ships to be blocky. Later on
when refines to design have been made ships would perhaps be sleeker.
I truly like the new look on the ESU - they look heavy and brutal and to
an extent quite clumsy. Made for efficiency rather than looks - a bit
like the tanks of WW2 - crudely welded together, bad paintjobs and all.
But it didn't matter because there was enough of them and they did the job.
In my book trek ships (and series) are way to "clean" for my perception of
human beings while Aliens etc looks quite a bit more like I would expect..
> Ground Zero Games wrote:
Tricky question this. I know I don't like trekkie ships, but most of
the time I don't know what I like until I see it:-)
I also don't like wings, but somehow I bought into the UNSC, Japanese and NI
ships. Another example: I really like the Cold Navy Mauridians, sort of like
the Terrans and don't like the Kharadorn.
What I do know is what I would like in the NeuNSL: Keep some of the blocky
appearance with subtle hull plating details. Keep it 2 or 3 blocks connected
length wise. No wings sticking out. These are heavily armoured ships, so only
some weapons and other important things should be external. Maybe some smaller
blocks connected to the side of the bigger blocks.
Umm... sounds sort of B5-ish:-)
> On Tue, Aug 30, 2005 at 09:25:02AM +0100, Ground Zero Games wrote:
> In general, do you prefer your starships to be smooth and sleek
Depends on the genre, but for my personal preference the latter.
(Particularly if I'm painting minis - I'm not a great painter, so lots
of surface detail is good!)
R
> On Tuesday 30 August 2005 09:44, Frits Kuijlman wrote:
In a discussion about the design of Discovery (2001), Clarke talked about how
the original version had big radiator fins to help cool the ship. However,
they looked a lot like wings, and fearing that everyone would complain that a
spaceship wouldn't have wings and having to try and explain what they really
were, they removed them.
> Ground Zero Games wrote:
> You've hit one of the nails on the head there, Scott; part of the
Mission accomplished, insofar as making the human ships share common elements.
Though I mentioned the homogenization of the human fleets as a negative, I DO
like the new designs as I look at them by themselves.
Having a common look to the human ships can be a good thing too especially if
you run "Bitter enemy humans vs. superior alien threat" scenarios... We just
need more variations on aliens!
> As we're on this subject, a question for you all (or as many of you as
Yes. *grin*
Which is to say that I have no preference, and like both styles of ships.
Although I think that if a ship is going to be sleek, it should ALL be sleek,
not (for example) sleek and curvy for most of the hull but with huge blocky
engines and a split down the center for a blocky
spinal-mounted weapon...
To me, it looks like a corvette stingray with an el-camino's rear-end or
somesuch.
--Tim
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http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gzg-lOn 8/30/05, Ground
> Zero Games <jon@gzg.com> wrote:
[jingle, doing, tinkle] "Yes..."
Kosh
Ground Zero Games <jon@gzg.com> Ãrta:
....
> As we're on this subject, a question for you all (or as many of you
Actually both ways. Depends on the fleet and the actual class. I can
only imagine NSL as mostly blocky big ships - But I love the new
destroyer designs...
IMHO the newer designs (UNSC, IJN, NI) are distinct enough, and very
stylish. I`m not sure about the new ESU - the designs and the figs are
excellent though.
As for the NAC I like the new designs, and don`t have problems with the long
necks disappearance, but thinking about it a smoother surface with not many
things sticking out to far from the surface and the spearhead without too much
tubes sticking out would be closer to the original concept.
The Xeno design are awesome as they are - keep them along their
distinct look and I`ll be very happy.
Greetings,
Catinator
hi group, well i like the old smooth N.A.C design, but if you redid the necks
so that they fit better, eg like the U.NS.C. ships and the new space bases,
then that would suit me, as it would fix both problems, i wouldnt like to see
N.A.C ships that look close to Earth Force ships, as what would be the point
of buying them, if you already had a Earthforce fleet and i like the Full
Thrust ships better,....
regards james mitchell
[quoted original message omitted]
> --- Frits Kuijlman <frits@kuijlman.net> wrote:
I know I don't like trekkie
> ships, but most of
'Wings' are easy to justify, 'radiators' for the massive amounts of heat
generated by the power source.
Bye for now,
> On 8/30/05, Ground Zero Games <jon@gzg.com> wrote:
> In general, do you prefer your starships to be smooth and sleek
Both. I like to see the smaller ships streamlined for atmospheric entry. I
like to see large ships blocky because they won't be entering atmosphere.
I still remember being annoyed at the "small boys" pulled up to the pier while
we had to ride utility boats from the carrier. Of course after we were in the
North Atlantic in a winter storm I made it a point to talk about how I enjoyed
being gently rocked to sleep by the ship. For some reason that bothered the
guys who had been walking on the bulkheads of a destroyer.:)