I'd like to help with ship design

[fabsh]

Hi, everybody!

I realise this is a bit of a headlong way to jump into a project, but anyway, here goes: I've recently tried Free Orion for the first time and I must say I find it amazing! I've missed the old Master of Orion series since they basically killed it with MOOIII and since I switched to Linux full time, I haven't been able to enjoy GalCiv either. To make it short: I'd like to help. Since the only thing I could always draw really well are space ships, I'd love to work on some space ship line designs for the game (from what I've seen so far, the game could use them). I am pretty adept at the GIMP & Inkscape (for some not-related work see my personal page) as well as sketching by hand of course and I'd be happy to learn new stuff. Any pointers at where to start and who to contact for a general vision of what you'd like the ships to look like? Feel free to ask any questions you might have as well.

I hope this isn't to rash, if you don't need people or want me to so something else that's fine as well.

I really hope this will be the start of a great collaboration!

Fab

[pd]

Welcome, please make sure to read the two announcements: Guidelines to Contributing and Licence we are using.

Ships in freeOrion are going to be quite versatile. This is true for their function as well as their appeareance. To understand how ships work in freeOrion please see this part(Ship Designs) of the design document.

Ideally, the artistic ship design process goes like this: Pick a race(or create your own), develop them visually(character + environment design) and finally create ship designs. I think it's important to root ship designs in the alien backstory. If done sucessfully, it should be possible to tell something about the race, just by looking at the ships.

The above covers contructed hulls. In addition, a race might have access to different hull types: asteroid hulls, organic hulls and engergy hulls. Those will not be race specific and do therefore not need the same preperation.

Note, that alien races are not part of the game at this stage. They are scheduled for v0.8.

If you have further questions, don't hesitate to ask. I'm currently developing the Trith, btw.

[fabsh]

Thanks for the reply!

The license is fine, it's my favourite content license anyway.

As for the ships: These are 3D models mostly, correct? I have used Blender before but I wouldn't say I'm adept at it. I'd be really happy to sketch concept art for somebody else to 3D-ify though. What about the ship design portion in the game? Is that going to be 3D or is it going to stick with the side-view we currently have? The parts to design ships would have to be modular, I presume?

Thanks again for the nice welcome. I'll have a look at the races now.

[fabsh]

I love the idea of George. I instantly have ideas going through my head about that. I might draw a few ship sketches for that race over the weekend. I love the buzz of creativity!

[Bigjoe5]

What about the ship design portion in the game? Is that going to be 3D or is it going to stick with the side-view we currently have? The parts to design ships would have to be modular, I presume?

Since ship parts won't be visible on the hull in combat, there's no need to design modular ship parts that would work on any hull type. For the ship icons (where the long, gun-shaped generic ship icon is currently), there will probably just be a 2-D image of the 3-D model for that ship type, with the slots overlayed on the design screen as is done currently. Alternatively, if it would make sense, a more stylistic drawing of the hull could be used for the icon. I know less about art than game design though, so all I can really tell you is that the ship design system will stay in 2-D and parts won't be visible on the hull.

[pd]

Thanks for the reply!

The license is fine, it's my favourite content license anyway.

As for the ships: These are 3D models mostly, correct? I have used Blender before but I wouldn't say I'm adept at it. I'd be really happy to sketch concept art for somebody else to 3D-ify though. What about the ship design portion in the game? Is that going to be 3D or is it going to stick with the side-view we currently have?

Yes, ship's are represented by 3D models in game. The design screen is going to use a sideview/top view for simplicity reasons.

All my previous comments were referring to concept art however, I should have this more clear I guess. 3D models should be created from concept art, to maintain a consistent look.

The parts to design ships would have to be modular, I presume?

I'm not sure what you mean, are you talking about actual ship parts? Those are only represented using icons on the ship design screen. Hull's itself can be highly individual but are not made of fitting parts, that the player has access too.

Thanks again for the nice welcome. I'll have a look at the races now.

Gern

[fabsh]

What about the screen where you decide which part goes where?

[pd]

It's the ship design screen: 2d images for parts placed over 2d images representing the hulls which will be shown 3d in combat.

[fabsh]

@pd:

Ah, I see. So we have a 3D model for each ship type (say scout, colony ship etc.) and the player can't change the look but only puts icons of parts in respective slots? Is the top/side view for that screen going to be generated from the 3D model?

The stuff all makes sense regarding concept art, I think I am getting a feeling for what you are looking for.

Viele Grüße aus Bonn!

Fab

[pd]

@pd:
Ah, I see. So we have a 3D model for each ship type (say scout, colony ship etc.) and the player can't change the look but only puts icons of parts in respective slots?

That's basically it, except that scout- or colony- won't be ship types. Instead, a certain hull will work very well as a scout or colony ship, but it's up to the player whether he uses it this way. If he put's some missiles on it, the ship will be able to take part in LR(long range) combat, but will perform worse than a LR hull.

Is the top/side view for that screen going to be generated from the 3D model?

The current backdrop is a placeholder, but I've tried to explore a possible theme with it. It's 99% painting on top of a silhouette render of an old 3d model.

Gruß aus Braunschweig!

[fabsh]

Understood.

OK, so one could either do a silhouette render or make a special 2D backdrop from the concept art, right?

Well, I will start sketching up stuff over the weekend. Got a podcast to edit ATM. What kind of ship designs are you looking for generally? Just roughly speaking? Star Trek-type slick and glowy or more grungy, hard scifi à la Babylon 5 or the new Battlestar? Or is it everything goes, depending on the race?

Sorry for machine-gunning you with questions here!

[fabsh]

Hehe... I think you edited my post there instead of quoting.

OK, cool. I'll see wha I can come up with, post it and you can tell me if it sucks.

[pd]

OK, so one could either do a silhouette render or make a special 2D backdrop from the concept art, right?

Yeah, it's always the end result that matters - the way to get there not so much.

What kind of ship designs are you looking for generally? Just roughly speaking? Star Trek-type slick and glowy or more grungy, hard scifi à la Babylon 5 or the new Battlestar? Or is it everything goes, depending on the race?

Yes everything goes... and more

[pd]

Hehe... I think you edited my post there instead of quoting.

Indeed, I have, happens sometimes. It's fixed again.

OK, cool. I'll see wha I can come up with, post it and you can tell me if it sucks.

I'm looking forward to it!

[fabsh]

No worries. That happens when one has mod/admin rights, I know the feeling.