New Constitution Refit and a nod to Vektor.
- Thread starter reanimatedfish
- Start date
I like 'em
Cap'n Logan has my dream job
Growing a neck beard?
I can kinda see the SGA in the Intrepid redesign since it's silvery with some black highlights. But it's really the one design I wish could retroactively replace the canon design, because for the first time, the Intrepid class looks cool. No offense to Rick Sternbach, but this design blows Voyager out of the water.
Considering how stagnant Trek designs have been for the last decade, I'd say almost any change is a good.
Trek is far, far too universally stuck on certain design schemes, styles and layouts.
If I had a dollar for every critically loved fan design for Trek that just looked like another Sovereign Class starship with a mild refit or a simple kitbash of an existing vessel/vessels I'd have... $387.24 after income tax.
Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of gems in the past few years, but the vast majority of what the fan community puts out are very similar to fifteen year old canon designs.
These new style refits and new Klingon/Orion/Naussican designs are all a step in the right direction; something new.
Some of these I won't fly personally, but I've got to say it's nice to see someone say "lets do something a little different."
The rules, of course has the effect of giving a fleet a unified look.
STO's Starfleet looks like... well, frankly, like a hodgepodge. I'm all for new stuff, but there's such a humongous shift between individual designs, that I'm thinking in retrospect that they should have set the timeline even further forward to dump every canon design in favor of their own. That way, it at least looks consistent. Because the original STO ships definitley have a different set of "rules" than the inherited TNG/DS9/VOY designs.
Even though I'm not fond of most of STO's Fed and Klink ships, I think this would have worked better for conveying a unified design language for the Federation.
STO's Starfleet looks like... well, frankly, like a hodgepodge. I'm all for new stuff, but there's such a humongous shift between individual designs, that I'm thinking in retrospect that they should have set the timeline even further forward to dump every canon design in favor of their own. That way, it at least looks consistent. Because the original STO ships definitley have a different set of "rules" than the inherited TNG/DS9/VOY designs.
Even though I'm not fond of most of STO's Fed and Klink ships, I think this would have worked better for conveying a unified design language for the Federation.
Would have been interesting, I admit. The problem is it would be shunned worse than it is even now.
You have definitely not seen the good stuff then. Take a look at work by just some of the few that post in this forum like Vektor, Xfozzboute, Madman1701, or The Axeman. Their work is lightyears better than the STO stuff and very original as well. The STO stuff is not great, it's not FASA bad, but definitely not the cream of the crop either.
Also, not sure how you consider the re-skinning of the same models over and over again original.
I'm not sure how you arrived at any of your conclusions about me, especially with our complete and total lack of mutual personal history. Especially the last statement. But then again, I rarely let myself get down when a man with a Donald Duck avatars dissenting ruffle my feathers. To each their own.
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^ I've said it before, Sojourner is one of our resident grumps, but he makes some good points. If it's the same actual model re-skinned, it can't really be considered original.
For the record, I only called them skins because that's what Captain Logan referred to them as at one point. It's fairly obvious that these are new models, since one look at the STO Intrepid variants has nothing that even comes close to the new design.
Yeah, most of them are all new, however the Naussicans are a bit of a kit bash. Which is fine in one or two instances. In this case only since they were designed merely to be a sequentially larger version of the exact same vessel.
Scary evil Piranha ships.
Scary evil Piranha ships.
I am guessing if Captain Logan called them skins, then that's what they are. The Intrepid is definitely just a re-skin of the old mesh. All the major parts are in the same place on all versions. Even the proportions remain the same.
Daffy Duck. And to judge someone by their avatar? Talk about "coming to conclusions".
I've fed bread to scarier in my day, back in my long distant youth back on the farm.
Actually, that's more than just a reskin, if you look at the models most of them are structurally similar to their namesakes, but are completely different models, that's more than just reskining. Just look at the Intrepid refit, her entire saucer has been completely remodeled as have her nacelles and deflector dish.
All you have to do to see it is look at the hull geometry to see they aren't identical. The term 'skin' is used rather erroneously here.
Actually, that's more than just a reskin, if you look at the models most of them are structurally similar to their namesakes, but are completely different models, that's more than just reskining. Just look at the Intrepid refit, her entire saucer has been completely remodeled as have her nacelles and deflector dish.
All you have to do to see it is look at the hull geometry to see they aren't identical. The term 'skin' is used rather erroneously here.
In my experience, "skinning" refers specifically to the texture maps. If so much as one point of geometry is moved, it's not a skin anymore, but a different model.
I get the feeling they call the new models "skins" because the model itself doesn't really affect the performance of the ship, which is determined by the type you choose and how you upgrade it.
This will take a moment.
False! I wouldn't be surprised in the least by what a good skin can do. I've been playing online gaming since the days of the dinosaurs. Since before 'skins' and 'models' were terms relevant to online gaming since everything was two dimensional anyhow.
When I played Quake 2 and 3 (And Unreal games) I was a complete skin and model hound. I collected dozens, if not hundreds of the damn thing in a never ending quest to feel cool like the 13 year old Philippians who disdainfully called me a homosexual in deathmatch, but alas it never filled the hole in my heart.
I get the idea you think I'm some sort of teenage shut in with a marginal knowledge base for some reason? Is this out of the ordinary, or does that cover everyone you meet? I'm not sure whether to be exasperated or welcomed by one of the crusty old men of the forum who is attempting to force wisdom into me.
Anyhow, I'm well aware of how drastic such alteration can be. However a new skin when applied to a model doesn't change its physical geometry as its a texture file. A two dimensional image which is wrapped around said 3-D object.
With the exception of bump mapping, which creates the illusion of physical change by altering reflections with a secondary map which alters how light reflects on the surface in minor ways, they don't change actual physical geometry.
Whereas a model is a 3-D compilation of triangles which defines the physical 3-D representation of the new models.
Why the hell they're calling what are clearly different models skins is the real mystery, here.
Especially since each ship is, for the most part, a collection of multiple models. In Star Trek Online there are multiple portions of the ship modeled independently, the saucer, the pylons, the nacelles and the hull. Also occasionally sensor pods (For ships like Luna Class. They can also be turned off.) and stancheons.
Normally yes, each vessel, like Galaxy Class, has a few extra models which represent sister classes designed for similar purposes over the years. Of course, having played STO since pre-launch beta I can tell you the reason for this needless in fleet duplication is for diversity.
Why they're called skins is still beyond me, what with, you know, not being skins.
All the basic default ship pieces are interchangeable within their rank and their class approximations, and you can mix and match nacelles, saucers etc. There are also skins which changes the ships hull texture and its shading/physical feel as well as a huge array of different hull markings ranging from Canon to gaudier than the mirror universe.
These new vessels I showed you are what they called +1 ships in dev house, or .5 ships in the fan community, as they're slightly more powerful than their fellow ships of said rank, have new models for their components, and extra console slot, and a special console which provides them with a unique power, and their stats are sliiiiiightly higher than their regular cousins.
The Constitution class comes with a console which lets a Torpedo of any type be primed as a gas emissions seeker which can be launched without a target and hunt down its victim. They can be used on higher tier ships as you ran up through starfleet. Later ships which may be may be refits of earlier iterations can use the same model pieces, to boot. (Such as the Refit of Intrepid class which can use the Ablative Armor from the VOY finale and swap models with that giant flying bullet of doom.)
These +1 ships are purchased with the purchasable in game currency called C-Points, and we're designed to add diversity, and premium content players could buy at lower levels to make leveling more interesting and help the developers send their children to a decent college.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM2rY4utKvA
Here's a video of how in game customizing/kit-bashing works. The drop down menus are where new parts unlocked when purchased liek these +1 ships will appear.
False! I wouldn't be surprised in the least by what a good skin can do. I've been playing online gaming since the days of the dinosaurs. Since before 'skins' and 'models' were terms relevant to online gaming since everything was two dimensional anyhow.
When I played Quake 2 and 3 (And Unreal games) I was a complete skin and model hound. I collected dozens, if not hundreds of the damn thing in a never ending quest to feel cool like the 13 year old Philippians who disdainfully called me a homosexual in deathmatch, but alas it never filled the hole in my heart.
I get the idea you think I'm some sort of teenage shut in with a marginal knowledge base for some reason? Is this out of the ordinary, or does that cover everyone you meet? I'm not sure whether to be exasperated or welcomed by one of the crusty old men of the forum who is attempting to force wisdom into me.
Anyhow, I'm well aware of how drastic such alteration can be. However a new skin when applied to a model doesn't change its physical geometry as its a texture file. A two dimensional image which is wrapped around said 3-D object.
With the exception of bump mapping, which creates the illusion of physical change by altering reflections with a secondary map which alters how light reflects on the surface in minor ways, they don't change actual physical geometry.
Whereas a model is a 3-D compilation of triangles which defines the physical 3-D representation of the new models.
Why the hell they're calling what are clearly different models skins is the real mystery, here.
Especially since each ship is, for the most part, a collection of multiple models. In Star Trek Online there are multiple portions of the ship modeled independently, the saucer, the pylons, the nacelles and the hull. Also occasionally sensor pods (For ships like Luna Class. They can also be turned off.) and stancheons.
Normally yes, each vessel, like Galaxy Class, has a few extra models which represent sister classes designed for similar purposes over the years. Of course, having played STO since pre-launch beta I can tell you the reason for this needless in fleet duplication is for diversity.
Why they're called skins is still beyond me, what with, you know, not being skins.
All the basic default ship pieces are interchangeable within their rank and their class approximations, and you can mix and match nacelles, saucers etc. There are also skins which changes the ships hull texture and its shading/physical feel as well as a huge array of different hull markings ranging from Canon to gaudier than the mirror universe.
These new vessels I showed you are what they called +1 ships in dev house, or .5 ships in the fan community, as they're slightly more powerful than their fellow ships of said rank, have new models for their components, and extra console slot, and a special console which provides them with a unique power, and their stats are sliiiiiightly higher than their regular cousins.
The Constitution class comes with a console which lets a Torpedo of any type be primed as a gas emissions seeker which can be launched without a target and hunt down its victim. They can be used on higher tier ships as you ran up through starfleet. Later ships which may be may be refits of earlier iterations can use the same model pieces, to boot. (Such as the Refit of Intrepid class which can use the Ablative Armor from the VOY finale and swap models with that giant flying bullet of doom.)
These +1 ships are purchased with the purchasable in game currency called C-Points, and we're designed to add diversity, and premium content players could buy at lower levels to make leveling more interesting and help the developers send their children to a decent college.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM2rY4utKvA
Here's a video of how in game customizing/kit-bashing works. The drop down menus are where new parts unlocked when purchased liek these +1 ships will appear.
First, I gotta say I'm not impressed, for the most part. It's not that designs are bad. It's just that they aren't all that good. Unfortunately, STO has had this problem form the outset. The canon designs tend to hold up okay for an MMO run on the cheap, but the variants tend to be kinda ugly. Of course, that's just my opinion. It'd be nice to see something with the well though out lines of say, the Granduer in STO, but given how long that ship to be what it is, I think I can forgive STO for its ships.
More to the point, the ugly that seems to have infected Starfleet in the 25th century does have an upshot. Mix and match. It can be pretty difficult to get a solid looking ship out of the customization process. But just because the options are kinda ugly, it doesn't mean some of the parts don't come together to make interesting designs.
And that kinda reaches into the reason I popped int. The "Skins" in STO aren't "skins" as the term is generally used. That is to say, mapps applied to a base mesh to change it's shape. Most (not all) of the Ships in the game are Types (Cruiser, Science, Escort) on Tiers (1-5) So, the Tier 4 Cruiser equates to the Galaxy class. In the basic game, however, there are 3 tier 4 Cruisers. They all have same game stats, but they are made up of several different meshes. (In the case of the tier 4 cruiser, those meshes are saucer, neck, hull, pylons and nacelles) Each of the three ships is divided thus, and each "sub-mesh" can be "mixed and matched to personalize a ship.
The most telling clue that this is true is found on the teir 1 starter ship. Swapping parts can cause things show up in radically different places. This wouldn't happen with a map swap.
More to the point, the ugly that seems to have infected Starfleet in the 25th century does have an upshot. Mix and match. It can be pretty difficult to get a solid looking ship out of the customization process. But just because the options are kinda ugly, it doesn't mean some of the parts don't come together to make interesting designs.
And that kinda reaches into the reason I popped int. The "Skins" in STO aren't "skins" as the term is generally used. That is to say, mapps applied to a base mesh to change it's shape. Most (not all) of the Ships in the game are Types (Cruiser, Science, Escort) on Tiers (1-5) So, the Tier 4 Cruiser equates to the Galaxy class. In the basic game, however, there are 3 tier 4 Cruisers. They all have same game stats, but they are made up of several different meshes. (In the case of the tier 4 cruiser, those meshes are saucer, neck, hull, pylons and nacelles) Each of the three ships is divided thus, and each "sub-mesh" can be "mixed and matched to personalize a ship.
The most telling clue that this is true is found on the teir 1 starter ship. Swapping parts can cause things show up in radically different places. This wouldn't happen with a map swap.
Yeah, STO ships tend not to be quite as well developed as primary vessels of the canon, like the Enterprises, Voyager or the Defiant.
They tend to be about on the same level as secondary vessels, like the Prometheus, or below. Newer ships are a cut above that, but the original concepts?
Yuck. I won't even go into the legoprise.
http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/105/1050342/star-trek-online-20091130020800446_640w.jpg
Okay, I lied. This is one of their pre-beta designs. Their original team didn't have many trekkies on it, so there was some serious shite.
They tend to be about on the same level as secondary vessels, like the Prometheus, or below. Newer ships are a cut above that, but the original concepts?
Yuck. I won't even go into the legoprise.
http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/105/1050342/star-trek-online-20091130020800446_640w.jpg
Okay, I lied. This is one of their pre-beta designs. Their original team didn't have many trekkies on it, so there was some serious shite.